I think it's very interesting how rockstar limited the number of activities that Niko could do in GTA 4, such as not being able to go to the gym, get tattoos, haircut, etc. When you think about it from a high-level design perspective, this totally makes sense. Niko, being a former Russian soldier on a personal vendetta, would be quite strange indeed walking the streets of Algonquin with LC4L tattoos strewn upon his torso and biceps sporting an afro most sponges would be jealous of. It shows that a lot of detail went into the design of this game, and is not simply a features pile-on that other publishers are clearly capable of... *coughelectronicartscough*

That being said, I find that GTA 4 is simply more interesting than SA, hot coffee mod aside. It feels as if most of the fat has been cut away from the story narrative, and thus is more akin to the lean muscle of an acrobat as opposed to the bulky exterior of a weightlifting champion. SA, on the other hand, reminds me of one of those fat kids in elementary school that we picked on because they were fat, so in retaliation they picked on the smaller kids and stole their lunch money so they could eat their sorrows away and become even more fat.

so which one do you like fellas? you like the fat kid? I don't. And I'm allowed to say that too, because I was a monster back in my ol' elementary school dayz~

If I wanted a portable grind-fest I would have hired some midgets to dance around in my parachute pants~

EPIC FAIL

EA can't make a game with a story if their life depended on it.

And if the next bioware game that comes out isn't that good, you will all know why~

As a side note, I think EA has the ability to make a good game. However, EA simply doesn't cater to what I look for, and if anything, their specialty would be low-concept gaming. To be perfectly honest, EA could never make a game like Bioshock, and I think when some gamers consider how big EA is, they start to expect games of a higher concept, and that simply isn't happening.