Rockstar revealed some important details on Wednesday regarding the latest expansion for Grand Theft Auto IV. The Ballad of Gay Tony will become available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace on October 29th and will run users 1600 Microsoft Points– or $20USD. Just like the last DLC expansion, The Lost and the Damned, players who download the expansion will need to own a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV in order to run it.

For those who no longer own Grand Theft Auto IV and wish to play just the two expansions, Rockstar also announced on Wednesday that they will be shipping both expansions (The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony) on a disc titled Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City. This compilation disc will not contain the original Grand Theft Auto IV game, however. This disc will have a suggested retail price of $39.99 and is slated for release on the same day.

Unfortunately, Rockstar is still keeping details about The Ballad of Gay Tony under wraps as of press time… but if it’s as good as the last expansion was, our guess is that it’ll be worth the wait to revisit Liberty City once again. Stay tuned.

After the resounding thud that was Nintendo’s E3 conference, I was pacing nervously; wondering if Sony would pull the manhole cover over themselves upon completing their keynote today. Seeing as the PSP GO had leaked and everyone already knew God of War 3 was en route, it was important that Sony redeem itself to its core audience and breathe new life into the most expensive console on the market. I couldn’t speculate how they would combat Microsoft’s tsunami of motion camera innovation, incredible software and user-friendly apps from Monday without looking like the desperate and defeated champions of yesteryear. (Announcing a longer wait for Gran Turismo 5 isn’t something worthy of a keynote, people.) When Jack Tretton proclaimed that 2008 was the year of the PS3, he probably didn’t mean the billions of dollars lost by 2009. And I am one of the few skeptics who can’t believe that Kratos can resurrect a console that Snake could not. As the curtain rose for Sony’s presentation, I held my breath and sat poised at the keyboard…

Jack Tretton Knows Best

After an overproduced opening movie set to the music of Queen, the familiar symbols of triangle, circle, square and x give birth to the PSP, PS 3, and the (gasp!) PS2. We were thrust into the PSN and screen shots of Singstar, 3rd party IPs and a few familiar faces…Queen keeps on singing…until we see a purple, I mean “Lilac” PSP..and oh no…a reminder of Sony Home. And then the ever elusive DC Universe MMORPG flashes on screen again. My neck hairs stand up, hoping we might hear more about that special project which keeps my childhood dreams alive…

Mr. Tretton then comes out to explain his billion dollar loss…oh wait…never mind. Instead, he mentions the fact that the press leak will not out-do anybody and that he’s about to have a heart attack regardless. Perhaps he could use a “Wii Vitality Sensor” to help him monitor his condition. He then tells us that there are 364 games coming out this year. That’s nearly one a day!!!  And only the PS3 can pump out resolution in live code for a 40×80 ft. screen behind him. Yay. He then goes on to remind us that “Sony has been committed to ground breaking innovation and creativity for 15 years….” Tretton had vapid teleprompter eyes by this point and I zoned out until he mentioned “Rachet and Clank 2″ and “Heavy Rain” amongst the exclusives. Yet no trailers. Harrumph.

The Console That Will Never Die

His next bit surprises me: He talks about the seemingly eternal behemoth that is the PS2, which contrary to the Drudge Report, invaded Canada and Latin America with record numbers in the 9th year of its lifespan. That means Canada and Latin America should get the PS3s sometime by 2016. Sony is committed to keeping the PS2 alive past the 10 year life cycle as long as they see fit. They are pumping out 100 new titles, including major franchises. “Today’s ps2 owners are tomorrow’s ps3 owners.” Tretton mused. Yeah, If tomorrow is $200 bucks cheaper. Then there’s something about 22 million units sold last year drowned out by monotone delivery, boring graphs and maps depicting world domination…I mean “global reach”.

