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AU Shippin' Out December 1-5: Grand Theft Auto IV PC

Get ready to break the law on the mean streets of Liberty City, solve puzzles to save the world, and reunite with some old animal friends with this week's Aussie game releases.

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Christmas is just a few weeks away, but the big games keep rolling out in Australia. Heading up this week's releases is the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC. Taking advantage of the PC platform, GTAIV is brighter, sharper, and more vibrant. Designed to look and play well on both top-end hardware as well as older machines, Rockstar has spent time improving the texture and detail of objects, as well as making it possible for players to change lighting and traffic density as they move through the game. But perhaps the most exciting thing about GTAIV on the PC is the in-game movie editor. The game automatically buffers between 30 seconds and three minutes of recent game data, which players can save as a file for later editing. Translation: Do something cool, edit it later on.

This week also marks the return of an old favourite. The new Prince of Persia game will be the hero's first run on current-generation hardware. In terms of gameplay, old fans will not be disappointed: the action adventure game will still see the Prince jumping and flipping to overcome obstacles and solve puzzles with his beautiful companion Elika, who helps the Prince out of tight spots and leads him on a quest to save the world from an evil black goo. The partly open-ended structure of the game allows players to take their time through each area and choose at will where they want to go next.

If routine, structure, and amusing animals are your thing, then this week holds something in store for you, too: the coming of Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City on the Wii. Along with all the exciting activities that we know and love from the previous games (fishing, fruit picking, shopping, paying off houses, and working for the man), the new Animal Crossing game introduces an exciting online component that lets you and your friends interact and visit each other's towns. You can chat online via the included Wii Speak microphone, which adds that extra element of reality to a game that is all about, well, reality (except for the talking animals, of course). If this doesn't sound like your cup of tea, then check out what other new releases you can sink your teeth into this week.

December 3, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV (PC)
Rapala Fishing Frenzy Bundle (Wii)
Kung Fu Panda Legendary Warrior (Wii, DS)

December 4, 2008
Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City (Wii)
Bolt (PS3, PS2, X360)
Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3 (PS3)
Disney Think Fast (PS2)
Prince of Persia (PS3, X360)
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King (DS)
Shaun White Snowboarding (PC, PS2)
Buzz! Quiz TV Deluxe Edition (PS3)
Buzz! Brain Bender (PSP)

December 5, 2008
Freddi Fish in Kelp Seed Mystery (Wii)
Monster Lab (Wii, DS)
Spy Fox in Dry Cereal (Wii)
Dragon Ball Origins (DS)
Pony Friends: Mini Breed (DS)

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