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.

Comments

Awesome!

[Anonymous Coward]

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?

Re:Awesome!

[Anonymous Coward]

> > No! Piracy is bad and wrong and sends you to hell. Stealing, however, is just fine.

> But, but... Piracy IS stealing!!

Technically yes, but only at sea, and even then only without a commission from a recognized sovereign nation.

Re:Awesome!

[Hatta]

When you play the game this week make sure and tune in to WCTR News to catch Anchorman Richard Burns, TV's Wil Wheaton.

Dick Burns? Maybe Wil's spent too much time, uh, recovering health.

Re:Awesome!

[phiz187]

Bernie S. and Emmanuel Goldstein

Were both voice actors in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
-PHiZ

Which month is it?

[SuiteSisterMary]

It's the end of October, and you think that 'GTA 3.2' is the first of the year's AAA titles?

Meh.

Rally Driving?

[fembots]

catch Anchorman Richard Burns

So we can finally drive world rally championship cars in GTA?

Study?

[Grayden]

GTA: San Andreas, Halo 2, and Half-Life 2 all coming out within a short span?

Man my GPA is screwed.

Hmm...

[Sheetrock]

Although 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".

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.

Re:Hmm...

[Maestro4k]

• Although 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?

No you're not, I've seen the game and even as an adult find the level of language in this one to be disturbing. I'm not easily offended either, but the constant amount of cussing gets old fast. Even a lot of the NPC comments you hear going about the game world are more cuss-filled than in the last two GTA games. Perhaps it's authentic, but this is a case where I'd have liked a less-cussing option myself. I only saw it for a few hours and was already thinking that the mute button looked like a great idea.

• 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".

Well the ESRB is working as it should in that case. If parents aren't willing to check into the game before they buy it for the kid, it's certainly not the ESRB or Rockstar's fault. You have to blame the parent there, it doesn't take much time to look at the package and see M (Mature) on it, then flip it over to see the sub warnings (which I'm sure include violence, adult language, adult situations, etc.) I worked at a Wal-mart for a few years in Electronics and I'd always point out that a game was Mature to parents in case they didn't realize it. Some parents didn't know about the ratings system (which is amazing as it's posted on every freaking game case at Wal-mart) and when they asked what it meant and found out they'd put it back and tell the kids they had to pick something else. Some would say "I know, I don't care" and buy the game for their 6yo. (Quite literally I saw someone buy Vice City for their 6yo.)

But in any case there's a recent article that was in Computer Gaming World or Electronic Gaming Monthly one where they sent a young-looking 15yo kid into several stores to try to buy M rated games to see what happened. (They showed a picture of him, he looked about 12.) Some stores sold him M rated games without even blinking, others refused from the start. Unfortunately a lot of stores and/or employees don't even try to enforce the ESRB, providing fuel to the anti-gaming camp. :(

Re:Hmm...

[NaugaHunter]

Normally I enjoy reading Slashdot, and your post seemed very insightful at first, but your constant use of "the" disturbed me to no end and I was completely unable to finish reading this thoroughly well thought-out post.

Sorry, but I just cannot understand how people can be offended by words without considering context at all. Would a rose smell any less sweet if it were called a dingleberry*? Is the value of a thought to be judged by the words that express it?

Further more, is deploring one's speech for its 'colorful idioms' any better than believing everyone should speak English, or French, or whatever? Both views hold the implication that one doesn't want to hear what one wouldn't say, so is there any distinction whatsoever?

I would be willing to grant you that it is easier to evoke an emotional response with strong language then with strong arguments, and that with fights over ratings and money it's almost self-propagating between popular culture reflecting and shaping reality. But I prefer to judge a statement for itself and not by the words used to make it. Maybe it's the logical part of my mind asserting itself, but I have hopes that I'm not unique in this respect.

In regards to GTA:SA, changing the language would be akin to air brushing out George Burns' cigars. The player is essentially role playing a character in an historical environment, and the language is part of it. Editing out specific words from a game with drive-by's, corrupt cops, drugs, etc. seems a little selective to me.

* - I had a much better word to make my point the 'dingleberrys', but in the interest of a civil discourse I have edited myself.

Best holiday season in gaming history

[SilentChris]

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.

First AAA title?

[chamblah]

I don't think that GTA:SA is the first AAA title of the year(it is October).

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.

yay

[ColonBlow]

I got tired boning and killing the same old hookers.

Not just more of the same

[thesandtiger]

I've played it, and at first expected it to be just more beating the crap out of random passerby and screaming "Git' out tha car, byotch!" at the screen.

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.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

GTA Source

[TiggertheMad]

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.

Re:GTA Source

[okayplayer]

And while many are saying that the engine in SA is the same as the one in VC and III, this isn't quite true. The engine has been modified greatly to allow for the much larger, fully streamed (no loading no matter where you travel) huge map.

For example now a "tree" like system is used for drawing in the various levels of details rather than the linear system that was used in the previous games. Yes, the look of the game is similar, but it is certainly a greatly improved engine to handle the new game's massive size. I mean you wouldn't say that an AMG V8 is the same engine as that honda 4 cyl would you?

The mall was insane last night...

[NightWulf]

Happened to be in the local mall last night to find out GameStop and EBX were going to start selling at 8pm that night. There were roughly 3000 people waiting online between the two stores. I love GTA but yeesh, you think people would have better things to do, considering I walked right in this morning and picked up a copy.

Wait time for line losers= 5 hours

Wait time for me=5 minutes

Re:New Features

[smclean]

In diku muds you don't really die if you don't eat, you just lose the ability to regenerate your hit, movement, and mana points. Same with thirst.

God, did I really just bother pointing that out?

Reaching out to Rockstar

[DrXym]

When you get around to porting this to the PC, please, please with a cherry on top sort out the frigging pedestrian / car behaviour.

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.

everyone you knew?

[phriedom]

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?

Empowering

[prell]

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.

Re:Empowering

[loopback_127001]

In a similar vein, I've barely begun the game (done perhaps 7 or 8 missions thus far), and I've amassed a total of ... almost $1k.

Compare that to Vice City, where you were making 1k-5k PER MISSION right from go. Going to the clothing store and buying a new outfit is a hard choice. You go in and the shit costs what feels like 'real' money.

I'm sure as the game continues, money becomes less of an issue. But I'm very pleased that they did successfully map the relative poverty level of "the hood" so that the player didn't have thousands of dollars to begin with.

I do have one problem with the game however, and it's a problem that I'm surprised slipped through QA & product evaluation.

In a very early mission, you take a baseball bat, and you have to fight multiple enemies. The manual does _not_ tell you how to switch targets when in 'lock on' mode. In a mission that happens several missions _after_ that one, you are walked through shooting a gun, locking on targets, and cycling through all available targets.

-1 : failing to document the target cycle controls in the manual

-1 : ordering the 'tutorial' missions such that the useful knowledge comes after the mission when you would first need it.

Still, total score: 98/100.

Some interesting game behavior...

[Thedalek]

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.

Re:Confused...

[vettemph]

am I cool or what
No, you're not cool, just legit. :)
What he was trying to say is "If you're employed by George W. Bush, you can relieve entire countries of their arms and oil without repercussion.

WHERE ARE YOU WIL?

[Wraithlyn]

"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.