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Incoming Xbox Deals of the Week: Lost and Damned, Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2
How often is the Xbox Live Deal of the Week actually exciting? Not this week, at least, but it will be this month! On August 24, Microsoft will offer something pretty tempting: Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned for 1200 ($15), 5 bucks off the normal asking price for the Grand Theft Auto IV expansion. If you're the guy who bought GTA IV on 360 but hasn't picked this up yet -- and you don't want to wait for Episodes from Liberty City -- now's a great time to pick up a new set of missions to give up on halfway through the game, in favor of just doing awesome bike jumps. The announcement also reveals that a deal for Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2 is incoming, so ... you know, don't buy it yet. Also, a Halo 3 Dashboard theme that you really don't need to buy ever.
Rockstar, Media Molecule lead 2009 Develop Awards nods
Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North, together with LittleBigPlanet dev Media Molecule have netted an impressive eleven nominations for the 2009 Develop Industry Excellence Awards, the UK's annual prize patrol for all things excellent in the industry. The Rockstar houses pocketed six of their own for work on GTA: Chinatown Wars and GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned, including nods for visual arts, technical innovation and audio. Rockstar Leeds is also up for the award for best handheld game studio, while both are in the running for being recognized as the best in-house team. Media Molecule is up for five awards as well, including best indie studio and best new IP. The Guildford studio is also up for the technical innovation award, where it's not only up against the Rockstar folks, but the teams behind Killzone 2, PlayStation Home, Football Manager Live and Fable II. We wish all nominees the best of luck and remind them not to forget to thanks their moms should they take the stage and accept an award during the July 15 ceremony.
Analyst: Lost and Damned earned $18 million online, $3 million at retail
Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) analyst Jesse Divnich's crystal ball predicts brick-and-mortar retail sales of GTA IV's expansion, The Lost and Damned, to be less than $3 million. He believes current global sales from customers who purchased it across Xbox Live to be around $18 million. This latest bit of analyst prognostication comes following Pachter's missive (translated from an Illuminati memo) that GTA's biker expansion could sell upwards of two million units by year's end.Although the 6-to-1 online vs. retail ratio seems dramatic, is it really surprising when The Lost and Damned was promoted as a DLC pack anyway? In this case, retail was just a middle man, as those who purchased the "game" at their local bodega received a card with a code to download the expansion. All we really know at this point is that the game is selling very well.%Gallery-37692%
GTA IV: The Lost and Damned DLC -- unboxing video
Yes, we said "GTA IV: The Lost and Damned unboxing video." So what? DLC comes in a box all the time. What part of digital distribution do you have a problem with? Clearly the digital part, since everyone knows you need a box for that. You know -- somewhere to keep the digits.In this case, the digits are on a piece of paper. You punch the digits on it into Xbox Live and the content downloads. Ergo, digital distribution of downloadable content. Let the video after the break illustrate what we're talking about. And kudos, Rockstar -- you've managed to make DLC a packaged product. Go hug a tree.
GTA IV: The Lost and Damned includes free week of multiplayer
News first, then a question: Microsoft just announced that when Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned arrives next week, it will bring with it a free week of GTA IV multiplayer from Feb. 17 to 22. The week will be marked by a "Game With Rockstar" event and more, which you can read about right here.So, now the question: Does this news apply to any of you? Are there still people kicking around who are downloading DLC but aren't subscribed to Gold? If so, make yourselves heard in the comments so we know if we should keep bringing you tidbits like the one above.
Houser: Freedom of expression 'easier' in games
Rockstar Games' vice-president of creativity, Dan Houser, was recently interviewed by The Telegraph, a UK newspaper. Houser commented on the state of video games as a respected form of expression, comparing the industry to books and movies. "I think the medium is still very young. It's not a baby, but it's still probably an infant. So everything is growing and evolving as we go along and we're still figuring out how to do stuff." When asked whether he thinks it'll be long before game writers are treated with the same respect as movie or TV writers, however, he responded with, "I hope it's long. "Movies and TV and books have become so structured in the way they have to approach things. Not working in that environment gives us enormous freedom. I'd rather keep the freedom and not have the respect." While the narrative freedom for games may be massive, the number of people willing to take advantage of that is sadly small. Video game writing is getting better, thanks to dedicated in-house and freelance writers in the industry, but these are still relatively few and far between. [Via GI.biz]
VGA 2008: See God of War 3, Brtal Legend, Uncharted 2 & Lost and Damned
If you missed the VGAs last night, you needn't worry, we've prepared the full virtual experience for you this morning. First, go read our liveblog of the event. Then, watch the delightful batch of trailers we've got for you after the break. Finally, imagine Jack Black is yelling at you in his underwear. You are there!Enjoy this first crop of media from Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, God of War 3, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Brütal Legend. We'll have the rest of the media for you in a bit.
First screens of GTA IV: The Lost and Damned DLC
Following yesterday's news in USA Today, Rockstar has officially announced the first of two DLC episodes for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV, titled "The Lost and Damned." The first high-res screens of the episode are out, along with a bare minimum of new details. In addition to what yesterday's report contained – that players will control a new lead character, Johnny Klebitz, a biker with Liberty City motorcycle club The Lost – today's announcement confirms that the episode will contain "new missions that offer an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City," along with new vehicles, weapons, multiplayer modes, and music. The episode arrives via Xbox Live Marketplace on Feb. 17, and (obviously) requires the original GTA IV to play. We've been wondering if a Gold account will be required as well, but Rockstar's announcement merely mentions an Xbox Live account as a prerequisite for download. So ... let's hear your theories on the plot. %Gallery-37692%
