Rockstar North Xbox 360 devkit found at car boot sale surfaces with GTA IV prototype
A Rockstar North-labeled Xbox 360 development kit bought for £5 at a car boot sale has turned into an unexpected GTA IV preservation story. A new user on GTAForums, janmatant, said he found the XDK locally in Scotland, then identified himself as the person who discovered the console with the GTA IV files still on it. He also said he was looking to sell the full unit, not just the data.
The community immediately began listing cut content found inside the backup. The prototype from the November 2007 Xbox 360 build is already shared among user enthusiasts.
The prototype is roughly 95% intact, but not complete. According to its notes, the dump is missing parts of the movies and common data, as well as xbox360.rpf, and the build freezes because critical assets are not present. In other words, this is currently more useful as a source of models, audio, and pre-release assets than a drop-in playable beta.
Users mention that the build contains different radio content, early phone models, unused logo assets, beta character models, and a ferry model that matches footage from GTA IV’s first trailer. The zombie claim also has some older backing, because TCRF has documented “Z: Resurrection” as an unused GTA IV zombie minigame or mode for some time.
Such a build is not useful for most gamers. However, enthusiasts and preservationists who dig through unused assets and dropped content plans will likely appreciate it. It also leaves one obvious question, how did such a unique piece of Rockstar North hardware end up at a car boot sale? And where do such sales take place in the first place?
Source: GTA Forums , Hidden Place
