No exaggeration: this is huge.  In CVG’s new GTA IV magazine special (sponsored largely by Microsoft,) there is a passage that talks about the impending DLC for the Xbox 360 version of the game, stating that it will basically serve the same function that Vice City and San Andreas did for GTA III.  Here’ the excerpt:


"Of course, to call games as vastly ambitious as Vice City or San Andreas mere 'expansion packs' seems childish, but nevertheless, the downloadable content (DLC) coming for the Xbox 360 version of IV has repositioned those games in just this way. DLC so far has meant the odd new car, jumper of bit of horse armour, but GTA IV is set to completely redefine the idea with expansions that are to GTA IV what Vice City or San Andreas were GTA III. Yes, Rockstar is clearly hinting at new downloadable cities; and the chances of them being London, Vice City or SA again are slim to none. So that's new as in brand new. GTA IV's Liberty City is the beginning. Think about that and be excited."



So we’ll be downloading entire new cities for GTA IV by this fall?!?!?  If this is true, Rockstar won’t need to put out a new retail game for years, but they’ll still make plenty of money and we’ll still have new cars to steal and hookers to rob.  It’s an exciting rumor to say the least, but is there any way this is true?  Well, if you crunch some numbers, you see that it is feasible.  GTA IV fits on one dual-layer DVD, which holds 8 GB of info.  If we estimate that there’s 2 GB of game mechanics, 1 GB of character models, 1 GB of audio and another GB of miscellany in the game, that leaves us with a 3 GB city.  If the new cities are half the size of Liberty City, that’s a 1.5 GB download, which isn’t that bad.  Some demos have been bigger than that, so we’re not talking a crazy amount of downloading. 

Is it true?  We have no idea.  I hope it is, but I just don’t have enough info to confirm it.  In the meantime, you can pass the time until 4/29 trying to guess what cities will be made available.  If CVG is to be believed, Vice City and San Andreas are out of the running, so where would they go next?  A clone of Phoenix called Sagebrush?  A re-imagining of Boston in the form of Revolution City?  How about a fictionalized Chicago, going by the name of Ironville?  The possibilities are seemingly endless. 

Let me know what you think of this rumor.  Think it’s true?  Think it’s pure BS?  Hate the idea of downloading cities for GTA?  Let us know. 



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