Take-Two Frustrated By GTA Expansion Sales


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It was always going to have crap sales once Microsoft paid for exclusivity, instead of making it for both consoles and pc at the same time.

i think you hit a point there... theyre talking about not having enough marketing for the DLC, but theres no point marketing it since its not going to apply to more than half of the existing GTA players anyway....

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Well this is what happens when you make it Xbox exclusive (even though MS paid them to make it Xbox exclusive, Take Two still could of said no). I have GTAIV on the X360 and I haven't bothered with the expansions mainly because I'm bored with the main game and secondly the amount of space the DLC needs, space on the 360 is very limited (I'm still waiting for my 120Gb HDD, been about +4 months now :p but that is another story). If they released the DLC on PC and PS3 those less limited platforms would of more then made up for lost sales on the 360 I reckon. However, my main issue with the game isn't the length as I prefer long games but more that the game is failing to compel me to want to play more. That is my 2 cents take with a grain of salt.

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WTF is Take Two nagging about MS paid them 50.000.000 to make some exclusive DLC, don't tell me the DLC costs 50.000.000 to make because thats bull****.

Everything was already there they just needed to create a story line.

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That's easy. GTA4 is a crime sim, whereas GTA3 is a crime game.

Boom. Thats it people, right there. Summed up beautifully. I couldnt find the words to describe why the past games were more fun, but this forum poet right here has. Thank you good sir.

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WTF is Take Two nagging about MS paid them 50.000.000 to make some exclusive DLC, don't tell me the DLC costs 50.000.000 to make because thats bull****.

Everything was already there they just needed to create a story line.

Wasn't it something on the lines of, Microsoft gave them 50m, but then it was paid back somewhat after the DLC came out.

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WTF is Take Two nagging about MS paid them 50.000.000 to make some exclusive DLC, don't tell me the DLC costs 50.000.000 to make because thats bull****.

Everything was already there they just needed to create a story line.

It was some sort of loan, it wasn't straight up 50m with no strings attached - That's a huge misconception with people that talk about the 50m.

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IIRC, there probably would not have been DLC (at least of this caliber) on any platform had MS not paid Take Two, so can't get too worked up about market share and ignoring PS3 users.

They could have made some (different) DLC for PS3 users, or multiplatform users, but I'd rather have the full-on exclusive game (The Agent) and possibly second game, depending on the deal with Team Bondi (LA Noire).

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It was some sort of loan, it wasn't straight up 50m with no strings attached - That's a huge misconception with people that talk about the 50m.

Doesnt change the fact they still paid for exclusivity and they wonder why they are getting crap sales, having it exclusive to a console that has a high rate of piracy where a lot of people who just downloaded GTA4 arent going to pay for DLC if they didnt buy the full game.

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Although I still think exclusivity has very little to do with the sales of the expansions...

I think a lack of HDD consistency was a big factor why people did not buy them. There are plenty of Arcade models out there, and those with a 20GB HDD like myself really don't have that much space for these types of expansions

In addition, wasn't the physical retention of the game pretty low? If people didn't have the disc anymore why would they buy the expansions? The episodes disc is a great price though, and if I didn't have GTA 4, I would have still bought the episodes disc.

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Doesnt change the fact they still paid for exclusivity and they wonder why they are getting crap sales, having it exclusive to a console that has a high rate of piracy where a lot of people who just downloaded GTA4 arent going to pay for DLC if they didnt buy the full game.

I was just pointing out to him it was like a loan, not MS just handing over 50 million which is why poor sales hurts Take Two, as essentially they need to pay back all, if not some of the loan (we don't know exact details).

If it were just 50m up straight no pay backs, sales wouldn't really matter.

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From what I remember Microsoft paid a $50 million loan to Take 2 for the DLC but Take 2 pay whatever the difference is after sales, so they could sell $20 million worth of sales and Take 2 would have to pay back $30 million. Obviously not that simple, sure some exclusive fee was agreed but it sure wasn't the whole $50 million.

As for the poor sales. GTA4 was less fun, less feature rich than the old GTAs. Millions of people bought the game. Millions of people were perhaps disappointed, it's no secret a lot think it's a poor game. Now Rockstar release Liberity City episodes, the same City! Why would anyone bar a fan bother with buying those as DLC or even the standalone DVD. They wouldn't want to get burned and sales have shown that. Exclusivity and DLC would have some baring on sales but it's not the sole reason for it. Average GTA4 put people on the back foot, expansions did little to entice them back. Rockstar should do better.

Edited by WooHoo!!!
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I was never really into playing these game for the game. I would Borrow them from friends and just drive/walk around the cities to look at all the things the developers put into the game. Never to really play the story :p

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Vice City and San Andreas were really nice and innovative, but GTA4 brought the series back a little. So many things missing from the previous GTAs (special weapons, special vehicles, jetpack, tattoos, barber, houses that pay, special buildings to buy, ...) and they could have put new stuff as well. It would have needed another 3-6 months of development to make it a MUCH nicer, innovative game. They should also have deleted those 100 hidden pigeons and all that crap. It's annoying and you NEED a walkthrough to get all of them, and if you got like 20-30 without the walkthrough, when you decide to look on the Internet where they are, you will have no clue if you got one or not because it's not indicated anywhere. They needed a "progress screen" that would look like a puzzle with all missing pieces at the beginning and then as soon as you do missions, find pigeons, etc. the pieces would appear. One puzzle per sidequest maybe (like one for the missions/story mode, one for getting the pigeons, one for getting the landmarks, etc.)

