GTA : San Andreas Gone Gold?

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Posted by Zonk on Thursday October 14, 2004 @08:00AM from the more-thugs-for-your-dollar dept.

Thanks to still_sick, who alerted us that GTA: San Andreas has probably gone Gold. From the Inside Gamer Article: "Arguably the most anticipated game for the Playstation 2, GTA: San Andreas is gold. In a report confirmed by Inside Gamer Online's own Steve Dotolli, GTA: San Andreas is finished and looking great. GTA: San Andreas is the latest in a series of Grand Theft Auto games that only became popular when GTA 3 came out for Playstation 2. "

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I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by WormholeFiend · 2004-10-14 08:04 · Score: 0, Redundant

I'll only have two days to play it, if I can find a copy on the release date, cuz I'll be travelling on vacation for a whole month...

Damn conflicts of interests.
1. Re:I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by HaloZero · 2004-10-14 08:17 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Originally, it had a release date of 10/19; I have the reservation ticket to prove it, but at last report, the date was 10/26. As far as I know, that hasn't changed, but a friend of a friend of a friend (yadda yadda) inside Rockstar has mentioned that it MIGHT get held back another two weeks.
  
  --
  Informatus Technologicus
2. Re:I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by hibiki_r · 2004-10-14 08:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  That'd be really, really bad for me. I'm switching jobs, and I set things up so that I left my current job the 26 to start working the 8th, giving myself plenty of time to finish GTA!
  
  Note to self, do not set up your life around projected release dates
3. Re:I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by Etone · 2004-10-14 09:43 · Score: 1
  
  > Originally, it had a release date of 10/19; I have the reservation ticket to prove it
  
  That, and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee. Assuming you go to Starbucks.
  
  Reservation tickets have release dates on them that are not really tied to any sort of reality that you and I would be familiar with.
  
  -E-
4. Re:I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by TheBot · 2004-10-14 10:35 · Score: 1
  
  Geez, word to the wise ;)
  
  --
  Flat Screen TV for F
5. Re:I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by SansTinfoilHat · 2004-10-14 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  I'm switching jobs, and I set things up so that I left my current job the 26 to start working the 8th, giving myself plenty of time to finish GTA!
  
  But good Lord, man! Halo 2 comes out on the Ninth!
  
  ::gets in unemployment line::
6. Re:I guess I shouldn't hope for a sooner release? by hibiki_r · 2004-10-14 12:18 · Score: 1
  
  Not wanting to troll here, but after being horribly disappointed with the first one, I'm not playing the sequel.
Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 08:06 · Score: 4, Funny

GTA: San Andreas is the latest in a series of Grand Theft Auto games that only became popular when GTA 3 came out for Playstation 2.

Clearly, GTA, GTA2, GTA3 (pc) and all their expansion packs on the PC are a clear sign of a failing product. Thank goodness for Playstation saving the series!
1. Re:Uh huh by damiam · 2004-10-14 14:09 · Score: 1
  
  GTA3 came out on PS2 a long time before PC. Not to say the previous games were unpopular, but I'd say the major popularity of the series began with GTA3's PS2 release.
  
  --
  It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
2. Re:Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 21:57 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  GTA3 (pc) came out after GTA3 PS2.
  
  And there's popular and popular. You obviously don't understand that the best selling PC games sell 1/10 what the best selling PS2 games do. And GTA/GTA2 were by no means best sellers on the PC.
  
  While GTA: Vice City on PS2 has netted about a billion in revenues.
GTA 3 Started it all? by Plake · 2004-10-14 08:07 · Score: 5, Interesting

Um, from the post it mentions that GTA was only popular since GTA3, I'd have to differ. I've been playing the series since it was first avaiable for the PC back around 98.

Here's the quote I'm taling about: "GTA: San Andreas is the latest in a series of Grand Theft Auto games that only became popular when GTA 3 came out for Playstation 2."

Also, here's the link to download GTA1, it's a classic game over at Rockstar now!
GTA1 Download.

--
Check out Mon and Mon.cgi
1. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by syrinx · 2004-10-14 08:21 · Score: 0
  
  That's exactly what I was thinking... is the submitter 14 years old or something, and assumes things he can't remember weren't popular?
  
