Slashdot Mirror
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Launch
The first of this year's AAA titles has launched, and the first reviews are in. Gamespot, IGN, and OPM all have looks at the game, and it sounds great. If you want to keep track of the pool-shooting race track driving everything-under-one-roof extravaganza, the GameRankings page is available as well. When you play the game this week make sure and tune in to WCTR News to catch Anchorman Richard Burns, TV's Wil Wheaton. More seriously, reviews aren't the only thing the developers are looking for. Commentary regarding Take Two Interactive's slipping stock is available on CNN Money's Game Over.
I'm planning to run out to the store and steal it as soon as soon as I can, even if I don't own a Playstation 2.
And TV's Wil Wheaton? Excuse me! I think you mean Slashdot's Wil Wheaton! Is he the first Slashdotter to do voicework for GTA?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It's the end of October, and you think that 'GTA 3.2' is the first of the year's AAA titles?
Meh.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Yeah and Amazon reviews are always a great measure of how good something is. Nobody has ever abused that rating system.
Eating food to survive? Did they get a bunch of ex-DIKU mud coders for this one or something?
At any rate, I've never played a GTA game. Is this one different enough to pay full price for, or would I get substantially the same gaming experience buying GTA3 or Vice City for less money?
catch Anchorman Richard Burns
So we can finally drive world rally championship cars in GTA?
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Umm... that's a urinary tract infection or worse, Wil. As a smart banker once said: do you trust your wife?
GTA: San Andreas, Halo 2, and Half-Life 2 all coming out within a short span?
Man my GPA is screwed.
Shades of Grayden
San Andreas introduces a host of new features that including eating food to survive...
:)
They don't mean new to gaming right? I can think of plenty of old RPG's that made you do this (the Early ultima's come to mind). What also comes to mind, is how annoying this was. No matter with GTA, all the fun in GTA is in putting in cheatcodes and randomly playing in the virtual crime sandbox.
Is it legal to release Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with its crime and violence apotheosis in Australia? I hope so, but does anyone know any formal decisions and rationale?
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Thanks for the link!
piracy@rockstar.com you go..
I am the maverick of Slashdot
This is the one day I am glad Leo is gone... if he weren't I'd be praying he takes a sick-day.
Where did I put that Bring Back Leo Petition...
There are two kinds of fool. One says, This is old, and therefore good. And one says, This is new, and therefore better.
Supposedly the ESRB stuff is supposed to stop retailers from selling the game to people under 18, but I know that many parents don't have the time or the willpower to look into what media their children consume. And I know this series gets pretty bad, with things like picking up prostitutes, car theft, and massacre being rewarded in what some have termed a "pornography of violence".
As fun as the game is, maybe this is something that should be hidden behind the counter or maybe only sold in adult venues/online. We all know where to find it, and we're old enough not to be profoundly affected by murder simulations, but apparently there are still a bunch of chuckleheads out there that are completely unable to determine what's appropriate for their kids. And society pays the price.
I sure can't wait to play it, though.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
This is shaping up to be the best holiday season in gaming history, from a breadth of titles standpoint. Tons of great games for all kinds of systems (some which have been in development forever).
Halo 2
Metroid Prime 2
GTA: San Andreas
Half-Life 2
World of Warcraft
I've been playing for years, and this is the first holiday season I can truely say "Where am I going to find the time/money for all the good games?" Other years we've had one or two blockbusters, but this years there's a ton.
A few titles immediately come to mind are Doom 3, Unreal Tournament 2004 and even Sims 2.
If you are meaning fist AAA title to come out for the console, you might be right. I don't follow console releases very closely. But I think that Fable probably fits into that area.
Please keep in mind that there are games that are released on the PC & Mac as well. Consoles are not the only gaming market out there.
If you think this is great, you should see the LAC Add-on, it offers simultaneous multiple weapons firing (two handed gang bang drive by style) and many other goodies! Due out in April (a buddy of mine is a designer at Rockstar Games).
Vice City, while enjoyable, is just a variation on the theme. GTA is the rilla.
