GTA IV's 'The Lost and Damned' found by many, many people

by David Hinkle { Feb 27th 2009 at 10:18AM }

Move over Bionic Commando: Rearmed and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, because there's a new top earner on Xbox Live, and it's GTA IV's "The Lost and Damned". Rockstar's Xbox 360-exclusive DLC pack featuring Johnny and his crazy motorbiking buddies has set a record on the service, as its first-day sales revenue has eclipsed all other titles that have debuted on Xbox Live (note: at $20, The Lost and Damned is also more expensive than the previous record holders). Sadly, exact sales figures aren't given, so we don't know how much Microsoft and Rockstar have made off the DLC yet. When we know, we'll be sure to let you know.

GTA IV's "The Lost and Damned" DLC pack is available now on Xbox Live Marketplace for 1600

Gallery: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned DLC

Tags: business, dlc, grand-theft-auto, grand-theft-auto-iv, gta-iv, rockstar, sales, salesfigures, take-two, the-lost-and-damned, xbl, xbox-live

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 10:21AM

It's pretty damned good, eh? What do you guys think?

max @ Feb 27th 2009 10:29AM

if you found gta4 compelling you will probably like it.
i wasn't ever really in love with gta4 but i bought the lost and damned and after like 5 missions i had had enough of gta4's clunky gameplay. give me sr2 dlc please.

Deeznuts420 @ Feb 27th 2009 10:50AM

i loved the group aspect of it, but the A.I. can be pretty damn stupid hopefully theres a patch (if one can even be applied that helps that) but overall i really like it its worth money IMO.

Deeznuts420 @ Feb 27th 2009 10:50AM

*the money.....fridays.

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 10:54AM

I certainly think it's worth it. I get ten hours of a pretty interesting story from one of the best games that came out last year. I really like the characters; particularly Johnny. The scene where you rescue Ashley from the drug house and then drop her off at home was really, really good. Mature game storytelling at its finest.

WRE @ Feb 27th 2009 11:24AM

I'm with you Jerk Face.

Markez @ Feb 27th 2009 11:41AM

I'll have to pick it up at some point once I get GTAIV back from my buddy. Newbie 360 owner who has been content with the PS2 for ages. Mainly just plays sports games. Said he loves GTAIV because of how easy it is as a casual game. Funny stuff.

Vitamin A @ Feb 27th 2009 12:53PM

Certainly a worthy purchase, even at 20 bucks. I am loving the new perspective to roam around. New weapons, vehicles, side quests, it is all great. It integrates well also, intertwining with previous characters. I hope the second episode is as good. Also, I hope any non exclusive DLC is as good also. They really set the bar high here.

Richards | PSN: F4WMR @ Feb 28th 2009 2:35PM

GTA4 on PS3 was all I needed, and even then I was very unhappy with it. I just decided to ride the stupid hype train after months so I could just say I had it in my collection. The missions are way too repetitive, and even though there is fairly good voice acting, the character models look terrible (in comparison to MGS4 models). I think this game suffered because it was a mutlti-platform title, or it is just Rockstar style. I have yet to even finish GTA4, I wouldn't even bother wasting my money on this. However, I am excited to the return to top down style with a bit of more action on the Dsi, w0ot

Mindkiller @ Feb 27th 2009 10:27AM

I have thus far being reluctant to buy it.
I hear it is meant to be good, but I feel that I have honestly had enough of GTAIV.
I'm worried that the missions follow the exact same pattern as Nico's.

Just my feelings anyway. But good job Rockstar.

max @ Feb 27th 2009 10:30AM

indeed. "go here and murder 50 people." the only difference is now your ride a motorcycle and your guy is a whiny bitch.

D dogg @ Feb 27th 2009 10:33AM

Knowing how you feel is important to me. It's also been worthwhile reading WHY you feel this way, it has enriched my life and enlightened me in regards to this game. Your opinion matters.

Has anyone played the DLC and are the new multi-player modes good?

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 10:36AM

I think the conflict between Johnny and Billy is actually a pretty cool story line. I like it so far, but then again I like GTA IV.

David Hinkle @ Feb 27th 2009 10:43AM

Yeah, same here. I think Johnny's struggle with Billy and the gang, as well as the other things in his life, really made the story much more compelling. I mean, either way it was going to be a better story than found in GTA IV, which went completely bonkers about halfway through.

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 10:51AM

I think the reason GTA IV's story fell apart was partially due to Rockstar forcing it's story into the expected 'sandbox' of their games. If they had just let Niko's story wrap up ten hours earlier, you wouldn't have had to do some of the things that made his character less believable. But they extended it to meet the expectations of their consumers, and the narrative suffered.

