GTA: IV delayed?!? NOOOOO!!!

Today I had planned on writing about 3 games you absolutely, positively should be playing right now (NCAA 08, The Bigs, The Darkness) while waiting for the next big release but today's news hit me like a football in the groin.
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This afternoon Take-Two, Rockstar's daddy, announced in its financial update that GTA: IV has been (sniff, sniff) delayed. Originally scheduled for an October 2007 release the game has been pushed back to second quarter 2008, which means sometime between February and April. Gaaah!!!
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Here's Strauss Zelnick's (Chairman of Take-Two) lame excuse for the delay.
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"With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar is setting a new standard for next generation video games. Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms. We all recognize that perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait. We owe it to the game's millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology."
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Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games threw in his two cents as well.
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"The new consoles are allowing us to create the Grand Theft Auto game we always dreamed about. Every aspect of the game and its design has been completely transformed. The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits. The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms. As always, our goal is to surpass even the wildest expectations of the game's fans, and to create the ultimate high definition video game experience."
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Yeah, yeah...whatever! Thanks for ruining my winter! This kills every weekend I had planned - Saturday playing GTA: IV all day, Sunday watching football all day. Now what am I going to do on Saturday?!? Watch college football? Spend time with my kids? I don't think so. Oh sure, I could play Madden, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Rock Band, Warhawk or one of the other great games that are coming out this year but its just not the same. GTA: IV was THE game I was looking forward to and now I have to wait an additional 4-6 months than I was counting on. For shame, Take-Two! For shame!
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