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![Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition [PS3]](product_images/4942000/4942208-grand-theft-auto-iv-special_thumb.jpg) | Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition [PS3] |
 | "Supposed to get more, not less in a sequel, methinks..." | 2009-05-16 |
First, the Special edition was worth the price I paid ($5 more than the standard) just for the lockbox and gymbag. The game is identical otherwise. Now for my mini review of GTA 4. It's fun and the graphics are quite good (not quite using all the power capabilities of the PS3) and the framerate is better than on my high-end PC version of the game (which I abandoned and will never, ever buy another Rockstar PC release ever). The problem is not what's in the game but what is lacking that has been in the previous titles. Airplanes, for starters are not available to fly. The "world", while definitely much more detailed is smaller and almost cramped compared to GTA 3. The huge and impressive buildings are essentially just scenery as you can't enter but a few select sections. Buying properties is no longer offered, rather you unlock "safehouses" as you progress through the missions. There are no planes! NOT ONE that you can fly!! Maverick helicopter is readily available (and another but not wanting to spoil). No "area 51", no armed bases, I could keep going on and on. The storyline is well done but overall I feel "gipped" with this release. I feel like I'm playing an incomplete game. Rockstar let me down. It was bound to happen.
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 | Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD Player |
 | "Superb Viewing Quality" | 2008-04-12 |
It's a DVD player on steroids, kind of, anyway. Great quality overall as with most Toshiba products I've owned. Since this is a review, and I need to be very picky, the only negative I can think of would be on it's "boot up" time, which seems to take a full minute. In other words, it takes about a minute from the time you power up this unit to the point where it will open the DVD tray. Is this excessive to other HD DVD players? I have no clue but compared to what I have used in the DVD realm it is quite slow in this regard. Not really a show stopper, however. In fact I'm sure that this is due to there being a lot more computing power "under the hood". The last little picky thing I would dock it for is for the lack of picture fine-tuning (such as brightness,contrast,etc.)from the player itself. If this feature is there, I haven't found it yet. My upconverting Pioneer player (an inexpensive unit) spoiled me in this regard. Overall, for the $90 I paid this HD DVD player is amazing. I really hope that studios continue to release titles in this format for a long, long, time. I would buy another at this price point.
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