Los Angeles - The latest episode of the hit dystopian video game Grand Theft Auto was set to debut Tuesday in US stores to rave assessments from reviewers and predictions that it would become the most successful game launch in history. Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA4) is the latest chapter in the underworld adventures of an Eastern European gangster named Niko Bellic on the streets of Liberty City, a semi-fictional metropolis modeled closely on New York. Past versions were immensely popular but came in for strong criticism because of their violence, profanity, sexual content and supposed glorification of the gangster lifestyle.
The current incarnation has thus far avoided any similar controversies, probably only because game publisher Take Two Interactive Software has largely kept the game under wraps and has not released any pre-sale copies or launched a massive advertising campaign.
Despite the low-key release, analysts expect the game to beat the recent record set by Microsoft's Halo 3, which earned some 300 million dollars in its first week in stores in October.
With GTA4 available for both the Microsoft Xbox 360 console and Sony's Playstation 3, the estimates for its first-week sales are 360 million to 400 million dollars.
The 11-year-old franchise has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide. Each installment has outsold the last, and the latest entry is widely expected to top Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which has sold more than 14 million copies since its launch in 2004.
By the end of the year, most estimates put the 60-dollar game's receipts at around 1 billion dollars - giving a boost to Take Two's efforts to resist a 2-billion-dollar hostile takeover bid from industry giant Electronic Arts Inc.
Early reviews of the game are likely to add to its attraction.
"As a fan, my expectations were exceeded," said Ricardo Torres, editor of GameSpot, a game review site.
"It's what GTA was always meant to be, but couldn't be because of the technical limitations of the previous consoles. With the current hardware, they have a canvas that lets them paint whatever they want. The city, which used to be just a background for the game, has so much detail that it feels alive. The level of immersion is crazy."
New York Times reviewer Seth Schiesel went even deeper: "The game sets a new standard for what is possible in interactive arts. Grand Theft Auto IV is a violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun."
