GTA 4: Lost & Damned breaks records

Microsoft declares first 360-exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV add-on has generated more revenue in 24 hours than any other DLC. Given that Grand Theft Auto IV has sold more than 5.2 million copies in the US alone, there was little question that its first expansion would be a hit. Sure enough, today Microsoft declared that Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned has “eclipsed first-day revenue for all previous downloadable content on Xbox Live.” Microsoft also mentioned that the game was the “highest reviewed downloadable content ever from Rockstar Games,” although many sites declined to grade it as a full game. But while Microsoft was big on bravado in terms of The Lost and Damned’s number-one ranking, it was short–very short–on details.

The 360-maker did not provide figures for how many units of the $20 expansion have been downloaded, nor did it say if the expansion was the top download domestically, internationally, or both. As of January 31, the 360 edition of GTAIV had sold more than 3.3 million units in the US according to the NPD, offering a massive installed base for the download. However, since it only tracks sales at retail, NPD will not be measuring sales of The Lost and Damned. However successful the expansion, it will need to sell quite well to recoup the amount Microsoft paid for its exclusivity. In a conference call last June, Take-Two Interactive executives said that the software giant had paid $50 million for two 360-only expansions for the open-world crime game. The second 360-exclusive expansion is due later in the year.

Tax fix brings Hollywood back to Ireland

It’s a sequel the Irish film industry has been awaiting for years: the return of Hollywood. After a hiatus of almost six years, American movie cameras are set to roll on Irish soil again thanks to improvements to the film tax-relief system, known as section 481, introduced last December.

Next month shooting will begin on Leap Year, a romantic comedy starring the Oscar-nominated Amy Adams and boasting Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire, as script writer. Adams, best-known for her role in Enchanted, the box-office hit about a fairytale princess who finds herself in New York, will play an American who travels to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on February 29. According to the film, not only is it Irish tradition for women to propose on “leap day” but their men have to say “yes”. When weather forces Adams’s uptight character to veer off course, she finds herself forced to rely on a surly local innkeeper to help her find her beau. The two trek across the countryside to try to get to Dublin to pop the question before time runs out. The pub owner will be played by Matthew Goode, an actor hailed as one of Britain’s rising stars.

Producers from Spyglass Entertainment arrived in Ireland a week ago and are currently scouting for remote and picturesque locations for the shoot. Jake Weiner, a creative producer on the film, said shooting is due to begin at the start of April for two months. He said: “We are looking for the most beautiful remote places in Ireland to shoot the movie. It’s going to be a great project and we’re thrilled to be here.” Irish cast and crew will be employed on the movie, which will be directed by Anand Tucker, who directed Shopgirl. “The idea is she winds up in the furthest place from Dublin and it’s about her journey and how she changes as a character,” said Weiner. “We are trying to figure out where is the most remote place to be coming from.” Adams was nominated for a best supporting actress at last week’s Oscars for her role in Doubt, losing out to Penelope Cruz. It was her second supporting-actress nomination, having received the nod for 2005’s Junebug.

Ireland’s film incentive, introduced in the mid-1990s by Michael D Higgins, was copied and bettered by other countries. Britain has had a more attractive tax break for several years. The amount of money spent on the Irish film industry slumped by about a third in 2007 — from €280m in 2006 to €198m, according to a report published by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation’s Audiovisual Federation last year. However, the fall in incoming production was more marked: at €19.3m, it was down 77% on 2006. The only international film made in Ireland was European. In December Martin Cullen, the arts minister, announced improvements to section 481 to bring it back in line with other countries. The cap for individual investors will increase to €50,000 a year, up from the current limit of €31,750, and there will be a 100% relief on that investment when previously it was set at 80%. Ardmore Studios, which once hosted blockbuster movies such as Reign of Fire, has been surviving on television work since 2003, when King Arthur was made there.

McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld

Having read many books on organized crime in the past I just had to give mcmafia a shot as it focuses on the growth of crime on a worldwide scale not only that but because its written by respected bbc correspondent misha glenny. The areas covered by the author vary from far east Russia to Bulgaria/Israel/UAE/UK/Balkans & many other countries & states. He effortlessly combines reports with interviews ranging from mid level racketeers & traffickers to the major key players operating right now. A lot of it was nothing I did not already know but saying that I have read many books on organized crime especially ones centred on & focusing mainly on Russian & eastern crime. For anyone not so familiar with these organizations & their modus operandi then this book will take you on a journey through the shadowy world of multinational crime. The fall of the soviet union opened the floodgates for criminal gangs into Europe & its neighbouring countries, for law enforcement they were dealing with a new wave of crime which was more unpredictable than they expected, not only was it unpredictable it was extremely brutal.

Misha talks about how sour business deals have led to countless assassinations not just in troubled states but in cities like London & Prague, not only that he goes into an area that is rarely discussed by many writers - human trafficking. Weapons trafficked through the Balkans, stolen cars trafficked through eastern Europe, world class Kazakh caviar smuggled into Europe, the multi million dollar narcotics industry & even the more recent bank scams known as 419s originating frequently from Nigeria. He goes into immense detail to giving not only the evolution of the global underworld but a highly in-depth & structured history of the gangs & their origins. Some of the stories & reports may seem a bit over blown but I can assure you as crazy as it sounds its all based on truths, thought not always glaringly obvious organized crime has been & always will be an integral part of every country & state in both the civilised & uncivilized world. As long as governments allow corruption & law enforcement chooses to turn a blind eye then crime will flourish at an extraordinary rate, in some cases many crime families & groups are richer than the countries they target. This was definitely the case when it came to the infamous drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, his control over the Columbian drug cartels netted him vast amounts of cash making him the most untouchable man in the history of Columbia. McMafia is just what the name suggests a story of the globalization of crime itself & like the big multinational corporations that setup once borders fell apart so too have the criminals setup shop in the west, often using cunning & smarts but always ready to pick up a gun & start shooting when cunning is not enough.

The world has become a virtual launderette where gangs & corrupt oligarchs effortlessly wash their illicit funds through not only offshore banking but through legitimate establishments & businesses, because the criminals are always one step ahead of the law this creates an almost impossible scenario that affects countless countries & states. Starting at lower level car theft & contraband cigarette smuggling organizations like the Serbian mafia can net hundreds of thousands of dollars, one report states that the Balkans are the number one location for stolen luxury cars such as Mercedes & BMWs, the cars most of which are stolen in European cities fetch a high price in the car markets of the Balkans, though not a national emergency car theft is one of the number one forms of financing the gangs that have ties to major terrorist organizations the world over. McMafia hops from country to country just as the organizations themselves crossed borders bringing their own unique brand of corruption & brutality - perhaps the strongest point this book makes is that no country is safe from the ever growing tentacles of that spread out worldwide & strike deep into society itself, an uncomfortable read at some points glenny holds nothing back when he discuses documented accounts of the victims of global crime, one such moment when he is talking about the existence of sex trafficking & the women who’s lives who have been directly affected by it. Its clear a change in international law is needed, how exactly this can be done is not an easy question especially when almost every country has a different policy when it comes to dealing with crime, some states refuse to acknowledge the existence even if it threatens their chances of joining into the EU. My closing point is this - as long as there is money to be made off of illicit activities then there will always be organized crime, though it may not be as established or far reaching as Russian mafia gangs or even Japanese yakuza it will still have a chance of climbing the ladder of the global criminal elite & for the governments & law enforcement agencies that are charged with the task of dealing with the McMafia its far too little to late.