First Look at Grand Theft Auto Advance

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First Look at Grand Theft Auto Advance

Posted by Zonk on Monday September 20, 2004 @06:44AM from the gangstas-in-yo-pocket dept.

Starsmore writes "IGN has a first look at the new Grand Theft Auto for the Game Boy Advance this October. From what I've read of the article, it harkens back to the visual styles of the original Grand Theft Auto games, while taking gameplay advice from the newer versions."

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Avoid the Ad by christopherfinke · 2004-09-20 06:49 · Score: 4, Informative

Here's a link to avoid the ad: http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/549/549129p1.html? fromint=1
What's new is old again by EastCoaster · 2004-09-20 06:53 · Score: 4, Interesting

I really liked the first two GTAs and I loved GTA III and Vice City. This game melds the overhead view of the old games and the gameplay of the newer GTAs. This could be one of the better GBA games yet. I look forward to seeing the first reviews when it is released.

This happens everytime. Once a new system is about to be released (Nintendo DS), the best games for the current platform (GBA) are released.
Its about time. by Ectospheno · 2004-09-20 06:53 · Score: 1

I frequently use my GameBoy Advance when my wife and kids are using all the TV's in the house. It will be nice to have a GTA I can play in such situations. Its going to be released at the same time as GTA: San Andreas though so I've informed my wife I may be incommunicado for a few days at the end of October :)
1. Re:Its about time. by thegrue76 · 2004-09-20 07:09 · Score: 1
  
  A few days? Try the rest of the year!
2. Re:Its about time. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-20 14:32 · Score: 0
  
  No, it's just walking around, driving a vehicle, and shooting people doesn't have a very high replay value.
SHOULD this game be a hit on the GBA? by hal2814 · 2004-09-20 07:04 · Score: 1, Interesting

I was under the impression (and I might be wrong here) that the core audience for the GBA is preteen and younger teen boys. It does make me scratch my head that a Grand Theft Auto game might do well on this platform merely because of the user base. I would think that parents would be just a bit reluctant to get this game for their children, but like I said earlier maybe I don't understand the GBA audience (or modern parenting trends).
1. Re:SHOULD this game be a hit on the GBA? by Chess_the_cat · 2004-09-20 08:49 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I was under the impression that the core audience for the GBA is preteen and younger teen boys (and I might be wrong here.
  As a 29 year old Nintendo fanboy let me assure you that you are quite wrong. Think of it this way: when the original Gameboy came out I was a "preteen" boy. So you are right in a way. It's just that that audience has grown up along with the Gameboy.
  
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2. Re:SHOULD this game be a hit on the GBA? by hai.uchida · 2004-09-20 12:10 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  You think there weren't millions of pre-teen boys who played Vice City on their Playstation 2's?
  
  Anyway, as violent as GTA Advance may be, it's hard to get in too much of an uproar over cutesy, simplistic 2-d sprites. And really, it's no more violent than dozens of NES/SNES/Genesis games like Narc, Smash TV, Metal Gear etc... From the looks of it the instruction manual will be more incendiary than the game itself.
  
  Can you still have sex with prostitutes, by the way?
  
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3. Re:SHOULD this game be a hit on the GBA? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 04:46 · Score: 0
  
  but like I said earlier maybe I don't understand the GBA audience
  
  I commute in NYC everyday and I see a lot of people with GBA's on the Subways/Trains. While it's probably very popular with kids, it is with commuters too.
Helicopters by contagious_d · 2004-09-20 07:05 · Score: 1

I didn't see helicopters mentioned. Anyone heard anything about that? I am guessing that there won't be any, and that sucks. But hey, I can hope real hard, and maybe some helicopters will pop out...

--
- /home is where the food is.
Pretty Cool by coolguyclay · 2004-09-20 07:26 · Score: 2, Interesting

GTA2 was a pretty fun game, even when games with better graphics were out at the time. The missions, weapons and driving were almost as engaging as GTA3 and you still could learn the City inside out. I wanted to get a GBA to play a RPG (or FF:Tactics) and this might be the icing on the cake. Of course, you still couldn't swim, which is a shame because the city was always on an island for some reason . . .
Re:small screen? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-20 10:48 · Score: 0

There's no rape in any GTA game. Stop believing everything the biased media and anti-gaming politians say.
Fonts by mrgreen4242 · 2004-09-20 12:07 · Score: 1

I love my GBA, but I hate when games use that SNES era font... like in this screenshot it's just so antiquated... game looks pretty cool, tho... I'll probably pick it when it hits the used market... unless I have DS by then ;-)
1. Re:Fonts by KDR_11k · 2004-09-20 23:20 · Score: 1
  
  Don't worry, the DS plays GBA games, too.
  
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Re:Worth the money? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-20 13:40 · Score: 0

Huh? Stop using monopoly money.
ARGH! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-20 17:53 · Score: 1, Interesting

There was no excuse for Nintendo not to release a 3d GTA. NONE!

CMON GUYS THE POCKETEERS HAD THIS IN THE BAG!!!!
http://www.pocketeers.co.uk/media/twoc.ht m

ARGH.....

I just can't bring myself to buying this game. Sorry.
1. Re:ARGH! by KDR_11k · 2004-09-20 23:26 · Score: 1
  
  Well, there is one excuse and that is that Nintendo doesn't own the rights to the GTA franchise.
  
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  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Underwhelmed by pommaq · 2004-09-20 22:05 · Score: 3, Insightful

Okay, so with a dev time that long, why does the game still look like ass? The GBA can do a lot better - I was in the GBA development scene for a while, and found a game by Apex Designs (which is pretty much a one-man outfit, a crazily talented programmer by the name of James Daniels) called Payback. It's in 3d with weather effects, night levels, explosions, the works. The gameplay is much the same as GTA, it's just a beautiful game - and of course, since it's on GBA and doesn't have a big-name license, it doesn't have a publisher. Looking at the GTA screenshots I'm not impressed and IMO they should've hired James or maybe just bought his engine outright. There's no excuse for graphics that crappy this late in the life cycle of the GBA.

By the way, if anyone knows what's happening with Payback, if he's found a publisher or just given up... feel free to reply here. I'd buy that game in a heartbeat if it was available.
1. Re:Underwhelmed by pommaq · 2004-09-20 22:11 · Score: 1
  
  Okay, so I suck, all I had to do was look at the title page of Apex Designs to see the release date: seems it'll come out this October. GameSpot has some more screens. Why would anyone get the GTA game when you can get stuff like this?
2. Re:Underwhelmed by Soul+Brother+#1 · 2004-09-21 01:25 · Score: 1
  
  Wow. I thought you were exaggerating...I watched the movie on Daniels' site and it's pretty freaking sweet.
  
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Not Interested by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-21 03:43 · Score: 0

A significant part of the appeal of GTA3 and VC is the "interactive fiction" feel. Playing felt like directing your own gangster movie, and the camera control and 3D simulated world were in large part responsible.

Now, I'm not exclusively a graphics whore -- I love Nethack! -- but the specific gameplay of GTA3 wasn't anything spectacular. You shoot things and drive, and run from cops - same gameplay as GTA2, which I thought was completely unfun. The game engine is what's fun.

When Activision decided to send Neversoft's Tony Hawk series to the GBA, they realized this. They didn't try to produce a "T&C Surf Designs" side-scroller, despite not having the proper tools available to recreate the Tony Hawk engine. What they did was emulate the engine as best they could, using an isometric 2D perspective. And they succeeded; the fun is preserved. Imagine if they'd done a top-down version instead?