Rockstar Games has a tradition of doing what they want. In recent years they’ve made a game based on semi-obscure ‘70s gang movie and one based on ping-pong. They’re also working on a music mixer game for the PSP. These aren’t exactly subjects that are known to light up the sales charts. And yet, they don’t worry about it, they’re Rockstar. They do what they want.

Perhaps the best example of not giving a crap is the title of the upcoming DLC pack for “Grand Theft Auto IV”. Set to release in the fall of this year, the second (and possibly final) pack is titled, “The Ballad of Gay Tony.” Seriously, that’s what it’s called. If there was a less marketable title for a video game, I haven’t heard it.

The game will put players in the role of Luis Lopez, the right-hand man of flamboyant nightclub owner Tony “Gay Tony” Prince. You may remember Luis from his small roles in both the original “GTA IV” and “GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned.” When last we saw Luis, he was on the rooftop of Liberty City’s museum, escaping from the illegal diamond deal that brought all three main protagonists together. There’s little doubt that “The Ballad of Gay Tony” will feature this same mission, albeit from Luis’ point of view.

If you missed out on the first expansion pack, “The Lost and the Damned,” you’ll be able to pick up both episodes in disc format sometime this fall.

In an earnings announcement today, Take Two Interactive, reiterated that the second XBox 360-exclusive epsiode of "GTA IV" will be out by the end of October. Full Take Two line-up below: Read more...

$20 times one million downloads? And what's a million more? Read more...

"Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned" lets you do so much more than a man like hero Johnny Klebitz would ever do. I've finished the game. Here's my "review": Read more...

Dear Rockstar: Motorcycles weren't very fun in "Grand Theft Auto IV" because it took five seconds to fall off, but since you fixed them in "The Lost And Damned," could you guys work on a patch to bring those physics into Niko's story? That'd be lovely. Write back soon! Love, Patrick.

Over at MTV News, Stephen has filed a story about the "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned" cut scene with full-frontal male nudity everyone's talking about, looks at some old Rockstar controversies and points out where you can keep up with Congressman Stubbs' day-to-day: Twitter.

Full-frontal male nudity in Rockstar's new 'Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned' is just the latest in a history of controversies surrounding the developers' games. But this new one is different from the Hot Coffee, "Manhunt," and "Bully" scandals of the past

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

It took a little longer than expected for "The Lost And Damned" to show up on Xbox Live, but almost an hour of downloading time later, the highly anticipated "Grand Theft Auto IV" downloadable content is finally in our possession, and here's what we noticed in our first 15 minutes. Read more...

"The Lost And Damned," a downloadable expansion for "Grand Theft Auto IV," was supposed to debut at midnight on the west coast, but we couldn't locate the 1.78GB file until 40 minutes later. After purchasing some points, it took us 38 minutes, 14 seconds to download the expansion. What about you?

I just got an e-mail from Rockstar Games that includes a reminder that I thought I'd pass along: "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned," the Xbox 360 exclusive new episode for "GTA IV" goes live  tonight. Specifically: at 3 AM ET on February 17, which is midnight tonight for you folks on the west coast of the U.S. I'll be asleep, but all of you old enough for the M-rated adventures of Johnny Klebitz, have fun!