The Grand Theft Auto blame-express keeps rolling on as three Georgia teens say they learned to make Molotov cocktails from the game. We must have skipped that level, is it the one with the points for the rape? WSBTV reports that the 15 and 16-year-old youths have been charged with 57 felony counts for a series of "car bombings" by Molotov cocktails.

The real kicker here is that police figured out who the arsonists were by going to the local Wal-Mart and sifting through receipts. One had on it the purchase of "Sprite bottles, red rags and lighter fluid," then the cops pulled the tape for the time of the purchase to identify the suspects. Poor guys, the game allegedly taught them how to make their tools of destruction, but not how to get away with the crime. Pro Tip: Hop in a car and drive until out of the police's radius.

[Via GamePolitics]

Aside from spontaneous automobile theft and an abundance of paper lanterns, we really don't know what we can expect to find in Rockstar's DS downsizing of its infamous crime caper, Grand Theft Auto. If an alleged survey sent in to UGO's Games Blog is to be believed -- and let's be clear, this "if" is large enough to trample just about any virtual metropolis -- Chinatown Wars will have plenty of features to clutter up the back of its tiny box.

An open world with changing weather and traffic patterns? Check. A "mature" storyline featuring a "young gang soldier involved in the internal power struggle for control of his gang?" Check. Multiplayer modes, 70+ missions and stylus-based minigames, "such as assembling a sniper rifle?" Check. Truthfulness of survey and its claim that said features are connected to Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars? We'll have to check on that. But purely out of interest, does this sound like a portable GTA you'd want to play?

[Thanks, Kareem]

Rockstar has created a placeholder site for the semi-recently announced Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars which may be giving away a little more than it had planned. Along with the usual DS logo branding and ERSB "RP" badge is ... the official Nintendo W-Fii Connection emblem. It certainly looks like it's intended to be there, but we won't know for certain whether the first GTA on Ninty's dual-screen handheld will have proper online play until Rockstar says something – and that could be a while. In the meantime, we can only wait and dream of setting Liberty City ablaze with other DS users over the internet.

We already know that Nintendo DS is taking up residence in Liberty City thanks to GTA: Chinatown Wars, but what about GTA on Wii? Reggie wants it, gamers want it, but will Take-Two ever deliver? Speaking to GameDaily about any such plans, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder had this to say: "We know the Wii pretty well. We're building up assets to develop for the Wii and we're excited about its growth," but added, "I can't comment on GTA specifically on the Wii."

Something about another of Feder's comments seemed vaguely familiar when compared to those of Nintendo's Fils-Amie, who's said he'd welcome a GTA game on Wii as long as it's developed specifically for the platform. "Our goal is to be the most creative and innovative company in the industry," Feder said, further explaining, "You don't get there by just porting and dumping games on the shelves. You get there by looking at the platform and creating games specifically for that platform." Sure sounds like what Reggie's asking for to us.

We were just a ... Wii bit shocked when a new Grand Theft Auto was announced for Nintendo DS and not the Big N's wildly popular home console. Still, it's no doubt a coup, but what about a proper Wii installment in the series?

MTV Multiplayer asked Nintendo of America prez Reggie Fils-Amie just that. When prodded on the likelihood that a DS version of GTA might lead to a greater possibility of GTA for Wii, Reggie stated that "GTA on the Wii is all based on what Rockstar and Take-Two want to do," adding, "From our standpoint, if they build a bottoms-up game that takes advantage of what we do well, I'd love to see it on the platform."

We're pretty sure Reggie meant a GTA that's built from the ground up for Wii. Or perhaps he was just getting into the GTA swing of things? If so, naughty Reggie!

During Nintendo's keynote address, the company carjacked the audience's attention, announcing that Grand Theft Auto is coming to the DS. Titled GTA: Chinatown Wars, little is known about the game, save for that it will feature a new game engine, characters, and the series' standard sandbox-style gameplay.

Who knew that Pulitzer Prize winning authors were taking their hard-earned awards and combining it with writing skill to... play Grand Theft Auto IV? It's not like they can be accused of slacking, having won a Pulitzer and all. Junot Diaz who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao spent some quality time ripping off cars and robbing his fellow Liberty City denizens, but in the end he says the game isn't worthy of the praise that's being spoon-fed to the masses.

The artist known as Pixeloo delivers once again with his "real" rendition of Grand Theft Auto IV antihero Niko Bellic. Thankfully, Niko's character design is that of a standard human, so we don't get the abomination of Pixeloo's not-safe-for-sanity "Real Mario."

The artist says he did the piece for Official Playstation Magazine UK's latest issue. Another impressive piece by Pixeloo, and unlike Real Mario, the Real Niko won't cause us to wake up screaming for two weeks and shudder every time we even think about the portly plumber.

Niko Bellic apparently isn't stopping with conquering with Liberty City, he's now extended his dominion as Grand Theft Auto IV took the top slot on the weekly Xbox Live activity charts, dethroning longtime king Call of Duty 4. The rest of the top five was rounded out by Halo 3, Guitar Hero III and that old stalwart, Gears of War.

