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Could UK Tax Breaks Pave the Way For GTA London?

Posted by Soulskill on from the blow-your-whistle-at-hookers-and-gently-reprimand-them dept.

BanjoTed writes "An interesting — if tongue-in-cheek — bit of speculation is up at MCV about the possibility of a Grand Theft Auto title across the pond. 'Chancellor Alistair Darling's pledge to support the video games development industry with tax breaks could do more than simply protect the future of the UK dev sector,' the site claims. 'It could also have dictated the setting of the next Grand Theft Auto.' Its reasoning? That developers will only be eligible for new UK tax breaks if their games can be proven to be 'culturally British.' Being based in the UK alone is not sufficient for this — instead, the games in question must promote Britishness. Hence MCV's conclusion that Grand Theft Auto V may well be set in London — saving Rockstar an estimated $16m in the process."

108 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Been there, done that? by Stormwatch · · Score: 3, Informative

    A "GTA: London" is nothing new -- the mission packs for the first GTA were set in London.

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
    1. Re:Been there, done that? by sopssa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, even the article mentions that. It doesn't mean there couldn't be a new GTA London, using the same engine as GTA IV. I'm not sure if they really want to promote "Britishness" with a game series like GTA though, even if its a fun game.

    2. Re:Been there, done that? by jandersen · · Score: 4, Funny

      And anyway, GTA, with its focus on wanton violence and abuse, is somewhat dated. How about a completely different approach: A game where the objective is to drive in a safe, economical, environmentally responsible and polite way through London City in the rush hour, taking into account the one-way system, the roadworks, the tens of thousands of pedestrians crossing the street in front of you, the fact that the London streetmap looks a bit like a Mandelbrot fractal and that streetnames change on average every 20 meters. Now that WOULD be extreme.

    3. Re:Been there, done that? by Canazza · · Score: 4, Funny

      GTA's focus on wanton violence and abuse may be dated for London, but it would be highly apt for GTA:Glasgow.

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    4. Re:Been there, done that? by delinear · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd be keen on seeing how they could implement the congestion charge into the game. Especially in the early parts where you're generally short on cash - somehow beating pedestrians and prostitutes to death for their spare change to pay the fee doesn't seem to promote quite the image of Britishness I would guess the law is aiming at.

      On that note, a game involving binge drinking, violence, knife crime, teenage pregnancy, police brutality and political corruption would definitely promote "Britishness" at the moment, but I can't see Our Glorious Leaders giving it the official stamp of approval...

    5. Re:Been there, done that? by Canazza · · Score: 3, Funny

      binge drinking, violence, knife crime, teenage pregnancy, police brutality and political corruption

      So... GTA:Eastenders

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    6. Re:Been there, done that? by xaxa · · Score: 1

      I'd be keen on seeing how they could implement the congestion charge into the game.

      I don't think it's a problem. If you don't pay the charge on the day they write to you a week or two later, long after the car has been written off.

      Failing that, steal a bus. Preferably a bendy bus, so you can kill extra pedestrians on the corners.

      (Or steal a bicycle? Plenty of criminals use bicycles as getaway 'vehicles', they're much faster than cars in central & inner London, and cars can't chase bicycles down narrow streets or steps. Of course, look out for the police on bicycles.)

    7. Re:Been there, done that? by grahamlord86 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It would be too difficult.

      In American GTA, I can drive carefully down the pavement past a cop car so long as I don't kill any pedestrians.

      In GTA V: London, the police would randomly start chasing me because one of the following reasons will have been met:

      1. I look like a Geezaaaaah.
      2. My MOT is out of date.
      3. My Tax disc isn't on display because I sold it for the Hot Coffee scene.
      4. I didn't pay the congestion charge.

      Oh, and every street wider than 10ft in London is a car park of traffic...

    8. Re:Been there, done that? by Gordonjcp · · Score: 3, Funny

      GTA's focus on wanton violence and abuse may be dated for London, but it would be highly apt for GTA:Glasgow.

