224w ago - What with development for the DLC episodes, Rockstar Games isn't done with Grand Theft Auto 4 just yet.

Despite that, analyst Michael Pachter is already pegging 2010 as the perfect time for the next console iteration of the sandbox franchise.

And since it's Pachter we're talking about here, he can't just leave it at a release date prediction. He's also forecasting that by 2010 - if GTA V does get released then - it will be able to sell 50% more than last year's GTA IV.

To quote: We don't think it is reasonable to estimate that sales of GTA will double the prior version, but we think that a 25 - 30 per cent penetration is reasonable, suggesting 15 - 18 million units sold.

That means that Take-Two's profits from the next iteration should be approximately 50 per cent greater than from the last version.

Total sales for GTA IV on the PS3 and Xbox 360 currently amount to 12 million units so far. That's 40% of the 30 million projected installed base of the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined in Europe and North America. (In short, of all the people who have a PS3 or 360 in the west, 40% of them bought GTA IV). The "25-30% penetration" he mentions above is based on a projected 60-million combined installed base for the two consoles by 2010.

Another prediction...

227w ago - Microsoft has announced that is will offer free access to Live Gold functionality for players of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV in February. Starting on February 17, anybody playing either Grand Theft Auto IV or its upcoming expansion, The Lost and Damned, will be able to play free of charge. The offer will expire on February 22.

The move is set to coincide with the release of the new DLC episode The Lost and Damned, which Rockstar hopes will revive interest in its open-world shooter. Hopefully they have also made some tweaks to the multiplayer modes in this new game. Heck, if it is free to go online and check them out, we will definitely give it a go.

This is the first time that Microsoft has extended such an offer. We can see this move potentially backfiring for the Redmond company, however. Like the days of Perestroika, once gamers get a taste of the good life, they might not be so eager to go back to the old gulag of paid online service.

Hopefully this opens the door for future online demo offers to coincide with the release of new titles, leading to the eventual liberation of Xbox live for all. Microsoft, tear down that wall!

230w ago - As a follow-up to today's earlier article, we all know the initial verdict is out. The 360 only DLC for GTA IV ('Lost and the Damned') is looking capital 'A' awesome.

Great news for some of us, but where does that leave our beloved Sony console?

This is what DLC is supposed to be! Rockstar, who over the last decade have consistently stood at the tip of the gaming spear as it thrusts ever forward into bolder and broader areas, has yet again delivered a landmark moment in the evolution of our gaming culture.

Since Microsoft introduced us to the concept of DLC, we have watched in horror as it has again and again become nought but an upwardly turned middle finger, used by greedy publishers to sodomise their loyal fans (case in point: Oblivion's Horse Armour). But The Lost and Damned, the first of two Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable episodes for GTA IV, is the perfect example of DLC done right.

This is not a Knothole Island, or a Shivering Isles where you stay as the same character and merely explore more of the same world, from the same perspective. So much of what GTA is, is driven by the character...

230w ago - If you did not know, Microsoft announced at E3 2007 that their version of Grand Theft Auto IV on the Xbox 360 will receive exclusive DLC that the PlayStation 3 version will not be getting.

Microsoft paid a whopping $50 million just as a down payment to keep this exclusive. At this time no one but Rockstar knew what this DLC would be and what it would add to the game.

Well, now we have all seen the trailer for the new DLC and if you have not, the video is below. It is basically going to add a whole new storyline and allow you to take control of a new character and will be titled "The Lost and the Damned World".

Microsoft also announced the surprising cost of $19.99. At this point, without a doubt it seems like a steal but will it be worth the millions for Microsoft?

STREETVETERAN (Co-Host on Podcast)
Many people say that Microsoft "wasted" $50+ million dollars on the DLC for 2008's top seller, Grand Theft Auto IV. I am here to tell you why the $50+ million that Microsoft dished out WAS worth the money.

First of all, for the people who own both consoles, the DLC most likely had some effect on what which version they chose to buy. This DLC has caused many people to choose the 360 version over the PS3 version if they would have had the choice....

230w ago - Edge-Online is reporting that GTA: Chinatown Wars is complete, and all that needs to be done is some polishing of the game as well as bug testing.

Apparently, it is shaping up to be the best hand-held version of GTA ever!

To quote: Rockstar's claims that the team that created it is twice the size that worked on the PSP's Liberty and Vice City Stories games and that it contains more lines of code than San Andreas are good indicators of the care that's gone into squeezing GTA on to Nintendo's twin-screened handheld.

Apparently, it's already complete, save for a few more passes for polish and bug hunting.

And playing a few missions and seeing a few sights proves that Chinatown Wars has been designed from the ground up for its peculiar capabilities. We've already seen its bustling Liberty City, rendered in smooth, clean 3D and unchanged in plan from that of GTAIV, other than a missing Alderney.