OR I could say
" I have not played neither MKWii nor GTAIV"
I'm foreign so I'm excused.

Haha, I kid. ^_^
Thanks.

++

My exact opinion, not on GTA IV, but on GTA III many years ago. It was the game to talk about, the game you had to play (and enjoy) to be accepted by your -male- friends. And yet, I found it so boring that I would only take a random car, park it somewhere and listen continuously to Rise FM or Head Radio (If my memory serves me well). And I would feel so guilty not to enjoy my friends' passion. It seems like it has not changed.

I had initially no intention to buy it (GTA IV). Now that I have read that, I feel more confortable with my choice.

For Mario Kart Wii, I have not played it yet, so I can't give an opinion.

 I have totally attended GTA parties. Here's what you do:

Pick up the controller and steal a car. Proceed to do whatever you like with the car. Running cab missions, T-boning cop cars and trying to get some revolutions off a ramp are all excellent choices. But you can't get out of the car, and whatever you do, you're expected to do it recklessly.

When you're gunned down by a police chopper, ditch your car in the river, or just explode from using one too many walls to steer, you pass the controller to the next guy, who steals a car...

Doesn't sound as fun as drunken 8 player all cup tours of Double Dash or MKDS.

I just don't like... taking turns and watching stuff.

The GTA series has always been a single player game. Where's the party in that? Maybe talking about all the things that happen in the game after playing it, but during?

Most gamer houses have multiple TVs and consoles so if anyone insists on playing a single player game, they won't be playing it in the common area.

Having never finished a GTA game, but having bought them all, one would think I'd consider taking a pass at GTAIV. But then it dawned on me during a No More Heroes session that I was enjoying, despite the fairly wash, rinse and repeat formula of the game, that it was in effect, a scaled down version of a GTA game.

So the reason why I've never finished any GTA game has nothing to do with the open ended format (not that I ever finished Oblivion or Assassin's Creed either), but with the characters and story lines. Because if I don't particularly find myself caring about either, then about the most entertainment value I can get out any of those games is stealing cars and going on postal killing sprees, which gets really old, really fast.

What I'm hoping is that GTAIV will provide a story that pulls me in, in an interesting environment to explore, occupied by interesting characters that aren't just physical props. If so, then may it be the first GTA game I feel compelled to finish.

Typically these days, I gravitate towards games that pull me into world, either with compelling or at least colorful characters (NMH), or a developed plot line that keeps me in the story. But nobody plays video games to follow a story, right? Or how about, "When I want to watch a story I'll watch a movie." Well, I do that quite a bit as well considering I have about ten movies to every game I still have, which is well over a hundred if I ever get around to cataloging them.

Maybe this is why in general, I don't particularly enjoy any of the mainstay franchises of Nintendo the way I did back during the SNES days. There is generally very thin plot and virtually no character development. With the exception of the Metroid series. As much as I've enjoyed the Zelda series (Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time = Best), the stories always seem a bit rehashed. But then that's not why people like these games. As long as the game play elements remain intact, with evolutionary improvements, and the games remain fun, then the formula remains intact.

I do agree about GTA.

Haven't played Mario Kart, and i don't expect it to hold up the SNES or 64 do to the apparent battlemode changes.

I'll take MKWii anyday - for now anyway. There are children running around my house, and even younger ones available to pop in anytime - I'll be damned if they are getting exposed to GTA in *my* house.

Next few days are going to polarise the gaming community like never before - its going to be fascinating.

(naznatips - I'm with you completely, as I am with Penny Arcade) 

I think Penny Arcade opinion is worth much more than any of yours lame opinions (kartboys and GTAboys). Really, they were the only ones who said that the original Halo was shit. All that said, I never enjoyed a single Mario Kart game and GTA bored me to tears.