I moved to San Francisco 3 years ago with a buddy of mine. The first thing we said when we entered SF was, "Holy Shit that's the tower from San Andreas".
Here's what it is [en.wikipedia.org]

It was pretty surreal, but that was more probably due to the moving west rush we had or we were probably stoned.

Molbork

I got 4 Darkrais... Darkraii?

thegreatseal

Rockstar deservers much merit. New York has alwasy been more then a city, its part of your imagination due to its role in movies (Escape from New York, Day After Tomorrow, Cloverfiled, I am Legend, and so many more...) , it's only natural that it now becomes our very own playground.

Shiryu

@LittleBigPlaneteer: i agree, i love chinatown, i got my first anime subs on VHS,real freaking dumplings,great arcade, (Chinatown Fair),import DBZ cards,and my first of many gundam model kits, yes... i heart Chinatown, Times square has nothing on it. {^_^}

zanzibarlegend

yeah i was downtown this week and my girlfriend pointed out the gigantic gta iv billboard another wierd thing we noticed the bar we went to after the show was playing rockband / guitar hero songs only .... WOAH

colineff

I'm always annoyed when I play GTA4 that they chopped Broadway off right where the building I work at would be just above Times Square. (They actually chopped about 4 miles worth of Manhattan out above Times Square.)

Rockstar's own offices are on Broadway too, but they're not in the game either.

badasscat

I hate going to Times Sq when I need to go to the music shops. Bunch of tourists acting like they never seen buildings with lights before.

y2julio

Walking through real life Manhattan every day is a little weird now since playing GTA.
The other day, I was walking down 6th avenue. There were not many cars on the street for some reason, and then a hot rod with a flame job came around the corner, followed by a Porsche. I thought to myself, "those would be pretty cool to hop into right now." And then about 30 seconds later, I heard sirens (not an uncommon occurrence in NYC) and I couldn't help but think to myself, if only for a second "Oh no the cops are coming after me!"

suburbancowboy

I was in San Fransisco with family after SA came out and I was able to get a better feel on where i was in the city because the landmarks are all in the same location as in the game.

Ra is on Three's Company!

After living in New York for a few years, I can safely say that GTA4 captures the feeling of being in the city better than any other media ever, including any other film or game. It's pretty remarkable just how similar it is.

RFX

I see Niko's face getting on and off the subway...EVERY DAY. ;_;

Kanik

Well...there's one on a bus stop outside the Tesco near me...

Ryumeka

I think the only other game that might give me a surreal feeling like that is The Getaway. I don't think it's an exact replica of London, but most of the streets,and landmarks are nearly the same. I can't wait to see more footage from the next installment.

LittleBigPlaneteer

I went through this in reverse with San Andreas. I hadn't played in a while (since before moving to SF) and then as I went into the game again I started noticing landmarks that I lived near. I actually found the place I stayed a while ago but unfortunately where I currently live is not properly mapped into San Fierro.

DaveKap

I lived a block up from Hollywood Blvd. when SA came out. Sadly, they chopped up the L.A. area so much that nothing really looked the same. At least now I can look forward to visiting Liber... I mean New York.

shaker28

That's...yeah. I haven't been as immersed in a game so heavily for years (MAYBE Bioshock, but..) as I am still in GTA IV. It truly amazes me.

mackincheese

I love this city so much. Times Square is so much nicer than it used to be too. A lot cleaner, less sleazy, etc...One of the few places that hasn't changed in NYC is Chinatown, and I don't mind that either.

LittleBigPlaneteer

Yup. Went through is with San Andreas. L.A., S.F. & Vegas were all sort of the same but much much more spread out in the real world

PENI_MASTA

If only we could get those in the Midwest...

TwinkyC

Wow! Very nice indeed. I wonder if they made a game where you're tortured in a dentist's chair, would it make you cringe more going to the dentist?

Or other similar parallels...

excaliburps

No, we did not.

NKato

yes. Also I was up in San Francisco this weekend. There were 3 full size ads of Nico in all his goodness(badness), and one of the 6 fingered girl.

So much awesome.

NerD!!!

Darkrai is everyting I have ever wanted in a Pokemon and so much more!

jarjarwang

I always thought the six-finger-lollipop-girl was a sly Warhol reference.

Off topic: could anyone explain why I'm not allowed to close my img tags 'round these parts?

