Grand Theft Auto News

When the Millionaires Club was launched, there were rumors of a “Viral Infection” Zombie feature that would arrive at the Rockstar Social Club in the future. Well, the “Viral Infection” is here and it’s available at the social club now. Get ready to see Zombies wearing yellow panties running around Liberty City!

Press release “Viral Infection” details from Rockstar:

There is a virus sweeping through Grand Theft Auto IV turning many unsuspecting players into Zombies. If you’ve seen the special Zombie-with-yellow-briefs player skin running around during Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer, then you may already know that the virus can be contracted in any and all multiplayer modes and is spread when an unsuspecting player kills someone who has the infection (note that the infected don’t necessarily have to be wearing the Zombie skin, some show no symptoms!). The signs of infection are: access to the zombie skin and having the Achievement “Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie”. With the all-new Viral Infection feature at the Rockstar Social Club, members can now see whether they are currently infected, the number of total global infections and the number of infections in the last 24 hours. Digging deeper, Social Club members can also browse a color-coded world map tracking the spread of the infection worldwide, including breakdown for all 50 US States. Click here for the Viral Infection feature.

There is a rumor that the expansion “The Lost and Damned” is playable on the PlayStation 3. Some people played this in a area on the Sony stand. Forum messages about it were deleted, so they don’t wanna let the whole world know.

It’s kinda strange because back in 2007 Microsoft told that they paid 50 million dollar to have the game exclusively for the 2 expansions.

But on the Sony-stand they showed pictures and logos of the “Episodes From Liberty City” on the screens. The “Episodes From Liberty City” is “Lost and Damned” and “The Ballad of Gay Tony” on 1 disc. Perhaps this means that we could expect this on the play station 3.

Some screenshots of “Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned”:

GTA IV’s upcoming downloadable content, The Lost and Damned, is to be released next week. To celebrate this, Microsoft is offering free online for Xbox 360 owners. The offer applies to both online for GTA IV and the DLC. You’ll be able to get online for free from February 17th until February 22nd. Rockstar hopes that this will revive interest in the game and the online side.

Size and weight average, two-day beard, look banal and overlooked, natural refreshments, not beneficial… Niko Bellic has nothing of the hero who drives the mechanical and dropped the girls by the dozens. The antithesis of what the emerging Tommy Vercetti, Carl Johnson and company, the character that the player will incarnate for several tens of hours set aside the clichés of another time. Rockstar has matured with its series, more worrying than ever. Come straight from Eastern Europe, Niko joined his cousin Roman, based in Liberty City, which promises a life of quiet and luxurious, like a well-deserved retirement. An American dream, of course, quickly faced by a grim reality more than he had described this old Roman. A private taxi to the thriving little business, a guest room that includes just the minimum… No rhinestones or sequins, no beautiful bodywork or strippers, not even a shadow of a decent housing. The fall is tough. Roman actually need the rare talents that Niko has to bring some order into a life in danger every day…

GTA IV has also a comprehensive multiplayer mode that extends the adventure through the streets of Liberty City. It represents the opening of the series to play online. In addition, a total of fifteen different modes available to owners of an online account. For example, it may be asked players to access a specific point on the map above all others. We then can choose the place of action, its duration, the weapons allowed, the type of sight (automatic or manual), the presence or absence of police, traffic density, and a pile of other parameters. The player can also choose the look of his character, from gender to the face through the clothing and accessories, although the choice of base remain restricted to this level.

This is the first downloadable content pack for GTA 4 that will available for the Xbox 360 and it’s the first release of three DLC packs that Rockstar plan to release.

Entitled Grand Theft Auto 4 : The Lost and Damned, the pack will see 360 gamers take on the role of Johhny Klebitz, acting head of the The Lost Brotherhood biker gang and the guy that betrayed Niko in a botched diamond deal in GTA 4. The DLC is released in February 09 at a cost of $15.

It’s been a while since any PC version news has been released, the consoles already have their GTA IV fix so the PC is forgotten a little perhaps but, The Games Machine have found out a few more details as listed below to keep PC gamers drooling in anticipation for their Grand Theft Auto 4 experience:

The replay editor will record the last 30 seconds of gameplay. Once the video has been saved you can use inbuilt software in GTA 4 to add special effects and change camera angles. You will also be able to add audio tracks from the official soundtrack of the game (no word on whether you can use your own MP3′s). Once your video is done it can then be published on Rockstars Social Club site so others can watch it.

The GPS and map have been beefed up, thanks to the mouse it is now just point and click. However Rockstar have added the ability for you to mark locations, make notes and add images. That should make hunting those pesky pigeons a bit easier.

The other important bit of information is that Rockstar have managed to improve the game streaming, thanks to the power of the cpu in modern PC’s. This means less of the “same car syndrome” in which you would see lots of the same car you are driving. The magazine is also claiming that there will be more pedestrians and vehicles visible in the PC version.

The “Millionaires Club” has been launched for Grand Theft Auto 4! To celebrate all GTA IV players that have reached seven figures in their bank account by whatever means, there is now a Millionaire status waiting for you at the Rockstar Games Social Club.

If you have earned seven figures throughout your career in the single player campaign mode – thats over $1 million in total earned from whatever means in the game – then Rockstar are now:

“recognizing and celebrating all of the wealthy seven–figure Grand Theft Auto IV players at the Rockstar Games Social Club.”

So head over to the Social Club and check out the leaderboards and see how rich you are compared to those other millionaires or perhaps just sit in the corner of the bar and drink your beer and dream of being one of them if you aren’t quite as rich as those millionaires yet!