Well I've always wondered about the 50million figure. People say you could fund two or three games with that money, and it almost looks like thats what MS did, they funded two more GTAIV games. Rockstar would have a bit left over from the $50million due to the game engine already being up and running making the expansions cheaper, and they would have discretion over DLC pricing.

1/ I thought the 50M were also supposed to pay the marketing of the game

2/ the 2 add-on could be big but I doubt we will see new area particularly since the full GTA4 is already smaller than San Andreas.

3/ Overall, it seems that the new content will be a lot more than just "some news mission" but it is still hard to know what to expect.

If the DLC is of a very large nature, this is a big hit for people expecting to buy this on PS3 and can really sway those that have a choice between the two. If MS paid $50 million for two other games that are even half the size of Vice City and San Andreas, then I think they made a wise investment. This better not be some stupid mission pack though. GTA has always been about exploring and messing around in the world. It should add brand new areas to the game. Maybe they can add a part of a fictional Long Island in one game and a fictional northern New Jersey in the other, of course with new missions for them though.

GTA3 to VC and SA? That big? I don't think so...maybe in actual land area addition perhaps, but those games introduced a ton of stuff other than just...more space. So it's kinda stupid to compare the two.

OMG GUYS! they said "SA and VC are expansions to GTA3" what if their expansion makes it so you can travel to those two cities!!!! WOWZERS! then they have every right comparing them because its the same cities!!!!

 I am betting, that will be the best case scenario for Microsoft.

And it is called DLC people, not fully fledged expansions. Not for 1 second do I believe that the $50 million funded the equivilant of a next gen version of VC and SA.

Thats just nonsense.   I am sticking to my original notion that the first installment of the DLC will be a pair of overalls.

But if it is significant in add on geographical location, that is enough to warrant the purchase of the 360 version for me.

But we still know nothing.  Will we find out exactly what the DLC is before the GTAIV release? 

I do remember Oblivion's Shivering Isles Expansion being pretty big and it was downloadable. It also was released later on disc for those without a HDD so it may be the same for GTAIV.

SO, what if...
Rockstars releases GTA: SAC(Chronicles) and GTA: LCC games in the Xbox360 as downloadable content.
Then releases it as standalone blu-ray game for the ps3.
Technically the ps3 version doesnt get downloadable content.

Is it just me.. or do some people seem reasonable for like a week, then suddenly turn into super trolls. What's up with that?

But yeah. I expected as much, i mean the 50 Million meant either it would have to be expensive and offer a lot or they expected a very large amount of people to pick up DLC.

Sounds like good news for GTA fans.

New places to explore seemed like the most likely thing to me.

But wait, there's more!  A post from the same blog clarifying the initial GTA IV remarks:

http://www.thebitbag.com/2008/02/23/setting-the-record-straight-on-gtaiv-dlc/

I posted my bullets from the Microsoft Blogger Breakfast the other day and some info about GTAIV was taken out of context…well sort of.  People are claiming that Microsoft announced the game would be as big as Vice City/San Andreas.   I posted comments on some of the bullets and putting 2 and 2 together I came up with some facts and opinion on GTAIV.  Here are the facts:

• Rockstar has announced that the 360 version will be the definitive version
• Microsoft said at the breakfast that no other platform will get this DLC.  It’s exclusive to them and to them only.  From what was said, and Brian Crecente even questioned it, Playstation 3 won’t be getting any additional content for GTAIV.  This could mean that they get it later or they get completely different content.  We don’t know at this time.
• Microsoft paid $50 million for the content.  If you haven’t been in a coma you should know that entire games have been developed for less than $50 million dollars.  If you think that the $50 million is just for some new cars, characters and ice cream truck side missions, you are horribly mistaken.

Now for the opinions:

• GTA3 was the first in a trilogy of games.  Vice City and San Andreas used the same engine that GTA3 was built on. 
• Rockstar stated that if the DLC is successful on the 360, it will give them a new outlet for releasing content.   A monkey could figure out that with GTAIV, they could release a GTAIV Palm Beach Stories and GTAIV New Jack City games strictly through downloads
• $50 million is in Rockstars pockets right now.  This is before ANY game sales.  It’s almost free money.  Rockstar knows good business and this is good business.  Just like it was good business when Sony paid them for a 1 year exclusivity on GTA3.  Microsoft knows that GTA3 is the game that pretty much gave the PS2 so much success.  They aren’t just gonna sit back and let it happen again.  Now it’s their turn.  Who knows, with GTAV Sony may get the jump on MS.  Touche!
• You can expect this content to be huge.  I’d say several gigs worth.  Since there’s no manufacturing cost involved and the game could cost between $19-$29 dollars.  Again, we aren’t talking new car and music downloads.  This DLC will most likely be a huge assortment of missions and new areas opened up.  It may even be a brand new storyline using the GTAIV engine.  Also, you know that with GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas were released shortly after the first game.  Expect the same to happen with GTAIV. 
• If you have both the 360 and the PS3 and you choose the PS3 version, you will be missing out on some great content.  Either way, both versions of the original game will be awesome and no one should feel bad about that.

I’m sorry if some misunderstood the facts from my comments.  That was my fault.  The rest you can take with a grain of salt.