Even the New York Times lavished praise of a sort on the video game from Take-Two Interactive’s Rockstar studio: “‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ is a violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun.”

Though the vast majority of gamer blogs were even more emphatic in their love of the game, there were bound to be many naysayers if only because “GTA” deals with such edgy content, in this case an Eastern European immigrant who runs drugs, shoots cops and beats up prostitutes. The Parents Television Council thinks retailers shouldn’t carry the game according to Variety magazine.

Keep an eye on: 

- Rupert Murdoch’s $580 million bid for New York’s Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, puts the News Corp chief on a collision course with the U.S. regulators. (Financial Times)

- Clear Channel Communications said a Texas court dismissed a request by a group of banks to delay a trial over funding for the $20 billion buyout of the radio station operator. (Reuters)

- Blockbuster is in talks about taking a stake in a new Viacom-led premium television channel that plans to compete with HBO, Showtime and Starz. (WSJ)

(Photo: Reuters)