After 
two years of build-up, a couple delays and seemingly endless speculation, Grand Theft Auto V is finally in gamer hands.
The critics have lavished it with praise and early fan feedback is just as adoring, but before you get in too deep, consider these helpful starting tips.
The 
most controversial video game franchise in the world is back – and it’s stealing the hearts of critics all over again.
It’s been five years since Rockstar Games last released a Grand Theft Auto game, so the expectations for Grand Theft Auto V, which stormed retail stores last night to crowded lines of eager gamers, are sky high. The last GTA game set sales records upon its release, and many expect the new game to do the same. It will also earn countless headlines for its mature subject matter — a new round of video game violence chatter will almost certainly erupt — but the real reason why everyone should be excited about GTA V is that it’s an amazing video game.
You 
don’t have to look too far past the Metacritic scores to know that this year’s Star Trek game was a disaster. Critics decimated it and gamers largely avoided it, shaking their heads sadly and moving on to the next game, never giving the messy movie tie-in a second thought.
For “Star Trek” movie director J.J. Abrams, though, it’s a little harder to get over.
Madden 
NFL 25 might not be performing quite as well as last year’s game, but it’s still strong enough to lead the video game industry to a major comeback.
Video game software retail sales in August were up 21 percent compared to a year ago, according to The NPD Group — the first time the industry has shown a year-over-year increase since October of 2011 (excluding January 2013, which had an extra week of reporting). Brick and mortar sales of video games came in at $305 million, an improvement of better than $55 million. The boost was even bigger than Wall Street analysts were expecting.
Helping 
Master Chief out of perilous predicaments is one thing, but can Cortana help you get to your meeting on time?
Microsoft is working on a digital personal assistant for its Windows Phones to compete with Apple’s Siri and Android’s Google Now. And it has chosen the beloved Halo artificial intelligence character as its namesake.
Apple 
has danced along the edge of the video game industry’s waters for some time now, never quite jumping in, but staying close enough to keep the likes of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo wary.
With the introduction of the iPhone 5S and the cheaper iPhone 5C during this week’s iPhone reveal event, however, the company took a big step closer — and both console and dedicated handheld system makers have a very valid reason to worry.
The 
movie theater is one of the few remaining sanctums where you’re largely safe from the annoying glow of smartphones and tablets.
Well, at least until Disney re-releases “The Little Mermaid” on September 13. The studio is actively encouraging kids to bring along iPads and play games while the movie is showing on screen.
Video 
games are getting more and more expensive to make — and big games are getting bigger.
So when The Scotsman reported that the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V had cost a stunning £170 million ($266 million) to develop and market, that raised a few eyebrows.
Sony, 
already plenty busy with one upcoming hardware launch, is doubling down.
During its annual pre-Tokyo Games Show press conference on Monday, the company unveiled a new device called PlayStation Vita TV, a ‘microconsole’ that will allow you to play PlayStation Vita games on your TV and will let PS4 owners stream games to other TVs in the house.
This 
isn’t the sort of anniversary present EA was hoping for.
The publisher is touting the 25th edition of Madden NFL as the best-selling game of August (something NPD is likely to verify next week), saying internal numbers show it sold one million unitsin its first week on store shelves.
The problem? Last year’s version sold 1.65 million in that same period. That represents a 40 percent falloff. In turn, EA’s stocks took a dip on Friday.
Chris Morris: Journalist 