Rockstar Partners with Amazon for GTA IV Music Downloads
Plus: Rockstar Games Social Club revealed
Rockstar and Amazon have teamed up to enable GTA IV players to get hold of songs from the game's soundtrack for use in the outside world. The new technology is deliciously dubbed 'ZiT'.
The new distribution system will enable players to 'mark' songs from GTA IV's in-game radio by dialling 'ZIT-555-0100' through their (in-game) phone. They'll receive a text back with the song and artist names and, if they're registered with the just-announced Rockstar Games Social Club, they'll get an e-mail directing them to a custom playlist available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Given the millions of gamers who are going to go out and buy GTA IV and then spend hour upon hour having their ears massaged by its soundtrack, the new distribution system could prove a nice little money spinner.
The music industry has increasingly benefited from games as a source of revenue, with the likes of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band providing income through both their initial releases and downloadable tracks. Neither of those titles, however, allow players to access the music outside the game as ZiT does.
The service, alas, is only going to be available in the US initially. SPOnG has contacted Rockstar to see if we can expect to see the service over here.
Commenting on the subject, we've got Ronn Werre, EVP of EMI Music's Sales, Licensing and Synchronization unit. "Music has long played an integral part of the game playing experience", he said. "We think giving players the ability to identify and buy their favorite tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV's popular radio stations is a great new music discovery tool for fans and an innovative new revenue stream for artists."
As we mentioned above, Rockstar has also announced details for Rockstar Games Social Club. The club is a community website dedicated to all things GTA IV. If you've got an Xbox Live gamertag or a PlayStation Network ID you'll be able to sign up from April 15th. You can see the site's initial features listed below.
The name of the website, you'll note, is Rockstar Games Social Club, not GTA IV Social Club. It may be that Rockstar has plans to use it for other games further down the line, although no comment was available on the subject at the time of press. You can see the site's holding page here.
Meanwhile, the latest official GTA IV trailer has just launched. You can see it here. If that leaves you wanting more, check out SPOnG's latest GTA IV hands on.
Social Club Features
- "LCPD Police Blotter -- A virtual map and tracker of single-player criminal activity logged in Liberty City from the aggregated data of millions of connected players - showing the most dangerous areas of town, most commonly used weapons and more.
- "The Story Gang -- This special single-player leaderboard recognizes players who complete Niko Bellic's main story arc of Grand Theft Auto IV - The leaderboard ranks players according to the total amount of playing time it's taken to complete the story, as well as a historical rank by who has completed it first. Members of this club will receive special online widgets and merit badges marking all of their in-game accomplishments.
- "The 100% Club -- Watch to see who will be the first to complete 100% of the game. The first ten people to be identified on the Social Club as reaching 100% will be sent an ultra-rare commemorative 'key to the city' to mark their accomplishment. In the future, the 100% Club will then carry a historical leaderboard showing rankings of who has completed 100% of a game in the shortest span of playing hours.
- "The Hall of Fame -- This area will dynamically recognize those singularly elite players who have reached the top of the hill on various statistical leaderboards, and will also contain a personal awards display of special in-game landmarks and successes in Social Club competitions.
- "The Liberty City Marathon -- A ranking of special physical milestones achieved in the game - from the amount of miles walked, driven, or swam - to the number of bullets fired and stunt-jumps jumped. There will be additional special marathon-based competitions in the future from this area as well."
Sources: Yahoo, IGN
The new distribution system will enable players to 'mark' songs from GTA IV's in-game radio by dialling 'ZIT-555-0100' through their (in-game) phone. They'll receive a text back with the song and artist names and, if they're registered with the just-announced Rockstar Games Social Club, they'll get an e-mail directing them to a custom playlist available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Given the millions of gamers who are going to go out and buy GTA IV and then spend hour upon hour having their ears massaged by its soundtrack, the new distribution system could prove a nice little money spinner.
The music industry has increasingly benefited from games as a source of revenue, with the likes of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band providing income through both their initial releases and downloadable tracks. Neither of those titles, however, allow players to access the music outside the game as ZiT does.
The service, alas, is only going to be available in the US initially. SPOnG has contacted Rockstar to see if we can expect to see the service over here.
Commenting on the subject, we've got Ronn Werre, EVP of EMI Music's Sales, Licensing and Synchronization unit. "Music has long played an integral part of the game playing experience", he said. "We think giving players the ability to identify and buy their favorite tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV's popular radio stations is a great new music discovery tool for fans and an innovative new revenue stream for artists."
As we mentioned above, Rockstar has also announced details for Rockstar Games Social Club. The club is a community website dedicated to all things GTA IV. If you've got an Xbox Live gamertag or a PlayStation Network ID you'll be able to sign up from April 15th. You can see the site's initial features listed below.
The name of the website, you'll note, is Rockstar Games Social Club, not GTA IV Social Club. It may be that Rockstar has plans to use it for other games further down the line, although no comment was available on the subject at the time of press. You can see the site's holding page here.
Meanwhile, the latest official GTA IV trailer has just launched. You can see it here. If that leaves you wanting more, check out SPOnG's latest GTA IV hands on.
Social Club Features
- "LCPD Police Blotter -- A virtual map and tracker of single-player criminal activity logged in Liberty City from the aggregated data of millions of connected players - showing the most dangerous areas of town, most commonly used weapons and more.
- "The Story Gang -- This special single-player leaderboard recognizes players who complete Niko Bellic's main story arc of Grand Theft Auto IV - The leaderboard ranks players according to the total amount of playing time it's taken to complete the story, as well as a historical rank by who has completed it first. Members of this club will receive special online widgets and merit badges marking all of their in-game accomplishments.
- "The 100% Club -- Watch to see who will be the first to complete 100% of the game. The first ten people to be identified on the Social Club as reaching 100% will be sent an ultra-rare commemorative 'key to the city' to mark their accomplishment. In the future, the 100% Club will then carry a historical leaderboard showing rankings of who has completed 100% of a game in the shortest span of playing hours.
- "The Hall of Fame -- This area will dynamically recognize those singularly elite players who have reached the top of the hill on various statistical leaderboards, and will also contain a personal awards display of special in-game landmarks and successes in Social Club competitions.
- "The Liberty City Marathon -- A ranking of special physical milestones achieved in the game - from the amount of miles walked, driven, or swam - to the number of bullets fired and stunt-jumps jumped. There will be additional special marathon-based competitions in the future from this area as well."
Sources: Yahoo, IGN
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