Analyst Todd Mitchell, of Kaufman Bros. Equity Research, has told Gamesindustry.biz that he expects two new downloadable episodes to be released next year for GTA IV, with the next full GTA title expected in 2011:

"I would expect that there would be two more pieces of downloadable content for GTA IV, that's what has been indicated to me, although formats are unsure. It's been indicated to me to me that would be the case," said Mitchell.

"Our outlook includes expected strong sell-through of Bioshock 2, and the release of two 'AAA' titles, each from Rockstar (Red Dead Redemption and Agent) and 2K Games (Mafia II and TBD), reiterations of 2K Sports and 2K Play's annual line-ups, an expected GTA title for the PS2, expected strong sell-through of GTA: Chinatown Wars for the PSP, and new GTA DLC for the Xbox 360 and PS3. We now look for the release of GTA V in fiscal 2011..."

From our own point of view, Mitchell's claims seem unrealistic and do not cite any influencing factors aside from personal theories, so we would advise you to take his claims with a shovel of salt.

Rockstar Games today announced that GTA: Chinatown Wars will be making its way to the PlayStation Portable system this fall. In addition to (the expected) graphical and animation improvements, Rockstar also promised the game will feature new missions.

Sam Houser - the Founder of Rockstar Games - had this to say:

"We're proud to extend this truly unique handheld Grand Theft Auto experience to PSP and offer a downloadable version of Chinatown Wars for PSP®go. Rockstar Leeds has shown incredible talent in creating games that raise the bar in terms of depth and innovation on portables, and with Chinatown Wars we have a rich, fast-paced, and incredibly addictive entry into the series."

Jack Tretton - the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America - also said this:

"Rockstar's work with the GTA series has been an enormous part of the success of PlayStation platforms. We're excited to welcome the critically acclaimed Chinatown Wars to the outstanding line-up of great games headed to the PSP platform this fall."

No specific release date has been given yet, but we do know the game will continue to be developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North. Talk about this at GTA Forums.

Take-Two Interactive Press Release.

Rockstar Games has released a maintenance update for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV. As the title suggests, it's not a full-blown patch like the previous updates, but it should provide a reasonable performance boost for most players.

The game will prompt you to install the update the next time you log on to Games for Windows LIVE. You can also install it manually by downloading it directly from Rockstar's website. The update includes all the fixes from the previous patches, so if (for any reason) you have to re-install the game, you don't need to install the previous updates.

How effective has this update been for you? Does the game run a lot better, a little bit better, or has there been no significant change? Discuss now at the GTA Forums.

Link: GTA IV PC Maintenance Update 1.0.4.0

ATI and NVIDIA released new drivers this week, providing a range of bug fixes and performance enhancements. Catalyst 9.6 was released by ATI on Monday, while NVIDIA released its 186.18 driver this morning. Grand Theft Auto IV PC users are encouraged to upgrade.

Remember to uninstall any previous drivers before installing these new ones.

Links:

• ATI Catalyst v9.6 Downloads (Discussion @ GTAForums)
• NVIDIA Driver Downloads (Discussion @ GTAForums)

Check out this video I made a few months ago on the PC version of GTA IV, using a combination of a modded handling file and dualCore's simple native trainer:

A user called Mattigus on the Halflife2.net forums created this unique Jack Thompson PS2 casemod:

"As you can probably see, I took Jack's book and turned it into a PlayStation 2. While it's still a little rough around the edges, it still works. Unfortunately, the cover doesn't close by its own weight, hence the cell phone sitting on Jack's face on the fourth picture.

"I'm almost positive somebody else has thought of this, but I figured that some people here would be interested in it. And yes, the first game I played on this thing was GTA3."

via Kotaku.

Currently ongoing on our forums is a community competition, where a number of GTAForums members had the opportunity to sign up, in a bid to eventually be crowned the 'best Vice City photographer on GTAForums!'

The competition received a fantastic response, with a total of eighteen users all signing up. Excitement and anticipation then kicked in, as all contestants awaited the first round. The first round is now over, and the results have been counted, verifed and posted in the Announcements topic - here. Unfortunately, since the first round has already gone ahead, there is no more room for people wishing to joing the competition.

