Rockstar Games has announced that the second downloadable episode for Grand Theft Auto IV will be calledThe Ballad of Gay Tony, and will be coming out this fall. Not a name I am fond of, but we'll wait and see how this one plays out. It will cost the same as The Lost and Damned, $19.99; and it is still exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform. Here's the press release:

New York, NY - May 26, 2009 - Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce the fall release of both the second episode of Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony - exclusively for download on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network, and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which will include both episode one The Lost and Damned, and episode two The Ballad of Gay Tony together on a single disc exclusively for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

"Liberty City is the most vibrant game world we've created yet. The episodic structure has allowed us to interweave stories, gameplay and atmosphere in a whole new way," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The team at Rockstar North have yet again surpassed themselves, and made something that is both epic and very innovative. This episode's focus on high-end night life contrasts with the biker gangs portrayed in The Lost and Damned, whilst giving us a lot of new gameplay possibilities."

Grand Theft Auto IV's second downloadable episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka "Gay Tony"), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City delivers two games on one disc - the all-new episode The Ballad of Gay Tony and the first episode, The Lost and Damned - together on disc for the first time - for Xbox 360 for $39.99 and will not require a copy of the original Grand Theft Auto IV to play.

The Ballad of Gay Tony will release on Xbox LIVE this fall for $19.99 or 1600 MS points and requires players to have Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE membership to download.

As mentioned above in the press release, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, has been announced also. It will include both episode one The Lost and Damned, and episode two The Ballad of Gay Tony together on a single disc exclusively for Xbox 360. It does not require a copy of GTA IV and will be available for $39.99. 

Stay tuned for more information, coming soon.

Sources (our source being Gamespot which posted the story just an hour ago) are saying that The Lost and Damned, the first episodic installment for Grand Theft Auto IV that was released in February, may actually be making its way to the Playstation 3 this August.

The well-known story is that Microsoft paid Take-Two Interactive $50 million for the exclusive rights to two downloadable episodes for Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 ($25 million for each episode). And several reports said that the Playstation 3 would never see any sort of downloadable content for GTA IV.

But those reports may have just been proven false.

Earlier this week, Play.tm and several other sites (mostly European) posted that the British Magazine, Playstation World, was reporting that The Lost and Damned is on its way to Playstation 3 this August. The magazine's article mentions that Microsoft only has "...a six-month exclusivity deal for the content, which expires in August." The article went on to say that the "content will arrive on the PS3 once the deal has run its course."

Sony has not commented on the article, while Take-Two representatives declined to comment. Microsoft, however, seemed to debunk the article by saying "The [GTAIV] episodes are exclusive to Xbox 360."

So what is the truth? Would PSW really let something like this get published in their magazine if there wasn't some truth to it? Only time will tell.

Patrick Brown, known by Grand Theft Auto fans everywhere, has posted his latest GTA fan art. This time, it's for Chinatown Wars.

Grand Theft Auto news is always slow for a while right after the release of the latest GTA title, so I thought we would cover some other Rockstar Games news.

Rockstar Games has announced that Max Payne 3 is currently in development and is due to hit the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC consoles this winter. Rockstar Vancouver will be taking over will be taking over as developer.

The award-winning Max Payne franchise put players in the role of Max Payne, a hard-boiled New York City detective with a penchant for violence, out to avenge the death of his family. The latest installment delivers more of the classic elements and hyper-intense action that fans have come to love, while moving the story of Max in a new direction.

"We're starting a new chapter of Max's life with this game," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "This is Max as we've never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation."

Since leaving the NYPD and New York itself behind, Max has drifted from bad to worse. Double-crossed and a long way from home, Max is now trapped in a city full of violence and bloodshed, using his weapons and instincts in a desperate search for the truth and a way out.

The last game in the series, appropriately named Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, was released on October 15th, 2003 and was developed by Rockstar Vienna (among others). And let's not forget the 2008 film based on the original Max Payne game. It wasn't an overwhelming success ($85,366,393 worldwide), but some people are already believing that is what prompted Rockstar Games to develop another sequel.

