Rockstar: GTA IV’s Niko Bellic could have had a portable music player

Perhaps Niko Bellic should have entered espionage, maybe then he’d get an iPod. Apparently, Niko was supposed to get a portable music player, but Rockstar cut the idea in the late stages of Grand Theft Auto IV’s development. Story in the full article.

 

True to tradition, Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) featured a great soundtrack that you can listen to when tuning in on the game’s radio stations. However, Rockstar Games reveals that Niko Bellic could have had his very own music player, scrapping the need to get into a car just to listen to some tunes.

Perhaps Niko should have entered espionage, maybe then he’d get an iPod like Solid Snake. Apparently, Niko’s cell phone could play music straight from the game’s radio stations until late into the game’s development stages. Edge magazine even mentioned the feature before the game was released.

So why did Rockstar Games choose to chuck it? Well, they didn’t explain it in detail, but here’s what they did say about it:

Some people on the team didnÂ’t like the music/mobile phone idea for various reasons, but they went back and forth on the idea until the very end. This is VERY common. We do it in every game we make. We still prefer the balance of music in car and the ambient worldÂ’s noise on foot, but we are constantly reviewing this stuff.

I’d say they made the right choice, but I’m a traditionalist, and perhaps the developers are too. What do you guys think?

Buy: [Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3)
Buy: [Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360)]

Via MTV