Do not fret, though, as anybody who is a member of GTAForums.com is eligible to vote! It doesn't matter if you love Vice City with a passion, or loathe Vice City with a passion. It doesn't even matter if you haven't played the game for years. What does matter is your vote, and every one is oh-so important!

So get voting! Now!! If you aren't actually registered on GTAForums, then be sure to do that by filling out our registration form. There are still three more rounds left to vote in, before one of the entrants is to be crowned the winner, so please, make your vote count!

Related Links: Announcements topic, Vote and Reaction topic

We're proud to (finally) reveal the new GTA4.NET landing page!

Prior to this update, all visitors would be automatically redirected to the news page when going to http://www.gta4.net directly. Although this has worked for over a year, we were definitely in need of an update.

One of the new items on the landing page is the Community section. You'll notice that we're now on Facebook as well as Twitter. Although there has been a GTAForums group on Facebook for some time, this is the first time we've had any sort of "official" presence outside of our own network.

In addition to the new landing page, we've also implemented another change to the GTA4.NET family of sites: Both the main site and the The Lost and Damned subsite have been tweaked to use a max-width design. (We'll be doing the same to the Ballad of Gay Tony subsite as well.) Although this may not seem like much, this is the first time in GTANet history that we've chosen to restrict the size of the site to a set maximum width.

We've been working on these changes for a while. Hopefully everyone likes them as much as we do!

Throughout May, members on our forum took part in a screenshot competition hosted by Dutchy3010. The competition involved submitting screenshots which had to relate to a certain theme (decided by the host) and then the winner was determined by whoever had the most points at the end of each round. There were four rounds in total, and the winning screenshots are as follows:

Round 1 Theme: N/A Winner: thales100	Round 2 Theme: Citizens of Liberty City Winner: thales100
Round 3 Theme: Environment Winner: thales100	Round 4 Theme: WTF! Winner: CharmingCharlie

In the end, it was a landslide victory for thales100, who picked up 210 points in total, while CharmingCharlie took second spot with 123, and Gangxxter came in third with 86. You can view all the screenshot entries here.

Related Link: Grand Theft Auto IV Photo Contest at GTAForums.

Sony announces Agent, the first installment in a new franchise being developed by Rockstar North exclusively for the PlayStation 3. (PS3 owners: this is your cue to start celebrating.)

Back in July of 2007, Rockstar Games promised to deliver a Sony-exclusive series to the PlayStation 3. The nameless project was heralded by Sony as the "next great franchise" from the team at Rockstar North. It would "set the bar for the rest of the industry", no doubt aiming to match the overwhelming success of the Grand Theft Auto series. Things went quiet regarding the new franchise after that, though.

At this year's E3 press conference, Sony finally broke the silence by adding Agent - the aforementioned mystery title from Rockstar North - to its long list of upcoming goodies for the PlayStation 3.

New York, NY – June 2, 2009 - Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce Agent. Developed by the people behind Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar North, Agent will be available exclusively for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

"We have always enjoyed making action games, and with Agent we are making what we believe will be the ultimate action game," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Agent is a game we have wanted to make for a long time. The team in Edinburgh is doing an amazing job combining intense action, atmosphere and story in a great period setting to create something that feels quite unique. We cannot wait for people to experience this game."

Agent takes players on a paranoid journey into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations during the height of the Cold War at the end of the 1970s.

(Source: Destructoid)

Further details are still murky. We do know, however, that the new series is being supervised by Rockstar North founders Dan and Sam Houser (two of the most prominent names tied to the success of the GTA series).

PlayStation gamers will no doubt be thrilled at this news. The 360-exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV has been a point of tension between the two camps ever since it was first announced, and the PS3's lackluster sales haven't done much to help.

While Agent isn't directly tied to Grand Theft Auto, this news does make us wonder what's in store for our beloved GTA. Will Grand Theft Auto be put on the backburner as Agent becomes the focal point for Rockstar North? Head on over to the forums and share your thoughts about R* North's newest project.

Related Links:
"Take Two grooming Agent to be the next GTA" - GameSpot E3 2009 Coverage
"Sony announces new Rockstar exclusive" - Destructoid
"Agent" - GTAForums Thread