Sony: enthusiasm for GTA IV... will further drive PS3 sales. By Ben Kuchera | Published: May 02, 2008 - 11:48AM CT Grand Theft Auto IV has been on store shelves for a few days now, although no official sales information has been released for North America. To get things started, Sony has given us word that the game has given the PlayStation 3 platform a boost in sales. There is precious little talk about how the company sees their boost in relation to the game's performance on the 360, but surely Microsoft won't be too far behind with their own positive spin on the game. Even GameStop has gotten into the mix. From our position, the launch of GTA IV has been tremendous in driving traffic to our stores, as well as providing a vigorous lift in PS3 console sales over this time last week. We attribute the growth to a huge fan _base_ of PS2 owners who see this _title_ as the trigger for the PS3 upgrade they’ve been planning, said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising. Grand Theft Auto fans who love the game grew up on PlayStation, and we believe that rich heritage will be a deciding factor for many gamers at retail, said Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing & PlayStation Network. This enthusiasm for GTA IV, combined with the excitement behind Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, _meta_l Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet, and Resistance 2 will further drive PS3 hardware sales. The information also points to news organizations like IGN that claimed the game looks better on the PS3. We've played both versions and, while there are some minute differences, no one is getting the shaft in terms of a port. We do wish Sony and Rockstar had provided a more stable online experience at launch, but hopefully that will be fixed quickly. The sales numbers for the game across both platforms should fuel the fanboy wars for a very long time, but even at this early stage Sony sounds happy with the boost the game has given to its platform. Buzz up!