JustThisGuy

Maybe because I've lived in NY for so long but I still don't get the big facination with Manhattan. It's cool that GTA IV looks alot of NY but it still smells like piss, vomit and horse shit and I've only just described 5th and Madison where people pay big bucks to live there!

ichiban1081

Why yes, I did get a Darkrai, thanks for asking. :)

Morte

@TwinkyC: Yeah, I think the closest we'll ever get is Driver 2.

bangbangblah

the first time i 'visited' manhattan was in Midnight Club (PS2 launch title)

MakeFragNotWar

ACH!!! I spend way too much time reading gaming sites and I didn't even hear about this event until it was over! I'm pathetically disappointed. U.S. pokemon events are just so rare...

Methusalah

Lol. I get a laugh passing the Statue of Happi...erm, Liberty in the morning commute..I tend to look up at it and see where the coffee cup should go...
This is the "extra" thing that puts this game over the top in my opinion..The attention to detail that has been completely distorted and converted for this game..

heretrix

I epic-failed the previous comment

@TwinkyC: Try Saints Row. Some major streets and most of Wicker Park were put into the game because the studio is based in Chicago.

AppleTamer

@TwinkyC: @

@bangbangblah: Chicago was the first stage, and I never had a reason to go onto the next city because it felt so cool. Going to Wrigley Field, jumping the bridge, clipping errors and awkward controls, it replicated the city perfectly.

AppleTamer

The problem with playing GTAIV while living in New York City is that when you hear a police siren, it always takes more than a few seconds to discern whether the siren is coming from the game or the streets outside.

But I had that exact same moment of deja vu when I went to the Times Square Toys R Us on Saturday, and I saw that same ad with Niko, and to top everything else, I envisioned myself walking like Niko as I crossed the square to get to the store. So maybe I'm just crazy.

WildKnightblazer

Never been to NYC in person, but after wallowing in GTAIV for awhile, I randomly came across some photos of Times Square on the net, and I seriously felt a moment of deja vu. Truly awesome stuff.

ShaggE

I did indeed get a Darkrai...

Kuroomu

So, since these are pretty accurate, has anyone gone to the places where stores/houses are in game? Can you find Niko's Safehouses in the real-life NYC?

Xeneizes

Funnily enough, I visited New York City yesterday, too. I even took a picture of the Niko ad on my cameraphone.

It's really incredible how accurate they got Star Junction down. A shame they had to downsize a lot of Manhattan (and the other boroughs) for GTA4, as I think it would've been epic to be able to represent the city in a to-scale version in-game.

darthonyx

The second day after this game came out I was in the multiplayer lobby with a couple of friends from NY (I haven't been there since 1999, but I did stand at the top of WTC at that time.) Anyway, one of my friend's was an awesome GTA heli pilot and he gave us the grand tour of liberty city. It was really very cool. It was the moment that we arrived at the tittie bar that I realized how lame it was that things weren't "active" in the game lobby so that we could all get a lap dance together or go to the pub an play darts together.

robinandtami

Darkrai got! :D

frank0127

Nope, it wasn't as detailed in San Andreas, as in GTAIV.

zerokoolpsx

@TwinkyC: Yeah really: GTA: Wisconsin

symeon6

I'll bite: Vice City replicates the alleys and clubs near South Beach in Miami really, really well. Just so you all know.

The Chompman

@Apoch: no, see the sheep are there to replenish your health.

blakbuzzrd

@symeon6: Would one of the missions be tipping cows without being caught by Farmer Ben? Would you have to steal sheep from 13 different farms without being caught? What would you hijack, tractors?

Apoch

@Apoch: steal a cop car so you can intercept a delivery of foam cheeseheads.

robinandtami

I got my Darkrai! Thanks, Kotaku!

ryoshi

i forgot my darkrai. will try nintendo store. i live in nyc and while playing gta4 i saw that rockstar added the buildings that i live in. in the game there are only 3 towers but its actually 4. They are called taino towers

[www.flickr.com]

resetbutton

General rule of thumb. If you like Time Square, you either are visiting NYC, or haven't lived there long enough yet. Once I get the game I can imagine the rage building up just walking through that part of hte city even virtually.

YCS

YCS

Unfortunately, San Andreas didn't pay nearly as much attention to detail as GTA4. Although I've lived and explored the real California to a major extent, San Andreas just didn't really trigger any memories of the real places.

Now, what if they put those GTA4 billboards IN GTA4? I think my head might explode.

Flyerfye