Rockstar Games have updated there Social Club page with a notice saying 'Pre-Registration Begins 4.17.08'. SC was originally going to be open to the public today but instead the flash front page came up with that.

If you don't know what Rockstar Games Social Club is, here are a few snippets of what going to be in-store for us.

• The LCPD Police Blotter will feature a map of Liberty City that tracks the criminal activity of the many players connected to the internet. It will feature information such as the more dangerous areas of town and which weapons are more common the others.

• The Story Gang will be a leaderboard that will not only show who completed the main story arc of the game first, but also how long it took. People who become a member of this club will receive special online widgets and merit badges.

• The 100% Club will be extremely popular as it will show who out of the millions of players will reach 100% completion first. The first 10 people to do so will be sent an ultra-rare commemorative 'key to the city' to mark their accomplishment! Later on it will rank members based on who will be able to get to 100% in the shortest amount of time.

• The Hall of Fame will recognize those elite players who have reached the top of various different statistical leaderboards, and will also contain a personal awards display of awards earned in Social Club competitions and via reaching various in-game achievements.

• The Liberty City Marathon will be a ranking of special physical milestones achieved in the game, from the number of miles walked, driven, or swam to the number of bullets fired and stunt-jumps jumped. Other events will be added as time goes on.

But that's not all that will be added, in the future there will be more added by Rockstar to cover other games respectively. Our guess is Midnight Club: LA will be the next to use the site along with some features coving it.

 Source: Social Club

The Official Xbox Magazine is the first to review Grand Theft Auto IV, the mag will be released on to shelves on 18th April 2008 although subscribers are beginning to get there copies today.

“It says something that even at the end of a three-day session, with every island and a substantial chunk of the sidequests unlocked, I was still ploughing on because I wanted to see how the story ended. And I was still finding new stuff: the way a police klaxon goes strangled and gargley if you dent the light bar, the pedestrian who had the original GTA theme as their phone ringtone, the way that headshot drivers can fall on the horn and accelerator so you’re run over by a dead man…This sets the standard for what you should expect from a truly next-gen game. You owe it to yourself to play it.”

The magazine has also revealed the HUD, you'll remember we saw it in the Zoo Magazine a few weeks ago, this time we can see it more clearly.

The rest of the pages which include new screen shots. but you will have to buy a copy to look of course or look at the link below.

OXM's Verdict:

• Amazing Realistic World
• Stunning Set Pieces
• Genuinely Engrossing Storyline
• Hugely Entertaining Multiplayer
• Vast In Every Respect.

Official Xbox Magazine gave the game a rating of 10/10. So be sure to buy a copy.

Scans (9 total/high-quality):

Plus Two More Digital Screen shots

Source: OXM and GTAGaming (thanks to RAWRferal of GTAGaming for the scans).

Take-Two has announced that their next Stockholders Meeting will be available as a live webcast. It will only be an audio version, not video of the meeting and will not count as attendance (for those who are stockholders, legally you must be present for it to count). The meeting will be being held at the W Hotel Union Square in New York City.

Due to limitations on space, only stockholders who have proof of ownership will be allowed into the meeting. So remember your records!

Obviously the main point of the meeting will be the Electronics Arts bid and ongoing happenings between both Take-Two and EA. Two of the strongest stockholders, Oppenheimer Funds and FMR LLC both cut their holding in the company dramatically in late March showing disagreement with Take-Two's decision of not accepting EA's bid. Another topic may be Grand Theft Auto IV and it's release at the end of this month.

The Annual Stockholder Meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. EST on April 17th, the webcast will be accessible via ir.take2games.com.

Thanks Escapist Magazine.

An Illustrations company by the name of KUNOICHI is looking for some new talent at an upcoming comics convention in New York. NYCC, which stands for New York Comic Con, is a large comics convention behind held very soon. KUNOICHI does comics illustration, concept design, and packaging design for many well-known companies. Rockstar Games being one of them, pamphlet that was released is viewable to the right:

Leading developer of intellectual property, creative and interactive services announces talent search at New York Comic Con

Kunoichi, Inc., a leading provider of full intellectual property services proudly announces its 2008 Artdrop New York Comic Con Talent Search. Kunoichi, who has provided comics illustration, concept design, and packaging design for companies including Hasbro, Cartoon Network, Rockstar Games, Tenacious Games, Upper Deck, Hot Topic, and Wizards of the Coast, will be reviewing artwork samples at Booth #1551 during New York Comic Con April 18-20.

Art samples submitted can include comics pages, or character designs. Kunoichi is seeking talented artists in all styles, beyond comic books and into other entertainment mediums. All materials submitted should be labeled with your contact information.

To find out more about Kunoichi, please visit www.kunoichi.com.

We don't know much about KUNOICHI, not even what exactly they illustrate or have illustrated for Rockstar. As far as we know, the artwork and packaging on Rockstar games is created by Rockstar's in-house team. However, if you are talented with illustration, we erge you to put yourself forward and see how you go. Best of luck!

