"Grand Theft Auto IV" code gets carjacked, leaked online

Looks like some naughty pirates couldn't wait until next week's launch of the long-anticipated game. But think twice before throwing caution to the wind and grabbing the stolen GTA:IV code online.

Kotaku is reporting that at least two pirate "groups"—one calling itself iCON, the other "101"—have leaked the NTSC and PAL versions Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 online. (I'm not going to show you exactly where, but if you search any of the big BitTorrent trackers, you'll find them.)

Of course, the latest Grand Theft Auto epic is slated to hit stores this Tuesday—just a few days from now.

As Kotaku points out, this isn't the first time a "Grand Theft Auto" game was leaked before its release; copies of 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were leaked about a week before it arrived in stores.

Now, instead of just pointing out the obvious—that GTA:IV will officially be with us in a matter of hours, so hold your horses and pay up—here's something to consider before you fire up your BitTorrent client.

If you play the pirated game on your 360 before Tuesday and you're connected to Xbox Live, the Live servers will surely see what you're doing—and quite possibly ban your Xbox Live account, permanently.

So keep that in mind—or better yet, just pay the sixty bucks. From everything I've been hearing, the game's worth it.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for our hands-on impressions of GTA:IV. I know Chris Null is itching to get his hands on a copy, and I'm planning to get mine on Tuesday—just to see if I can do it without a pre-order.

Now, the only question in my case...should I get the Xbox 360 or PS3 version? Hmmmm...

So, who's all fired up about Grand Theft Auto IV? Which version are you getting?

Related:
Pirated NTSC GTA IV Leaked Online Early [Kotaku]
Grand Theft Auto IV Launch Central [Yahoo! Games]