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Every time I play a new GTA game I think it's my new favorite one, so I think I just like them all a lot for different reasons. But 4 is really special. That pool mini-game is insane.

If the lady's hobby is taking pictures of trash I'd feel insulted if she takes picture of me.  11:21

NYC only having a single public bathroom is one of the most accurate parts of GTA IV.

"I ended up taking the wrong train" MAN, GTA 4 is more realistic than I realized!

My fav NPC interaction I've ever had in this game was I was once using a crosswalk and nearly got hit by a car. An NPC nearby triggered the like. Scream and run away behaviour, but didn't start running or playing any panicked animations. Just standing there by the light screaming. Nonstop. I stood there with him for a few minutes. He just stopped moving unlike all the rest of the pedestrians and kept screaming. Hope that guy's doing okay these days. Hope he got the help he needed.

17:05 - i had this realization a few years back: the concept of "Stealth" in a Video Game, is the game knowing EXACTLY where you are, but PRETENDING that it doesnt...if the game truly 'didnt know' where the player was, then it wouldnt render correctly-- youd get WrongWarped to some other location, or youd see a flat-color void of Out-Of-Bounds, or whatever other glitches happen when Character Coordinates return "Value Not Found"...but if youre sneaking by a guard by ducking behind a partition and crouch-walking after him, the game has to ACT LIKE youre actually "hidden", even though a 'real person' would easily be able to spot some jackass trying to creep around with bad posture...

A small detail I really love about GTA 4 is that when you look up, the FOV changes and sort of zooms out, making the buildings seem kinda elongated and bigger than they are. It really makes the city feel huge, foreign and oppressive and it makes you feel like Niko, an outsider intimidated by this huge, strange, foreign city/culture.

My favourite part of GTA 4 is how in hindsight it feels like the closest thing to being able to physically go back in time and spend a day walking around a city in 2008.
The world of 20 years ago almost feels like a foreign place compared to the world of today, but anybody who was alive in the 2000s will probably have some level of Deja Vu at some point while playing this game. And I just think that’s cool, it’s like I get to relive my childhood in two different ways when I play this game.

Depressing Dump: * exists *
AnyAustin: I love this

I remember taking a subway to the Star Junction (Times Square) in the evening. Getting of the train, making your way through the crowded station while hearing announcements in the background, finding the clearly marked exit and casualy walking upstairs to the street level with a guy playing saxophone in front of a busy Bean Machine (Starbucks), street artists drawing portraits, lights and signs everywhere, yellow cabs idling in a traffic jam... heck you could almost smell the hot dog stand.
One of the most immersive video game moments for sure. It hasn't felt forced or staged, just (sur)real.

27:38 THIS, this is why rockstar’s titles are more immersive than a company like Ubisoft’s. Ubisoft would either throw a marker or some sort of collectible in every corner of the map to make you go there, and it just doesn’t ever feel like you’re discovering anything new yourself. Whereas rockstar will put shit in the game, not say anything and let you find it yourself. That’s why people keep finding new things in their games years later

fun fact: every time you say "developers" in a mirror three times, Rockstar fires 34 employees

Fun fact: If you tip the saxophone player three times, you will get a unique ringtone. And these saxophone buskers are voiced by Walter Houser, the father of Dan and Sam Houser.

Did you know that the saxophone guy is the father of the both founders of rockstar Walter houser.
He is actually playing the saxophone.

One small detail I really like about GTA 4 is that when you look up, the FOV changes and zooms out, making the buildings appear elongated and larger than they are. It truly makes the city feel enormous, foreign, and oppressive, and it makes you feel like Niko, an outsider intimidated by this massive, strange, foreign city/culture.

24:07 I genuinely hurt my chest from laughing so hard. The idea of the cab driver getting angry and rear-ending someone, then the person behind them having the same idea, and the cab driver being like "what the fuck's this guy's problem!" And then slamming back into them in reverse. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I really like your mindset about the storefronts being moments in time

I was a sheltered child that was never allowed to play GTA, but my sister randomly bought this game for me when I was in college. I don’t really remember what I was expecting, but it blew my mind. I don’t think I’d ever felt so immersed by any piece of entertainment. Now I find myself slowly strolling around in other open world games, doing nothing but watching time pass.

The taxi driver crashed 3 cars just to get a $39 fare at 1 am.

One of my favorite parts of GTAIV is just sitting in your apartment watching television...it was so mundane but so weirdly immersive.