Source: ComicVine

Rockstar has just announced moments ago that they have acquired the brains behind the Xbox 360 port of Bully, Mad Doc Software. Personally, I was expecting this as this is the same thing that happened to Rockstar San Digeo and Rockstar Leeds. Also, keeping in line with the other studio's, Mad Doc Software will be renamed Rockstar New England. This brings the total of Rockstar's studios to 9. That includes Rockstar's dedicated QA studio, Lincoln. The press release is as follows:

Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today the formation of Rockstar New England through the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Andover, MA-based Mad Doc Software, one of the premier independent development studios in North America.

"The team at Mad Doc Software is extremely talented," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Bringing them within the Rockstar Games family will enhance our core technology and further support our commitment to creating progressive and innovative gaming experiences."

Established in 1999 by Dr. Ian Lane Davis, Mad Doc Software has led development on and provided contracting services for triple-A titles, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence and networking. The studio most recently worked with Rockstar Games on the Xbox 360 version of the critically acclaimed Bully: Scholarship Edition.

"To be a part of Rockstar Games is an amazing opportunity for everyone here," said Dr. Davis, Studio Head of the new Rockstar New England. "We're eager to bring our expertise to bear in the character-driven, open-world stories that make Rockstar Games titles so uniquely compelling."

About Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is a global developer, marketer, distributor and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360® and Xbox® video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, Wii™, Nintendo GameCube™, Nintendo DS™ and Game Boy® Advance. The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games, 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play, and distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary. Take-Two's common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at www.take2games.com.

Something not mentioned in the press release, Mad Doc's SpellWeaver, will most likely be published by Rockstar. Before the acquisition, Mad Doc was looking for a publisher for the game.

Press Release: Rockstar Games Acquires Mad Doc Software

EDIT: The official Mad Doc Software website has been changed. You can view the article here and a backup here.

When we predicted a possibility of Rockstar Launching Community-Centric Site at the start of this month we didn't expect to have it both announced and written about on the same day, only 2 weeks ahead. Today Rockstar announced their Community-Centric Site, called Social Club, which will make it's first deybue in Grand Theft Auto IV. Only hours later Yahoo compiled an article coving how using the Community Site will allow you to download music which can be played on your mobile in GTA IV.

Advertised throughout Liberty City, the cheekily-named "ZiT" technology is built into the game's mobile phone interface system. As players cruise around the world listening to the in-game radio, they can at any point 'mark' a song by opening their phone and dialing the number ZIT-555-0100. Gamers will then receive a text message with the song and artist names, and if they're registered at the forthcoming Rockstar Games Social Club community site, they'll find an e-mail waiting in their inbox with a direct link to a custom playlist on Amazon.com. All songs tagged "ZiT" will be stored here, available for preview and purchase at Amazon's going rate of $.89-$.99 per track. Best of all, those MP3s are free of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) limitations imposed on files downloaded through Apple's iTunes store and thus can be imported into any computer or digital device with no constraints.

We all know Music plays a large part of the Grand Theft Auto series, as well as gaming in general. With a soundtrack boosting over 200 songs, Grand Theft Auto IV has the attention of many record executives. Rockstar aren't just offering well-knowns either, most of the music in GTA IV as well as available for purchase through ZiT is music thats either unknown or was written exclusively for GTA IV.

None of those tracks, however, are accessible outside the game, and that's where GTA IV's model really takes off. Rockstar has boldly proclaimed that GTA IV's soundtrack is "the biggest in the history of entertainment," and with over 200 tracks, we're not prone to argue. In addition to high-profile tunes from popular artists, the developers are aiming for music geeks by handpicking rare, hard-to-find songs such as Electrick Funk's 12-inch treasure "On A Journey" and Elton John's "Street Kids" off his relatively unheralded Rock of the Westies. Some artists have even contributed brand new songs written exclusively for the game, including "Vagabond (Liberty City Mix)" by the Greenskeepers and "War is Necessary" from iconic rapper Nas.

So don't be planning on illegally downloading any of the tracks, you'd be wasting your time, and at $1 max. for one song, why on earth would you both? Your internet to complete your illegal download would cost more!

Source: Yahoo! Games

Remember a few weeks back when we reported that Rockstar was planning on launching a community centric site? Well Rockstar has just today announced "Social Club". The first game to use Social Club will be Grand Theft Auto IV. According to a press release, Social Club will provide these features.

• LCPD Police Blotter - A virtual map and tracker of single-player criminal activity logged in Liberty City from the aggregated data of millions of connected players - showing the most dangerous areas of town, most commonly used weapons and more.

   

• The Story Gang - This special single-player leaderboard recognizes players who complete Niko Bellic's main story arc of Grand Theft Auto IV - 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 widgets 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 an ultra-rare commemorative 'key to the city' to mark their accomplishment. In the future, 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.

Also, Social Club will provide leader boards. The press release goes onto say more stuff will be added after GTAIV's release. You'll be able to register on April 15th and the site will fully launch on the 29th along side Grand Theft Auto IV. Possible games for the future to use Social Club? We're predicting Midnight Club: Los Angeles and Beaterator (Music share anyone?) will be next but don't quote us on that as we might be dreaming too much.

Site: Rockstar Social Club