When the first previews and reviews hit the web and magazines covering Grand Theft Auto IV one feature listed by a few of these was the ability to listen to the games soundtrack/radio stations using a portable music player or mobile phone. You may not have even noticed that said feature is not in the final game at all. Rockstar this week came out to say why that is:

"Some people on the team didn’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 world’s noise on foot, but we are constantly reviewing this stuff."

If you have been following Rockstar Games or the Grand Theft Auto series previously, you may note that this has happened many times in the past. It is not uncommon for a GTA game to be released without a feature or features mentioned in previews. In the case of this 'portable music player', it was in the game until late in the development. Did they make the right choice? We think so, the vehicles like everything else in the GTA world have some unique features, and the radio is one of them. Without that feature it removes the uniqueness of vehicles and may have meant people wouldn't use vehicles as much, which defys the purpose of "Grand Theft Auto" entirely. We do wonder though, what other features didn't make the cut?

Thanks QJ.net