Mr. Tretton spews some more numbers, citing that PSN has 24 million registered accounts as of today. (This will be an important number later in the piece, so remember it!) He then accuses of everyone having insomnia from playing some game called “Infamous” and doles out the metascores from the mega-awesome reviews. Infamous is one of 35 exclusive titles for the PS3 in 2009. Now that our math class is over, he hands it over to Evan Wells from Naughty Dog, who gives us our long awaited look at hands-on play of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. But before that, he makes sure to remind us that they have maxed out the PS3’s processors on this one, so if you have ever imagined the PS3 will look better in the future, think again, Bubba. He then lets the crowd know that the Uncharted 2 multi-player Beta starts tonight at midnight. I hear someone faint. And that’s before the demo.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

When I bought my PS3, the first game I grabbed was Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Naughty Dog had buried Tomb Raider with its intuitive gameplay and lush visuals. What they showed today has raised the bar so high, I don’t think Lara Croft will ever recover. With seamless cinematic moments streamed into gameplay that boasts the best visuals I have ever witnessed on any platform, UC2: AT was the perfect game to remind Sony owners why they owed their machines beyond the nifty Blu-ray player. I uttered the following during the video: “The depth of field in the uncharted demo is simply outrageous…How does Drake not jump into the helicopter fire?!? What a great cover system! Graphics and lighting are top notch! God, how does he keep from bleeding to death?”

Yet no release date is uttered. Speculation has put it anywhere between September and December 21st, 2009. I simply cannot wait.

M.A.G.

Short for Massive Action Game, M.A.G. is the largest console online FPS ever. And to prove it, Andy Bowden of Zipper Interactive came out to demonstrate it, complete with 256 real-time live players. The minute he entered the mapping interface, it became intimidating to see the scale of it. Also, trying to manage 4 squadrons and keep track of 128 live enemies turned my hair white. Andy’s crony played as squad leader, earning points for the execution of every order by his squad mates. This involved tackling a bunker with compact explosives (which you must defend from the onslaught of enemies before they detonate) and securing a forward position by taking out the anti-aircraft guns (which in turn permitted concentrated cluster bombing on the front wall of the main base and new respawn points within helicopters).  They then elicited a million screams of delight from the audience after announcing that the server would be up for the remaining 3 days and playable on the E3 floor.

Sony continued its teasing ambiguous with another “Fall ‘09″.

The Worst Kept Secret of E3: The PSP GO

Jack’s eyes have not secreted any fluids at this point due to his teleprompter trance, but he finds enough strength to summarize what makes the PSP 2000 so great: Skype, Internet Radio, 400 proven titles like Final Fantasy, God of War, etc. And he plugs a few PSP upcoming exclusive games- the only one that caught my dwindling interest was “Asssassin’s Creed: Bloodlines” due November 10th. Shortly thereafter, the crowd gets in a fervor when its announced that Disney Interactive has signed on with a Hannah Montana game and Lilac PSP. I smell sarcasm. With new partners Disney and Nickelodeon and games like Petz, Loco Roco, Patapon and Hannah, the PSP is looking to crack the wallets of the pre-teen market in a whole new color: Purple. I mean “Lilac”.

Mr. Tretton finally gives his eyes a rest and gives way to the indomitable Kaz Hirai who can only be here for one reason: To spin a yarn about going on a road trip to engage customers in what specific changes they wanted made to the PSP. (Sounds like last year’s Wii ads, if you ask me…) The result is, drum roll, “the worst kept secret of E3″: The PSP GO. Declaring digital downloads as the future, hollers and woos erupt as Kaz pulls the mini PSP from his pocket. Specifically designed for the “digital lifestyle” its 50% smaller than the first gen PSP, chock full of 16 gb flash memory, Wi-fi, Bluetooth and a m2 memory stick port.

In an effort to streamline just about everything, Sony has launched the new app: Media Go. Media Go is now the way to access PS store via a more intuitive interface from your PC. In an effort to fight iTunes’s “Genius” Sony’s “Sense Me” is a music mix tape creator, based on “moods” and “occasion.” Kaz then silences the crowd by mentioning a price reduction of 75%; only it seems he was talking about a “Development Toolkit price reduction.” Not quite the price cut we were looking for today, Kaz. And then the rub- The PSP GO will retail for $249 dollars in North America and $249 Euros. Ouch. Economy what?

