So the first GTA IV downloadable content comes out today in the form of The Lost And Damned, which you can buy on Xbox Live for 1600 points. I'm currently downloading it - all 1.7GB of it -, and have decided to put up my impressions of it in a LiveBlog. I'll be updating this every few minutes to say whats going on.

Watch out, there might be spoilers.

12:33pm - Currently at 91%, I'm guesstimating another 10 minutes
12:34 - Going to play Geometry Wars while I wait
12:38 - 1.7 million on Dealine mode. Not my best score, but not bad. 96% done
12:40 - 97%. I'm wondering if this will add any new achievements
12:43 - 100%, lets do this
12:44 - A message pops up in game saying "Lost and Damned has been downloaded, do you want to play it?" I wonder if this message will appeat every time from now on
12:51 - Pretty cool opening. Does a good job of introducing the characters, as they cruise along the streets of Liberty City on their bikes. They've gone to pick up Billy, the president of the Lost, who I think has just been let out of Jail, and seems like a cool character. I'm pretty sure I saw Niko walking along the pavement at some point.
13:00 - Damn, these guys are angry. Gameplay info, when riding in a gang you have to stay close to all the others, which is pretty annoying because they're quite slow
13:09 - Gang AI seems knda dumb, one guy keeps crashing into lap posts. And I really dont like driving slow so they can keep up. Missions very easy so far. I was expecting it to get off to an explosive start, because everybody playing this already knows the gameplay mechanics of GTA IV
13:11 - Taking a break to eat a sammich
13:16 - Song on the in-game radio which I'm fairly sure is new. No new radio stations though.
13:18 - Pretty brutal cutscene, involving holding a guys face on a moving tire then smacking him with a mallet. This is the kind of stuff you didn't see with Niko
13:28 - Following a gang seems even dumber. They give you a marker which you have to stick to, which then disapears as soon as you enter it, so its hard to know where you have to be. Got a look at the clubhouse, which has 3 new minigames; arm wrestling, high-low cards, and... mourning? Sure, why not. Theres also a TV and computerm which apparently have new shows and websites. Got a bit of gunplay in too, which is just as you remember from GTA IV. New gun, sawed off shotgun.
13:37 - I like Billy as a character more than Jonny so far. He's got a short temper and is funny. He also isn't afraid to shoot somebody in the back with a shotgun if they gatecrash a party. Like I said before, very different characters to Niko
13:44 - Action picking up quickly, but still quite simple stuff. Can only get better
13:46 - Just heared that one of the new websites is 'Craplist.net'. Oh lol
13:49 - Just accidentally wandered into a bunch of rival gang members, who attack without warning.
              One more mission then I'm quitting the blogging
13:53 - It seems adjustments have been made to bike riding. Its easier to take corners at speed without skidding out of control. Still not as stupidly fluid as GTA Vice City, but still, a noticeable difference. Tried driving a car, no noticeable changes.
13:57 - Found a prostitute, and she said "I love your European looks", which I'm pretty sure is a line intented for Niko
14:11 - Alright, I'm done. In conclusion, I like Billy, dont like driving in a gang, and everything else is more GTA IV, which is awesome

That is all

UPDATE TIME!

• Thats not smoke or weed, its light coming in through the window. I took the picture with a really crappy camera.
• I can't get it replaced because its second hand or something. I dunno, M$ is a dick.
• Its fixed, for now, using the good old towel trick

I never played many RPGs as a kid. I was introduced to games through the lucky-go-happy world of Mario, then spent my teenage years hanging with the cool kids with GTA and Need For Speed. The idea of RPGs just never appealed to me, too much text to read, all that level managing, wizards and knights being "teh gay". But a while ago I decided to give this whole RPG thing a shot, and it didn't go well.

I borrowed Oblivion off a friend, and hated it. Granted, I only gave it about an hour of my time, but if a game can't wow me after that long, I have low hopes for it. Also, the fact that I had an unfinished copy of Gears Of War sitting next to it probably didn't help either. So, my RPG experience got off to a bad start.

I just clicked on the Wii forum. Usually I wouldn't, I just look at the threads on the forum front page. But something caught my eye and amused me. I think we can see which user is the biggest Ninty fan here.

Yes it is

testing testing lollollol

So I just went over to Gamespot, had a look at my inbox, and this little message greeted me:

Terms of Use Violation - Temporary Suspension!

apparently I've been suspended for 3 days. Go me!

In July.... yeah. Anyway, my new resolution is to post in this blog much more frequently than before. My old Gamespot blog often went months at a time without being updated. Well not any more! My Giant Bomb blog will be bursting with activity.

So, first post, I guess I should say how excited I am about GB launching, the site looks great, the forums are already crazy busy, and I can't wait for all the stuff the staff make.

So if you want to hear more from me, drop me a comment, it makes me feel wanted. Ta ta for now