With retail music sales in a continuing slump, the major labels are increasingly looking for innovative ways to market and distribute their product. The latest trend is taking advantage of the popularity of video games such as “Rock Band” and “Grand Theft Auto IV.”

Already, games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero III” have been phenomenally successful as platforms to sell music, especially downloadable tracks and albums. But both of these games are music-related, so selling tracks within the game ties in nicely, and doesn’t seem so much like blatant product placement.

Now the major music labels are reaching out to non-music related games in order to sell albums and downloadable tracks. And at the moment, “Grand Theft Auto IV” is the hottest video game around, so the big industry players are betting big that the game can help music sales. The game allows players to “tag” a song from its soundtrack and receive information about the artist, album and song. Players can also store their tagged songs in a play list on the Amazon.com MP3 store, with the option to buy the tracks at a later time.

“Grand Theft Auto IV” has already been a huge success in the video game world, and conveniently for the music industry, the game features more than 200 songs, making up the largest soundtrack in the history of video games. In fact, music is such an integral part of the game, that promoting bands, albums and single tracks seems perfectly natural, and not at all like a forced marketing exercise.

This type of product placement has been common in television and film for years, but until recently it was unheard of with video games. But with many media critics saying that “games are the new film,” and “television is dead,” the major record labels are keen to test out promotions that tie in with games, or even direct product placement tie-ins, such as that used in “Grand Theft Auto IV.”

In effect, “Grand Theft Auto IV” has added a “buy” button to the game, making it easy for players to get information and purchase tunes online quickly. With the game now on the verge of being the most popular in video game history, the in-game promotion could prove extremely profitable for the music industry.

Buying music via video games may also help revive the careers of some artists, and help new and unknown bands get their foot in the door. The success of games like “Rockstar” has proven that the video game industry and the music industry don’t have to compete with each other, but rather, can form joint venture partnerships that benefit both industries.

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If you are looking for a fast paced rush of adrenaline fun, you will definitely enjoy playing Grand Theft Auto IV. This game is specifically designed for gamers who wanted action and excitement at its finest. Over the years, the Grand Theft series has continuously made itself a popular Play Station game. With the emerging popularity of PSP, it will not come as a surprise if the Grand Theft Auto IV will easily become a favorite as well.

With a backdrop that will surely promote lots of action possibilities, Grand Theft becomes a rather addicting game to play. Liberty City is where all the action happens on the game—a name which is definitely suggestive of what’s going to happen. In this newer version, there are really not much noteworthy changes in the city’s setup. Just a bunch of names replaced with new ones but so far, everything remained almost the same.

However, the player still has the usual angst against driving out anything or everyone that comes his way. This character is known in Grand Theft Auto IV as Toni Cipriano and this time, he can already talk which makes all the great difference on various cutscenes. The story’s mode can sometimes be a bit too repetitive, as missions are handed in the beginning with a specific target to kill. Once done, you already get your bounty or your pay for the said mission. Completing every mission assigned to you will eventually grant you access to explore Liberty City’s second island. In total, there are three different islands to explore and you can unlock them as you play along.

What the Grand Theft Auto IV may have lacked in terms of story setups, is made up for in terms of its ability to free roams. This means that the game is not strictly designed for completing a specific mission. You can turn on the game and freely roam the city just to wreak havoc and explore it if you haven’t been familiar with previous Grand Theft series before. You can do this even without a mission to fulfill. This is what makes this game really appealing because you are not strictly tied to play it in story mode. It gives you the freedom to really explore the game itself.

Also, the weapons available in Grand Theft Auto IV is also more diverse and numerically more than the previous versions. If you choose the free roam mode, you can also collect these fascinating weapons and use them in wreaking havoc all over the city. Weapons range from firearms such as simple pistols to sniper rifles and even rocket launchers. There are also other melee weapons which you can pick up and use such as baseball bats and knives. However, there are cops to look out for while you do all those blasting and killing. Stars are made to indicate how many cops are running after you. You may want to moderate your killing because a flash of six stars would mean that an army of policemen will be running after you.

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