PSN and Gran Turismo (PSP)

Kaz switches gears briefly to reassure loyalists that PSN is growing bigger everyday with new partnerships with G4, E!, HDNET, TNA, Magnolia Films, Anime Network and Shotime as well as a video delivery service for the PSP GO, seeing as it has no UMD drive. As if on cue to peoples skepticism of the processing power and memory of the PSP GO, Poliphony founder Kaz Yamauichi comes out to announce (through a horrendously lazy translator) that Gran Turismo P will launch side by side with the Go as the first big downloadable game ad he has one in his hand! Running at 60 fps, GTP will feature 800 cars, 35 tracks with 60 variations, Time trial mode, SP mode, drift trials, GT mission challenge mode, and of course the instruction-laden Legacy License Mode, GTP has all the bells and whistles of the console version. Wi-fi plays its role in GTP with an ad-hoc mode that allows you to race together with 4 other players, trade and share cars and mock each other’s Yugos. Much to the chagrin of attendees, the PSP GT would be on display on the show floor whereas GT5 remained noticably absent until the end. Perhaps Yamauchi should have concentrated on finishing GT5 before announcing another portable incarnation of GT. He exited stage left to a mild applause. I could almost hear a fan yell “Go finish yer gahddam game already!!”

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP)

Kaz returns to save the day by bringing Microsoft’s Man of the Year Hideo Kojiima out to the crowd. Only, the English-speaking Kojiima of yesterday has been replaced with a Japanese-translated Kojiima! Instead of revealing that MGS: Rising is multi-platform, Hideo smiles and lets everyone know Snake (albeit Solidus) is returning to the PSP in MGS: Peace Walker. “It’s a true sequel to the MGS franchise,” Kojima noted. Taking place 10 years after Snake Eater, Peace Walker follows the military coup of Costa Rica and the missing link story of the formation of Outer Heaven. Hideo assures that he has written the script and is producing the project as well. Peace Walker will serve as an integral part of the Metal Gear canon, bridging the gap between MGS3 and MGS. The trailer is chock full of clones  getting into hairy situations and professing team tactics. And then there was the credits, the part where a homo-erotic Easter egg startled the crowd. You have to see the trailer to believe it.

The Rest of the PSP and checking in at HOME

Several more new titles including a stand-alone Resident Evil and Little Big Planet are heralded followed by a montage featuring the new SOCOM, Monster Hunter, Motorstorm, Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, Final Fantasy: Dissida, and (wait for it…) Hannah Montana! Tretton then crawled back out to reiterate the attraction of PSN: 475 million pieces of content downloaded! 90 exclusive titles, and available today? FINAL FANTASY VII. Take that, e-bay gougers!!

Sigh. Tretton has squashed all that was wonderful by bringing up Home again. Feigning pride, he accolades the 6.5 million people using home, of whom 85% are return users. I don’t care. That only means that 18 million other PSN users hated it too.

Another montage film fires up, this time PS3-centric with glimpses of Tekken 6, Ice Age, Saw, Batman, Ninja Gaiden, Tiger Woods, Madden, G Force, Rock Band 2, Ghostbusters, Lost Planet 2, Guitar Hero 1000, Final Fantasy 13 AND 14, Heavy Rain, Hustle Hogs, Patapon, Katamari, Fat Princess, Singstar, DC Universe (gasp!!!!!), Motorstorm, Bioshock 2, Jak, God of War 3 and more. Mild applause preludes Tretton reminding people of the glory days of Sony when GTA was an exclusive to the PlayStation. Well, guess what? Rockstar North is coming back with an exclusive. Sure, no pics. But it has a really cool font…

The press release says it all: “AGENT takes players on a paranoid journey into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations during the height of the Cold War at the end of the 1970s.” Sounds great. How about a picture or two to whet our appetites, Rockstar North? No? How about a…Okay. I get it. No Release Date.

