Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about gaming, television, and entertainment’s effect on education and how the importance of school has to be emphasized at a recent stop in Indianapolis. He specifically made reference to Grand Theft Auto IV (you may have heard of it), although he talked about games in general as well:

“I was just catching the news this morning about Grand Theft Auto, alright, this video game, which is gonna break all records, and make goo-gobs of money for whoever designed it. Now, this isn’t intended for kids, I understand, although I promise you there will be kids who are playing it. But, those video games are raising our kids.

“It just reminded me, video culture, TV culture - across the board - middle class, upper class, working class kids, they’re spending a huge amount of time, not on their studies, but on entertainment.

“And so part of our job is gonna have to be to inspire the entire country to say how are we giving our kids a thirst for knowledge, and turning off the TV set, and getting them to be engaged and interested and really feel… that their future really does matter on how well they do in school.”

It’s true that a lot of parents try and let games and entertainment raise their kids instead of doing it themselves, and I don’t think it’s an attack on video games as much as Obama saying games shouldn’t detract from things like education. Michelle Obama, his wife, also clarified that this applied to “not just one specific game.”

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The PAL version of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 supposedly leaked earlier today, and has shown up on torrent sites across the internet as a 6471 MB (6.32 GB if you don’t like big numbers) file released by iCON. The NFO file warns not to connect to Xbox Live until the game is released to the masses (three full times in ALL CAPS, so you better heed the warning), and even encourages people to buy the game anyway since “R* deserves it.”

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If the above picture (spotted on Digg) is to be believed, someone has gotten a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV ahead of its scheduled April 29 release. It was rumored that someone had a copy in March when a video showed the case and intro, but 1UP believed it was fake.

There is also more reliable proof someone has GTA IV already, since Powderblue Kes’ 360voice.com blog shows that he played it April 9 after 28 days with nothing played. As is usual when a game suddenly appears early, there are plenty of questions; did Powderblue Kes take a picture of his disc, or are there multiple copies out there? Did they (or he or she) get it for review, or because they work at Rockstar, or because a store sold it early, or by more nefarious means? How long until someone who has it leaks it to the internet? And how did the Xbox 360 pictured get that mustache?

Rockstar has just released the final trailer for the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, titled “Everyone’s a Rat.” It shows a lot more varied locales and vehicles than previous trailers, and I’d wager that all of the graphics are in-engine. This is going to be one good looking game. The game hits stores on April 29 for the 360 and PS3.

[UPDATE: 1UP has already posted their frame-by-frame analysis. Hit the jump for the video]
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Following the recently unsuccessful bid by EA to buy all outstanding shares of Take-Two’s stock at $26 a share, the company has received offers from a few third-party companies that are now interested. However, you can rest assured that there won’t be any buying or selling of Take-Two stock until after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV at the end of April.

According the chairman of Take-Two Strauss Zelnick, “Our Board, after careful review, has unanimously determined that Electronic Arts’ offer continues to provide insufficient value and remains opportunistically timed to capture the value of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV launch at the expense of our stockholders.”

To put it bluntly, screw you and the horse you rode in on EA, after GTA4 comes out, you can’t afford us!

Zelnick continues his verbal pwnage, “We are effectively working toward a process to review all available options to maximize this value, either as an independent company or in combination with a third party, and are open to beginning informal discussions starting now. Our stockholders’ interests would hardly be served by accepting an offer from EA at the wrong price and the wrong time.”

So in short, it doesn’t look like EA planned on their offer to buy Take-Two backfiring as much as it did. Fortunately the shareholders of Take-Two are smart enough to realize that the release of GTA4 is going to make the stock surge as long as there isn’t any “hot coffee” included.

Update: 1Up has some doubts as to whether or not this video is real or phoney. The site says:

“But after polling a few folks in the know across the industry — none of whom, unfortunately, were keen on attribution — we’re not believing our eyes. It all comes down to the branding. In the video, a logo for Rockstar parent company Take-Two pops up before the Rockstar Games logo. But Take-Two does not publish the GTA games; Rockstar Games publishes them. Take-Two confirmed to 1UP that it is not suddenly taking publishing credit for GTA IV. A real GTA game, or any Rockstar Games intro for that matter, starts with the R* logo for the studio, followed by the classic yellow R* logo.”

Not officially fake, but it really looks like it is. If it IS totally real, I’m disappointed in the boring and non-GTA-traditional intro.

Original: Someone seems to have leaked this video onto GameVideos. It showcases the PlayStation 3’s intro to the upcoming and highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, while also showing off the fact that someone already has the game in their hands right now. April 29th couldn’t come any slower…

If you happened to pick up this month’s issue of popular gaming magazine and Microsoft fanboy required reading, OXM, I’m sure that you did so based on their exclusive coverage of Bethesda’s upcoming massive RPG, Fallout 3. And, if you so happened to purchase the magazine (or receive it free due to a GameFly subscription that you happened to cancel months ago), I’m sure that you noticed the picture of a certain Fallout 3 town on page 45. The town, constructed solely out of scattered parts of a “downed airliner,” is aptly named Megaton.

I realize what you’re thinking; this is just some subtle coincidence. Megaton is a fairly common word that has everything to do with nuclear holocausts and whatnot. However, based on our love for Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and our controversial hate for Southpeak’s Oblivion-clone, Two Worlds, I cannot dismiss Bethesda’s inclusion of a town named Megaton as anything less than a tribute to our great and powerful site, MEGATONik. Yes, Bethesda loves us, and we love them back. So … how about a complimentary flight out to Cali to celebrate our love of Bethesda with an early look at Fallout 3? Pretty please?

And Rockstar, remember that time when we loved you? Naming a burrough of Liberty City after MEGATONik (I’d call it MegaSKANKik) would fit quite nicely, I do believe.

This morning, EA announced that it has proposed a deal with Take-Two shareholders to purchase the company. In the deal, Take-Two, publishers of titles such as the Grand Theft Auto series, Bioshock, and Bully, would be bought for $2 billion.

The deal was proposed last week to Take-Two’s Executive Chairman of Board of Directors, Strauss Zelnick. It was then publicly released so that all Take-Two shareholders would be well aware of the deal. EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello made sure that they would need Take-Two’s immediate action, which is most likely because of the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV releasing April 29. Riccitiello mentioned in his statement, “There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today.”

Take-Two has responded to the deal by saying it will be discussing the deal with EA, and has also released a statement:

“We believe EA’s unsolicited offer is highly opportunistic and is attempting to take advantage of our upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most valuable and durable franchises in the industry. Furthermore, the offer values the company at a significant discount to its public peers and does not compensate Take-Two for its intrinsic value and the substantial synergies that the proposed combination would create.”

Take-Two has also stated that the proposal was “inadequate in multiple respects and not in the best interests of Take-Two’s stockholders.” In addition, a full press release has been released to explain why Take-Two does not accept EA’s deal.

Rockstar Games has launched their new Grand Theft Auto IV website, and it’s full of content like a map, tons of screens, and “much much more” promised in the months ahead (like that teasing Multiplayer link that says only “Coming Soon” when you try to click it). To save you the trouble, I’ve included all 63 screenshots from the site here, in full 1280×720 resolution. The screens are certainly looking good, with crisp graphics and plenty of attention to detail (especially in the background), although there is a suspicious lack of hookers. Go ahead and check them out below and if you want to see everything else head on over to Rockstar’s site.

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Here it is. The new trailer for GTA IV, Jack Thompson’s orgasm. The city is looking more detailed than ever, though some people look plasticky (it’s totally a word). Now we just need a release date and we’ll be all set.