Report: GTAIV designer 'limited' by HDD-less 360s

After last month's Game Informer revealed that the GTAIV shown during the teaser was for the 360 version, fans of Microsoft's console were visibly gloating. However, now it looks like the PlayStation 3 side may be getting some of its own ammo, courtesy of a recent interview in the UK version of Official PlayStation Magazine republished by its online collaborator, Computer & Video Games.

According to C&VG, the OPM UK interview was with none other than Dan Houser, founder and chief creative officer of Rockstar North, GTAIV's developer. When asked if the fact that, along with the greater storage capacity of the PS3's Blu-ray discs, the Xbox 360's lack of a built-in hard drive--which is absent from the basic $299 Core model--presented limitations to the studio's design team, Houser reportedly gave a blunt one-word answer: "Yep."

Houser's response sparked a firestorm in games forums, as it was often represented as a blanket attack on the 360. However, the famed designer's monosyllabic response was just part of a series of remarks he made vaguely outlining each platform's high and low points. "Both have their own particular pleasures and pains...[and] both have enormous challenges," Houser told the magazine. "To be honest with you, we haven't solved all those riddles yet." As of press time, Rockstar reps had not commented on requests to comment on Houser's comments.

Luckily, Houser still has a fair amount of time to solve those riddles: Grand Theft Auto IV is due out in North America on October 16, with a UK and European release to follow three days later.