Speak truth to power.
What next? Have to run around the corner to pee? What does eating matter to a game like this? Pointless.
I got tired boning and killing the same old hookers.
free online diet tracking.
Thanks for the link!
piracy@rockstar.com you go..
You're not the police and not here to help As5croft and Bush go after those "evil pirates". Mind your own business, facist.
Fortunately, it isn't - I found the main game much more interesting than the previous two, so it'll probably have a longer play-life for me.
I have to admit being surprised that they've managed to keep it mostly fresh - it seems like people can't make a sequel without fucking up the mojo these days.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
Too bad it'll be several months till I'll be able to play it.. damn PS2 only releases!
I am the maverick of Slashdot
On Amazon, it almost certainly got numerous rave 'reviews' months before the code was actually completed.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I love the GTA series, and I keep thinking that it could be the next 'doom' if rockstar would open up the .exe source code for modders. Even if it was something older like GTA3, there is no end to what could be done with a game like this by the mod community.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Knights of the Old Republic 2 (which, together with San Andreas and Halo 2) is one of the games I've been looking forward the most to.
I have to say that this year there are way better games coming out for consoles than for PCs, at least from a single player perspective.
-- the cake is a lie
What does eating matter to a game like this?
I guess it's just something else to do to pass the time. You know, depth.
My local Game Stop started handing out pre-ordered copies last night. Well, I haven't had much sleep but I can lucidly say this game rocks! Huge environment, many many sub-games, really too much to take in overnight...maybe even over a week. Now if Bungie could just hurry up with Halo 2 and Valve with Half-Life 2...my year would be complete. Job...what job?
Stop pummeling me, it's really painful...
ZZZzzzz...
How many PS2 games are you running on your Linux box?
It's possible...
http://www.pcsx2.net/index.php
Scott Carr
Taken from gamefaqs.com:
if you eat too much, you get fat. Eat too little, you go gaunt and lose stamina. Work out a lot early in the game to build up some nice guns and just go back every once in a while. Treadmills and the Stationary Bike remove fat and impove stamina, while a bench and dumbells just increase muscle. More muscle, more stamina, and less fat are all very good things. Work out in gyms and in dojos to improve your fighting,running,and biking abilities.
Mmmm, -funroll-loops
"What next? Have to run around the corner to pee?"
Yes, but in this game if you pee on another guy's territory, "gangstas" will be on your ass so fast... it's a strategy game, you see?
I guess it's just something else to do to pass the time. You know, depth.
So you are saying that they couldn't program enough depth in the game (as in missions, story line, etc) itself? Maybe they need to add an arcade in the game which the character can play on when the player is bored of the story line. I heard Dance Dance Revolution is good.
Wait time for line losers= 5 hours
Wait time for me=5 minutes
Free Flat Screen HERE!
God, did I really just bother pointing that out?
"'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."
You're the dumbass that posted a link to a pirated game torrent on slashdot. You asked for it.
Just wait 6 months. They'll release the $20 version. I can wait to get that one! (besides, despite getting to the end of GTA3, I've barely gotten ANYWHERE in GTA:VC...)
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Can someone throw a bone to us non-console folks and tell us when the PC version is due out?
TheFrood
If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
Ah, I didnt realise it was gay porn.
My roommate is playing this right now. And I am working what may be a 16 hour day. By the time I get home the controller is gonna be stuck to her hand and I won't get to play until she passes out from exhaustion.
"A pirate is one who robs or plunders at sea without a commission from a recognized sovereign nation. Pirates usually target other ships, but have also attacked targets on shore. These acts are known as piracy."
- from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/piracy
Mod parent up: +5 Funny!
Why shouldn't he report blatant piracy to the copyright owner.
I believe it's called "civic duty", something that has been long forgotten.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
I see that GTA:SA is initially only being release on the PS2 platform. Anyone know the ETA on a PC and/or Linux version?