      One of the missions in the upcoming GTA:Paisley mission pack is to steal a jeep, set it on fire then crash it into the front of the airport terminal building. Then you have to avoid the irate locals and police, with three "wanted" stars.

    9. Re:Been there, done that? by floppyraid · · Score: 1

      Yeah-- it had power-ups that were very intuitively obvious and awesome-- but then they abandoned them-- examples were "Instant Gang" and "ElectroFingers".

      I remember when the 3D GTA came out for PC and PS2 I was very disappointed. Sure, the graphics were massively redone-- but it lacked the original feel. The announcers voice was gone, no Hare Krishnas's running around chanting, etc etc.

      If any game brought back that original feel, with powerups like 'Instant Gang', I'm sure it would be a success. At least with me :/

    10. Re:Been there, done that? by mdwh2 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think a similar game could be done though - something along the lines of Grand Football Hooligan: London.

      Or how about, G20 Protest: London - you get the choice of playing either the police or a member of the public. You get to experience good old British tactics, such as kettling, or when that fails, a good old beating them to the ground. You'll face dangerous villains such as people trying to make their way home from work, and protestors armed with digital cameras. Be sure to arrest anyone who asks to see your ID number!

      (Disclaimer: I am British. I just hate when politicians start talking about "Britishness", as typically it's a codeword for pushing their own moral or cultural viewpoints, even if it's not in line with the views of everyone who is actually a British citizen.)

    11. Re:Been there, done that? by Xest · · Score: 1

      "the tens of thousands of pedestrians crossing the street in front of you"

      Am I the only one who read this and started thinking about how much score you could earn if you just put your foot down? ...too much Carmageddon, GTA and such over the years I guess ;)

    12. Re:Been there, done that? by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      True, the modern GTA games are very different from the old ones though. The 3D GTA games are focused arround completing missions that tell a story, afaict while there were missions in the 2D GTA games there was no concept of completing a story (the levels were won by scoring sufficiant points)

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    13. Re:Been there, done that? by Canazza · · Score: 1

      Hah, I'd buy GTA V just to cause bendy bus carnage.

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    14. Re:Been there, done that? by Miseph · · Score: 1

      If it's any consolation, they do that shit in America too. I can't even count how many times I've been called "un-American" during the course of what should be polite political conversation.

      --
      Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
    15. Re:Been there, done that? by hattig · · Score: 1

      The problem with doing a new GTA: London is that none of the current generation of consoles has the polygon rendering power to render the current roadworks going on in London. I don't even think Fermi can render each of the millions of cones in London right now. You're not going to get far in your stolen car if you're stuck at gas mains works. Never mind the speed cameras, maybe there could be an in-game achievement for racking up 1 million pounds in speeding tickets.

      However most of the bridges and tunnels across the Thames are closed for roadworks, which is a bit more close to gaming-life, c.f., GTA Vice City.

    16. Re:Been there, done that? by hattig · · Score: 1

      Never mind the mission to push asylum seekers off of the top of tower blocks.

      God knows what the marketing would be for GTA: Glasgow

      GTA: Glasgow
      Neds with Attitude (and Buckfast Tonic Wine)

      Dunno about the cars. Beat up Citroen Saxos with car kits would be the order of the day. Imaging hijacking a Skoda Favorit! The best car would be a VW Golf with alloy wheels and road-hugging plastic bumpers that break on the first speed hump.

    17. Re:Been there, done that? by hattig · · Score: 1

      Only if the in-game character you play is Boris Johnson.

      It'd be a cross between Bully (by Rockstar), that Table Tennis game (by Rockstar, but renamed "Whiff Whaff"), and GTA (by Rockstar). You might have to make guest appearances on TV comedy quiz panel shows.

      As BoJo you would cycle around London being ineffective and borish.

    18. Re:Been there, done that? by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      OTOH, you could be an Irish bastard who gets to kick the shit out of a bunch of chavs.