  --
  Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
2. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by GamingEngineer · 2004-10-14 08:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I'm thinking the poster meant more of a mainstream popularity. Everyone and their brother has played GTA3 / GTA4, and the mainstream media didn't really pay attention to the series until GTA3. GTA1/2 maybe have been somewhat popular amongst the "gamer" crowd, but fewer casual gamers were into it.
3. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by suyashs · 2004-10-14 09:47 · Score: 1
  
  The mainstream media is neither qualified nor wanted by gamers to cover gaming.
  
  --
  http://chrono.posterous.com/
4. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 11:55 · Score: 1
  
  it mentions that GTA was only popular since GTA3, I'd have to differ.
  
  Don't be silly. GTA1 & 2 sold thousands of copies. GTA3 sold millions.
  
  GTA1 was a game that everybody had heard of but nobody really played - besides the violence and running people over it - was completely forgettable. It had terrible controls and I found the directly-overhead view really bad - it was difficult to tell what was going on. It was a sub-par game that has only benefited from it's sequel's popularity.
  
  I played the demo at the time (or it might have been a friend's copy), but really didn't care for it - it certainly wasn't a game I'd recommend to anyone.
  
  GTA3 and Vice City, however..
5. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by parliboy · 2004-10-14 12:09 · Score: 1
  
  I played it, you played it, and maybe a few other who enjoyed some fringe gaming. But the series wasn't popular back then. Really, the earlier GTAs probably get more sales now from parental buys who don't know the difference and think they're getting a sweet deal for their kids.
  
  --
  "You're never ready, just less unprepared."
6. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by mahdi13 · 2004-10-14 12:50 · Score: 1
  
  Everyone and their brother has played GTA3 / GTA4
  WOW! You've played GTA4?! I didn't even know they started working on it yet!
  How's the graphics? Does it run well on the PS2 or did you get the pre-release of the PS3 also?
  
  Unless you mean GTA: Vice City...which was not GTA4, but more of a remake of GTA3 with a different setting (and much better story)
  
  --
  "Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson
7. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by porksoda · 2004-10-14 13:59 · Score: 1
  
  gta1 = grand theft auto
  gta2 = grand theft auto 2
  gta3 = grand theft auto III
  gta4 = grand theft auto: vice city
  
  end of post
8. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by damiam · 2004-10-14 14:12 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  You can think of it that way if you want, but Rockstar would disagree. From what I hear, they see Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas as a trilogy forming the third generation of Grand Theft Auto, as they're all based on roughly the same engine. GTA4, the next generation, is probably just starting to be developed.
  
  --
  It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
9. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by Dizzle · 2004-10-14 18:44 · Score: 1
  
  grand theft auto london = gta... 1.5?
  
  --
  -Dizzle
  "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
10. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-15 06:01 · Score: 0
  
  Ummm, existence and popularity are two entirely different things. Not to mention that GTA and GTA2 sucked donkey balls.
11. Re:GTA 3 Started it all? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-16 03:27 · Score: 0
  
  grand theft auto london = expansion pack
Round 3, FIGHT! by finkployd · 2004-10-14 08:10 · Score: 4, Funny

Uptight soccor Moms, start your petitions......

Finkployd
1. Re:Round 3, FIGHT! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 10:04 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  As a devout christian i find it my duty to protest games such as this; However, i also find that the best protests are well thought out and researched and as such i have GTA: San Andreas pre-ordered and will be playing it extensively so that i can build my case to bring about the downfall of rockstar games and their satanic games.
  I guess with this new GTA comming out so soon i will have to put off my previous research that i was doing on Vice City, but i'm sure i'll get around to finishing that later.
Wasn't popular until PS2? by vasqzr · 2004-10-14 08:11 · Score: 5, Informative

Hah. Lets look at this:

The following Top 100 contains the most popular PC games at this time ... Internet PC Games Top 100 Edition 285 - Week 25 - June 15, 1998 1 1 10 Starcraft 2 2 7 Might and Magic 6 3 3 37 Total Annihilation 4 4 26 Quake 2/Add-on {!} 5 5 35 Fallout 6 8^ 3 Unreal 7 7 13 Battlezone 8 6 34 Age Of Empires 9 10^ 82 Heroes of Might & Magic 2/add-on New World 10 9 30 The Curse of Monkey Island 11 11 75 Diablo 12 13^ 29 Tomb Raider 2 13 19^ 31 Grand Theft Auto 14 12 20 Gag 15 15 46 X-Com 3 16 16 81 Master of Orion 2 17 14 25 Wing Commander 18 21^ 7 Forsaken 19 20^ 81 Command & Conquer/Add-on 20 26^119 Civilization 2/ It was a pretty popular demo/shareware game. I'd be willing to bet the poster/submitter has never played it.
1. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by mrseigen · 2004-10-14 09:06 · Score: 1
  