Assassin’s Creed 2

The first real time demo of AC2 by the French boys who made it. While not as visually arresting as yesterday’s trailer, it still looks simply gorgeous as played on PS3. Your new assassin Ezzio is another descendant of Desmond’s, who of course, is still playing around in the Anibus. It was revealed that Leonardo da Vinci plays an important role as your gadget man. All your gear, hidden or not, is a product of the Renaissance’s largest contributor. The demo showcased the Flying Man glider straight from Leonardo’s sketchbooks which is kept aloft by open flame’s updrafts.  Once Ezzio was relieved of his glider, the dual hidden blades were revealed in a rather showy fashion, taking down to dapper guards in a split second. Also introduced was The Seeker archetype, a guard who doesn’t believe you can just fall into a bale of hay and disappear. As the close battles ensued, complete with weapon stealing and combo kills, the Franco said that 30 different weapons were available with more unlockables should you complete and synchronize the PSP game “AC: Bloodlines”. Finally, Smoke bombs and the Italian ninja that can swim escapes. Ships November 1st.

Final Fantasy XIII…er, I mean XIV?!?

From time to time (read: whenever we feel like it) two members of the Portable Gamer staff will cut their workload in half by co-authoring a review. What they never realize is that it actually results in behemoth-sized pieces which, upon seeing, cause our editors to run away screaming obscenities.

Where were we? Ahhh yes, our “Dual Review” (get it?) for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, starring Dennis & Jason.

Released: March 17th, 2009
Developer: RockStar Leeds
Verdict: Must-Play
Pros: Almost everything. Gameplay wise, the best GTA ever produced.
Cons: We miss the diverse and humorous soundtrack

Written by: Dennis Poon & Jason Evangelho

Jason: A good place to start this piece may be my own skepticism of Chinatown Wars when it was initially announced. I thought it was all but a given RockStar would dilute their trademarked edgy presentation, and dial down the violence and the language in an effort to appeal to the more casual DS audience. Clearly, I need to have more faith in RockStar. At first blush – as early as the gritty opening narrative following Huang’s arrival in the States – I knew that size definitely wouldn’t matter when it comes to GTA games.

How did you feel when you first fired up the cart?

Dennis: I too had my doubts about this game. I remember first hearing the news that a GTA game was going to be produced for DS, and the first thing that came to mind was that the game was ‘probably going to be just another crappy port that RockStar puts out to cash in on the GTA franchise.’ The name “Chinatown Wars” didn’t really get me excited about the game either. It conjured images of bad Asian voice acting and the stereotypical “ching chong ching” type drivel, which led me to initially discount the possibility of a good game. It wasn’t until I saw a trailer, which we had posted here on TPG, that I became excited about the game.

As I anxiously started up GTA:CTW and the opening cut scenes began, I knew the game was going to be as great as the trailers. I really enjoyed the short little ride that the introduction took us on. The music also was something that really impressed me. As a Chinese American with parents who actually immigrated to the States, I was and still am exposed to lots of the culture. The soundtrack includes the use of traditional Chinese opera and traditional Chinese instruments mixed with a hip hop kind of vibe, which I think compliments the cinematic type introduction very well. As Borat would say, “Great Success!!” But yeah, having seen many Chinese movies dealing with the Triad and Chinese gangsters and such, I’d say that the game’s story succeeds in representing those themes, and I think they are able to do that by paying attention to the little details. (themes of family and honor and of course violence)

JASON: Speaking of voice acting, I’m surprised to hear myself say I’m grateful for its absence. Like reading a great novel, it sparked my imagination being forced to lend my own inner voices to the cast of characters. The written dialog in ChinaTown wars is poignant and precise. Even though most scenes contain no more than 5 or 6 sentences, it really impacts the overall experience in such a positive and memorable way. Most novelists and and screenwriters would kill to have this much riveting dialog.

What I’m most impressed with Huang’s subtle sarcasm towards the first act of the story, and his almost flamboyant display of sarcasm and scathing remarks as the game progresses. You witness him growing more comfortable with his surroundings, and more confident in his role, and the writers portray this with nothing more than scraps of perfectly written dialog.

DENNIS: I completely agree. Keeping true to RockStar tradition, a GTA game must be accompanied with some sort of abundance of vulgar language. Aside from the occasional scripted rantings that occur as you accidentally piss off the thugs or cops around the city, curse words aren’t really thrown around freely. While I definitely do enjoy watching people cuss each other out, the scarcity of actual vulgarity (not completely gone but still some) in the dialogue is quite refreshing. It’s filled with cleverly crafted insults that seep with sarcasm.