So you are saying that they couldn't program enough depth in the game (as in missions, story line, etc) itself?
yeah, but lots of games have "just missions" I guess Rock Star is trying something new. I've never played any of the GTA games, I'm just saying that I'm not going to knock it until I try it.
Anyway, don't worry. I'm sure there is a cheat code in there that will let you turn it off.
Now whenever I see his name on Slashdot, I see everyone praising his hipness. Is it because he posts on Slashdot? Has a blog? Is a role model to countless nerd teenagers? I don't get it. Seriously.
Yeah, and like ebgames.com they would never allow reviews before the game is even released.
I played GTA3 on the PC and Vice City on the PS2 and loved them (Vice City in particular) but I'm getting a real "been there done that" vibe from this San Andreas. It sounds like they've just added more stuff to do on top of the same old shit and thrown new skins and voices onto the same old graphics engine.
There's such a thing as too much realism. I mean, who wants to eat and work out and ride a bicycle in a video game? I play games to feel like I'm doing something that I can't do in the real world, and between GTA3 and Vice City I've already done all the crazy shit that I wanted to do.
Finally, the early 90s L.A. setting isn't what I'd personally call fun. If GTA3 is comparable to The Sopranos and Vice City is like Miami Vice or Scarface, then San Andreas is like the LA gangsta scene and that wasn't fictional. Lots of young people really died in the places that movies like "Boyz in The Hood" were about. Yeah, eventually that gangsta rap stuff got to be cliche and Snoop Dogg is funny and all that but it all comes from a place where innocent people died. You can't say anything about Tony Montana is real other than there were Cuban cokeheads in Miami in the early 1980s.
The geek part of me says "ooh, shiny new game" but the rational side says "don't believe the hype."
Before one of my kids stepped on my Vice City CD, I actually had finished all but one event (The top level race), and had 3 tanks in different garages. It was a blast to be able to just run in, grab a tank and kill everything in your path.
:)
Once you get the first tank, it's painfully easy to get more
This sig is the express property of someone.
In the previous two games you could stand still, do a 360 turn and pedestrians / cars who were visible a moment ago have been replaced with other pedestrians / cars. Such behaviour might be unavoidable in the PS2 version, but it's seriously annoying in the PC version.
There were some very dumb pathing issues too. A common thing in previous games was to stand under a bridge and watch as police etc., jumped straight off it to their deaths to get you. Or they would drive straight into the water etc.
It's amusing but it screws up some missions too. One mission had you rescuing your buddy from a scrap yard. I did that part and he followed me out. I ran across a bridge and turned around to see him fall straight into the water and drown. The pathing had him make a beeline straight for my character without checking whether he would drown in the process.
Still, GTA games are excellent, but that AI needs work.
I purchased the game last evening and played till wee hours of the morning. I love the game even though the graphics department fell short. I love that you can swim. I hate that i have to feed my character now and then lest he should lose his stamina.
:). Get yours today
I love the country-side and the fact you can outrace a car on your little BMX bicycle. I love the farm tractors and getting on the freeway (highway) with a lawnmower - that's what i just did for a good two hours - get on vehicles and drive around. There was this one place where my buddy was playing and CJ was on a hilly area and he rode the motobike straight into a advertising board and came out the other way with a "big hole" in the board - that was AWESOME!!!!
This game is pretty sweet
The game is great. I find it amazing that all the naysayers on this board, as usual, haven't tried it and are complaining about it without having done so. Typical and pitiful.
I heard the retail version of this game is a dual-layer DVD.
However, the one that was "leaked" last week fits nicely on a plain ol' DVD-R. Odd thing, I've put a ton of hours into it and nothing seems missing. Textures are fine, music sounds great, and all the movies/cutscenes are there.
Does anyone happen to know exactly what the differences are?
(oh wait, I admitted to downloading a game, does that mean the moral crusaders are coming after me to mod me down?!)
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
I just read one from "Evil Jesus" which makes me want to buy it:
"I was a young neoconservative Christian and general admirer of George bush.....until I played this game!"
COUNT ME IN!
