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20% More Sales For Xbox 360 Version; Seamless Multiplayer and Exclusive Downloadable Content Make Xbox 360 The Best Way To Experience Liberty City

LONDON - 7th May 2008 — Gamers have voted with their wallets, and the results are in. The Xbox 360™ version of “Grand Theft Auto IV” has sold more than 100,000 copies, or 20%, more than the PLAYSTATION 3 version in the UK since the game’s release last Tuesday, 29th April. The groundbreaking latest instalment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise from Rockstar Games offers seamless multiplayer enhanced by Xbox LIVE® plus exclusive downloadable episodes coming this Autumn, making Xbox 360 the best way to experience this historic milestone in gaming.

Data released by ELSPA/Chart-Track shows Xbox 360 Week One sales at 514,000 copies sold in the UK. PLAYSTATION 3 version of the game sold only 413,000 copies, clearly demonstrating that gamers prefer the Xbox 360 version. Xbox 360 console sales jumped 125% reflecting the popularity of this franchise on the platform. Initial feedback from retail in other European countries reflects this great performance across the region.

“Grand Theft Auto IV has done phenomenally well this week with Xbox 360 version outselling PS3 in our stores,” said Gerry Berkley, Trading Manager at Woolworths. “Xbox 360 console sales have seen a big uplift off the back of Grand Theft Auto IV launching. It’s clear our customers see Xbox 360 as a great console for this incredible game.”

Xbox LIVE data shows that consumers are embracing the smooth, seamless multiplayer that is possible on Xbox LIVE – “Grand Theft Auto IV” is now officially the most-played game on the service, which is the only console online service to offer voice and Achievements in all games. It’s also the only version of the game that renders Liberty City in all its 720p high-definition glory. Other data, as of 4th May:

• More than 9.7 million hours of “Grand Theft Auto IV” online multiplayer played over Xbox LIVE
• More than 31 million hours spent playing “Grand Theft Auto IV” overall


“In the past week since the release of ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’, the bar has been set even higher for what the growing entertainment medium of gaming can deliver in the way of immersive, living worlds and exciting social experiences,” said Chris Lewis, Vice President, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft EMEA. “Today it has become clear that consumers are finding Xbox 360 the best way to experience Liberty City and we expect this trend to continue, especially with exclusive ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ episodes coming to Xbox 360 in the Autumn. ‘Grand Theft Auto’ has a new home on Xbox 360, and consumers are discovering how our platform can enhance the experience like no other.”

“Grand Theft Auto IV” is the first instalment of the franchise to feature online multiplayer, available through Xbox LIVE. For a limited time, “Grand Theft Auto IV” on Xbox 360 will include a one-month Gold membership to Xbox LIVE, allowing everyone to jump in and hit the streets of Liberty City with the community of more than 10 million members worldwide, the largest of any console.

Following the story of Eastern European Niko Bellic, “Grand Theft Auto IV” is a powerful crime epic set in modern-day Liberty City, a world with an unparalleled combination of scale, depth and detail. Starting this Autumn, Rockstar will extend this world further with the release of Xbox 360 exclusive “Grand Theft Auto IV” episodes that will provide hours of additional game play.

Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, has released a ranking of the Xbox Live activity for week of 4/28:

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)

GTA IV
Call of Duty 4
Halo 3
Guitar Hero III
Gears of War
Rock Band
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas 2
Iron Man Demo
FIFA 08
Forza Motorsport 2

The "Red Ring of Death" affecting the Xbox 360 has been a nightmare for Microsoft. It has cost lot of money to the company, as it was forced to extend the system's warranty to cover this technical problem, which is rumored to have a failure rate as high as 16%. Most systems experiencing this glitch started to fail months after they were acquired, so it remains to be seen what would be the actual consequences of the RROD.

Now, the PlayStation 3, which shipped a year after the Xbox 360, may be the next system to experience a systemic hardware failure.

Threads describing an 80010514 error for the PS3 have started to pop up in different forums across the Internet. It seems this error is associated with a malfunction of the Blu-ray Disc drive, which wouldn't come as a surprise considering this next-gen optical disc technology is relatively new and it is still being developed and improved.

Interestedly, at the time of this writing the PlayStation.com forums are temporarily closed...

We'll have more on this as it develops.