    19. Re:Been there, done that? by Vlado · · Score: 1

      While wanton violence and abuse has been around in videogames for quite a while, it's probably a bit unreasonable to call it dated.
      With few (not always notable) exceptions, pretty much every game targeted at audience over 14 has some level of violence in it. That makes the games at least partially attractive to gamers, since they can act out things that they can't do in real life.

      Your suggestion is not your typical videogame. Rather it's an everyday simulator (yes, yes. I understand that simulators are videogames also :-)).

    20. Re:Been there, done that? by jc79 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      On that note, a game involving binge drinking, violence, knife crime, teenage pregnancy, police brutality and political corruption would definitely promote "Britishness" at the moment, but I can't see Our Glorious Leaders giving it the official stamp of approval...

      Yes, because let's not forget that Britain Is Broken. You can't even walk down the street without getting drunk then stabbed and made pregnant by a teenage asylum seeking terrorist high on drugs bought with generous handouts from Gordon "Stalin" Brown.

      I wish all the whinging bloody Daily Fail reading UKIP voting morons would fuck off to their villas in Spain (apparently it's only immigration when furriners come here, tax dodging ex-pats polluting someone else's country with their idiocy and refusal to speak the local language are ok) and let the rest of us get on with our lives without their relentless tide of misery.

    21. Re:Been there, done that? by Gordonjcp · · Score: 1

      Dunno about the cars.

      Stealing an ice-cream van could net you a couple of grand, if you stop and sell in the right area.

      You know how the GTA4 engine will draw lots of the same type of car to save memory, so it only needs to buffer one model? I work near a taxi office. A long session on GTA4 session followed by seeing lots of near-identical Skoda Octavias and Mercedes C-classes driving can be unsettling...

    22. Re:Been there, done that? by tomtomtom · · Score: 1

      (Or steal a bicycle? Plenty of criminals use bicycles as getaway 'vehicles', they're much faster than cars in central & inner London, and cars can't chase bicycles down narrow streets or steps. Of course, look out for the police on bicycles.)

      Even better, for pure silliness factor, how about a Thames Clipper!?

    23. Re:Been there, done that? by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      mmm, the GTA 3 gen games did that too though perhaps not to such an extreme extent. It was really annoying when you were looking for particular car models for side missions.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    24. Re:Been there, done that? by Vanders · · Score: 1

      Boris would obviously be riding a bike. Although an in-game task to chase down oiks could work.

      --
      Syllable : It's an Operating System
    25. Re:Been there, done that? by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      And anyway, GTA, with its focus on wanton violence and abuse, is somewhat dated. How about a completely different approach: A game where the objective is to drive in a safe, economical, environmentally responsible and polite way through London City in the rush hour, taking into account the one-way system, the roadworks, the tens of thousands of pedestrians crossing the street in front of you, the fact that the London streetmap looks a bit like a Mandelbrot fractal and that streetnames change on average every 20 meters. Now that WOULD be extreme.

      I think that game is called SimCity

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    26. Re:Been there, done that? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Can we get the main characters modeled after the Top Gear crew (the cars should fit the show too!), and have The Doctor somewhere in there?
      I’d play that!
      Having the Monty Pythons in there would be icing on the cake. ^^

      Imagine you live in a flat, and go to eat in the local restaurant, where you can get spam, spam spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans and spam. Then some weird weird guy at the ministry of silly walks gives you a job where you you have to buy a “British Beetle” at “Clarkson’s Cars o’ Crap”, and chase down a group of weird chanting Vikings, just to find out that they have actually captured The Doctor and his police box and plan on going pillaging trough time.

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
  2. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by sopssa · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe they can finally get more liberal with sex and have an actual hot coffee minigame. But from European cities, I'd rather have Amsterdam on it.

  3. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 4, Funny

    But from European cities, I'd rather have Amsterdam on it.

    All the trolley trams and cyclists would make speeding around town...somewhat challenging i expect.

    On the other hand, we dutchmen are well known for our fondness of...coffee. ;-)

    --

    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  4. kids these days... by zombie_monkey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The two expansions of the original GTA were set in London.

