GTA IV Social Club announced

360 News | Kind of like the Buena Vista Social Club. But not.

On the back of the final trailer, Rockstar have announced yet another surprise relating to its upcoming blockbuster, Grand Theft Auto IV. Upon the game's release on April 29th, the Social Club is a website that will help the game's likely expansive community congregate with all things GTA related. Players will be able to register any time after April 15th, with either an Xbox Live Gamertag or Playstation Network ID. However, it is currently unknown whether or not the feature is exclusive to Gold subscribers of Xbox Live, or everyone.

So what do you get what you join the Social Club? The list of features are as follows:

LCPD Police Blotter: A virtual map and tracker of single-player criminal activity logged in Liberty City from all the players that are connected online. Get an idea of which areas are the most dangerous.
The Story Gang: This is a single-player leaderboard that recognizes players who complete Niko Bellic's main story arc. The leaderboard ranks players according to the total amount of playing time it's taken to complete the story, as well as a historical rank by who has completed it first. Members of this club will receive special online goodies and merit badges marking all of their in-game accomplishments.
The 100% Club: Watch to see who will be the first to complete 100% of the game. The first ten people to be identified on the Social Club as reaching 100% will be sent a commemorative 'key to the city' to mark their accomplishment. Once a few more reach the milestone, the 100% Club will then carry a historical leaderboard showing rankings of who has completed 100% of a game in the shortest span of playing hours.
The Hall of Fame: This area will dynamically recognize those singularly elite players who have reached the top of the hill on various statistical leaderboards, and will also contain a personal awards display of special in-game landmarks and successes in Social Club competitions.
The Liberty City Marathon: A ranking of special physical milestones achieved in the game - from the amount of miles walked, driven, or swam - to the number of bullets fired and stunt-jumps jumped. There will be additional special marathon-based competitions in the future from this area as well.

According to Rockstar, the Social Club won't be limited to the list above. There are planned future expansions to the feature site with special competitions, leaderboards and new challenges for gamers well after the release of GTA IV. There is also an implication that the this feature will be used in future Rockstar games. GTA IV continues to provide an exhaustive feature list, though we don't know if we'll see much more before its actual release in a month's time. If you're having trouble waiting, why not check out our hands-on preview. Please stay tuned for our full coverage of the game, upon release.

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12 Comments

Spanca

5 years ago

Awesome, awesome idea. I love that they're doing leaderboards for all the inane screwing around that I love doing in the GTA games.

mipac

5 years ago

Won't see many Americans in the first 10 to finish list, us Aussies get half a day head start

Newland

5 years ago

article wrote

The first ten people to be identified on the Social Club as reaching 100% will be sent a commemorative 'key to the city' to mark their accomplishment

That one sentence has got me planning out the 2 weeks after the games release, I wonder if they actually send you a key or just have something in your gamertag/PSNID.

Either way, its late nights with a heap of caffeine for me!

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

Whats the point, you just know it will be some punk insiders who have already got a leaked version of the game, preplay it, and will speed through the retail version just to get on the board.Normal people will have no chance, you know deep down inside.

I dunno, the whole thing smacks of 'gimmicky' imo.A coupe de grace by rockstar though, no arguments there.As if gta hype wasn't at fever pitch already, this announcement is akin to dangling that sausage just a few inches closer to the pack of salivating dogs.

Barry

5 years ago

ohhhhhh I cant wait for its release!! hehehe looks like im going to have to be ill for a couple of days

john_solids

5 years ago

nooooo...... i wont be finishing it quick enough i wont get it till my bday (2nd May) then 3rd May I go away for a week nooooo......

its just rubbing more salt in the wound with this first to finish but still love the idea

xloserfishx

5 years ago

There's no way I'll be on the list... I like to spend my time exploring around the world, and having fun going on random rampages to see how long i can hold out

RooRage

5 years ago

I've spent waaay too many hours on bungie.net and I've got a feeling I'll waste half my life away on the Social Club!
Looking forward to it!

Capoeira

5 years ago

Brilliant. I'm loving this idea. It sounds solid enough already, but with the added promise of future updates, Rockstar can seem to do no wrong. They've got me hook, line and sinker.

crescent fresh

5 years ago

The word is in, GTA IV is the best GTA game since San Andreas

Sin Ogaris

5 years ago

^ I'm going to assume you're trying to be funny with that statement.

mipac

5 years ago

gresszilla wrote

The word is in, GTA IV is the best GTA game since San Andreas

I had more fun with Vice City Stories.

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Grand Theft Auto IV

Pre-order or buy:
PALGN recommends: www.Play-Asia.com

Australian Release Date:
  29/04/2008 (Confirmed)
Standard Retail Price:
  $119.95 AU
Publisher:
  Rockstar Games
Genre:
  Action
Year Made:
  2007

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