Overall, though, I still really liked the story in the end. The scene where you finally find Darko Brevich was pretty damned good. And Roman's wedding? Damn! It wasn't perfect, but it was good.

WRE @ Feb 27th 2009 11:19AM

Why do people think the story fell apart at the halfway point? Seriously, I'd like to know.

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 11:36AM

I wouldn't say it fell apart, myself. But I will concede that there was a point in the game where it seemed that Niko was doing things that were against the code of ethics he was trying to live up to, when he probably didn't have to. He was trying to start over, and as he quickly got pulled back into a violent lifestyle in his quest for revenge he seemed to take it beyond what was necessary at times. The Playboy X vs. Dwayne bit comes to mind. Like.. there was probably a better way of doing that, especially since they didn't have any of the info he needed anyway.

But that counterpoint to that is showing how easy it is for a person to fall back into a bad lifestyle. And in that sense, Rockstar showed well how that happened to Niko.

Damn I love GTA IV.

Markez @ Feb 27th 2009 11:45AM

Overall I enjoyed the game a good deal, easily 30 some hours, but actually finishing the game really felt like a chore and not tons o' fun for me. Guess I spent too much time doing side stuff in the middle :P

Anyway, personally I found the story in GTAIV to be absolute garbage. I really thought it was horrible. I know they were trying to have a more serious narrative, but I think it took itself a little *too* seriously. It devolved into soap opera garbage as far I'm concerned.

drdre74 @ Feb 27th 2009 10:29AM

rockstar got its money up front with that 50 million M$ paid for it. So i'm sure rockstar won't see a dime until M$ gets its money back off sales.

joeybeast @ Feb 27th 2009 10:36AM

The $50 million is called advance royalty.

Duke @ Feb 27th 2009 12:51PM

Drdre da geniu$$$$$!

Lars @ Feb 27th 2009 5:25PM

I hate exclusivity bribes. And not just because I have GTA4 on PS3. I'd hate it if it happened the other way around too.

The only time something should be exclusive is by developer's choice. If the developer is taking advantage of the hardware of one particular system or the developer just really likes the platform, then that's fine. It's just a shame to see a barrier to gaming purely based on bribes.

Patrick @ Feb 27th 2009 7:15PM

@ Lars,
Um, you might as well call every business deal a bribe then. It's a free market we live in, pal.

Whylekat @ Feb 28th 2009 11:18AM

Re missions are nothing like niko's. But the missions r way too short. I plowed through the whole campain in 1 afternoon.

readmore @ Feb 27th 2009 10:41AM

Worth every penny! I just wish I had more time to play it!
Missions are totally different so far, more based on turf... although I only played a few missions so far.

And for people like me who finished GTA a while ago this game feels so brand new. Honestly it's like a new game, I keep finding myself wondering how much they changed in the city because it all feels so different (in a good way). I see buildings and people and cars I didn't see in Niko's story! Plus new music! And the bikes handle sooo much better. Once you get into sliding around the corners on a bike, cars are almost a hindrance to drive. And getting to use a bat in the bike races is very satisfying.

When you play it really feels like something new and not an "expansion".

Love it!

Good job Rockstar!!!!!!!!

Popfrogs @ Feb 27th 2009 11:47AM

"And getting to use a bat in the bike races is very satisfying."

Ahh the good old days of Road Rash. Do they include a chain also?

ChiTownRuler23 @ Feb 28th 2009 2:00PM

nope just a bat

xFenixKnightx @ Feb 27th 2009 10:44AM

Basically MS won't make anything off of it until about 2.5mill are sold. It's not a big risk considering a shit ton of people bought the game and will be getting this as well. Thats why they're selling it in retail form.

Josh @ Feb 27th 2009 10:53AM

Yea but the $50 million was for two complete episodes so they will definitely make a return on their investment. If the first episode is selling this well, Microsoft will definitely see a great return after both are released.

RiccochetJ @ Feb 27th 2009 11:12AM

You also have to take into account the copies of GTA 4 sold for the XBox over the PS3 because of this extra content. I know that it was a deciding factor for me at least.

xFenixKnightx @ Feb 27th 2009 11:15AM

I haven't gotten it yet, but definately will later on. I beat GTAIV and loved it. Just too busy with SFIV and Killzone 2 now :)

Kodros @ Feb 27th 2009 2:31PM

RiccochetJ - True, but I'm sure that most people didn't know about the exclusive DLC when GTA4 came out.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 27th 2009 10:55AM

I'm just happy we can have more positive Jewish role models in video games. Thanks Rockstar!