    1. Re:kids these days... by delinear · · Score: 1

      We already know that, and the first GTA was set in Liberty City, but it was still a massively different gaming experience to see it in full 3D for the first time in GTA III and then overhauled for GTA IV. A lot of us have been waiting for similar treatment for the London version for years, now. If this brings it any closer then that's still a good thing in many eyes.

  5. Yea, but no, but yea by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 1

    It'll be just like real life.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/humber/6122826.stm

  6. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by rishistar · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm sorry, but I strongly think the tax benefits should be withheld unless there's a hot tea minigame. Give me that cup of Darjeeling baby yeah baby yeah!

    --
    Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  7. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    trolleys, trams and cyclists are the least of your worries. I would be more concerned about all those waterways your car could fall into.

  8. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by mjwx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe they can finally get more liberal with sex and have an actual hot coffee minigame. But from European cities, I'd rather have Amsterdam on it.

    The Dutch have the sex aspect covered but are severely lacking in a bit the ultra-violence.

    Now imagine walking around a rainly grey city, in an overcoat wiff a fuk-in ant-eye aircraft gun in you fuk-in trousers, then robbing a bookie. Oh, the glassings, stabbings, beatings, gang warfare of merry old london town, shooting a bobby, smashing CCTV cameras while urinating on a lamp post and you'll understand what Friday night is to a Pom. I'm sure we can take some liberties with appearance of English women, I mean Rockstar did the same with American women but at least English girls will get stupidly drunk and shag anything that moves, that will be the difficult part to program convincingly.

    Personally I'm waiting for GTA Manila.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  9. Stupid score system by LingNoi · · Score: 1

    The score system is totally stupid. The only way you can get 16 points is if the game is based in the UK.

    Under that model, those seeking relief must score at least 16 points out of a possible 31 in a ‘culturally British’ test. There are four criteria under which studios can qualify that are as follows:
    a) Cultural Content (16 pts) – Determining whether the film’s narrative is set in the UK, whether its lead characters are British, whether the film is centred on British subject matter, and if the dialogue is recorded “in the English language”.
    b) Cultural Contribution (4 pts) – Determining whether the film represents “a diverse British culture, British heritage or British creativity”.
    c) Cultural Hubs (3 pts) – Determining whether the film is produced in the UK studios.
    d) Cultural Practitioners (8 pts) – Determining whether the cast, crew and/or producers come from the EEA (European Economic Area), with points based on each role.

    1. Re:Stupid score system by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      "in the English language"

      Good luck with that.

      Any idea how many different, mutually incompatible, versions of English are out there?

    2. Re:Stupid score system by vtechpilot · · Score: 1

      Item A is the only one that really matters. It doesn't matter if it is (C) made in the UK, by (D) EEA employees, if the end product is just an imitation of US culture. Item B is meant to prevent it from just being an non-diverse outsiders caricature of British culture, which is what a game about warm beer, bad cooking and drinking tea would be.

      --
      Slashdot is an anagram for Has Dolts, and I am Dolt number 468543
    3. Re:Stupid score system by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Informative

      Really? What's a boot? In England, it's a car trunk. In the US, it's footware. And in Newfoundland it's "I'm taking a walk aboot to Joe's t' get me a bottle'a screech, boy".

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_dialects

    4. Re:Stupid score system by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Something doesn't need to be defined be a central authority in order to exist. Trust the evidence of your ears. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k&feature=fvw

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    5. Re:Stupid score system by salmacis2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Really? What's a trunk? In England it's a an elephant's appendage. In the US, it's a boot.

    6. Re:Stupid score system by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      I would expect the term "trunk" in American English came to mean the rear storage area of a car due to the fact that many early cars had places to put actual trunks(ie. storage containers) on the back of the car.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    7. Re:Stupid score system by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      True, OTOH we brits at least get a lot of american and austrilian TV (a lot of soaps seem to be australian, not sure why) so we learn the little americanisms pretty easilly. Is it not like that in other english speaking countries?

