About a week ago, we put up some Game Informer scans which contained new information about the much-awaited PS3 and Xbox 360 game, Grand Theft Auto 4. Among the details that were discussed in those scans was why the new Liberty City which will be the venue in the game, will be based on a carbon copy of New York City.

Well, for those who are still doubting that the new Liberty City is REALLY directly based on the Big Apple, then check out what Google Maps has got to say about that. Basically, some kind soul has taken the map of New York, and from there, pointed out landmarks which can be found in the game. On top of pointing out the landmarks, whoever made the map has also included the Liberty City counterpart of the said buildings or monuments. For example, clicking on the marker for the Statue of Liberty will reveal that in the game, it is known as the Statue of Happiness.

There are also several guesses that are on the map, including a theory on whether JFK airport will be included in the game.

Anyway, check it out via the source link that we included below, and tell us if you've got any theories of your own.

 

After having recently announced his community-driven MMO, Dave Perry, the former Shiny Entertainment boss, has announced that he has another project for the developer community. Develop Magazine reports that over at the Game Developers Conference 2007 Dave Perry has invited everyone in the games industry to submit markers to the Google Maps powered Gameindustrymap.com.

Just so you aren't left clueless, Game Industry Map is a wiki-style Map of  of the videogame industry. The map is set to include studios, colleges, outsourcing companies, freelancers, publishers, and even the gaming press. Perry calls this self-funded project a "gift to the industry." Perry had this to say about the community-powered endeavor:

This site picks up on two fast-growing trends – community and user generated content – the videogame industry is still relatively young and we already have a great community spirit which we hope to nurture for the benefit of industry as a whole. Plus we get to show the rest of the world just how widespread we are, employing creative talent all over the planet.

The result is that it immediately becomes the most accurate information available in the world, it will grow daily, and it’s shared to all. We expect to see everyone using it, job hunters, press, gamers, college students, investors, even agencies that would like to see just how prolific this industry is.

...As the Internet has proved, businesses grow when you connect people, and my goal is to simply help drive that growth. I’m not looking for any donations, not looking for any sponsorship, I am looking for teams (especially new ones) to just put themselves on the map.

The project currently has a team that has put up the first 1,000 markers. It is expected that the community itself will eventually fill in the blanks.

Ah, if only the user-generated, homebrew-ed world of those entrenched in web 2.0 could spread to the rest of the world. If only.

Anyhow, feel free to fill Perry's map in yourself if you wish. Our read-link below should lead to the the map. It's important to note that the thing is free and it's still in beta.

We're not quite sure if we saw this coming or not, but we have just recently the Google Maps now works with the map of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

So yeah, just like the normal Google Maps that we know of (by "normal", we mean "in real life"), one can zoom in and out of locations. By fully zooming out, one will be able to see the markers for Bruma and Leyawiin. On the other hand, by fully zooming in, you can pinpoint where the Fighters' Guild and Ungolim's house are located, complete with the surrounding roads, bridges, walls and foliage of the area. Hovering your mouse over a location will also show you its coordinates. It's still all a work in progress,  but it's also a pretty need idea, really.

Now, the next question would probably be if MMOs and other Oblivion-like games will soon start using Google Maps as well.