Not much have passed since word broke out that Grand Theft Auto IV (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) won't be coming this October, but Take-Two is not taking any chances. To prevent confusion and conspiracy theories, chairman Strauss Zelnick jumped the trigger saying, "The reason it is being delayed is almost strictly technological problems... Not problems, but challenges."

CEO Ben Feder and Zelnick got their hands on the game's latest build before ultimately making the decision yesterday. Both of them expressed disappointment in having to push shipping dates, but Zelnick stated that the 6-month delay is sufficient and necessary.

"Given our commitment to set new standard for two relatively new hardware platforms simultaneously, [an October release] wasn't an acceptable path," Zelnick continued. He made it clear that the publisher-developer relationship between Rockstar and Take-Two was "rock solid," and Rockstar won't take heat for not meeting deadlines.

When asked where the trouble lies, Take-Two declined to give a definitive answer. On other fronts, the deal with Microsoft for exclusive content could very well commence before the game is even released, despite the fact that Microsoft won't be dishing out the initial pay before March 2008.

Avoiding the discussion altogether, the Take-Two executives could only reply, "We're not going to send money back to Microsoft. That's not part of the deal."

Some developers have complained about the difficulty that Sony's monster machine and its architecture brings to the development table, but Take-Two keeps mum on the matter. "The technology that we're developing for GTA IV is pretty complex. It's a big game, with technological challenges across the board on both PS3 and 360," said Zelnick.

Fortunately, it seems like we can expect GTA IV to live up to the hype. "[Rockstar] is pushing the envelope on both platforms...consumers will ultimately benefit," concluded Zelnick.