When Grand Theft Auto IV was announced a couple years ago, it was proceeded by the shocking news how the Xbox 360 version would get dibs on the downloadable content, which saw two different episodes in a span of a year. Today, Rockstar Games has just revealed that the same content, both called The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be available for the PlayStation 3 starting March 30th. Each game will be sold separately for $19.99 on the PlayStation Network or gamers can buy a Blu-ray disc which includes both titles and can be purchased for $39.99.
PC owners can also get on the action and buy the two expansions for the same price, but also get some extra goodies. According to the company, not only can players use the exclusive “advanced video editor,” but also have multiplayer matches with 32-online players.
While it sounds cool, I’m not sure how great this is. Grand Theft Auto is a two-year old game, and if you head to your local GamStop and check out the used section, you find stacks of Grand Theft Auto IV games, meaning gamers didn’t keep the title. At the same time, you have to wonder if Microsoft paying $50 million to make sure Rockstar would make the content exclusive, was worth it. Apparently, it was just a time-exclusive deal, and as of now, I have a hard time believing enough Xbox 360s were moved to warrant the price paid.
/gamer reader Chris, sent us a clip of Family Guy where it makes a reference to the Grand Theft Auto series. It starts off with Louis encouraging Peter to learn how to drive by playing the famous sandbox title. Obviously the next scene has to show something ridiculous because for the last ten years, that has been the staple point of the show. Now, if you find the show funny, you will probably laugh. But if Family Guy isn’t your thing, you might want to move along.
“Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or a member of your family seen a spook, specter or ghost? If the answer is yes, then don’t wait another minute. Just pick up the phone and call the professional. Niko Bellic! His courteous and efficient staff are on call 24 hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs.”
The only thing I wish the video used, was this song instead of the Ghostbusters ‘theme.’ If you’re a true fan of the film, I’m pretty sure you would agree.
Videogame analyst Michael Patcher has spoke with sources inside Take-Two and they have revealed that the publisher plans on releasing a new Grand Theft Auto sometime in 2010. The alleged game is once again being headed by Rockstar North and it’s believed the studio is working with the same engine used in ‘Grand Theft Auto IV.’
The sources from inside Take-Two have confirmed that if Rockstar North does release the game by the end of next year, the New York based studio would be entitled to a large sum of money. “When we do the simple math, we conclude that the next installment is likely to be completed by some time in 2010, although given the frequency of game delays, it is not clear that it will necessarily come before October 31, 2010,” said Patcher.
If this is indeed the case, it would be about two full years between GTA IV and this new one, which seems reasonable. When Grand Theft Auto first took the step into the 3D world with Grand Theft Auto III, it was about one year later we had Vice City and about two years after that for San Andreas. So it’s definitely feasible that we could see a brand new installment of Grand Theft Auto in 2010.
The bigger question however is, where will this next one take place? I’m hoping for a Washington DC type city, where the main character works with politicians ‘closely.’
This is going to be a quick note because there are absolutely no details whatsoever. RockstarGames has confirmed they are working on and about to release information for their next downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto 4. The announcement came directly from their official twitter account, which is the new press release of video games (joke).
“Details on 2nd episode of GTAIV downloadable content coming soon.”
Way to make it short and sweet Rockstar. Although, saying something like this reminds me when a close friend starts to tell you something impotent, but decides out-of-nowhere to stop speaking altogether. At that moment, you want to punch him in the face because of the amount of anticipation you have boiled up inside of you. That’s right, I now want to punch Rockstar in the face!
Before Grand Theft Auto IV was released, Microsoft paid a pretty penny to make the downloadable content exclusive to the Xbox 360. Microsoft was hoping the deal, which was reported as high as $50 million, was to entice people to not only buy the Xbox version, but maybe help consumers decided to purchase an Xbox 360, as well. While the number of people buying the content was strong, the amount paid to be an exclusive seemed excessively lofty and maybe in the end, not worth the price.
PSW magazine is now causing a stir about ‘how exclusive the deal really was.’ According to the publication, Microsoft’s deal with Rockstar is nothing more but a mere time exclusive and it was only inked for about six months. If this is the case, PlayStation 3 owners could see the DLC sometime in August.
As of now, this is nothing but a rumor, and it will stay that way until we have some kind of confirmation from either Sony or Rockstar. However if this news ends up being correct, what the hell was Microsoft thinking. Throwing that kind of money around for something that your rival is going to eventually receive is well… dumb!
Although, one winner does emerge from all this, and that would be Rockstar Games.
Like Keith Olbermann or not, at least he is one of the few TV political commentators that sticks up for our beloved entertainment. During Countdown’s “Worst Persons in the World” segment, Olbermann blasted Glenn Beck of Fox News. His reason; Beck tends to blame video games (mostly GTA) and television for today’s violence in America.
If you don’t know, Glenn Beck much like Jack Thompson, somehow sees a parallel between the rise of murders and video games. At the same time, he has been very vocal about his theory by using his TV and radio show. Mr Olbermann begs to differ. Watch the video.