Got the game at 10am this morning, was about 25 other people there standing with me waiting to get there hands on it. All I got to say, its pretty sweet, don't know about the eating thing. Haven't played that much of it so far, but its pretty good, though for some reason I don't feel like jacking everybody. At least the Soundtrack is on point. Listening to Ice Cube, NWA, & Dr. Dre while cruizing the streets, is pure greatness.
If you run a red light next to a cop, will he start chasing you?
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
" Too bad it'll be several months till I'll be able to play it.. damn PS2 only releases!"
I'm certain you'll be able to play it on the PC in all it's low res texture 'glory' sometime next year.
I don't mind it if these guys to console-only releases, but it REALLY pisses me off when my nice, 10-times-faster-than-the-PS/2 computer's capability is wasted.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
It would be a fun change from the FPS's and deathmatches, at the least.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
Oh well, at least I can still beat up and rob hookers, right?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Blow me. I hope you get a$$ raped when you spend some time in jail for pirating.. scumbag.
I hope you downloaded it first!
My experience was pretty much the same. I was going to Target to get an umbrella, and I noticed there is a game store next to it.. I walked in, asked if GTA:SA was out or not (I knew it was due out this week some time). There were only about 5 people in the whole store. I asked if they carried GTA, and they asked if I preordered. I said no, and was just about to walk out (I'm not desperate, I could have held out a few weeks), when they pulled a copy off the shelf for me. The clerk then proceeded to try to sell me the Strategy Guide (20% off!), scratch insurance ($3), and if I put in a $5 deposit for Halo 2, I could win an X-box. Needless to say, I went home with just my game and an umbrella.
Oh, and the BMX bike rocks.
How many other 'stars' do you see that have an IQ above 79? Most people in Hollywood come off to me as shallow, self absorbed idiots. Do you really think that Paris Hilton could keep up with even 10% of the conversations on /.?
/., and if he admitted to using *NIX, he would probably get modded up....
I think that Wil is respected here, because he is an intelligent person who is famous, and hasn't let it go to his head. He is a 'home town nerd, that made good'.
Of course, Hitler himself could post to
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
See this game is actually promoting good health. Almost balances out all the wanton death and destruction...
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
VC is somewhat more of the same. It's an update built on the same game engine. But aside from the new city and new missions, the big new thing in VC was all the new drivable/flyable vehicles, the helicopter, seaplane, motorcycles. It's no simulation, but all the vehicles have unique handling, and the basic controls on the plane and helicopter are correct.
They had Gran Turismo 4 linked from that page too, according to Mothers Against Video Game Violence, "they dont go too fast in this game like...the ranchy Street Racing Syndicate." Mmmm, ranchy! She (they, he?) goes on to say that "Online play was what worried me though because playing with total strangers is bad but no there is none so which is good so buy it today!". I know, its kinda OT, but this needed to be pointed out.
-
Hey. MGS3 had this feature in planning since the first demo was released back in '03's E3
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
So they're excited to be emulating The Sims?
So everyone you knew thought of Wheaton as a loser? Has anyone you know ever met Wil Wheaton? Read his books? Have you ever read his weblog?
I can tell you why I like Wil, but if you really want to know why people like Wil, you should just go read his writing.
Now seriously, why is "I don't get it." modded up? Since when was ignorance insightfull?
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
I'm probably going to be right out there with the rest of you picking this up, am I the only one that's a bit concerned about seeing all the parents buying the game for their kids? Supposedly the ESRB stuff is supposed to stop retailers from selling the game to people under 18, but I know that many parents don't have the time or the willpower to look into what media their children consume. And I know this series gets pretty bad, with things like picking up prostitutes, car theft, and massacre being rewarded in what some have termed a "pornography of violence".
Free Desk
heheh. I'll give you 10 xp for that, and a quest point.
Why are there only 19 people folding@home for slashdot?
Couldn't I just play Sims if I wanted this kind of drudgery.