Be sure to check out the official Max Payne 3 website.

The game that no one saw coming, Chinatown Wars, is now in stores across the United States. This Nintendo DS exclusive title was first announced back at E3 '08 at Nintendo's Press Conference on July 15th, 2008.

In the US, you can order your copy online at:

• Rockstar Warhouse
• Best Buy
• Gamestop
• Wal-mart
• Amazon

Don't forget! Back in February, we posted the news of the commercial for Chinatown Wars. The commercial mentioned, if you pre-ordered the game at Gamestop, that you will be entitled to a special in-game bonus: $10,000 right off the bat and immediate access to Ammunation.

The Rockstar Social Club has also been updated to include the Chinatown Wars sections.

Rockstar has made one last update to the official Chinatown Wars site before the game is released on the East Coast in just a few hours.

First off, Feature Clip #4: Rampage was posted. You can view it below:

Also, the first official details and screens on multiplayer were also posted.

Chinatown Wars is just a few hours away for the US, and will hit the streets in Europe on Friday.

The reviews for Chinatown Wars have started rolling in. The scores are all extremely positive. Take a look for yourself:

• 1UP.com - A-/A+
• Eurogamer - 10/10
• Computer and Video Games - 9.2/10
• TotalVideoGames - 9/10
• Gamespy - 4.5/5
• IGN.com - 9.5/10
• IGN.com (Australia) - 9.3/10
• IGN.com (UK) - 9.2/10
• Gamepro - 5/5

A thread over on GTAForums.com has also brought to our attention that Nintendo - The Official Magazine has a "world exclusive review" of Chinatown Wars. The magazine gave the game a score of 94%.

So far, not one review has given Chinatown Wars a score of less than 90% (that we know of). Stay tuned here as more reviews are bound to show up soon.

Chinatown Wars hits the shelves tomorrow, March 17th in the United States and March 20th in Europe.

Over the past week or so, the official Chinatown Wars website has seen quite a few updates. A few articles from across the web regarding Chinatown Wars also brought forth some new information. So, to keep it organized, I am going to list it out by day.

• March 3rd - IGN posted the 2nd part (Cars, Combat, and Missions) of their 4 part interview with Rockstar Leeds' Gordon Hall about Chinatown Wars.
• March 5th - Gamespot also posted an interview with Rockstar Leeds' Gordon Hall about Chinatown Wars.
  
• March 6th - "Feature Clip #2: Hacking & Sniper Rifle" video was posted on the official site.
• March 10th - A character bio for Uncle Wu "Kenny" Lee was posted on the official site.
• March 11th - Soundtrack details were discovered on Ve3tro.com.
• March 12th - Character bios for Hsin and and Chan Jaoming were posted on the official site.
• March 12th - "Feature Clip #3: Dealing & Delivering" video was posted on the official site.
• March 13th - The official website announces a Midnight Launch Event in New York City at the Nintendo World Store.
• March 13th - A character bio for Wade Heston was posted on the official site.
• March 13th - New character wallpapers were posted on the official site.
• March 13th - Screenshots on how to defuse a bomb were posted on the official site.
• March 13th - A remix of the Chinatown Wars' theme song was posted on the official site.
• March 13th - Screenshots for Boats, Flamethrowers, and Rampages were posted on the official site.

Chinatown Wars will be available in stores this coming Tuesday, March 17th, 2009.

The official Chinatown Wars website received a major update earlier today. Among the additions to the site are a screensaver, website widget, screenshots, wallpapers, character bios, and the first official trailer. You can also view the trailer below:

Rockstar Games has plans for you to play Chinatown Wars before it even hits the shelves. Rockstar Games will be going on a pre-sample tour to 52 major U.S. cities over the course of 6 weeks. This is what the tour's website has to say:

The tour dates can be found on the tour's website.