GTA IV to allow real-world music downloads with Amazon
by Justin McElroy 
{ Mar 28th 2008 at 9:30AM }
It works like this: You hear a song you like, you'll call an in-game service called "ZiT" on your mobile phone to mark it. You'll get a text message with the song and artist name, as well as an email if you're a member of the Rockstar Social Club. Said email will contain a direct link to download the song from Amazon's music site for $0.89 to $0.99. What's more, there's no DRM, so you can do whatever you like with them.
While we're usually not a big fan of extra ways to monetize games, this actually seems like a pretty ingenious way to integrate the service. This is pure conjecture, but wouldn't it be interesting if the songs in-game (and available for purchase) continued to be updated? ... That Rock Band money has to be pretty hard to ignore.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Co @ Mar 28th 2008 9:38AM
"this actually seems like a pretty ingenious way to integrate the service."
No.
Co @ Mar 28th 2008 9:38AM
"While we're usually not a big fan of extra ways to monetize games..."
Yes.
copa @ Mar 28th 2008 9:44AM
Co, I'm not exactly sure what your objection is. They are not selling any content that is necessary to enjoy the game. They are not doing anything intrusive in terms of advertising. They are just providing an indexing service for people who are interested in buying the track.
Also, this referral revenue makes it much more enticing for big-time artists to license their stuff for use in GTA. The advance buzz is that the soundtrack for this game is absolutely amazing.
Co @ Mar 28th 2008 9:52AM
Hell if people fall for it, more power to 'em!
peacebyanymeans (AKA: Moorio) @ Mar 28th 2008 9:59AM
I don't see what the problem is with using the radio in game to discover music you hadn't listen to before, and then finding out what it is in a convenient and fast way.
Is it the paying part? You don't think artist should be paid for their music?
baby sea tuna @ Mar 28th 2008 10:01AM
Aw, he's just bitter that the Wii can't do something as cool as this (not that I'm planning on using the service, but it's an undeniably interesting integration concept.)
WiNG @ Mar 28th 2008 10:13AM
So co, your issue is with a service that allows players to more easily buy and share the soundtracks to games they like?
They are not selling song download packs, they aren't tying this to unlockable content, they aren't forcing you to buy the whole damn soundtrack even.
Jeez, some people hate options, I mean do you hate having choices?
You know... freedom isn't free. it costs $0.89 to $0.99.
Mills and Boom @ Mar 28th 2008 10:16AM
Haha so true. Don't like the sound of this feature. Oh, and Amazon music is only available to yanks.
I'll stick with the 360's music playback thingy ma jiggy if the ingame music isn't up to standards.
Vidikron (FU) @ Mar 28th 2008 10:22AM
"I'll stick with the 360's music playback thingy ma jiggy if the ingame music isn't up to standards."
That has nothing to do with this. This isn't about puttng your own music in or paying to have new music added, this is about purchasing music you hear in the game for use elsewhere.
Anyway, as usual, Co hates pretty much anything non-Wii. Baby sea tuna nailed his true problem.
Mills and Boom @ Mar 28th 2008 10:24AM
In that case I'll just record the music, sorta how it's been done with "pirated" game OST's for quite a while. Or just open them up on a PC and do a few conversions.
abib @ Mar 28th 2008 10:43AM
Co is just trying to be the cool rebellious kid. more power to him!
Co @ Mar 28th 2008 11:12AM
baby seamen in the mouth is the only one that can top Fernando in the annoyance catagory.
But yea this almost sucks as bad as Gameloft on WiiWare. Are they being paid by Microsoft??
tmacairjordan87 @ Mar 28th 2008 2:07PM
"baby seamen in the mouth is the only one that can top Fernando in the annoyance catagory."
i dunno you're making a pretty strong argument for yourself on this page
Burritoclock @ Mar 28th 2008 4:05PM
Actually freedom cost a buck o'five. ($1.05)
name123 @ Mar 28th 2008 4:32PM
Co's right, GTA: Virtual Shopping Mall is lame.
The $60 you pay for the game should entitle you to the data on it. It would be a lot better if you could simply rip a digital copy of the tracks from the game disc (like Sony's doing with Blu-ray). Buying the same data twice is idiotic.