But nevertheless, GTA4 was really long to finish without all these artifacts from previous GTAs, so it was easy to get tired of it... I believe this also made the DLCs drop.

And making it an exclusivity for Xbox was a huge mistake.

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Possibly, but in my case, I got put off simply because GTA IV wasn't that good. It was very bland and boring, the story went on for an age and a day, the graphics were mediocre, the framerate was never consistant, and the online multiplayer just plain sucked.

Despite all of GTA IV's flaws though, I am willing to forgive them if they make GTA V like GTA Vice City; in which case, I'll buy it on day one. :p

+1

Couldn't agree more.

I also thought the game was too realistic... you fly through the windscreen when you hit something at speed. Also having to keep your girlfriend and friends happy in a game is toomuch like hard work, the fun factor from GTA 3 / Vice City went down the toilet.

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So many things missing from the previous ...special buildings to buy
I really missed this. I'd have preffered to do property investments than go on bloody dates with people or deal with a brother who has no other friends. In Fable 2 by the end of the game I owned every house in the game and I really enjoyed doing that as there was some tangable reward for doing so in the form of money. GTA's date mechanics were just a PITA but.

The pidgeons too was tacked on. Should be a way to get a bird watchers map and if you even accidently spot one it gets added to the map or something and you can then come back and kill it. Having a list of 100 birds with no way to track it was just stupid. Sort of the same problem crackdown had IMHO...getting that last one or two orbs became tedious (I could never find the very last one I needed).

Edited by Smigit
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GTA IV I absolutely loved. I didnt and will not complete the game a second time but it was very fun. It also helps that it's one of the few games I beat the storyline on (I'm terrible at video games). When I saw the cutscene trigger at the end of the last mission I was yelling "I did it! I beat GTA IV!" I think the problem with DLC was it wasnt advertised enough. I've seen GTA IV commercials, but never any ads for the DLC.

My only complaints of the game are the motorcyle chase missions and the helicopter controls. Both are notoriously hard and thought of giving up on certain missions several times because of it.

It's also not surprising most of you found GTA 3 more fun. GTA 3 brough the series into a 3D world and innovated on a ton of things. GTA IV just seems to take the GTA 3 base and build upon it.

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GTA IV I absolutely loved. I didnt and will not complete the game a second time but it was very fun. It also helps that it's one of the few games I beat the storyline on (I'm terrible at video games). I think the problem with DLC was it wasnt advertised enough. I've seen GTA IV commercials, but never any ads for the DLC.

It's also not surprising most of you found GTA 3 more fun. GTA 3 brough the series into a 3D world and innovated on a ton of things. GTA IV just seems to take the GTA 3 base and build upon it.

And took out a lot of the stuff that makes it fun. :/ You can't get achievements if you use cheats, which means that you can't spawn some cars or dodo and crap like that. :/

I liked GTA4, but VC was the best because of its humor and how the islands were set up. If Rockstar goes back to that way and releases DLC a couple of months after release it will be a bigger hit than GTA4.

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And took out a lot of the stuff that makes it fun. :/ You can't get achievements if you use cheats, which means that you can't spawn some cars or dodo and crap like that. :/

I liked GTA4, but VC was the best because of its humor and how the islands were set up. If Rockstar goes back to that way and releases DLC a couple of months after release it will be a bigger hit than GTA4.

what do you mean about how the islands are set up? LC and VC seem to share a similar structure to me, there's nothing wrong with that imo. achievements should never rate a game up or down as they have absolutely zero effect on the story and the base game play. You can't get mad at a game because it won't let you use a cheat to get an achievement that isn't required to beat the game.

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what do you mean about how the islands are set up? LC and VC seem to share a similar structure to me, there's nothing wrong with that imo. achievements should never rate a game up or down as they have absolutely zero effect on the story and the base game play. You can't get mad at a game because it won't let you use a cheat to get an achievement that isn't required to beat the game.

The islands have hilarious things everywhere for you to mess around with and do. Like gangs start shooting at you as you go by them, the ability to buy properties, etc. I never said there was anything wrong with it either.

BUT if you use the weapon cheat or any other cheat for any random reason, whether in a mission or just for fun, just ONCE in the game you lose achievement unlocking for the WHOLE game. That puts off spawning cars and tanks, etc.

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most satisfying end in GTA series was in GTA VC & GTA SA.

felt really good after playing that long. :D

i'm goin to install GTA VC again :p

Are you serious? SA? I still am stuck on that flippin mission where I have to go to that warehouse and then chase down the cop with my brother on the ladder of the fire engine. I always get to the point the gangs start shooting my car and then it blows up. Definitely NOT satisfying. :(

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