For those who haven't heard Ubisoft has taken Conviction back the "drawing board" even this late in its development cycle. This for me comes with a bit of disappointment, but also allows me to breath a sigh of relief. After what Double Agent brought to the table I was really quite unsure about Conviction. Hopefully this extra development time will allow them to create a product above and beyond what Chaos Theory was. Ubisoft says this could push the game to 2009 possibly even 2010(yeesh, they must really not be pleased with its current state).

Either way this extra time can do nothing but make the game better. I hope they take advantage of it and make something for new people and fans of the series. On a side note... INCLUDE CO-OP!! Those spy missions on Chaos Theory were some of my funnest moments on xbox live.

I've gotten about 21 hours into GTA IV. I'd have to say so far I've enjoyed it quite a bit.

There's a few things that caught my eye right from the start. First, most cars handle like all your power steering was drained and your brake lines were cut. This was annoying to say the least at first. I've started to get the hang of it. Like others have said it is a bit more realistic than all the other GTA games out there in a lot of way not just the driving. The one thing I'd like to see though is how fast I'm supposed to be going. I swear that I'm going like 20 and i can't make a 90 degree turn. Which is ridiculous because if my Hyundai can, any old jalopy should.

Beside the steering troubles, I've enjoyed all the aspects of the game so far. Most the characters are unique and like-able. The stories decent though a little convoluted at points. The graphics are pretty nice. Looking across the city scape onto the ocean into the sunset from the top of the Statue of Liberty, eh I mean Statue of Happiness is something to behold. I do enjoy the new physics though despite the few earlier mentioned setbacks. It never gets tiring watching bodies flop and flail around your car as you plow down a busy street sidewalk. (or watching my body fly though my windshield in a head on collision, come on Niko BUCKLE UP FOR SAFETY! :P)

I can look past any of the little flaws with the game though because it is quite enjoyable. I don't think it was worth the 10 it received but its close enough to one for me to not care.

That's it for now. I had some more on the excess of a few things in the game but I'll save that for another discussion.