I heard there will be an expansion pack were you not only have to feed your GTA character, you also have to purchase various household items with various stats such as "Hygiene", "Environment", etc. and your GTA character will have several meters showing what his mood is related to each of these values. If your GTA character's mood falls too far, he will simply refuse to pop a cap in someone and instead make a puddle on the floor and/or set himself on fire.
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
GTA:SA does not fall into the thoughtless exploitation of "the hood," which many people may have expected from a series that sports almost comical violence and detachment from reality. This lack of exploitation is in stark relief when played against the lyrics sung by Snoop about killing cops. Rather than experiencing a bunch of empty-headed black charicatures in a consequence-free environment spurting "ebonix," drinking 40s and shooting each other, there's a definite desperation in this game that you sympathize with immediately, to the point that you almost feel you know how Laurence Fishburne's character felt when he proclaimed that rich white men are infecting the hood with drugs in order to destroy its inhabitants. And the characters are complex, wallowing in the self-destruction that they're so desperate to destroy. And it's obvious the effects that their environment has on them. While GTA had you initially sickened with, and eventually lavishing violence, this game bound my emotions to every kill, every chase, and just about every action. When my mission was to kill a crack dealer in broad daylight, I really felt it; I really wanted him dead.
Well, you can tell Rockstar, but you're going to have a hard time proving he actually got anything from it unless you got a hold of his computer.
Live forever, or die trying.
I'm a little fuzzy on this. If I commit copyright infringment on the high seas, with a comission from a sovern nation, am I cool or what?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I've been playing around with it for a few hours. You can swim now, which makes for an intersting addition. If you try to leave the SA (Yeah, we all know it's really Los Angeles: Check out the Vinewood sign) area, you encounter road construction. So I decided to try to swim under the closed-off bridges. Bad Idea. When you arrive on the opposite shore, you are instantly a super-wanted criminal, four stars.
Another intersting change is the geography-relevant vehicles. You're not likely to encounter a fancy import car in CJ's home neighborhood, nor will you find any two-tone beaters in the glitzy parts of town. If you drive out into the countryside, you'll encounter 10mph tractors, and on the highways, you might even see some 18-wheelers (although I have yet to see any carrying a trailor: If they are present, it might be another optional mission type, like the vigilante, rescue, and fire missions in other GTAs).
Also, car surfing is alive and well. You can ride on someone's hood clear around town, and this is a good way to quickly explore the city. It is a bit confusing, however, to see the particular pathways some drivers take. Also, it's interesting to note that since the clock goes at 1 game-minute per real second, several traffic lights take 15-20 minutes. Man, that's awful.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
I heard about the eating feature a few months ago, and if what I've heard is true, it's not just some Ultima-style message saying you're hungry every few minutes. Your character actually changes based on what you eat. If you eat hamburgers all the time, you'll turn fat and slow, for example. Sounds like good stuff.
Pardon me, but if you aren't headed there in a jacked cadilac with spinners then you really should have one.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
After reading some of the posts on here regarding the game's launch, it's readily evident that the people who post here, have at least mastered not using 4aX0R 5p33k in a post. If you don't believe me, go look at the forum for this game on Gamefaqs... You'd never guess that mods sit on that thing.
There's a variety of posts, including users who don't believe that people get review copies of games, others that believe the game destroys PS2's, and polls asking how late someone will stay up tonight playing it. Really engaging conversations.
All I was wanting last night was some help on the game, and all I got was a lousy flame.
Don't forget Rachet & Clank: Up You Arsenal is out pretty soon as well!
For me that looks about like the ultimate multiplayer expereince. I think it's a dark horse that will do pretty well.
I know what you mean about the sudden flood of good games. The Bards Tale also looks to be another worth having.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
American Pie did have an R rating. And I didn't think it had a "completely irresponsible attitude towards teenage sex". The whole pretext of the movie (four guys tryig to get laid and dealing with their insecurities about it) is a fairly accurate portrayal of real high school.
There's always conspiracy to commit piracy, I guess? :->
I am the maverick of Slashdot
Mentioned it above, and was sad to see that nobody had notice or mentioned it... Good looks to Lazlo for bringing in the good talent.
