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GTA San Andreas Dripfeeds More Info To Eager Public

Thanks to GameSpot for its updated preview of Rockstar's ravenously awaited Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The article first gets down to basics, explaining: "The state of San Andreas will feature three main cities, each inspired by real-life locales. The city of Los Santos is based on Los Angeles, San Fierro is derived from San Francisco, and Las Venturas will mirror the glitz of Las Vegas", before delving into new mechanics like character strength ("You'll be able to visit one of several gyms spread throughout San Andreas so that you work out to stay in peak physical health"), and comments on audio that lend credence to a rumored partial tracklisting of recent ("Despite San Andreas' superficially hip-hop trappings, the game's soundtrack will feature a full range of early '90s music".) IGN PS2 also has a new hands-on preview, including fresh info on customizable in-game tattoos ("[designed by] Mister Cartoon... [featuring] gang names, guns, and women.")

10 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Too Violent For Me by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I really don't enjoy playing Grand Theft Auto games because they're too violent... because of this, I kept wondering what made the games so compelling that they were these huge uber-best-sellers.

    Then I got a copy of Simpsons: Hit and Run, which is basically the exact same play-style as GTA games, but without any violence. Now I get it, it's pretty damned fun, very forgiving if you fail a mission, and really easy to just pick up and play even if you only have a few minutes.

    1. Re:Too Violent For Me by Babbster · · Score: 2, Funny

      No violence in Simpsons: Hit and Run? I kick little Ralph Wiggum all over the place in that game. Watching him roll into traffic cracks me up....Wow, I need help, and fast.

  2. Re:Same old engine? by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So?

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  3. Re:About the soundtrack... by MC+Negro · · Score: 3, Informative

    Even though they have been quite on it, has there been any word on Rockstar releasing it on CD like they did with Vice City? Last time with Vice City they let it be known in advance, but with a few months away for GTA SA they sure haven't said much.
    From PSX Extreme, who ripped it from Play Magazine. A partial playlist (consistent with the claim in the article) --
    • Salt 'n' Pepa - Push it
    • Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
    • Inner Circle - Bad Boys
    • KLF - 3AM Eternal
    • Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
    • Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
    • Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
    • Poison - Every rose has it's Thorn
    • Guns 'n' Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine
    • Smashing Pumpkins - Today
    • NWA - F*** Tha Police
    • NWA - 100 Miles And Runnnin'
    • Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin N'Juice
    • Snoop Doggy Dogg - Ain't no Fun
    • Warren G - Regulate
    • Fugees - Killing me Softly
    • Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
    • Public Enemy - Rebel without a Pause
    • The Stone Roses - Fools Gold
    • Happy Mondays - Step On
    • The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
    • Radiohead - Creep

    As to whether or not it will be released as box set in the vein of the Vice City soundtrack boxset, I would imagine yes. This came up on the IGN nSiders forum a while back, in which someone "in the know" (READ: BestBuy stockboy) claimed to have seen a product listing from Sony Records about a San Andreas soundtrack set. Take that with a grain of salt, however. Seeking cohesive information from IGN is like going to an Adam Sandler film for some deep, subtle wit.
    --
    "You and your third dimension."
  4. Rockstar is one the ball. by xtacyhonx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As a company, Rockstar is smart to release San Andreas on the same graphics engine and gameplay style. Going along with the "If it aint broken, dont fix it" theroy has proven successful in the past/present (Tony Hawk anyone)? The game play in that game has been virtually identical, with some added tricks. I expect San Andreas to be no different. I own both GTA3 and GTA:VC, and aside for some different moves and cars, the gameplay and graphics are exactly the same. And seeing how again, PS2 will be the flagship base for release, this wont change much (although expect it to be ported to PC and possibly XBox in the near future). If you liked the original GTA3/VC games, you'll probably play this too, just don't expect any changes to graphics or gameplay. Of course, if you didnt like the gameplay, you wouldn't be aquiring this game now would you :)

    --
    "Control the media, control the mind". -xtachyonx
    1. Re:Rockstar is one the ball. by kisrael · · Score: 2

      I'm hoping you're right friend, but I'm really worried Rockstar might be blowing it: While completing missions and visiting the different locales in a city will all work toward helping you to become the man in GTA: San Andreas, your actions will also help build CJ up via an RPG-like system in the game. For example, shooting guns will gradually increase CJ's weapon skills, thus making him more and more accurate

      One of the coolest things about 3 and VC were how your character wasn't different at the end as he was at the begining. Maybe you had the armor and/or health bonus, you had more cash, and you either had weapons or knew where to get some good hardware. That was it. It made for a tremendous pick up and play game, you didn't much care what savegame you were at, beause YOU WERE ALWAYS THE SAME GUY.

      But this crap? I don't want to worry about this junk. I just want to get through and see the game, working on my own skills as a player, not my player's skill witihin the game.

      This really, really annoys me. Msybe they'll pull it off, and I hope so, but I think in trying to make the game "deeper" they may screw it up for the casual players...GTA:VC was one of the few 1-player "party" games I had just 'cause it was so fun for a N00B to pick up and play, and made for great public viewing...

      --
      SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
  5. Re:Same old engine? by hawkbug · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's called the PS2 - it sucks. It only has 32 megs of ram, and a 300 mhz cpu. Granted, it's not a standard processor - it's pretty tricked out, but still, 300 mhz pales in comparison to the Xbox or a PC. I own a PS2 because I love the selection of games out for it, and for me, the graphics are acceptible - but if you check out a game like Far Cry on the PC and then play GTA on the PS2, you will be disappointed. Sony REALLY needs to make the PS3 kick a lot of ass, or they will fall behind the PC even further.

  6. Re:Same old engine? by incubusnb · · Score: 3, Interesting
    i've heard this argument from Graphics whores more than once, i'd probably say this is the biggest argument against the PS2, but in all reality, it just doesn't hold up.

    it has been proven time and time again that Graphics != Gameplay. For example, Nethack is still one of the most beloved games of all time and is still widely played, its still just ASCII (the way the hardcore play it anyways).

    frankly, if all they ever did was use the same engine and just add new maps, make them bigger than the last game, and add a few new features each game, i would still pay full price for it and play it for countless hundreds of hours.

    that being said, there are rumors that this will be the last GTA game to use this engine, and it'll be the last PS2 GTA game, the next will be on PS3

    --
    /. is overrun by bed-wetting elitist nerds
    let it be known, for anything other than servers, a *nix OS sucks
  7. How about some realism? by Chemisor · · Score: 2, Funny

    So when will GTA get realistic events like parking tickets, license revocation for reckless driving, and hordes of lawyers that would descend upon you should you as much as scratch the paint on another car?

  8. Re:Same old engine? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    For example, Nethack is still one of the most beloved games of all time and is still widely played, its still just ASCII (the way the hardcore play it anyways).

    Oh, please. What the hell are you talking about? There are about a dozen people in the world who love Nethack, and all of them are Slashdot posters. I polled my friends and family once, and not a single person had even heard of it. (Anecdote = fact, right?)

    But seriously, most people into PC gaming now started around Half-Life or later... other than the HUGE earlier games (Wolf3D, Doom, XCom: UFO Defense, SimCity, few others), they don't know anything about them. (For instance, nobody I knew except one other gamer knew that Morrowind was actually the third game in the Elder Scrolls series.)

    But nobody plays Nethack. Hell, there are probably more people playing Mission: Thunderbolt than Nethack. (What!? You've never heard of Mission: Thunderbolt? But it's "one of the most beloved games of all time and still widely played!")

    Yeah, graphics don't equal gameplay, yada yada yada, but for criminy's sake come up with a better example!