      --
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    8. Re:Stupid score system by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      I think his point is that A is the only one that counts, let alone matters. If you have A, you pass regardless of the other options, if you don't have A, there's no way to make it up from the other options. Not just stupid but actively retarded I think.

    9. Re:Stupid score system by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      Unless you are able to score partial points of course. Like maybe 10/16 for A and other amounts for the others.

  10. Re:It needs guns by julesh · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm not sure how that is going to go over with the availability of guns in the UK, and how easy it is to drive in London. Lets face it, half the fun is running down everyone and shooting stuff.

    Gun crime stats suggests criminals can get guns just as easily in the UK as they ever have been able to, despite a string of legislation over the last 13 years that's supposed to prevent it. And driving in London's no worse than in any other major city...

  11. Knightley, Clarkson by dltaylor · · Score: 1

    It would help if there were more characters that looked like Kiera Knightley.

    Driving like Jeremy Clarkson in some of his more manic modes would be fun, too.

    1. Re:Knightley, Clarkson by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It would help if there were more characters that looked like Kiera Knightley.

      But if you brought out a 3D version nobody would notice the difference.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Knightley, Clarkson by delinear · · Score: 4, Funny

      Driving like Jeremy Clarkson in some of his more manic modes would be fun, too.

      Instead of pressing the left stick activating the car's horn, it could cause your character to shout, at full volume, "POWWWWERRRR!!"

  12. Nice setting, shame about the clichés by MeesterCat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    London would be a fantastic setting for a GTA game; its street layout would be more fun and varied than the grid design of the US cities - I remember the carnage that could be had in the Midtown Madness game set in Paris.

    The whole "Geeze, cock'er'ney gangsta, innit" schtick is already very tiresome though (seemingly every single British crime film or TV drama already features it).

    --
    "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different." ~ Kurt Vonnegut Jnr.
  13. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Things look bleak for teatime until you crash through the living room wall in a stolen Jaguar to deliver the crumpets. Top score!

    --
    USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  14. I'm sold, my only question is... by billsayswow · · Score: 3, Funny

    Would you have to pay the congestion charge when driving downtown?

    1. Re:I'm sold, my only question is... by idiot900 · · Score: 1

      Well, in GTA: Chinatown Wars you had to pay bridge toll. Congestion charge would actually be pretty funny.

    2. Re:I'm sold, my only question is... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      No, your cars in GTA are nearly all either stolen and/or repainted by dodgy spray shops so it wouldn't be you getting the congestion charge bill

      --
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    3. Re:I'm sold, my only question is... by ubercam · · Score: 1

      I know this is kind of a running joke in this thread, but they could go three ways with it.

      1) Make it like San Andreas, where you had to eat/work out in order to keep your health up. A lot of people didn't like that because it was too much micromanagement, so they got rid of it in GTA4. They could add the option to pay the charge on to a cashpoint/ATM or something like that. If you didn't pay it within a certain amount of time, you'd get a fine or the cops after you.

      2) Set the game in a time period before the congestion charge was introduced, so any time before 2003.

      3) Not call it "London" (like Liberty City isn't called "New York") and just not include it in the game at all.

    4. Re:I'm sold, my only question is... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      I remember in GTA4 you could just smash through the barrier and not pay the toll. Of course doing so would set the cops on you but a one star is easy enough to lose.

      Have they tightend things up in chinatown wars?

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  15. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by mike260 · · Score: 1

    I think that the laid-back local police might take the excitement out of GTA: Amsterdam somewhat.

  16. Bah. by w0mprat · · Score: 1

    GTA gets lots of flak for volence. But it's nothing new.

    But no one remembers Carmageddon, obviously.

    --
    After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
    1. Re:Bah. by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      I think with GTA it's not just about the violence it's about the portrayal of gang culture in a rather glorified way along with the relative lack of consequences. Your character can never actually be killed only "wasted" and wake up outside a hospotial.