What a horrible thing the ESRB just did to the game industry.
...but I've never seen them drive the cork-screw of a Swiss Army Knife through their nose piercing.
Why bother.
How ironic, somebody taking the moral high-ground on protecting a game that encourages all kinds of heinious crimes from somebody making a copy of it.
...tune in to WCTR News...
Uh, yeah, great job on the game, but since it's set on the West Coast, tuning in to WCTR News is going to be goddamned difficult. Probably should be KCTR.
Of course, WCTR (Chestertown, MD) and KCTR (Billings, MT) both exist, so...
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
I'm eluding to Eidos' new game ShellShock: Nam '67 for the pc and consoles. It depicts cutscenes with brutal violence and dismemberment, like when "a member of your squad ties a prostitute to an upright mattress, beats her mercilessly with his fists, and then takes a giant Rambo knife to her breasts before finally slitting her throat" (quote lifted from Gamespot review). No doubt there will be children out there inflicted by the horror of this game, either by directly watching it or by watching an adult play it.
Reportedly, there's also interactive prostitution, as well as the bad language, torture and ultra-violent gameplay. GTA: San Andreas may not be the bad kid on the block anymore.
SEO Copywriter. Just Say ON
hahaha, maybe I should check what I'm posting next time
^^
ok not really, but I have heard record amounts of people say "I dunno, I am gonna buy it but I dont wanna be a gangsta, I wanna be tommy vercetti" I get the distinct impression that people (fellow geeks) are having a hard time adjusting to having a black main character.
my name is mbonig (Matthew Tanner Bonig)
I believe in free speech except when extending to statements I disagree with or to people I hate (African Americans).
I also call people who express valid opinions names and then claim I am better than them!
Maybe they need to add an arcade in the game which the character can play on when the player is bored of the story line. I heard Dance Dance Revolution is good.
you laugh, but apparently there IS a DDR-like minigame.
Time for another game of FANTASY VS. REALITY.
Ready...?
Karma: Non-Heinous
...there is something disturbing to me about the use of the phrase "Get off my nuts" by someone named "MustardMan".
According to this page at the Australian Goverment Office of Film & Literature Classification GTA:SA will NOT be censored like GTA3 was and we Australians should get the original version like the rest of the world.
mv
"And TV's Wil Wheaton? Excuse me! I think you mean Slashdot's Wil Wheaton!"
Captain's log, stardate 3.14159265
Ensign Crusher has been missing for nearly 6 months, which has been confirmed by the lack of entries in his personal log.
Tomorrow, I will instruct Commander Data to assemble an away team to look for our wayward ensign. He's probably hanging out with that Traveller nut again.
Still not Admiral. Riker may be sexier than me.
End log.
_________
Seriously though, he's probably staying away from Slashdot because of all the lame Star Trek references.
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
Yeah, but thats different. Its hunting and killing the animal for survival and sustinence in the jungle. People always loved some cool realism and general awesomeness in MGS anyways, so they gave it to them.
It looks cool in MGS, and actually probably will be kinda fun, but i'd rather not have it either way.
Now he's a sobbing wreck.
:)
Or were you trying to say that violent games make people vote Democrat?
Before one of my kids stepped on my Vice City CD...
Did they step on your memory card, too?
"There are more important things than stopping terrorism. Upholding the Constitution is one of them." - Ars Forumer.
So you are saying that they couldn't program enough depth in the game
Maybe they came up with a novel idea to put depth into the story and not just stop there.
"There are more important things than stopping terrorism. Upholding the Constitution is one of them." - Ars Forumer.
the sub warnings (which I'm sure include violence, adult language, adult situations, etc.)
They are, in fact:
Blood and Gore
Intense Violence
Strong Language
Strong Sexual Content
Use of Drugs
"There are more important things than stopping terrorism. Upholding the Constitution is one of them." - Ars Forumer.