  I'm willing to bet the original writer is about 14, tops.
2. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by FlipmodePlaya · 2004-10-14 09:11 · Score: 1
  
  Being 13th among PC games at that point is nice and all, but it's not quite the popularity 3+VC achieved. I prefer the earlier games myself, but the newer two are clearly MUCH more popular.
3. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by Anonymous+Cow+herd · 2004-10-14 09:41 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Ugh, playing GTA 1 & 2 was torture. You could see that there was a great, fun game in there, lots of great mission types, extra stuff to do around town, humor & writing. What really killed the enjoyment for me though was the forced top-down perspective... this really handicapped you when you got up any decent amount of speed, because you're almost guaranteed to wang into another car before you have time to react, even.
  Having hardware powerful enough to allow for a good-looking city from a 3rd person chase-cam really opened up the game for me. Additionally, the in-game cinematics and story were alot more coherent and drove the story much better than previous incarnations, while retaining the open-endedness that was available in the previous versions as well.
  
  --
  Ita erat quando hic adveni.
4. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by TheBot · 2004-10-14 10:32 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I agree the first one was fun. And for it to be on a top 100 or top 13 chart like that is good. The kids these days may not realise it, but without that game there wouldn't be GTA3 or VC. So bow down to your king you children, GTA 1 was where it was at those days. 3 and VC do so well nowadays because of the different technology. They didn't have the greatest technology back then to run something like GTA3 or VC. So all you fan boys, don't give us older players your whining petitions that 3 and VC are the best. Because you wouldn't have nothing without 1.
  
  --
  Flat Screen TV for F
5. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 11:33 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Absolutly right. However you have to appreciate GTA 1&2 for their heritage value. They were brilliant, I can remember only having the demo until i got the full game of GTA1 and it kept me entertained for days upon end.. Are you saying that when it came out you were like, Oh this is shite! I want a 3d environment with all futureistic stuff. I bet you were loving it like every one else! GTA 1 has to be the best of them all in its own right, without it we'd all be lost.
6. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 19:50 · Score: 0
  
  I vaguely recall the flame wars about whether GTA needs a 3d environment or not back in 1998/1999.
  
  Quite a few gamers (including myself) represented the opinion that going 3d would ruin the franchise.
  They were proven wrong, but the anti-3d sentiment was quite prevalent.
  
  In fact, it all boils down to innovation, gameplay and the lost trait of imagination.
  
  A top-down view on poorly detailed sprites required the use of imagination, which made playing the game much more fun.
7. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by Anonymous+Cow+herd · 2004-10-15 02:23 · Score: 1
  
  Nah, when it came out I thought it was a brilliant game that I really enjoyed playing... but I kept wishing for a better perspective inside the game world that would allow me to see further ahead.
  Basically, I'm saying that GTA3 kept everything I loved about the first two, added a whole ton of stuff that made it even better (better story, setting, real voice acting, quality radio in the cars) and addressed the one issue that hampered my enjoyment of the previous titles.
  I give full credit to the vision of the developers for the first two games, but I would argue that GTA3 is really the crown of the series; the point where technology had matured sufficiently to fully realize the potential shown by its predecessors.
  
  --
  Ita erat quando hic adveni.
8. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by squall14716 · 2004-10-16 04:57 · Score: 1
  
  You'd have nothing without Windows 1.0/Linux 1.0 so please stop your whining petitions that Windows 2000/Windows XP/Linux 2.6.x/etc are the best.
9. Re:Wasn't popular until PS2? by Anonymous+Cow+herd · 2004-10-17 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  I still disagree. I don't have anything against games that require the use of imagination; my dislike of the top-down view stems much more from a game mechanics perspective than an immersiveness/artwork point of view. The top-down perspective simply limits how far forward you can see, which makes driving at high speeds difficult.
  
  --
  Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Ugh by finkployd · 2004-10-14 08:13 · Score: 4, Funny

I spelled soccer wrong, let's just pretend I said "non-American Football" and leave it at that.

