In 2008, Rockstar was in danger of being no more or worse: sold into the hands of a someone other than Take Two, its parent company. Take Two had some financial issues and for most of 2008 was pretty close to being the subject of a hostile takeover by EA (insert "ugh" here). Microsoft saw an opportunity to steal even more gamers from the Playstation camp (I'll admit I jumped ship) and struck a deal with the Rockstar guys: they would grant Rockstar a $50 million loan to help them make the most expensive game ever ($100 million) if the next GTA installation included two downloadeable expansions exclusive to Xbox 360. The Grand Theft Auto series got its fame on the PS2 but money talks. The deal was made and Rockstar/Take Two got the money needed to keep their place as the gods of console violence for the new millenium.
The first episode is here...well...almost. It'll be available to download via Xbox Live on February 17th and I'll be ready to send it through my broadband connection and into my box on the 18th (I'm teaching myself patience). No word on pricing or file size yet. But do I care? No. I'm setting myself up with an Xbox Live membership (finally...), a hard drive, and some HDMI cables in preparation. You'll be playing as Johnny Klebitz, a member of The Lost biker gang from GTA IV. To continue random acts of violence on innocent bystanders--I mean for more new missions with purpose and no casualties you need an Xbox 360, Grand Theft Auto IV, and an Xbox Live membership.
One issue: I haven't been able to decently handle a chopper in any GTA game during a chase. But how am I gonna look as a biker gangster in a two seater coupe?
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