Welcome to the new and improved wednesday edition™ of the xbox 360 news digest. Both the 360 and PlayStation 3 communities have reached what can only be described as a fever pitch with the impending release of Grand Theft Auto IV less than a week away, marking the franchise's first big step in the seventh generation of home consoles. In fact, earlier this morning, we reported on some tantalizing footage of the game's intro and a slice of gameplay that had made its way onto the 'net. This writer has actually placed two seperate pre-orders for the Special Edition - hedging his bets, so to speak...have you placed yours? Anyways, without further ado, we gladly present to you the juiciest news of the week -

Lost Cities is this weeks XBLA release - this objective of this game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities (the Himalayas, the Brazilian Rain Forest, the Desert Sands, the Ancient Volcanos and Neptune's Realm). I'm not gunna lie - I've never heard of this game (I shameless pilfered the above sentence from Wikipedia). Lost Cities will run you the typical 800 Microsoft points and is available now. As is customary, here is a link to the games profile page and a helpful reminder that you can check out the trial before committing yourself to a purchase. But don't play too often, or you might end up looking like that guy --->

Joystiq's brief history of Grand Theft Auto - I'm sure a majority of my readers have been jacking virtual cars from the early days, but that doesn't mean we can't remember our roots. Joystiq's retrospective look at "prior offenses" takes us back to 1997 when GTA IV was but a twinkle in David Jones' eye with the release of Grand Theft Auto. Featuring a top-down view that pulled back when you reached high speed, I played hours upon hours of this initial offering...ah, the sweet sound of a Gouranga. Joystiq gives a a brief but concise overview of each game in the series complete with screenshot galleries, and is highly recommended to GTA fans both old and new as we count down the hours and days to Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Click here for the full article.

You passed go - collect $200! EA to bring Monopoly to the 360 - family gamers rejoice, as Parker Brother's classic board game no longer has to take four hours. EA is promising "a sped-up version of the original game, with some new interactive minigames thrown in" for Xbox 360, Wii and PS2 (yes, PS2). Though, I hope they include a legacy option - I prefer my Monopoly traditional (but you might convince me to throw some cash into Free Parking). I'm calling dibs on the car. [Via Joystiq] Some additional details here (it's looking more and more like they're totally going to fubar it - legacy version please!) [Via X3F]

first full album available now as Rock Band downloadable content - Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance was made available yesterday in its entirety for 1200 Microsoft points, or you could opt to download any of the nine songs individually for 160 MSP each (Hint: you save 240 MSP if you download the full album!). I tell you, Harmonix just keeps on piling onto Rock Band's value proposition, and it's making it increasingly difficult for me to stay away (I just think of all the Microsoft points I'm NOT spending...). They also have plans to release several more full albums in the near future, including The Cars' The Cars and Pixies' Doolittle as well as The Who's Who's Next? [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Activision feels the squeeze, announces 'additional instruments' for Guitar Hero IV - no doubt feeling the pressure from Rock Band's landslide popularity, Activision announced that GH4 (not to be confused with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith) will include 'additional instruments' including a microphone for vocals. In related news, GH: Aerosmith will not feature a new instrument, only a new, Aerosmith-inspired faceplate on the same old wireless Les Paul. But look forward to a more "full band" experience in GH IV. Let the Rock Band comparisons commence! [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Sam Fisher, a Glitch in the System, sneak into the Xbox Originals section - This week saw the release of both Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (great game) and Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (never heard of it, sorry) as Xbox Originals, available for 1200 Microsoft points each, bringing the total number of original Xbox games available from the North American Xbox Live Marketplace to 14. Keep in mind that SC:CT sports a massive 5.39 gigabyte footprint and thus will occupy over 25% of a standard 360 hard drive. (eye can haz 120 gig hard drive???). Metal Arms, on the other arm hand, takes up a modest 1.61 GB. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Call of Duty re-imagined as...a real-time card game? - When I came across this section of the Call of Duty (series) article in my daily Wikipedia-crawling, I thought to myself "oh emm effing gee, a late April Fools joke..." Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was in fact, not a hoax, and Upper Deck is actually developing the Call of Duty series into a real-time card game. The Call of Duty Real-Time Card Game is "all about moving as quickly as possible to take down your opponents—and survive. Players who have honed their skills playing the video game will find that the same skills apply to the new Upper Deck real-time card game, which has all the strategy of other card games, plus requires the quick reaction time that defines the Call of Duty® franchise. In this game, your soldiers fire, move, dive for cover, and attack the enemy with precision, accuracy, and speed!" If you still think I'm pulling your leg, check out the official website. We can look forward to this exciting new addition to the COD franchise in Fall 2008.

web-based achievements hidden throughout the Internetz- file this under "why didn't I think of that?!". A friend of mine, DjDATZ writes for the fledgling news site 360 sync which has come up with an intriguing way of getting people to diversify their 360-based website portfolio. Entitled "Unlock the Achievement", participants can register to participate in what is billed as "one of the largest Internet-based scavenger hunts in the entire history of the world, ever!" Over four dozen community sites (including, of course, X3F) are participating and cleverly hiding 5 pictures somewhere in their site. Finding and clicking on one of the pictures will unlock one of the 215 available achievements. Prizes are numerous including a 120 GB hard drive that you could use to house your shiny new SC:CT download. My only question is...where's the love DjDATZ? You couldn't even throw one achievement my reader's way? ;> (Note: Because of this virtual cold-shoulder the picture to the right will not actually unlock an achievement in the scavenger hunt!)