      Though I have to say GTA 4 if you played all of it had a far more negative ending than most of the previous games, I doubt the complainers got that far though.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    2. Re:Bah. by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      But the interesting point is that showing the consequences usually results in more criticism (even though, I agree, it makes more sense your way round). E.g., showing the graphical effects, rather than leaving it off-screen; having people die, rather than magically being okay - these are things which people will claim make it more "violent".

    3. Re:Bah. by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Indeed, they are damned if they do damned if they don't. Any game that people want to play (that means the player must to some extent at least succeed in the storyline and people must be able to replay failed missions) and that is set with the player as a criminal gang member will be seen as glorifying gang life.

      --
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    4. Re:Bah. by hattig · · Score: 1

      Oh dear, you're more likely to wake up in a pool of vomit in the hospital waiting room, 4 hours before seeing the doctor, but at least the triage nurse has had a look at you, and then treated you with the care an elephant high on crystal meth shows when juggling Faberge Eggs.

  17. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by santax · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't see A'dam working. Imagine this: you get a call. Your mission is to save your sister who is in great danger. You run to your closet, change into your workcloths, grab your guns, run outside to your car. Only to find you have a wheel-clamp because the parkingmeter ran out a minute ago. Hell, they probably have towed it away already!

  18. name change needed by Bazman · · Score: 5, Funny

    We don't have "Grand Theft Auto" in the UK. We have the slightly politer-sounding "Taking without owner's consent".

    TWOC: London

    doesn't seem right.

    1. Re:name change needed by p0ppe · · Score: 1

      TDA - Taking and Driving Away

      --


      "Democracy is three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
    2. Re:name change needed by damburger · · Score: 1

      Despite the technicality of the issue, I think 'twoc' is the more widely known term, especially in the criminal community.

      --
      If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
    3. Re:name change needed by jlebrech · · Score: 1

      joyriding

    4. Re:name change needed by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      Oh no, stealing a car is still theft.

      The trouble is that some folk would say "Oh, but I was going to return it! Honest, Gov'!" and because they were not going to permanently deprive the owner of their property, it was a (very, VERY unlikely, yet still possible) defense to a charge of Theft. Especially in cases when cars were taken from family members and reported stolen, only for a son or daughter to be found joyriding later.

      TWOC was brought in to address this loophole.

      --
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    5. Re:name change needed by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Bah, the cars in the UK are too small to rack up a decent body count with. On the upside, the cops don't carry guns--so imagine the mayhem if you were well-armed and on a rampage.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  19. The Getaway by DrXym · · Score: 1

    Sony has already done a couple of London based GTA-clones in The Getaway series. The Getaway wasn't very good and the series got worse with every release until it got canned. Still it proves the setting is viable especially if any GTA London riffed on some classic gangster flicks and made good use of the setting. I wonder if they'd use London though or a pastiche of London much like Liberty City is to New York.

    1. Re:The Getaway by RMH101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It wasn't a great game, but what they did do pretty well was the first model of the centre of London, with accurate-ish streetmaps. I spent a lot of time playing that game, having not driven around London much, and was a bit freaked out to realise that when I drove up to see a Londoner mate a few months later that I actually knew my way around some of it!

  20. Bad idea by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny

    They'll never make their money back. Everyone knows that the Knowledge takes about 34 months to prepare, they'll never get enough gamers to pass the exam!

    1. Re:Bad idea by EdgeyEdgey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Imagine if it got to the stage where people tested their knowledge of The Knowledge by taking taxi missions in GTA-London

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  21. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by anarche · · Score: 1

    the dutchmen hate.... coffee.

    and hate the tourists who... drink it.

    hehe there could be a random art-gallery security guard attack whenever you wander into a ... coffehouse.

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    Wait! Whats a sig?
  22. GTA Moscow? by myowntrueself · · Score: 1, Interesting

    How about it?

    GTA Moscow?

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    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    1. Re:GTA Moscow? by dltaylor · · Score: 1

      Wasn't that made into one of the Bourne movies?

    2. Re:GTA Moscow? by HopefulIntern · · Score: 1

      That would be the easiest game ever. As long as you dont organise gay rights protests you should be ignored by the police.