Finkployd
My Mom, GTA and TA by uncoolcentral · 2004-10-14 08:45 · Score: 1

I'll probably have to give this GTA a try just because my mom wouldn't want me to. Is it weird that I felt a little "bad" after bludgeoning skulls in the last GTA? I either mean that I felt bad in a good way, or good in a bad way. Not sure which. Not sure if there's a difference.
And when will we get an updated RTS like Total Annihilation? Or TA2? That game kicked serious rear.
1. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by Klowner · 2004-10-14 11:31 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Why do you feel bad? You made some polygons collide with some other polygons by pressing a button? Whatever man, whatever..
2. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  "Why do you feel bad? You made some polygons collide with some other polygons by pressing a button? Whatever man, whatever.." This man can read the matrix, visual representation has no meaning for him!
3. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by uncoolcentral · 2004-10-14 12:02 · Score: 2
  
  Right on. Guess if you're so disjointed as to not recognize the power of representation, then the matrix has your knob. or something. I'm almost as far from a censor or a softie as they come, but I'm still able to react to increasingly accurate imagery. Know what I mean?
4. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 12:20 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Deffinatly, you can have full concept that its a machine displaying a lot of pretty colours. But when those colours come together to represent something, it triggers emotions and feelings that you would normaly experiance as if it was real. Its like art work, only with the ability to do as you please and satisfy the curiosity of doing it in real life. sorry to go on but i think that games like this would actually discourage violence as the need for it is released harmlessly in a virtual world. you know!
5. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by uncoolcentral · 2004-10-14 12:34 · Score: 1
  
  Sure enough. If I could use my mod points in this thread, I'd give you some modding. We're not talking profound crap here, but to deny the power of such a violent (and flarging awesome) game, is silly.
  It'd be an interesting option if you could play GTA as an altruistic cop... try not to hurt anybody, etc. I'll bet even the ultra violent wankers would give it a try just because it'd be different entertainment. And think of the new market such duality would open. When production houses eventually realize that there's a market for a more dynamic gaming experience, we'll all win.
  "I'm sick of killing pigs. I think I'm gonna save babies for a while." ;)
6. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 13:13 · Score: 1
  
  Ha ha ha, that made me laugh. True enough showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others in a computer game would be an original concept. As I look around at my game collection i cannot see a single one that involves helping someone! There is a very old one "Theme Hospital" but even thats to make a profit. strange yet addictive - but for how long! You could make a game that simulated baby caring or hospital work, but as soon as the player had access to tool, car, bin liner, nappy/diper or anything really, they would no doubtably try and mug, beat, kill someone or something with it. Could you imagine a voilence loving gamer bashing the joypad trying to change the next babies poop bag? So long as they felt satifiesd at the end of it why not i suppose...
7. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 13:17 · Score: 1
  
  In todays world of creative, cutureistic, insightful, indicative and breakthrough thinking, why is there such a lack of originality? As the old saying goes i suppose, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
8. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by Klowner · 2004-10-14 13:55 · Score: 1
  
  I was joking about the polygon collision comment, although I'm not sure if it's better or worse that you feel bad about beating up a person in a game like GTA. One aspect is that the people walking around on the street are rather silly, and they're not developed characters, so the only emotional attachment to them is that they look like people, and make people noises. I've recently been playing Katamari Damacy and that game actually conveyed emotion to some degree, I roll my Katamari over a cat and it meowed, and I kinda felt bad, I mean, I'm taking a little polygon representation of a cat, rolling it into a ball, and sending it into space to become a star, all because the king of the cosmos is so freaking clumsy that he broke them all..
  
  What, 10 more days until San Andreas?!? MWahahahahahah
9. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by damiam · 2004-10-14 14:31 · Score: 1
  
  The problem with altruistic video games is that games are fun because they let us do things we couldn't or wouldn't otherwise do in real life. I can't command huge armies, I can't use magic spells, and I wouldn't go around driving like a maniac and killing every cop I see. But, if I feel like being altruistic, I can do that quite easily in the real world, and it's much more rewarding.
  Another way to look at that is that since altruism is, by definition, making some kind of sacrifice for others, it's not going to be as enjoyable as not making that sacrifice would be.
  
