According to a report from newspaper La Vanguardia, by way of GamePolitics and Google's Spanish to English translator, Spain's cabbies are calling for a ban on Grand Theft Auto — Grand Theft Auto IV, we presume. After a Thai teenager was arrested on suspicion of murdering a taxi driver, claiming to have been inspired by GTA, the game was pulled from shelves in Thailand.

Now, Josep Maria Goñi, secretary general of the Catalan Taxi Federation, is asking the Spanish government to do the same, citing the Thai murder case.

We're going to make an arse out of ourselves and assume that Mr. Goñi knows as much as the Grand Theft Auto series as just about everyone else in his position and hope that cabbie murder hysteria blows over before it gives the series a bad rap. We can't have our games being scapegoated for society's ills, now. What a horrible precedent that would set.

Spanish Cabbies Want GTA Banned in Wake of Thai Taxi Murder [Game Politics]

Metal Gear Solid 4 has launched pretty much everywhere. Well, everywhere save for Spain. The game hasn't yet launched there because of a transportation strike against the high price of gasoline. Konami Europe isn't able to get the game to stores. Here's the statement from Konami Europe:

Konami Digital Entertainment Spain regrets to info of possible delays, through no fault of the company, may occur in the distribution of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PLAYSTATION 3 in the coming days.

Although the official launch globally is June 12, 2008, the product will be unavailable this week in Spain due to the transport strike.

In the continuing effort to maintain the best gaming experience for our users, Konami Digital Entertainment deeply regrets that this contingency affect the date of launch of a long-awaited title.

Will be informed shortly of the date on which the product will be available in our country.

Bummer that the launch had to be pushed back due to a transport strike. The price of gas isn't anything to be happy about, either.

Comunicado sobre la fecha de lanzamiento de Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots [Konami Thanks, Lauren!] [Pic]

Now to be honest, the latest game sales charts out of Europe show Funcom's PC MMO Age of Conan beating out Grand Theft Auto IV in only two of three countries charted, the odd country out is Spain, which - no offence to our Spanish readers - is the European country I forget exists nine times out of ten. Face it, you guys are quiet over there. You and Portugal, just kicking back on the beach, playing Wii Play and Mario Kart.

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Sure, why not. Two new DS colour schemes have been spotted on a couple of Spanish retail sites, one a deep shade of red, the other a very fetching, very tropical shade of lime green that looks refreshing enough to throw in a glass and stick an umbrella on top. I know, the picture quality on the site is awful, so these are far from being officially confirmed, but one of them is the website of GAME, only the world's second-largest specialist gaming retailer, so we can't totally discount them. Guess we'll know the truth as we get closer to June 13, which is the supposed release date for the pair.

Nintendo DS Lite Verde [GAME, via Leonsito @ NeoGAF]

Do you like mystery and intrigue? Excellent. Read on. Konami have announced a partnership with developers Mercury Steam (Jericho), whereby the Spaniards will develop a 360 and PS3 game for the Japanese publisher. What's the game about? No idea. It's all a big mystery, you see, but it's refreshing to see a Japanese publisher taking not just the Western, but European market, a little more seriously than is the norm. Press release follows after a couple of San Miguels and short afternoon nap.

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One of Resident Evil 4's more memorable locations was the spooky church atop that rain-soaked hill, where you have to get snappy with an exploding barrel and some angry dogs. If it's so memorable you'd like to actually spend some time there, the good news ship is in: it's a real hotel. Where you can stay (Brian from Giz shacked up in there last night). Well, it looks like the real church, anyways. It's not licensed by Capcom or anything, but it is in Spain, and it does look spooky as hell. Let's just hope you don't have to complete some crummy rotating disc puzzle every time you want to get into your room.
Zombie Hotels in Spain [Gizmodo]

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Nothing quite cruising the virtual expressway in this Mario mobile. This "Beep Beep Mario" from Japan was spotted in Madrid by Spanish blog ion lithium. Pretty sure it's just one of those feed-a-coin-watch-the-screen-and-turn-the-wheel dealios. Doesn't make it any less magical! Especially if you are a pre-schooler.
Super Mario World [ion lithium]

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Spanish football powerhouse Real Madrid have signed a deal with Virgin Play, who will now be developing three "properties" for the club, spread over consoles, mobiles and online. This marks a return to the specialist football arena for Real Madrid, who last featured in an exclusive title during Codemaster's ill-advised "Club Football" series on the PC and last-gen consoles. Anyone left wondering why they're commissioning a move like this need only read the following:

...the three properties offer brands the opportunity to be integrated within each game, not only through product placement but also with plot integration - enabling players to have a more realistic gaming experience and brands to get closer to a targeted audience.

Hey Spanish speaking gamers! Uncharted developer Naughty Dog has some words for you. In-game, there's this Easter Egg message: "Si usted está leyendo esta piedra sepulcral usted es un nerd enorme. Consiga por favour una vida y consiga una novia." Reader Jimfear does the translating:

If you are reading this grave, you're a huge nerd. Please get a life and a girlfriend.

We always thought Spain celebrated Christmas with presents, then lunch, then an afternoon nap, followed by a late dinner then some boozing. Boy were we wrong. They actually celebrate with enormous, animated Pac-Man Christmas trees! This is sitting in downtown Madrid, is made up of thousands of LEDs, Pac-Man actually moves and, really, it's just the best damn Christmas tree ever.

[TechnaBob, thanks Kdawg!]