The reasonably well reviewed, though financially dubious 360 “exclusive” Episodes From Liberty City have finally met with inevitable announcement of pending cross-platform release. Both the PlayStation 3 and Games for Windows editions of GTA IV will be receiving the expansions on March 30th after years of speculation as to the terms and dates of Microsoft’s rumoured $50 million exclusivity agreement. The episodes will be release individually as digital downloads for $19.99 each, or as a boxed, stand-alone compilation as seen on the Xbox 360 some months back.
In a press release, Sam Houser, president of Rockstar Games, appreciated the “patience” of Microsoft’s rival console holders. But it’s questionable whether releasing the DLC some two years after the core title this “patience” has lingered long enough for PS3 and PC gamers to welcome the additional content. Presumably the group who “finished GTA IV and wanted more story and gameplay” have satiated their open world urge with any number of titles in the proceeding years.
As pointed out in reviews of the episodic chunks as far back as February ‘09, time only highlighted the inherent flaws present in Rockstar’s magnum opus. Here, presenting the same still unmodified content amidst 2010’s stellar line up appears to appease a now relatively small crowd. Houser and Co. are apparently content to draw the last drops of financial viability from GTA IV’s worshipped corpse regardless of current gaming or cultural relevance.
As is so often the case, exclusivity hurt the final product. While it’s a small relief that now all gamers at least have the opportunity to indulge in the extras of Liberty City, it would be interesting to work out hypothetically if either Rockstar or Microsoft benefited from their swag bag ransom of one of 2008’s finest hours.
Via: Games Are Evil
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