Oh my god, you are right! The first review is dated 10 April 2004, and gives the game 4 stars out of 5 (based on what!). Here is one "gem"
I LOVE GTA'S I LOVED GTA 3 AND VICE CITY BUT I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL SAN ANDREAS CUZ ITS GOING TO BE THE BEST I ALSO HEARD THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE A STRIP CLUB AND THE GIRLS REALLY STRIP SO THATS GOING TO BE AWSOME BUT ANYWAY GRAND THEFT AUTOS IS THE BEST CRIME GAME EVER TO BE MADE!
I don't know if these people who created time machines, and use them to review the games from the future, or if they are industry insiders, or if they are just idiots.
Why would a country populated by British criminals censor violent content in the first place?
i dunno why, but that made me laugh so hard... too bad no mod points to justify this treachery
I pwn this comment. "The Fine Print" says so.
hahaha how in the fuck is this a troll?
"what are the differences between the retail and leaked version?"
It's real fucking question you idiots!
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
World of Warcraft is a sequel to Warcraft 3. As for original, from what I've gather from friends playing in the beta and previews, it looks like World of Warcraft will be another MMORPG with tons of polish.
I didn't own a PS2 when GTAIII came out and I never played it for the PC. I played VC for the first time well after the PC version was out, but on the PS2 when I was watching my little brother for the summer.
.. VC had everything that made GTAIII cool .. but VC added a lot more than just vehicles IMO.
.. even though VC is probably my all time favourite game (until now).
I fell in love with VC and when my brother took his PS2 away I went out and got the PC version. I beat it like 10 times and then decided to go get GTAIII.
I played GTAIII through once, but really didn't like it anywhere near VC. I could understand the appeal
The story line was way better, you could relate to Tommy Vercetti a lot more than the character from GTAIII (what was his name anyway?). The radio stations in VC created a far more immersive atmosphere and having recognizable songs from the era it was based in helped tremendously to add to the game's appeal. It also had a lot of comic relief that made the story line more interesting and there were other features like being able to buy property that I really missed going to GTAIII.
I just purchased a PS2 almost specifically for San Andreas (there were other less-selfish reaons - my wife and kids wanted one for xmas) and it looks like going from SA to VC is going to be just as hard as going from VC to GTAIII
My Friend works at a gamestop and i was talking to him today about GTA, he said they started selling it (at 7 pm last night) they sold at least 100 copys. amazing. oh and Earth and Beyond was 1337.
Insert Pithy Quote here.
Piracy@rockstar.com? Well I suppose that http://rockstar.com/ would like to hear from you, but perhaps http://rockstargames.com/ is what you were looking for.
original
Tim Sweeney did a voice on the news radio in the game. So far the game is good, and it draws me back, which says something. However, the game is too dark. Not just figuratively speaking, but I am looking for a gamma adjustment on my TV. Games that simulate day and night seem to always be night, which I don't understand since naturally we stay in doors at night, and day does not go by as fast as it does in games. Why not slow down time during the day, and make it fast at night?
Er... That page doesn't actually say anything, apart from distribution details. From what I've read elsewhere, it has indeed been dumbed down for Australian gamers.
According to this page at the Australian Goverment Office of Film & Literature Classification GTA:SA will NOT be censored like GTA3 was and we Australians should get the original version like the rest of the world.
Possibly not true. Or rather possibly half true. OFLC gave the version of GTA:SA they recieved from Rockstar an MA rating. BUT the version they recieved may be a cut version. I assume that because Rockstar have been knocked back on the previous GTA3's and Manhunt, they know what will pass and won't pass.
OFLC states that the original version of Vice City was given an MA rating according to this page. The OFLC can't cut a game (or a movie), they can only ban them or approve them.
But certainly NZ e-tailers seem to be making a big deal of it, trying to get sales over in Australia.
Sorry setup, you are talking out your ass. Perhaps excepting the sentence regarding lack of game play and even that was close.
"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." - Denis Diderot
For example- in the 1990's Nine Inch Nails came out with a song called "Closer". This song was released as a radio single.
