GTA IV launches at Midnight at most game stores around the country. The game is getting reviews from 9.5 to 10 at all of the major gaming websites. Being multiplatform means this game has a good chance of outselling the seemingly unbeatable Halo 3 for launch day sales.

To the best of my knowledge, this plate is exclusive to Game Crazy stores. www.gamecrazy.com has all the info, but here it is in a nutshell:

Ten Game Crazy stores in major cities across the nation will give these plates away for free when you pick up your game at midnight. The rest of the stores were given a small number of plates to give away as prizes (I assume at the manager's discretion). Some stores are likely to treat them as "first come, first served" and simply give them away until they're gone.

There were 777 Game Crazy stores when I worked there three years ago. Money has been tight with the company and I don't think they've opened many stores since it was purchased by Movie Gallery. Still, if you figure a half-dozen or so plates per store, plus a larger number at the major midnight stores, there will probably be around 5,000 of these available.

They have already had some auctions close, anywhere from $60 (w/ shipping) to $130 (w/ shipping). As I type this, there is one closing in 40 minutes that is currently at $112.50, and there are others available for BIN for around $100.00 (w/ shipping).

It doesn't show up in my photo, but the pixelation is pretty bad on the lettering, like they used a low-res jpeg file for the artwork. It's not horrible, but for a game that's getting tens, they should have stepped it up a notch, IMHO. It's nowhere in the same league as the Bioshock plate.

This is certainly one of those times I wish I had a handful of these. Having only the one, I'm not parting with it. I still don't have a Full Auto because I used all six of the ones I had for customs.

Anyway, I begged and pleaded for this one. I brought my Zen and showed off my customs to everyone in the store, and they said "aw, screw it" and just went and got one for me from the back.

I would recommend if you have the time AND YOU CAN DO IT NOW.... take some pics of your collection, run to a Game Crazy, and beg the store manager for a plate to add to your collection. Simply asking for one is probably not going to get you one, and waiting until midnight to take your chances with everyone else will probably ALSO leave you empty handed.

If you DO get one, post in here so we can be happy for you.

AND.... if you happen to luck out and snag more than one, consider being nice and helping out a fellow collector rather than turning a few bucks for it off eBay.

(PS one of the major midnight openings is in Compton. Like I'd be caught anywhere NEAR Compton at midnight. Yeah, right.)