  --
  It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
10. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by uncoolcentral · 2004-10-14 16:20 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, altruism. Maybe I should've used a different, less powerful "good" word ;) My favorite altruism dilemma... is a Buddhist monk altruistic? Even if while he/she's "good" or otherwise nice and cookie-cutter ethical all the time, he/she gets pleasure out of the sacrifices, and would conversely suffer by acting typically narcissistic?
  Regardless, I don't think there'd be a huge market for any sort of one-sided "good" game, but I'm thinking of a variation or expansion (or more so adaptation) on/of the chr$ alignment aspects of sundry RPGs. E.g. add different facets to games (like GTA) so that the user (drug reference?) could take a break from ass kicking, restart a different scenario of do-gooding, etc.
  So what I'm saying is, it wouldn't be difficult to add a totally new dynamic to games like GTA - capturing a larger neophyte audience without sacrificing the core experience for the already allegiant throngs.
  Everybody wins. tres uncool
11. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by C0rinthian · 2004-10-14 17:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  When I was playing the Sims, I got bored one day and tried killing a sim off. I put them in a small room with no windows, removed the doors, and waited. That was one of the most disturbing video game moments I've experienced, and I never did it again. GTA (and most games for that matter) don't carry the same effect. The characters, while entertaining, are not realistic, and their interactions follow suit.
  
  You kill someone in GTA, they hit the ground and money pops out.
  
  Kill a Sim, and you watch them suffer and beg for assistance, until they finally die in a puddle of their own urine. Then their family mourns them.
  
  Thats a significant difference in how death is portrayed. Blood != realistic. If anything, the deaths in the Sims is much more accurate than just about any game out there.
12. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 20:22 · Score: 1
  
  Funnily enough I always wanted to create a game simply called "Life". I imagined it to take the prosective of GTA3 with its 3d environment etc, but crossbreed it with the Sims and add some more features to enable you to do as you will whenever you like. If you wanted you could get up, get a job, buy a car, go shopping all the normal things that you can do in real life, basically follow the path of altruism. Or you could become a thug get into drugs and mug people and steal for a living - with the obvious conciquences. My hope is that with the implementation of Blue Ray technologhy http://www.blu-ray.com/info/ games like this could become "real." You could integrate yourself into the virtual world and actually spend your whole life in their, earnig real money for a days work. Far fetched i know, but how cool would it be. The Matrix will be born.....
13. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 20:26 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't mean anything brash when making that comment, so I apologise if I caused any offence. Hoever you are correct the triggering of emotions can be an exciting thing. I guess thats why people go an see a horror film at the cinema. The thrill of it all. PS. your a cat murderer....;)
14. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by El+Batemano · 2004-10-14 20:32 · Score: 1
  
  That is actually representing torture, a subject that has been in the news a lot lately, with the hostages being taken captive. Would you consider it to be a good or a bad thing that you actually feel bad when tourturing a Sim in the Sims or muging someone in GTA. Im not a violent guy, but there is nothing like beating the crap out of someone in GTA taking thier money, blowing up their car and making off in a passing ice cream van. - Does that make me a maniac??
15. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-15 00:46 · Score: 0
  
  As I look around at my game collection i cannot see a single one that involves helping someone!
  
  Maybe that just proves that YOU are a sick fuck.
16. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by mink · 2004-10-15 09:22 · Score: 1
  
  But not all of us can be cops, firemen, or defense attourneys. There is room I think for a game where (Even if there is some profit motivation to the character) you are helping people, because often in life you cant be that great hero. I think it could work as well as the Anti-Hero inspired gameplay (GTA series).
  
  --
  Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
17. Re:My Mom, GTA and TA by uncoolcentral · 2004-10-15 17:25 · Score: 1
  
  right on.
  now I think I'm gonna go pay it forward tomorrow...
  but ask the recipient of my transitive reciprocal goodness to give me a dollar.
  or a milkshake.
  everybody loves milkshakes.
It's Okay by thegrue76 · 2004-10-14 08:47 · Score: 3, Insightful

It's okay. We can all admit it. Here, I'll start:

I just peed my pants in joy.

Ok, go on. Your turn!
1. Re:It's Okay by zangdesign · 2004-10-14 11:34 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not peeing on anything until they release the PC version.
  
  Sometime next year.
  
  --
  To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
2. Re:It's Okay by WormholeFiend · 2004-10-15 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  I played GTA:VC at my brother's on his PS2. When the PC version came out, I bought that...
  
  All went well until I got access to an helicopter -- I found it impossible to fly with a keyboard. So I bought a USB adapter for my PS2 controller. Problem is, GTA:VC didnt allow the helicopter controls to be mapped to it.
  
  So I had to borrow my brother's ps2 to finish the game. :(
C'mon, breathe with me.... mmmm.... Huhhhhh by The-Bus · 2004-10-14 09:23 · Score: 5, Informative

Alright, calm down. You, with the "GTA #1" foam finger, calm it down. Sit down. Shut up. Be quiet.