I Don't Care @ Mar 29th 2008 3:59AM
@WiNG
Your right,but I'll just use my in game dash board to listen to music though. Also, about the choices your right again that's why I'm getting the Xbox 360 version so I have the choice to get the episodic content even if I realize I don't want it. I'll still have a choice.
copa @ Mar 28th 2008 9:40AM
Very slick implementation. I like it.
sifer2400 @ Mar 28th 2008 9:42AM
eh maby if they did it for itunes or something idk
im pretty sure there wont be that many good song to listen to on the radio...... if you get my drift
Rollins @ Mar 28th 2008 9:59AM
DRM-free Amazon MP3s > iTunes tracks.
Jerk Face @ Mar 28th 2008 10:05AM
@ rollins
Agreed 100%. Especially since you can still load the DRM free Amazon tracks into iTunes. There is really no reason to do otherwise, especially since the Amazon tracks are often cheaper!
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 28th 2008 10:07AM
I suggest you TRY the Amazon method. It's far too good to ignore.
Mills and Boom @ Mar 28th 2008 10:22AM
Can't be all that good! iTunes overtook Amazon music.
Guess it helps iTunes having much more music...
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Mar 28th 2008 10:39AM
Let me put it this way...
You DL their downloading client. Supports Mac and even Linux. You put the music through Amazon's queue which comes in higher fidelity than average iTunes drops. It drops the music in the folder you choose and downloads MP3s. Not copy tagged MP3s. Not systems you have to authorize to play these MP3s. You can use them outside of iPods, you don't have a set number of times you can burn them, and you usually save $1.
Amazon's download service is fairly new and it's tied into their main store so I don't expect them to overtake iTunes anytime soon. However, there is something refreshing about buying music from a download service and not being told what you can do with it. At this point, fuck iTunes.
Joe P @ Mar 28th 2008 5:53PM
First, let me hit you with something blunt *smack*
Second, let me echo what these other gentlemen (or ladies) have politely told you, Amazon's DRM-free music store > iTunes. For all the annoyances I have with Apple iTunes is the biggest one because people think it's some amazing thing when it's not. It's just trendy and people buy into it. With iTunes you download a song loaded with ultra-restrictive DRM that you can do almost nothing with. With Amazon you have a DRM free higher quality song that you can do whatever the hell you want with! A short list comes to mind:
With Amazon's DRM free music you can:
-Put it on any MP3 player (Not just the iPod? NO WAI)
-Play it with any music program (lol winamp what?)
-Edit the song. Remix it. Shrink it. Turn it in to a ring tone (a *free* ring tone even! You don't have to buy the same song again just to put it on your trendy iPhone!)
-Use the song in a flash program, a home movie, or any other presentation
And so much more!
None of that you can do with iTunes unless you strip the DRM. And even then you have a lower quality song. I rest my case.
Jerk Face @ Mar 28th 2008 9:52AM
Dudes, I don't know if you heard - GTA IV is going to be So Fucking Awesome.
ApolloIV @ Mar 28th 2008 10:15AM
NO WAI!
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 28th 2008 11:55AM
WAI!!!
Korova @ Mar 28th 2008 1:17PM
HIWAI
Matt B @ Mar 28th 2008 9:54AM
Does this mean that the included soundtrack in the game will suck on purpose? Well, it's not like the radio stations were not crap to begin with in past revisions.
But at least I will know have the option to finally play a GTA with no rap.
baby sea tuna @ Mar 28th 2008 10:02AM
Yeah, me too. It's called "custom soundtracks."
SugarDaddy @ Mar 28th 2008 10:05AM
You always had the option to play GTA with no rap. Just pick the in-game stations that don't play rap. And what's wrong with rap? Are you afraid that you'll turn into a black person if you listen to it?
I always thought the in-game stations were pretty excellent actually. Lots of good music and stupidly hilarious DJs. Jeez, people complain about everything -- well maybe just you, you overly sarcastic, whiney little virgin you.
WiNG @ Mar 28th 2008 10:15AM
So just because someone doesn't like rap, they are now a racist virgin? Good one.
So, if I happen to hate Indian music videos, that makes me a racist... wanker?
If I happen to hate classical music, I'm an uncultured hillbilly?
