Gamestop.com prices GTA IV: Lost & Damned at $19.99

Gamestop.com has listed GTA IV: Lost & Damned at $19.99, which is what many predicted. All-in-all I would say $19.99 is a very reasonable price considering we can expect new characters, missions, storyline, vehicles, weapons and more. Gamestop also posted some nice "boxart" for the game. Although there is no disk you do get a box with a pre-paid card to redeem your DLC.

As always I'm going to wait to hear this from the horses mouth (Rockstar/TakeTwo being the horse) before I start calling this official.

• Gamestop.com have also provided a short summary of what your $19.99 gets you;
• Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned packaging will include a 2 sided poster and an Xbox LIVE Marketplace token card. The token card will contain a unique code to purchase The Lost and Damned over the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
• Runs with a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360
• No disc included in packaging – Downloadable Content Only
• Must have an Xbox LIVE account
• Consumer Return Policy: Enclosed in each package will be an Xbox LIVE Marketplace token. This token will have a tear off strip that reveals a unique code to download the content over the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Once this code has been exposed, the downloadable content has been potentially accessed and can no longer be accepted for return.

Head on over to our GTA IV: Lost & Damned page for more information on the first downloadable episode.

GTA IV DLC "The Lost and Damned"

USA Today have a scoop on GTA IV's long awatied (and long delayed) episodic downloadable content titled; "Episode 1: The Lost and Damned". Little has been released about the downloadable content, which carries the title "Episode 1", which could simply there will be several episodes of downloadable content.

You play Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City biker gang The Lost, who you hear mentioned on the radio and throughout several missions in GTA IV. Although not a main character Niko will make a cameo appearence or two although the game is set to show a "Different side of Libery City"

To take a quote or two from Dan Houser;

"Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background," says Dan Houser, vice president of creative development for Rockstar Games. "I can't go into too much detail on the story, because we try not to give away too much plot before the game is released. But I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City."

"The story is not directly impacted by decisions you took in the main game," he says. But "tons of details and mysteries from the main story get explained, so it will add a lot of color to the main story"

Although there has been no official word on cost GamePro Media features editor Dave Rudden hope the new content will cost $15 or less, however, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects a $20 price and says Rockstar could sell 2 million to 3 million downloads.

To be honest I could see the content being around the $20 mark as "The Lost and Damned" should add several hours of additional gameplay.

Subscription-Based GTA IV?

Today at the BMO Capital Market's conference, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick was talking about the future of Take-Two's big titles, namely GTA IV and BioShock. In an article posted by Kotaku Zelnick seems interested in episodic content whereby gamers purchase a title and then purchase additional content, for instance Xbox Live. He then went onto talk about the prospect of a subscription service but not in the "Massively Multiplayer" sense.

Although his views were not 100% clear I struggle to see the real benefits of a subscription service especially in todays climate with newly released Xbox 360 games hitting the £39.99 mark!

Variety Interview Dan Houser

In an interview with Variety, Dan Houser talks about the prospect of the GTA IV DLC being delayed until early next year. This wouldn't be the craziest thing that could happen but I feel that with all the quality titles coming out as of late games won't be too disappointed.

The interview is well worth the read as they discuss GTA IV's impact in Japan in comparison to older titles in the GTA series.

GTA IV DLC? John Schappert doesn't know either

John Schappert, Xbox Live's main man, reveals he doesn't know when we can expect to see GTA IV's upcoming DLC. The content, orginally scheduled for an August release is already a couple of months behind schedule.

When asked by EuroGamer.net whether or not wee will see the DLC before Christmas he replied;

"Frankly, I don't know, Rockstar are the people to ask for that."

I'm sure Schappert is just as eager to get the content online as we are but for now we will all have to wait...

Microsoft confirms GTA IV DLC for Fall 2008

Microsoft has today confirmed that the GTA IV downloadable content will be available in the fall of this year, exclusively on Xbox 360; going on to say the Xbox 360 will be the "only console with new Grand Theft Auto IV content available this Christmas". Whether or not this means that it will be available on PS3 after christmas is another matter entirely.

There has been no official word on what the downloadable content will contain but I'm sure we can expect to hear something soon.

GTAIV DLC in January / February

Just a quick post; according to a reliable source GTAIV's downloadable content should be available sometime in January or February. Thanks to Jotstiq for the news!

15 hours of GTAIV DLC expected in November?

RPG-TV.com are reporting detailed information about the Xbox360's DLC. The information has since being taken down, however you can still see the relevant details thanks to StrategyInformer.

The following details came out of the news report;

"Very little details were given but I was assured it would be sizeable"

Chris goes on to say;

"Dates-wise I also discovered that the first piece of GTA downloadable content will be arriving in November as well,"

and that the DLC is;

"bringing roughly 15 hours of additional play time. I'm expecting either an additional island or a new family bringing new missions. Will be interesting to see whether or not this progresses the core story."

From what both Microsoft and Chris have said I think Novermber would be a good estimate for the DLC release.

First signs of GTAIV downloadable content

Microsoft have made an announcement regarding GTAIV's downloadable content appearing in Autumn this year. You can read their statement below;

In autumn there will be news from Liberty City; the first episodes of GTA IV will be available for download exclusively on Xbox Live, underlining Xbox 360's leadership role in the field of digital entertainment.

I believe that PS3 will also be getting downloadable content but this does state that it is an Xbox 360 exclusive. Perhaps PS3 will merely receive the content at a later date. It is also interesting to consider how the PC version of the game will come into the equasion being part of "Games for Windows" and all.

GTAIV Downloadable Content Delayed

Yesterday it was announced that GrandTheftAutoIV's highly anticipated downloadable content will not be released until between November 1st 2008 and January 31st 2009

According to Rockstar the new downloadable content, available on both PS3 and Xbox360, is set to add around 10 hours of new gameplay including (hopefully) some additional features.