Grand Theft Auto IV has received a backlash as of late, just like everything else that becomes overly popular. However, not everyone is bashing the game, but there are a lot that do it only because its ‘mainstream.’
I for one, still and always will think the game is close to being a masterpiece. I don’t think it deserved the perfect scores that it received from critics, but it is definitely one of the best games to come out this generation.
The video up top proves this! Doomlord82 on youtube edited a bunch of segments from the sandbox game and watching it reminds me why I love the game…and the series for that matter.
Microsoft paid a pretty penny to Rockstar in order to get the exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content ($50 million to be exact!). Because of the outrages bidding, Microsoft wants to make sure they get their money’s worth. Starting at 9:00 am on February 17th, through the 22nd, anyone who owns Grand Theft Auto IV and/or The Lost and the Damned DLC; will be able to play for free.
So, if you are not a Xbox Live Gold subscription member, don’t worry — Microsoft kinda has your back. All you need is an internet connection, either game and you can play online for free.
But remember, this is all about Microsoft wanting to get their money’s worth because they did pay a crap load. But at the same time, it’s also a pretty smart promotion they’re running.
xJediPiMPx on youtube uploaded a video. The clip features various famous songs from different artists and they are edited into short movies using Grand Theft Auto IV. The video feels like it belongs as an episode for Robot Chicken on Adult Swim.
Sure its over eight minutes, but it is actually kind of funny. We should also mention that it is NSFW!
By: Nick Collins on January 6th, 2009 am31 12:47 am
Microsoft recently revealed a few lists of games showing the most played titles online in 2008 via the Xbox 360. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting that there are two games prior to 2008 that beat out one of the biggest games of the year, Grand Theft Auto IV.
Its also great to see some classic games are still making a move in the gaming industry through Xbox Live Arcade, such as Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Doom.
Entertainment Weekly’s newest issue features their annual “Best & Worst of 2008” awards. It’s the issue were they rank their favorite and not so favorite movies, TV shows, books and so on.
In the same issue, the publication actually has a section devoted to video games. Of course, the section is one of the last pages in the magazine, but hey; at least they mentioned it, right?
Now, you might be wondering what did they choose for best game of the year and we’ll tell ya– but we want to full warn you; you might be disappointed.
If you thought the VGA’s pick of Grand Theft Auto IV was a bad decision, than I’m guessing you’re going to hate this. Are you ready? Ok — they picked Wii Fit as the best of the best of 2008. Not LittleBigPlanet, GTA or even Left 4 Dead (that didn’t even make the list). Oddly enough, the iPod Touch was ranked at number 10 — last time I check, that isn’t even a video game
We like to note that they fail to honor such great games that were released this year like; Gears of War 2, Prince of Persia, Metal Gear Solid 4, World of Goo, Left 4 Dead, Fable II, Fallout 3, Resistance 2 and many others. But for some reason, they thought Madden: All Play for the Wii was superior than those mentioned above.
EW also mentioned the “Top 3 Worst Games of 2008.” Number one was Saints Row 2, which actually had higher reviews than their top choice. Number two was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which honestly wasn’t horrible. And their number three worst game…EA’s Facebook Scrabble…why is that even mentioned!?
After the jump, check out the full list and feel free to complain. (more…)
Most likely when the year ends, Grand Theft Auto IV will probably win the most ‘Game of the Year‘ awards. Almost every gaming journalist I’ve spoken to all seem to agree Rockstar’s masterpiece will win the prestige honor.
Amazon is offering a terrific deal for the sandbox game. The site is selling GTA IV for only $37.99 for the Xbox 360 and $39.99 for the PlayStation 3. Considering the game is generally retailed at $60, this is a great time to buy the game. So, if you have yet to purchase the Grand Theft Auto IV — you have no excuse now.
Guess what console gamers, the hardcore PC gamers get a better version of the game that will probably win ‘game of the year,’ from most sites. Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC is getting a ‘movie editor’ included in the sandbox, and it looks deep. In the video above, Rockstar shows off the feature in a clip montage.
Sure the PS3 version looks ’slightly’ better than Xbox 360 and the 360 has exclusive DLC. I personally would rather would the video editor and would spend additional countless hours toying with it. Oh well, — looks like I might have to re-buy GTA IV.
Here’s a great deal for all you nutty hardcore PC owners. If you pre-purchase Grand Theft Auto IV right now on Steam, which is out out on December 2, you’ll not only save $10 but also receive Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for free.
Not a bad deal considering you would be getting one of the best games of the year for 10 bucks off, plus GTA (Vice City) that could be arguably the best yet. Again, if you only buy PC games because you paid three-grand on your computer and think consoles were the death of gaming, make sure you at least pick up this offer — it’s well worth it! Below are the system requirements for GTA IV:
OS: Windows Vista – Service Pack 1 / Windows XP – Service Pack 3 Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHz Memory: 1.5GB Vista / 1GB XP Graphics: 256MB Nvidia 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900 DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card Hard Drive: 16GB of Hard Disc Space Sound Card: 5.1 Channel Audio Card
