Here’s another of my E3 predictions blow out the water by Rockstar being over eager.
The next episode in the Grand Theft Auto DLC has been announced and is entitled “The Ballad of Gay Tony” and somehow I don’t think they mean cheerful.
According to the press release you will be playing as Luis Lopez, part time hoodlum and full time assistant to nightclub owner Tony Prince (Gay Tony). The main theme seems to be based around juggling your loyalties to friends and family as well as watching your back at all times.
It instantly makes me think of the Godfather series and I would be very surprised if Rockstar misses a single Italian sterotype in this one.
What’s even cooler about the press release though is that they also announced the retail (disc) version of both sets of DLC will be available at shops around September this year for $39.99 and it will not require a copy of GTA IV to run on your Xbox 360.
So if you’re a little stingy on the DLC side you will still get your chance to enjoy Liberty City on bikes (Lost and Damned) as well as the Italian stallion himself (Gay Tony)
Full press release follows
Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce the fall release of both the second episode of Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony – exclusively for download on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network, and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which will include both episode one The Lost and Damned, and episode two The Ballad of Gay Tony together on a single disc exclusively for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
“Liberty City is the most vibrant game world we’ve created yet. The episodic structure has allowed us to interweave stories, gameplay and atmosphere in a whole new way,†said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “The team at Rockstar North have yet again surpassed themselves, and made something that is both epic and very innovative. This episode’s focus on high-end night life contrasts with the biker gangs portrayed in The Lost and Damned, whilst giving us a lot of new gameplay possibilities.â€
Grand Theft Auto IV’s second downloadable episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka “Gay Tonyâ€), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City delivers two games on one disc – the all-new episode The Ballad of Gay Tony and the first episode, The Lost and Damned – together on disc for the first time – for Xbox 360 for $39.99 and will not require a copy of the original Grand Theft Auto IV to play.
The Ballad of Gay Tony will release on Xbox LIVE this fall for $19.99 or 1600 MS points and requires players to have Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE membership to download.
For more information, log onto www.rockstargames.com
Last Updated: May 27, 2009