The song's first stanza and chorus is:
Oddly, the radio stations and FCC figured that removing the word fuck from the above lyrics made them less offensive.
To me it's a completely neglegable change. And I'm a fucking Nince Inch Nails fan!
So in short- while I totally agree with your points, the world just doesn't get it. We have to blame something, and the words are a lot easier to target than the ideas! Think of the children, man!
Plus- If the opponents did acknowledge that it was the ideas they had a problem with instead of the words then we could accuse them of Orwellian-like behavior and do away with this issue once and for all under the 1st Ammendment! And that would just be way too tidy.
-PM
And you shall receive. There are arcade games in the 24/7 stores around San Andreas...
we come in peace / shoot to kill
And how, pray tell, did you reach this scenario with the crack addict before the game was launched? Years ago, no one gave a crap if someone bragged about their pirated copies and how uncool it was to pay money to the developers. Since then many of us have gotten jobs and now understand the impact of piracy from a completely different angle. Fortunately, there's sites such as www.ztorm.com that hope to change all that and allow anyone the right to publish their software at whatever profit margins. But the reality is that piracy is a huge problem, and even if it's still as widespread as copying eight-tracks 20 years ago, that doesn't make it cool. It's not cool to be a pirate. It's about as sexy as getting caught masturbating; and from there you can decide for yourself which defensive statement would work. I doubt 'but everyone else is doing it' makes you any less embarassed. Or perhaps I'm the only one who's changed my mind regarding piracy.
Finally? Have you never played Pac-Man?
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
I am a huge fan of GTA 3 and VC, but the first few hours I played SA, I was annoyed. Fuck this and shit that and Nigger Nigger Nigger all the time. There is very little that can offend me, and this doesn't. But it is annoying. I suppose those kids that do talk like that daily will find this entertaining. Personally, I miss they style of GTA 3 and VC with Tommy V. It is like someone else took over the project that didn't care about the game at all. They just looked at the "big points" and amplified them a 100 fold.
There's a mini-game where you get a guy to trick out the car of your choice and he hooks it up with wicked hydraulics. You "hop" the car using the right analog stick when directional arrows match up to a point on the screen, and they hit to beats to a song. It's like that donkey konga game, no lie.
I realized that after I made the post. Rest assured, the message got to Rockstar Games :->
I am the maverick of Slashdot
I know, it sounds stupid. Especially when the smart folk out there know that that myth is incorrect and that most of our convicts were sent to the US. And you guys don't seem to have any issues with violence!!
Mind you, then theres the "wardrobe malfunction" that shocked the country. The US attitude to sex is similar to many other countries attitude to sex. Better to make life than end it, if you ask me!
Yeah...actually GTA:VC had a great "pick up and play and cause mayhem" aspect that I wonder if this new game with its more expansive levels and #)#$)#$ levelling up will match...
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Here is a simple SAT answer for you, "When it comes to game sales, PC is to console as Mac is to PC".
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
Man, I thought I'd gotten rid of all them fancy words when I went on that post-college bender... Guess I'll just have to play more GTA:SA until I can replace things like "epistemic phraseology" with "bitch-ass busta."
Thanks for the link.
The GTA series is great because of the stories, which a game simply *must* have if it isn't going to go follow the multiplayer/online model.
However, the non-linear nature of the game lends itself beautifully to a multi-player environment. Unlike many game designs, I think that GTA would scale nicely without changing much of anything. Pleayers could form competing gangs, fight over properlties, and create havok as much as they wanted. Simply drop the NPC gang AI's and let the player fill the space. The missions and story elements are nicely modular, so they would fit well into an online world.
If the idea hasn't already been considered there, pass it on. (Personally, I would kill for a chance to code on a project like that...)
BTW, Great work! Now hurry up and port that @#$$#%er to PC, I have $50 burning a hole in my pocket...
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Yes, there's at least one club where you can dance, and the dancing is a rhythm game, like Pa Rappa or DDR.
Although it took me s little longer to get into this one than "Vice City", this IS the greatest video game ever conceived.