Microsoft Pushes GTA IV On Xbox 360 News

Microsoft has always been rather chuffed at securing a same day release of GTA IV on Xbox 360; ever since the then-Xbox 360 supremo, Peter Moore stood on stage at Grumann's Chinese Theatre in 2006 and showed off his special tattoo, the platform holder hasn't been shy in reiterating the fact.

Now, with just twelve days to go until Rockstar Games' masterpiece hits stores across North America and Europe, Microsoft are making sure that consumers remember it. A new campaign is launching this week, including a TV commercial showing Nike Bellic roaming the streets of Liberty City, with a further explosion of advertising in the coming weeks.

Obviously, Microsoft is aware that GTA IV isn't just coming out on Xbox 360, with the commercial ending with the obligatory Xbox 360 sphere, and a voice-over that the game will be available to play on an Xbox 360 Arcade - retailing for £159.99 - £140 less than the 40GB PlayStation 3. It's a shrewd move by Microsoft, especially with the franchise's prior relationship with Sony's consoles.

Speaking about their GTA IV/Xbox 360 campaign, Stephen McGill, Head of Gaming and Entertainment, Xbox UK said, "R* will naturally be doing their own campaign to launch what obviously will be a massive title for them, but Microsoft sees GTA IV as a fantastic title to showcase how great Xbox 360 is ...what with it's amazing graphics & gaming experience, coupled with playing with your friends on Xbox LIVE, achievements and of course the exclusive extra episodic content for GTA IV that will be downloadable this Autumn and will only be available on Xbox 360.

As such you can expect a large awareness campaign from us, showcasing how great GTA IV on Xbox 360 is, and what great value the Xbox 360 console is too. Our campaign is the same sort of scale as our Halo 3 campaign last year so you can expect to see and hear a lot about GTA IV on Xbox 360 over the coming weeks.

The campaign starts this week with lifestyle press advertising and hits the TV screens this weekend, running through and beyond launch and we're confident this will help drive awareness of GTA IV and Xbox 360 with a very wide audience.

Reviews of the game are now coming in and it's getting a fantastic response, and the press are highlighting how massive the Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable content will be and how easy and great it is to play multiplayer with friends over Xbox LIVE.

We're naturally very excited about GTA IV coming to Xbox 360, we know pre-orders are going fabulously well and we know consumers are extremely excited about all the great things the Xbox 360 version offers."

The TV ad is now live at TVG and Xbox.com.