UPDATE #2: The game is now available in India. Check here for more information.

UPDATE: We spoke with the distributor, who said that there was a minor unforeseeable delay, and that the game has already been despatched to all metros and should be available on shelves by Saturday (6/12) morning at the latest. If you don’t live in a metro, expect to find the game at your favourite game outlet by Monday (8/12) or Tuesday (9/12).

When Calvin once asked why the world couldn’t even be unfair in his favour, he would’ve been really happy if he was one of those thousands of people who were left confused, heartbroken and angry after news emerged that GTA IV for the PC could get delayed in the country.

And, to add to one of those rare occasions where we are the bearer of good news, it looks like you really wouldn’t have to wait after all if you were planning to drive Mr. Bellic around town on your monster PC. So yes, the game is coming out on December 3rd, as originally planned and yes, it will be available at the previously mentioned low, low price of INR 499, so there’s really no excuse not to buy one copy for playing and one NRFB copy for a keepsake, like someone I know is planning to do.

And for all those people who were getting increasingly paranoid over the game’s SecuROM DRM software, (yours truly included) it looks like things aren’t as bad as they are with EA’s games. Head over here for a 2-page interview by PC Games Hardware with Rockstar where every detail about the relaxed DRM mechanism in use by GTA IV PC is revealed.

[STORY UPDATED: Consider this story old, squashed and curb-stomped upon. It looks like the thousands of GTA IV gamers who bombared our inboxes about this news would actually not have to worry about waiting ages for the game or importing it from elsewhere. The game will be made available on December 3rd and will retail for INR 499. Check this story here for more information.]

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Yes, we’ve all heard this one and there have been over 650 pages of discussion about this at the GTA IV forums, but finally, we can break our six-month silence and echo Rockstar and the entire Internet in welcoming GTA IV for the PC this November. Yes, we’ve known that the game was coming to the PC in November for quite a long time now, along with some really juicy information on the new Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Underworld (I love gymnastic coaches!), but we couldn’t open our mouths thanks to a painful embargo and a whole lotta guns pointed at us.

But teasers aside, GTA IV will finally see the light of day on PC come November 18 in North America and November 21 across Europe. When the game will be made available to the hapless Indian gamer is not certain, but the local distributor in-charge of the license assures us that it will be here “on par with the international street date” and that it will be priced very competitively - a fact that is being looked at with open hostility by the console gamers here, who had to wait an eternity for the game to be available here, most of whom got their copies from the gray market at obscene price points.

While there’s still no word on the official system requirements or whether the DLC will be made available to PC owners for free, as is usually the case with such games, Xbox 360 and PS3 GTA IV fans will have quite a bit of love coming their way – now with the Millionaires Club, soon with the “Viral Infection” zombie mode and a fresh DLC to boot. And for those still trying to figure out the new Ms. Croft, watch out for the lovely Ms. ****** ******* (are we counting the stars, Alice?) at the upcoming Leipzig Games Convention. Cheers!

In case you didn’t know that Grand Theft Auto IV had Russian Connection, thanks to Mashkov, it now has an Indian Connection as well, thanks to late Amrish Puri. The rumor goes that the character of the main protagonist of GTA IV is based upon… Mugambo. Well, even if it’s a remote possibility, the uncanny resemblance is surely remarkable. I myself got the cooties looking at it. I’m not sure where it all started, but I found the link in the replies at the Kotaku thread I have mentioned above.

So the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) banned Manhunt 2 in the UK. No, they banned it twice! But that won’t stop our friends at Rockstar who’ve clearly established that there’s 3 levels of everything, from executions to game releases!

Manhunt 2 has been in the British news for some time now because of the BBFC’s decision to not rate the game, therefore translating to the fact that it can not be sold off the shelves in merry ol’ England. However, Rockstar have challenged the ban at the Video Appeals Committee and the VAC has spoken in their favor.

Rockstar, are understandably pleased at the decision and are happy that the game is recognized as one that falls into an established 18+ rating system.

Now as I understand it, if the BBFC does not do anything, the game is defaulted to a 18+ rating system and goes on sale, thereby bringing smiles on the faces of millions of sadistic-gore-loving-Brits.

So there you have it. Britons do not like violent games and will not tolerate them. Of course, there’s always the ultra-violent football hooligans to ban as well, but hey - no one learns violence from real life! Artistic simulations do just fine, thank you!

The only bad thing about living in India, besides the shitty internet speeds of course has to be the time differences. So when the third trailer for much awaited Grand Theft Auto 4 (GAT4) was announced, it gave us sleepless nights, quite literally. Thanks to the difference in time-zones, we had to stay awake through a good half last night to catch a glimpse of the next GTA4 trailer. Having endured long waits with the previous trailers, we were well prepared for a long wait this time around as well. Thankfully, the wait was all worth it. Before we delve any further, here is the trailer, courtesy, Gametrailers

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Normally, one would just afford a passing look at a billboard, or maybe a little gawking, if it happens to feature a skimpily clad hottie, but that’s a different issue. Seldom do we see a billboard that is truly a piece of art. And if the billboard happens to be featuring the magic word “GTA IV” on it, rest assured that it will be grabbing the eyeballs on a much larger scale.

So when the billboard in question started coming up in New York, it sparked off speculations on whether it might unveil the final release date of the game. Blogger Nick from Normalblog started following the slow but steady evolution of the billboard over a span of few days and posted the pictures on his blog for us non-New Yorkers to ogle at.

Even though, the much-discussed release date didn’t materialize, the end product turned out to be a stunning piece of art. Rockstar had promised us that things will be different this time around. By the look of it, they seem to be living up to their words.