In an exclusive interview to be published on GameDaily in a few days, Sony VP of Product Marketing Scott Steinberg will talk Grand Theft Auto IV, and Microsoft's exclusive episodic content. GameDaily where quick to release information today to do with the latter though, saying, basically, that Sony is not at all worried by Microsoft's exclusive episodic content for GTA IV.

Until now, all 3D GTAs have made their debut on the PlayStation (then later released on other platforms), so many were shocked when Microsoft announced that the game would be coming to both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on the same release date. Even more so when Microsoft announced the exclusive episodic content which cost them, as Steinberg put it: "the GNP of several small Latin American countries".

He believes that to the average consumer, all this "Sony Vs. Microsoft" media isn't important, and also the average consumer won't be interested in the episodic content nor both to purchase it. He continues by saying:

"[Microsoft] spent the GNP of several small Latin American countries to get that [content], and if you've ever played San Andreas...there's a lot of game to Grand Theft Auto and there's going to be a lot of game to Grand Theft Auto IV to the point where I think most people will have that Grand Theft Auto experience on the PS3, day and date, same core game shipping on the 360. Perhaps they'll be shipping some episodic content in the fall, but there is a whole lot of product shipping on the PS3 in April and I personally don't think there's going to be a huge percentage of folks who jump into downloadable content for another price when they're still playing through the core product,"

"So while I do think having that brand on their system was a move for them which they felt they needed to make because they cut a big check for it, I think PlayStation fans know the Grand Theft Auto experience on the PS2 is how they grew up playing Grand Theft Auto," he continued, "and when you combine GTA IV with MGS 4 and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, all the exclusive content that we've got going forward, I think that goes from tipping point to shoving point for consumers who are on the fence, wondering what platform should I buy. I think the clear exclusive message that we have is that the PS3 is where, not only do you get Grand Theft Auto, but you'll get MGS, you'll get Gran Turismo and these are also brands that have moved hardware units. It's the elite of the elite products that actually enable hardware to be sold with software and we'll have three of them."

Whether the episodic content will be an enough to make the new series of Grand Theft Auto bigger on Xbox then it's predecessor on PlayStation is yet too be seen, however everyone likes having something a little extra that sets them apart from someone else. Episodic content might be just that. Additionally, being most previews and demos of the game have been played on the Xbox, it's possible that GTA IV is becoming an "Xbox" product primarily. We'll be seeing some more on this when the full interview with Scott Steinberg is released in the next few days.