To anyone who's grown accustomed to their friends list just being a solid column of "GTA IV" this shouldn't come as much of a surprise. But we'll be interested to see if the game's multiplayer can help it hang on in the charts even after fans start finishing Niko's story en masse.

We've heard about various reports of the technical problems with Grand Theft Auto IV. We're conducting a network-wide poll with our friends at X3F and PS3 Fanboy to see how the Joystiq community has been afflicted with the issues. After voting, please let us know your specific problems in the comments below.

Are you having problems with Grand Theft Auto IV?
	Yes, and I use the Xbox 360
	Yes, and I use the 60GB PS3
	Yes, and I use the non-60GB PS3 (please specify in comments)
	No problem (Xbox 360)
	No problem (60GB PS3)
	No problem (non-60GB PS3; please specify in comments)
	Don't own the game, I just felt compelled to click something

Instead of trying to do separate posts on all the mainstream media talk surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV's launch -- some good, some not -- we've decided to compile a list of the articles we found on the interwebs (with help from Game Politics):

• Rockstar North President Leslie Benzies said critics of the game are "the same kind of people who complained about Elvis." (Scotsman.com)
• The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) said the portrayal of protagonist Niko as a thug "plays on untrue stereotypes." (MCVUK)
• Grand Theft Childhood co-author Lawrence Kutner: "For most kids and most parents, the bottom-line results of our research can be summed up in a single word: Relax." (Seattle P-I)
• Youth-gang crime exper Michael Chettleburgh called the controversy overhyped by the media. Video games are "just not a primary driver of why kids join gangs." (Metro)
• Lawton, OK Police Chief Ronnie Smith: "Most of the young people who play these games ... they're smart enough to know they're only games." (KWSO)
• Timothy Plan, a "morally responsible" mutual fund, sent out a press release explaining why it won't invest in publisher Take-Two. (Hint: It has to do with violence and boy-kissing.)
• You-Know-Who is doing his thing.

Feel free to include mainstream media chatter you've found, positive or negative, in the comments below.

Stepping off the boat into the menacingly awaiting Liberty City, I can only imagine the emotions running through Niko Bellic's closely-shaved mind. As the stoic Eastern European protagonist first set eyes upon this labirynthian city and this brave new nation, he must have experienced no small amount of intimidation at the vast amount of opportunities that had, in a mere instant, been made available to him.

As I first popped Grand Theft Auto IV into the disc tray that it would surely be entombed in for the next few months, and charged with giving my impressions on the game's enigmatic online capabilities, I felt the same sort of intimidation -- and so, I imagine, will you. Not just because of GTA IV's multitude of online options and game types, but also due to the fact that, aside from those who played San Andreas online on PC, most of us have never taken this seminal series onto the equally cavernous internets.

Australia has a long, tumultuous history when it comes to video game censorship -- largely due to the fact that their system of video game classification currently lacks a rating above MA15+, meaning any game deemed too intense for 15-year-olds is often censored (or even banned, in some extreme cases). However, just a stone's skip across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand provides a more favorable environment for mature titles, whipping out the Banhammer and the Censorstick much less often than its Southwestern Pacific counterpart.

You can imagine our surprise when we read that the version of Grand Theft Auto IV that will be tailored to Australia's OFLC guidelines will also be the only version available in New Zealand. It seems that the debaucherous adventures of Niko Bellic were deemed inappropriate by the somewhat hipper Kiwi chapter of the OFLC, much to the chagrin of the thousands of Australians who pre-ordered the naughty version of the game from New Zealand's online gaming retailers.

Oddly enough, the version of GTA IV that will be sold in fellow Oceania nation Papua New Guinea will not only be uncensored, but will be accompanied by an actual foul-mouthed, gun-toting hooker. In the words of New Zealand pop sensation OMC, "How Bizarre, How Bizarre!"

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Using Chicago's street violence as a springboard, the city's FOX affiliate aired a piece about Grand Theft Auto IV ads on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). Thanks to the report, all the GTA IV advertising will now be removed.

As GamePolitics points out, the ads do not depict any scenes of violence and it's currently unknown what the CTA's policy is on advertising R-rated movies; the CTA also stopped an ad campaign back in 2004 for GTA: San Andreas. Boston, Denver and Portland, Oregon, have had similar issues with GTA ads on its public transportation system. Ironically, the FOX affiliate promotes alcohol on its website (picture after the break). Wonder how many people died of alcohol related incidents in Chicago this weekend?

[Via GamePolitics]

From its beginnings as a top-down crime sim to the fully 3D Public Enemy Number One we know it as today, Grand Theft Auto's history has been marked by constant evolution. Before GTA IV is dropped on us later this month, we thought we'd take a look back at all the games in the series that have come before.

So sit back, relax and drive over a hooker as we present the prior offenses of Grand Theft Auto.