With games that had so-so writing, I’d frequently mash buttons to progress the dialog. The sarcastic banter you talked about was good enough that I’d actually wait for the words to scroll, read them all the way through, and find myself smiling and chuckling.

Another wonderful implementation is the PDA system. It’s like having an iPhone with turn-by-turn GPS, sans the actual “calling/phoning” part. The touch screen works just like the iPhone would; you touch where you want to select, and slide the screen to go through the menus. Even though you’re inside a scaled down version of Liberty City, it’s still massive. I am nowhere near familiar with the areas, which makes the GPS instrumental in getting around. I found myself using it to plot a route to drug dealers offering deals on their merchandise, and a route to others who were desperate to get their fixes. (The drug dealing mini-game is so diverse it almost deserves its own review.)

JASON: Besides the GPS system, Rockstar crammed a ton of easily accessible and ridiculously useful information into the PDA. Email alerts, Radar, radio, a drug-dealers database, in-depth game stats, even customizable shortcuts. And not to over-glorify the PDA, but I even enjoyed the clicky sound effects as you slide through the options. Subtle details, for the win.

We haven’t seen a top-down GTA game since Grand Theft Auto II in 1999, and for most gamers riding the fence – or perhaps those spoiled by the rich graphics of more recent GTA titles on the PSP, 360, and PS3 – the pseudo-3D, top down approach of Chinatown Wars could initially be a turn-off. In reality though, the only drawback here is that the lush details you’re used to in Liberty City have been stripped away in favor of a streamlined presentation. Despite your viewing angle, the camera rarely gets stuck on rooftops and gives the player just enough draw distance to prepare for what lies just offscreen.

Admittedly, you’ll need to acclimate yourself to the scaled down graphics at first. When I last visited Liberty City I could see stubble and scars on the characters, and here they’re rendered as humanoids bounding down the street. But Rockstar deftly plays to the strengths of the DS and within minutes the graphical limitations are a fleeting annoyance. Gunplay is satisfying, and car chases still remain edge-of-your-seat visceral with a truly astonishing sense of speed.

DENNIS: Yeah, one of the greatest strengths of the game is the car handling. Not only is it really responsive, they also did a great job balancing out the speed and acceleration of each of the cars. Overall, the little tweaks here and there make driving around Liberty City an enjoyable experience. On occasion, I’d even purposely crash into a cop car to get all neighboring squad cars to chase me around town. Ditching your car after your current car is about to explode and stealing the next closest car to get away from the Po Po = Awesome!!

There are also mini-missions hidden all over the city that considerably lengthen the amount of gameplay. Several times on the way to answer a main-mission request, I’d find myself picking up these random quests and playing them instead of the main-mission. If you have A.D.D., there’s probably a good chance that you may never finish this game. Many of these mini-quests involve the racing around the city at breakneck speed. Whether it be the actual “search and destroy” racing, or trying to deliver as many noodle bowls as you can while avoiding gunfire from rivals, or even serving up your best tattoo artistry, these mini-quests are definitely enjoyable because of the awesome controls…and if you think these mini-quests may get monotonous, you’re wrong.

Remember all of those complaints about DS games being too “kiddy?” Well here’s a game that you should probably NOT let your kids play. If you’re still wondering how a DS version could be described as even better than previous GTA console versions, go pick up the game and wonder instead why you didn’t scoop it up earlier.

Release: Feb 17 2009
Developer: Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Genre: Action, Adventure

***Post-release content is a somewhat different beast to full retail titles and as such we do not currently award fixed scores to such products.

The Lost and Damned redefines what the increasingly fashionable DLC tag can really represent.  Over the course of the 12 to 15 hour story (depending on how you like to pace yourself) you’re introduced to Liberty City from a new and refreshing perspective.  Yes, the location is the same.  Yes, the radio stations are the same. Yes, the majority of the vehicles are the same.  However, thanks mainly to some fantastic characters, (and some equally fantastic writing) by the time the plot winds itself to a close you’ll think of The Lost and Damned as a standalone addition to the Grand Theft Auto series that just happens to takes place in the same arena as GTA IV.  This, ladies and gentleman, is no mere ‘add-on pack’.

