The Ballad of Gay Tony, as well as its predecessor The Lost and Damned, requires you to have a copy of GTA IV in order to play if the buy the downloadable version. The games can also be purchased on a disc for around $30. Whatever choice you make you’re guaranteed to thoroughly enjoy your extra time in Liberty City.

In a move drawing lots of interest on Wall Street, financier Carl Icahn has increased his ownership stake in troubled Take-Two Interactive from 2.5 percent to 11.3 percent.

Icahn has a history of pushing for either change in or the outright sale of companies he invests in. This has increased speculation that Take-Two will be up for sale in the near future, and as a result the company’s shares shot up 10 percent after word of Icahn’s purchase got out.

Despite hit franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club, Take-Two expects to report its second consecutive annual net loss in fiscal year 2010. Industry insiders are openly questioning the company’s management structure. The recent admission of Take Two CEO Ben Feder that the company he feels the company mishandled the release of downloadable GTA expansions will do little to restore faith.

The first Xbox 360-exclusive episode of Grand Theft Auto IV, titled The Lost and the Damned, has been well received by critics and fans since its February 2009 release. Wedbush Morgan Analyst Michael Pachter estimates L&D has sold more than 1 million copies to date and will reach the 2 million mark by the end of October 2009. While we will wait to see if his estimates come true, Take-Two Interactive released its Q1 Earnings Report which details a list of games that will be released by October 31, 2009.

Rockstar has not confirmed what the second downloadable episode will be about but…

For those of you who don’t already own Grand Theft Auto IV, it’s finally made the jump to the Steam network for direct-download purchase.

The game is not new, although there were quite a few people who were unable to get it when it was released for consoles. This is a bit of a holiday gift for both gamers and Rockstar Games: PC gamers get a great game, Rockstar Games gets more money which leads to more great games for you. See, it balances out.

If you plan on getting the game, it will set you back $49.99. If you have a…

MTV’s Multiplayer Blog brings us some sad news from BMO Capital Markets Conference today (November 13, 2008). Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick told the people there that GTA: Chinatown Wars would be released by the end of April 2009 and the Xbox exclusive downloadable content for GTA IV would be pushed back until Spring of 2009.

Zelnick did say the DLC portion is almost complete but…

That title really shouldn’t be a surprise since, as gamers, we know the power that the Nintendo Wii can wield over consumers. We also know the power Wii Fit had over consumers as well. The motion-fitness game that retails for a round $90 and comes with a Wii Balance Board is expected to outpace the gritty and violent Rockstar hit, Grand Theft Auto IV, which retails around $60. But what both WedBush Morgan gaming analyst Michael Pachter and GigaOM are predicting isn’t money, it’s absolute units. Currently, 10.6 million GTA IV copies have been sold to Wii Fit’s 8.7 million.

Out of 12 million Nintendo Wiis out there, around 30 percent of the system’s owners have purchased Wii Fit and we are just getting into the beginning of the holiday season. Currently, the exercise tool has been selling around…

Since its launch, Grand Theft Auto IV has shattered all previously held records for sales, and it has become the new king of Xbox Live, but there have been a few bumps in the road that gamers have voiced their concerns about. Thankfully, Rockstar has released the first patch updates for GTA IV’s online game play.

All updates should be automatic the next time you log online, either for the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3.

IGN posted the list of updates:

Title: Grand Theft Aufo IVPrice: $59.99System(s): Xbox 360, PS3Release Date: April, 28, 2008Publisher (Developer): Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar)Rating: “Mature” for blood, intense violence, partial nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, use of alcohol and use of drugs.Pros: Great game play, great narrative story, great mechanics, great online, long game play length, great city details and nearly bug-free.Cons: The game ends eventually, not as funny as past titles, removal of past additions, some system crashes, not enough of the city is used.Overall Score: Two Thumbs Up, 95/100, A , * * * * 1/2 out of five

With every little bump or minor complaint I’ve had with this game, it doesn’t in the slightest way detract from the overall experience.

With an online element that really allows players to experiment and create their own modes of game play GTA IV has more under its hood then any five games. GTA IV may be an evolution that doesn’t add much that we haven’t already seen in previous titles but it certainly takes everything we’ve played before and perfects it into a truly epic experience not seen since GTA III.

Click through for the full review…

So, by now we’ve all heard the buzz. Grand Theft Auto IV has officially eclipsed previous records for gaming, selling half a billion dollars worth in its first week. The New York Times reported the news early yesterday, and Take-Two confirmed (according to a Kotaku post), leaving RockStar and Take-Two with the hottest entertainment property going right now.

Though it’s difficult to compare game sales to box office performance (after all, people don’t pay $59.99 for movie tickets), I’m going to do it anyway. The current number one in domestic movies is Iron Man, which according to the latest chart in Variety, has generated total sales of $115,559,020 in its first five days. So the top videogame has eclipsed the top movie by tremendous factor. Even considering the rather unfair comparison, this is quite revolutionary, and possibly a bit startling.

Rockstar’s recently released epic, Grand Theft Auto IV, has been on the receiving end of a great deal of controversy for quite a while but parent company Take-Two Interactive is finally fighting back.

Take-Two is suing the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) for pulling all GTA IV related ads from buses and transit displays throughout the city just days after they were put up on April 22. The ad campaign was supposed to last for six weeks.

Take-Two claims that by…