The first in what I hope to be a long-line of downloadable content for Rockstar’s golden franchise, Grand Theft Auto has been priced! “The Lost and the Damned” is the first episode for Grand Theft Auto IV on the Xbox will launch on February 17th for 1600 points, which comes to around $20. Rumored to bring 10-20 hours of additional gameplay, The Lost and the Damned finds you taking up the role of Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City’s local biker gang, The Lost.

Ahhh, a yearly tradition we don’t officially support, but always love to read about. Every year, torrent network Torrent Freak releases their official list of pirated PC games, giving us normals and the video game producing suits a bit of insight into which games are topping the torrent charts.

This year’s “winner” is none other than the highly anticipated Spore from EA. With unbelievable hype and quite some backlash due to it’s SecurROM DRM (easily bypassed it seems), Spore was downloaded 1.7 million times by Torrent Freak users, followed by other hits such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, The Sims 2, Assassins Creed Creed and more.

The full list, with place, name, amount of downloads and date of release.

1. Spore
(1,700,000) (Sept. 2008)

2. The Sims 2
(1,150,000) (Sept. 2004)

3. Assassins Creed
(1,070,000) (Nov. 2007)

4. Crysis
(940,000) (Nov. 2007)

5. Command & Conquer 3
(860,000) (Mar. 2007)

6. Call of Duty 4
(830,000) (Nov. 2007)

7. GTA San Andreas
(740,000) (Jun. 2005)

8. Fallout 3
(645,000) (Oct. 2008)

9. Far Cry 2
(585,000) (Oct. 2008)

10. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
(470,000) (Oct. 2008)

Bikers! Nice! GTA: IV is a perfect environment for Hell’s Angels! Today Rockstar Games announced their first expansion for GTA:IV, “Lost and the Damned”, marking the first episode of downloadable content for the Xbox 360. The expansion sees a new main character and plot, which intersects with the main storyline and added multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles. This will be huge!

New York, NY – November 20, 2008 – Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce that the eagerly anticipated first episode of downloadable content, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, will be coming to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system via Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network. Available exclusively on Xbox LIVE worldwide on February 17, 2009, The Lost and Damned will feature all new content and is the first of two episodes announced for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360.

“Making these episodes has enabled us to expand the narrative and the experience of interacting with a game world in really innovative ways,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We hope fans of the game enjoy the new way of experiencing life in Liberty City contained in this first episode.”

Since its launch in April, Grand Theft Auto IV has garnered unprecedented praise and acclaim worldwide. Developed by series creator Rockstar North and set in Liberty City, The Lost and Damned features a new main character and plot that intersects with the storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV; new missions that offer an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City with new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles; and a diverse soundtrack with additional music – all with the incredible production values that are the trademarks of Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned requires players to have the full version of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE membership to download. Further details, including pricing, will be announced soon. For more information, please visit www.rockstargames.com/IV.

According to the GTA IV game details page on XBox.com, the new GTA IV trailer will appear today via the XBox Live Marketplace in high-definition! With the clock now ticking past 6 1/2 hours left to go, here’s to sitting back and watching Xbox Live crash and burn tonight.

Read more: GTA IV @ Xbox.com

The countdown is well underway for the unveiling of the new Grand Theft Auto IV trailer from Rockstar Games. At the moment, the clock is ticking past 14h 31m 02s before millions of sandbox gaming fans around the world will get a glimpse of the future of the GTA franchise. I’m sure it’s no secret that Rockstar and Take 2 have a lot riding on this game, with the talk of a selloff of their parent company lighting up the games gossip circuit, this trailer better be 3-8 minutes of non-stop debauchery and action that would make Jack Thompson proud. Let’s just hope it shows some actual in-game footage.

Countdown: GTA IV trailer