We’ve heard about MMOs letting players order real-life pizza delivery from the in-game interface, but Rockstar has made a move with GTA IV that’s decidedly more healthy: letting players purchase real-life MP3s of the songs playing on the in-game radio.
This GTA IV in-game feature lets players “order” any of the 200 songs they may hear playing on any of the in-game radio stations. If GTA IV players hear a song they like, the simply need to pull up their in-game cell phone and dial ZIT-555-0100.
This will then “tag” the song so players can log in to Rockstar’s social network, where they can preview, purchase and download the song(s) in 256K MP3 format — complete with DRM technology, of course.
GTA IV music MP3s will cost 99 cents each or less.
The MP3s will come from Amazon, which is also a 16-song CD (available in MP3 format) of in-game music called The Music of Grand Theft Auto. This compilation includes music from The Rapture, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Bob Marley, Joe Walsh and others.
This story on Wired has a few more tidbits of information.