You play the part of Johnny Klebitz, Vice-President of ‘The Lost Motorcycle Club’, a drug trafficking gang of buffed up, bearded bikers vying for control of the city with a number of rival biker gangs.  Johnny has been put in temporary charge of the burly mob on account of the club’s President, Billy Grey, serving a stint in Liberty City’s finest penitentiary.  During this time Johnny has managed to transform The Lost into a slick, somewhat professional outfit that are making significant amounts of cash in the drug business and have established a working truce with their fiercest rivals; The Angels of Death.

Without giving too much away, the game starts with Billy’s release from prison and his displeasure with the changes he sees in his gang.  Tensions mount as Johnny and Billy clash over what’s the best direction for the gang to take, setting up what is one of the most fleshed out and involving stories of any in the GTA series.

All this plays out in parallel to Niko’s GTA IV adventures, with many of that game’s cast making appearances (appearances, not cameos) throughout Johnny’s story.  It’s interesting to get a fresh new angle on many events, both bloody and decietful, that you saw through the eyes of Niko; some of which you were directly responsible for.  There are many ‘I forgot about that bit’ and ‘that was such a great mission’ moments that can be relived – reimagined even – in a way rarely seen in a videogame.  For that reason though it’s probably best if you play Lost and Damned after having finished GTA IV’s campaign, as their are some spoilers for those still doing the Niko thing (if you care about such things).

The story is great, and if you’ve enjoyed any GTA games of the past you owe it to yourself to experience it in its entirety.  Equally great is Johnny Klebitz himself, cementing his place in the GTA Hall of Fame (possibly the entire gaming HOF) in the first couple of hours of play.  He oozes charisma and effortlessly fits snugly into his environment.

You could even argue that he’s more engaging, and more likeable than a certain Eastern European gaming superstar.  There’s a feeling that you own the city with Johnny, that you’re in control of it somehow.  There’s a real sense of grandeur and power as you ride your bike, engine roaring, across the Broker Bridge with Bon Jovi’s ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ playing full blast over the radio… it’s almost poetic (wipe away that single tear now).  Much credit should be placed in the hands of the writers and character designers for coming up with someone who not only fits into, but improves and heightens a world, a game, that wasn’t primarily conceived to house him in such a direct way.

Seeing as how the bike has been indirectly bought up, it’s only fair to do it justice by going into a little more detail.  This isn’t your standard GTA motorcycle, no Sir.  This is a brand new, two-wheeled, multi-exhaust monster that sounds as though The Blitz is impending with just the slightest tap on the accelerator.  The biggest difference from the normal bikes is in the handling, a real bugbear in previous games.  She handles like the finely tuned machine she is, sticking to the surface of the road like glue – probably because of the ridiculous width of her rear wheel.  You won’t be winning any drag races, as the bike is neither particularly fast or that impressive at getting off the line, but you’ll be clean sweep the style awards every time.  GTA’s new street cruising champion has just entered the building.

The only downside to the package (if you could even call it a downside) is that the missions follow the same pattern that we’ve experienced since GTA III.  Mainly consisting of ‘travel to this place and pick up this’ or ‘travel there and kill that’ or just simply ‘kill that’.  It’s nice that you’re fellow gang members tag along for many of your assignments (essential for some of the large scale gang shootouts) but in reality there’s nothing new in terms of gameplay.  That’s not to say the missions aren’t expertly crafted, because they are, it’s just that the formula might be starting to wear a tiny bit thin.  ‘Lucky’ the story and cast are so damn good then.

Once you’re done with the single player there’s a handful of new multiplayer modes to try out as well.  Highlights include Chopper vs. Chopper, a helicopter against motorcycle race mode, and Lone Wolf Biker in which a single player must fugure out how to take on a whole gang.  It’s classic GTA IV stuff with a little ‘badass biker’ seasoning sprinkled over the top.

The Lost and Damned is the most extensive, fulfilling and flat out finest piece of downloadable content available anywhere on any game.  If this were to be released as a standalone game it would easily match up to the vast majority of titles taking up store shelve space today, in both quality and quantity.  Wonderful characters, wonderful story, wonderfully executed, GTA IV owners need not think twice, download and play now.