Calm down, Carl. Go swim in your pool.
ApolloIV @ Mar 28th 2008 10:16AM
I thought the music in the past games was fine.
ApolloIV @ Mar 28th 2008 10:16AM
were' fine. Damnit joystiq give us an edit post button.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 28th 2008 10:31AM
yea dude seriously, every GTA since III has had the option to turn off the stations you dont want to listen to. there is no problem here. i absolutely love the diverse soundtrack that GTA constantly brings. there is usually an even distribution of genres across the board and the talk shows are hilarious (i hope they can update them over time). if you dont like rap, turn it off. i personally like anything i can nod my head too be it rap, rock, country, classical, you name it.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 28th 2008 12:10PM
@PSN
Same here. And the rap in San andreas was fucking awesome. Rockstar really knows how to pick a good soundtrack.
SugarDaddy @ Mar 28th 2008 1:11PM
@WiNG: I'm the one who needs to calm down?! Never did I mention racist, and never did I say the dislike of rap makes someone a virgin. You're the one who flew into the tirade. You used the word 'wanker' for your insult, I used the word 'virgin.' Either way, you're completely missing the point. What kind of game where the main character is a gangster doesn't have any rap?
And yes, being a whiney bitch probably means you're a virgin.
SugarDaddy @ Mar 28th 2008 9:57AM
I'm sure there are a lot of licensed songs in the game already, but this is nice for peeps that want to expand the library. The best part is that you get to keep the song for yourself as well.
Co @ Mar 28th 2008 9:58AM
Why does Carl not have his own series yet?
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 28th 2008 12:11PM
It's gotta be a series with Carl and Handbanana. that would be fucking awesome.
"He's not a boy anymore. Cause he just raped me!!!"
Laggy @ Mar 28th 2008 9:58AM
Why do we need to pay for something we already own? Is it on the disk? Did we pay for that disk?
Oh, I must be confused big time or maybe I just don't understand. It sure looks like the people who pay for this will be buying it for a second time.
Jerk Face @ Mar 28th 2008 10:03AM
What you are paying for is to be able to download the song to your computer and then put listen to it where ever you like.
So you're playing the game, and a song comes on. You like this song.
"Hey," you say, "I think I'm going to download this song, so I can listen to it on my iPod."
You mark it in game, get a message, download it. Pretty cool, I'd say.
It's not like they're forcing you to do anything.
Vcize @ Mar 28th 2008 10:23AM
The only accurate part of your post was the "I must be confused" part.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 28th 2008 10:35AM
dude your not buying the song from the GTA game, they have just given you a way to figure out what the song you liked was instead of having to flip through the tracklist in the book. they just send an email with the song title and artist and a link to Amazon. you can download it from anywhere. youTube and the Firefox extension DownloadHelper will do good for you cheap asses, then all you need is a FLV Converter and bam, free music (often with bad quality.....)
xFenixKnightx @ Mar 28th 2008 10:03AM
I cant wait for this game! This will be by far the best GTA EVARRR!! COD4 move over, GTAIV will be the new king of XboxLIVE.
Believe it!
Eric @ Mar 28th 2008 10:05AM
Let me make my own radio station!
NATO_Duke @ Mar 28th 2008 11:44AM
Didn't you see Pump Up The Volume??? The man won't let you!
KeenCommander @ Mar 28th 2008 10:14AM
Why not just include the soundtrack on the disk. I know, I know - they always want more money, but we're paying for the game including the soundtrack, so we shouldn't have to pay for the soundtrack again outside the game. Though given ridiculously inflated song prices ($.99 each) that would make a GTA game "worth" over $100 in music alone, so they'd never do it.
Of course, IMO, San Andreas was worth $100 in gameplay, not bad seeing I got it for free with my PS2.
WiNG @ Mar 28th 2008 10:17AM
What exactly are you a commander of?
Mills and Boom @ Mar 28th 2008 10:21AM
Wow, Wing doesn't know old games.
But yea they just want more money. They have to get money from somewhere, what with spiralling development costs so I don't entirely blame them. But as I said earlier Amazon music is only available to yanks so the market has kinda shrunk there. Forgive me but isn't GTA popular in Europe too? You don't hear about it because we don't do killing sprees related to them.