I'm directly going to be referencing (but not attacking) this post which shows the popular games from 1998.

Alright, let's see Grand Theft Auto is in the top 20! Of course it is. So are other "classics" like... um, Gag! And, uh, Battlezone! Right, Battlezone. That's made a substantial, uh, impact on gaming today.

Like it or not, Grand Theft Auto III was wildly, almost inconcievably popular, and not just amongst us Gamers, but in the general populace. It had incredible impact in the console world, still sold well last year (as an XBox version), and has made it on countless "Best of All Time" / "Most Influential Games" lists. It is similar to Pac-Man, Mario, Doom, etc. in that even non-Gamers are aware of it. Of course GTA was popular, as was GTA2. But that's like saying Unreal is as popular as Unreal Tournament.

So, please, don't overreact. The poster was correct. That doesn't mean GTA wasn't known or popular, but it in NO way compares to what GTAIII is.

(I am The-Bus and I approve this message.)

--
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
1. Re:C'mon, breathe with me.... mmmm.... Huhhhhh by XellDx · 2004-10-14 11:06 · Score: 1
  
  No no, its the fact that it has 'for Playstation 2' which has all the panties in a twist.
  
  See, if it just said 'With the release of GTA III' no one (myself included) would care.
  That little grace note has to many implications not to taste sour.
  
  --
  X
2. Re:C'mon, breathe with me.... mmmm.... Huhhhhh by The-Bus · 2004-10-14 14:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, but that's when it came out. When it was released, it was not for PC, not for Xbox, for PS2. That's when it became popular. The PC version didn't make it popular. The Xbox version certainly didn't make it popular. They added to its popularity, but it was well known by the time it ever came out on PC or Xbox.
  
  --
  Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
3. Re:C'mon, breathe with me.... mmmm.... Huhhhhh by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 15:40 · Score: 0
  
  Yes...Just like GTA3 'added to the popularity' of GTA1, which brings us back where this started...
4. Re:C'mon, breathe with me.... mmmm.... Huhhhhh by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-15 02:33 · Score: 0
  
  I feel a bit embarassed about pointing this out as I can see how this going to look (you are wrong anyway, GTA was huge and got media coverage from day one because of complaints), but you do remember what Battlezone was like when it came out? First RTS/FPS fusion, it started its own subgenre.
5. Re:C'mon, breathe with me.... mmmm.... Huhhhhh by Pluvius · 2004-10-15 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  I also remember that Battlezone was little more than a critical success, and so were the first two GTAs. Anybody who disputes this is missing the point: A hardcore gamer's definition of the word "popular" is quite different from the definition that other people use. First rule of the "normal" defintion: The only PC-based games that were ever popular were The Sims, Myst, and a few FPSes. Popularity is a realm mostly exclusive to the consoles.
  
  Rob
In other "news" by Etone · 2004-10-14 09:33 · Score: 2, Funny

In other recent "news", Halo 2 will "probably" sell a lot of copies and we have discovered that there will "most likely" be a presidential election in the US within a few weeks.

-E-
more like NAACP by cyrax777 · 2004-10-14 11:03 · Score: 2, Funny

since the main character is a Black guy
violent computer games by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 11:26 · Score: 3, Funny

In anticipation of the violence present in this video game, I have already killed six of my neighbors. Man, I can't wait till this sucker is out!
1. Re:violent computer games by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-15 04:13 · Score: 0
  
  I guess if wouldn't be fair to call you an Anonymous COWARD then?
leak? by jlefeld · 2004-10-14 13:08 · Score: 3, Funny

So will it be leaked in 3 days?
1. Re:leak? by mgs1000 · 2004-10-15 01:33 · Score: 1
  
  Only the French version. :)
2. Re:leak? by TyrionEagle · 2004-10-15 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  Apparently it already is!
  
  --
  -- I like the cut of your thinking, young man. - me.
It's Okay-Communal pants. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-14 17:08 · Score: 0

"I just peed my pants in joy.

Ok, go on. Your turn!"

I peed in your pants with joy too.
Most Anticipated?? by jimi+the+hippie · 2004-10-15 03:50 · Score: 1

"Arguably the most anticipated game for the Playstation 2" I don't know about you, but I'm getting ready to play Gran Turismo 4. If you've got GTA 3 and Vice City, why would you want the same game in a different city?
GTA 5 by akwash79 · 2004-10-15 06:05 · Score: 3, Funny

Grand Theft Auto 5-Nashville

gone country