Olivier Langlois's blog

Amazon on Tuesday began offering a new retail discount for customers who purchase Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV. In the promotion, customers who purchase an Xbox 360 Premium SKU or an Xbox 360 Elite SKU and GTA IV standard or premium edition for the Xbox 360 will receive a $30 discount off their order.

GTA IV rolled into U.S. retail stores on Tues. and is expected to sell nine million copies at launch. Analysts are expecting Grand Theft Auto IV to generate US$400 million in sales in its first week and to outsell last year's heavily hyped Halo 3 from Microsoft Corp., which took in US$300 million in its first week.

The Xbox 360 version will include two downloadable episodes available exclusively on Xbox Live. In a first, players can use the in-game phone to buy and download from Amazon MP3 tracks of songs they hear on the game's radio stations.

The premise could come from a novel or a movie: An Eastern European immigrant named Niko comes to the big city lured by his cousin's tales of easy wealth. Niko quickly discovers the truth and is left to make his own way in America, doing whatever it takes.

Take-Two Interactive in August 2007 delayed Grand Theft Auto IV to 2008 from an original October 2007 release. The publisher cited additional development time required to complete the title.

In March, Take-Two Interactive rejected a $2B buyout offer from EA, saying that the bid undervalued the software maker. Take-Two explained that it is still willing to open discussions with EA, but not until April 30, when Grand Theft Auto IV (for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) finally hits store shelves.

Grand Theft Auto IV is also available for the PS3.