/sarcasm

kanebake @ Feb 27th 2009 11:07AM

They really pushed that Jewish biker stereotype there.

ryan @ Feb 27th 2009 12:28PM

R* is always pushing the stereotypes just for the joke of it.

Popfrogs @ Feb 27th 2009 3:34PM

I heard Acclaim was working on Hebrew Hammer: Hell on Matzoh Wheels.

kanebake @ Feb 27th 2009 11:05AM

I loved it, than again i believe that GTA4 is the best thing out this generation. The writing, the mood, the characters.

Yes eventually the missions do fall into drive there kill that. But so does every single other game on the market, every shooter is walk there shoot that, street fighter is jump there kick that. and mario games are jump there bounce off that. To me it's not a valid complaint. Once you look past the missions, there is so much other stuff to do, exploring Liberty is always great.

As for Saints Row, great if you like it, to me it's still a poor san andreas clone with controls ripped from the yaris game, and a camera taken from 3d games in 1994.

WRE @ Feb 27th 2009 11:21AM

And behold, kanebake finally said what the other GTA4 defenders had been thinking all along, and there was much rejoicing.

Vidikron @ Feb 27th 2009 11:39AM

Certainly a valid point, but the game still felt overly tedious to me. I got sick of answering phone calls. I know you can ignore most of them, but I was always worried I'd miss out on some important or useful bonus if I didn't stay in good graces with the person calling. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the game had a true co-op mode. As it is, I just lost interest rather quickly.

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 11:47AM

For me, the game was more about the narrative and the immersion - you get to experience what it would be like to be Niko Bellic. His friends call. He can go on dates. He gets wrapped up in a life of crime in his unhealthy quest for revenge. I felt so immersed in the story that as I became frustrated with all of the stupid, meaningless missions I could imagine that Niko would feel the same way. And when he blows up on Ray in the bar about all the bull shit he's been doing with no payoff, all I could think is "Fuck yes, give the man what he wants!" I know that wasn't Rockstar's intention, but it didn't ruin it for me as much because of that.

Markez @ Feb 27th 2009 11:48AM

I'm really enjoy SR2, as much, or not more than GTAIV. But the game world most definitely does not have the same sense of life that Liberty City does; not the same character. Liberty City is its own kind of living organism in GTAIV, brah.

kanebake @ Feb 27th 2009 11:51AM

Vid, I agree with you that the friend system was a bit of a pain. Kind of applied a negative pressure. After beating the game is when it became kind of a cool side thing. It's more fun in the expansion since the bikers ride their own bikes, add to conversation and drive them selves back. Plus they never call you and your relationship is independent of any events or perks.

As for co-op, it could be better, but I don't think I'd want to story mode to make sacrifices to accommodate this. What me and my friends end up playing mostly is just sandbox mode and self imposed rules for a game of tag. If anything there is too many modes right now that split the play base a bit too much.

Tiptup300 @ Feb 27th 2009 11:51AM

Say that to little big planet.

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 12:11PM

Comparing GTAIV to LBP is like saying Yellow is better than Exuberance.

Ravnos @ Feb 27th 2009 12:16PM

@Vidikron: That was really my only complaint with GTA4. The first little while I thought it was cool, but after a while I thought my friends were getting pretty needy. I just needed a little "me" time, you know? But you can put your phone on Sleep between missions and then you don't have to deal with their shit near as often, and once your friendship is over 80% or so you've gotten all the bonuses you're going to get.

Hanging out with Brucie was always hilarious, though. Probably my favourite character in a video game, he was just so ridiculous, but I've known so many people who were that high on their own bullshit.

cafecito @ Feb 27th 2009 11:21AM

I guess a lot of people are into schlong. Not me, tho :P

WRE @ Feb 27th 2009 11:23AM

Actually - by virtue of the fact that you're the first one to bring it up - it's fairly obvious that, more so than the rest of us, you've got schlong on your mind.

caserb @ Feb 27th 2009 11:52AM

What, did you just come from IGN.com?

I mean, seriously - HUR HUR HUR, DERP DERP YOU SAID SCHLONG, DERPY DERP.

kanebake @ Feb 27th 2009 11:33AM

*SPOILER*

The schlong thing is actually very funny. The entire encounter is full of innuendo. The guys name is Stubbs, he tells Johnny he has a problem. Johnnys response is "There is surgery for that kind of thing now", he is very uncomfortable with the whole thing, and you can see him struggling not to look down.

Great scene.

Jerk Face @ Feb 27th 2009 11:44AM

For real.. that scene was really good. And the next time you meet with Stubbs he's in a god damned steam room and you're just SURE they're going to do it again! (They don't.) It's all in good fun.

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