Grand Theft Auto IV for PS3, Xbox 360 Scores Big

Grand Theft Auto IV went on sale Tuesday, with fans lining up at midnight to grab the first copies of the criminal action game hailed as a brutal and satirical masterpiece equal to films like "The Godfather."

Retailers such as GameStop Corp and Best Buy Co Inc took advance orders for the game weeks earlier and many outlets threw open their doors at midnight to accommodate fans eager to be among the first to play.

GTA IV is expected to be the biggest entertainment event of the year, with first-week sales forecast to be up to $400 million, beating those of last year's "Halo 3" from Microsoft Corp.

Judging from early reviews, Grand Theft Auto 4, the latest version of the hit franchise made by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc's Rockstar studio, appears on track to be the best-rated video game ever and one that could cement video games as a serious art form.

Its release, originally scheduled for October last year, was pushed back until April 29 due to technological hurdles.

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"I think that it was actually a very smart move on their part to move it back because it gave a lot of people an opportunity to upgrade their systems to the next gen., so now there's actually a bigger chance of people going out and grabbing this game," said Chris Arsada, general manager of a GameStop store in Los Angeles.

Based on dozen reviews compiled by Metacritic, a widely tracked aggregator of gaming reviews, the version of GTA4 for Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 game console has scored a perfect 100, while that for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 achieved a 99.

Shares of Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two rose 1 percent on Monday. The positive early reaction could help the company's bargaining position as it faces a $2 billion takeover offer from rival Electronic Arts Inc.

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