One of the biggest game launches this year was Grand Theft Auto IV. The game has been out for a while now, but will still probably be one of the most popular titles for holiday giving. Shortly after the game launched Rockstar announced that it would be bringing downloadable content to the platform.

The catch for many gamers is that the DLC will be for Xbox 360 players only. Rockstar has now announced the release date for the first DLC pack. The download content will be called The Lost and Damned.

According to the latest NPD Group report for game sales in May, this is the fourth month in a row that Nintendo has come out on top for the number 1 AND number two spot for console sales. The Nintendo Wii and the handheld Nintendo DS were the two top-selling hardware units for May, 2008.

Nintendo sold over 675,000 Wii consoles in May and almost 453,000 Nintendo DS’s, which would probably explain all the new colors and designs they have been coming out with lately for the DS. Sony’s Playstation 3 followed with a little under 209,000 units sold and Microsoft sold 186,600 Xbox 360 units during the same period.

Microsoft is touting some new statistics trying to gain some additional momentum for the Xbox 360 game console, stating that in the U.S. they have sold 10 million units. There is no refuting that this is quite an accomplishment, but Microsoft is trying to add some more significance to the 10 million unit mark.

“History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry, ” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

According to a report in the NYT, Grand Theft Auto IV reached sales of over $500 million in its first seven days on the market. Take Two Interactive said the game sold approximately 6 million copies worldwide since its launch last Tuesday.

The numbers significantly exceeded expectations of many analysts who expected to see around 5 million copies sold in the first two weeks. Take Two also stated that 3.6 million of those copies were sold the first day of the launch globally for around $310 million in sales. This number even exceeds the numbers we saw for the Halo 3 launch for both first day and first week sales.

Grand Theft Auto IV went on sale worldwide today and many retailers such as Best Buy and GameStop opened their doors at midnight last night to meet fans across the country who created long lines to be one of the first to get their hands on a copy and spend the rest of the night playing. The GTA 4 launch from Take Two is expected to see sales that will rival that of last year’s Halo 3 release, with numbers nearing $400 million for around 6 million copies sold around the world.

The Grand Theft Auto 4 game is available for both the Sony Playstation 3 and the XBox 360 which greatly broadens the audience. Some speculate that the launch delay from last October also allowed more people to have time to buy the latest generation of game console and built more anticipation for the launch. Take Two says the delay was due to technical hurdles that needed to be overcome.

Rockstar has an edited version of Grand Theft Auto IV to release in Australia this month in order to obtain a MA15+ for the game with the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). This may not come as a big surprise to those in Australia, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

To make it even worse, Rockstar has not only confirmed that Australia will be getting a censored version of the game, but they have chosen not to divulge what parts of the game have been cut to obtain approval from the Australian game classification system - our guess is the hookers, again. This is no doubt done to leave the benefit of the doubt with consumers that parts of the games they like most will still be there.

Not too long ago EA offered to buy Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two is well known as the publisher of some of the most popular and controversial games to be found for console and PC gaming systems. Take-Two is the publisher behind the Grand Theft Auto series, Bioshock, and Manhunt.

EA offered to buy Take-Two Interactive for a paltry $26 per share. I say paltry because Take-Two stock has been commonly trading for slightly more than the $26 offer. Take-Two recommended to its stockholders that they turn down the EA offer as inadequate.

It’s looking as though video game maker Rockstar is breaking away from the Xbox to get at least one game on board the Nintendo Wii gravy train with a new version of its Table Tennis game. RockStar has created some pretty awesome games in the past including a little something called Grand Theft Auto and is the author of the recently controversial Manhunt 2, and this one is sure to be no slouch.

“Ever since we released Table Tennis, fans have been asking us to create a Wii

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Die hard fans of the uber violent game series Grand Theft Auto are certainly looking forward to getting their hands on Grand Theft Auto IV when it ships later this year. They may even get more excited when they check out the Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition just announced for around $90.

The Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition looks like a sweet package. You obviously get the game plus some other swag, all delivered to you in a customized metal safety deposit box. This box holds an art book showcasing scenes from the game, a soundtrack CD with tunes exclusive to it, a Rockstar key chain which holds the keys to the box and a duffel bag to hall around your stolen goods in.

The creators of the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise are no strangers to controversy but their latest about to be released video game is making things even hotter under the collars of several politicians around the globe.

Rockstar Games will release “Manhunt 2” on the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 2 and PSP next month but already two countries have barred sales of the video game within their borders. The United Kingdom and Ireland have blocked sales of the game citing its extreme graphic violence and …

To call the “Grand Theft Auto” game a popular franchise may be a bit of an understatement. The series’ last major chapter, “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”, sold 12 million copies for the PlayStation 2 alone and the franchise as a whole has sold over 50 million units, making it one of the most successful video game series of all time. The series’ next chapter, currently known by the placement title “Grand Theft Auto IV”, is set for release on October 16, 2007 across North America and three days later …

Hitting store shelves today is “Crackdown”, the first of 2007’s highly anticipated new games for the Microsoft Xbox 360. Developed by Scottish game company Real Time Worlds and from the mind of the same programmer that created the original “Grand Theft Auto”, “Crackdown” lets you explore the futuristic crime-filled streets of Pacific City and attempt to bring law and order to its frightened citizens.

You can roam all across the massive city and carry out mayhem using a wide array of weapons and vehicles but “Crackdown” has some new tricks that …