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.

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.

When MTV’s Multiplayer asked Microsoft why at E3, there was no clear answer. Now there is, courtesy of Xbox Marketing Director Albert Penello. In Short: Making back bandwidth and licensing costs, and oh, helping add more value to Xbox Live’s subscription service.

“I think it’s about adding value to the gold membership,” said Xbox director of marketing Albert Penello. “I mean, obviously, the partnership there — it’s a lot of bandwidth. Obviously, there’s the cost of the licensing on the Netflix side, so…you’re not really paying for the movie. On silver, you have to pay for the TV show or movie that you download. Here, you don’t, so the relationship in gold kind of takes care of that funny business.”

Source: Accountalutionary

Taking a quick peek over to VG Chartz we’re seeing that while Microsoft has had some momentum in Japan, which was no doubt a surprising turn of events in Sony’s backyard, the Xbox 360 is by no means leaps and bounds ahead of the PS3. The real question is, can Microsoft keep the pressure up with exciting releases and rumored price drops, thereby widening the sell-through gap? Also, what to do about Blu-Ray? Sure it’s a great format, but still not perfect and certainly not excepted among the mainstream. The driving force of monopolizing the next-gen DVD market doesn’t seem to be injecting Sony with a console sales push (and will it ever be referred to as the “Blu-Ray Market” among the mainstream?). So what’s Sony to do? Price drop? We certainly hope so, but can Sony really afford to bleed anymore with the PS3?

Regardless, neither of them can compete with Nintendo’s Wii, the comeback kid who everyone discounted at the beginning as being too gimmicky or under-powered. Seems the move to cater to the casual gamers, in effect carving out your own niche in the console market, was quite a brilliant move.

The Google Media Server acts as a bridge, allowing you to serve up videos, music and photos as well as Picasa Web Albums and favorite YouTube videos to your Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) devices. No word on when they’ll start streaming Google Ads to your TV however.

Read more: Google Media Server

Atari and Eden have released a Lexus car pack for the Xbox 360 version of Test Drive Unlimited, featuring the incredibly hot Lexus GS 450h hybrid sports sedan. The pack is free via Xbox Live and also features the Lexus LS 460 luxury sedan model. For those Xbox 360 owners who haven’t yet tried Test Drive Unlimited, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s certainly not the greatest racer of all time, but the persistent atmosphere and recreation of Oahu are more than worth it.

Read more: Test Drive Unlimited

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

Poor Sony. They just can’t catch a break. With their overpriced monster of a console failing to ignite the sales charts and now launching in Europe (for around $800 USD after conversion!) to a deafening lull, they have Microsoft trying to trip them up at every turn. From the official PS3 launch party held in Paris, the festivities were rudely interrupted when a barge carrying huge banners stating “XBOX 360 <3 YOU" floated on by, making PS3 fanboys around the world consider taking up high-seas piracy.

Watch video of the drive-by after the jump..

Via: Gameworld Network