    3. Re:GTA Moscow? by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      I guess the game could have gay mafia gangs which you could antagonise by driving right through their rights protests!

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  23. Re:It needs guns by 91degrees · · Score: 1

    It's only a game. I'm pretty certain eve in San Francisco, you can't just go to the local gun shop and walk out with a rocket launcher and some bombs.

  24. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    And getting stabbed by moon worhipping fundimentalheads.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  25. British characters by Archibald+Buttle · · Score: 1

    Rockstar get most of the way there already since the GTA series is produced in the UK by Brits, and is in English.

    If the main character was British, or even maybe just several subsidiary characters, then that should push them over the edge and qualify them.

  26. Guy Ritchie by stiller · · Score: 1

    Get Guy Ritchie to write the story, maybe even direct mo-cap/dialogue. In GTA 4 I just wanted to skip all the cutscenes.

    1. Re:Guy Ritchie by mjwalshe · · Score: 1

      or get the top gear guys to do the comentry and you sould definatly have a "Stig" level of dificulty

    2. Re:Guy Ritchie by sw33tjimmy · · Score: 1

      that's the first thing i though of too...
      "why do they call him 'bullet dodger'?"

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      Get Virtual.
    3. Re:Guy Ritchie by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Why settle for a Danny Boyle wannabe, when you could get Danny Boyle himself?

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    4. Re:Guy Ritchie by Theoboley · · Score: 1

      or better yet, just have the top gear guys as the main characters, switching off between the 3 of them.

      Hammond for Motorcycle missions,
      Clarkson for mindless destruction,
      May for... well.. anything slow.

      --
      Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
  27. Re:It needs guns by delinear · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Indeed, characters like Boris the Blade from Guy Ritchie's Snatch could supply the weapons instead of a Guns 'n' Ammo on the street corner, and more heavy duty weaponry could always be liberated from the military later in the game. Actually the idea of everyone being armed with slightly shoddy sawn-off shotguns instead of AR-15's makes it sound a bit more edgy and fun - especially if there's a chance of your gun back-firing during a bank raid, etc.

  28. Nobody? OK, Karma be damned... by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, game develops YOU!!!!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  29. it would be called chav twocker by mjwalshe · · Score: 1

    MM I can just see the chaved up hot hatches in this game and the daily mails outrage.

    and it definatly needs this Renault Clio as one of the rides

    http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3282687

    TWOCKING is an abreviation of "Taking Without Owners Consent" what car theft is normaly refered to by the Police in the UK

  30. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

    Ha! What a crappy game that would be.

    The intro FMV would be a guy sat in a dressing gown with a "vase" on the table in front of him, and he'd mutter the phrase "Nah, I'll just stay in today."

    End credits.

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    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  31. Re:It needs guns by xaxa · · Score: 3, Funny

    And driving in London's no worse than in any other major city...

    You've either never been to London, or you've never left.

  32. And you get Islamabad and Khartoum ports for free! by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

    Same pedestrian models, just a minor name change required.

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    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  33. Re:I hope the Americans are ready for this by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

    The rest of Europe maybe, but in the UK we still sadly have some of the same attitudes of censorship (the BBFC can even ban games for adults).

  34. then maybe they can put in the missing Ring Road by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 2, Funny

    Glasgow Inner Ring Road
    and the rest of the Greater Glasgow Transportation Plan.

  35. Rockstar North by Ma8thew · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For those unaware, most of the GTA series is already developed in the UK, specifically at the Rockstar North offices in Edinburgh. Of course, as the summary points out, they need some more Britishness in the game to get the tax break (although, frankly, the government would do better to give them a tax break for not setting it in the UK).

  36. I'd buy it only if... by master_p · · Score: 1

    ...he was the star in the game!!!

  37. Bonus points by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bonus points for putting an indestructible blue phone booth somewhere.

  38. Dundee Surely? :-) by Stooshie · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't it be set in Dundee since that's where it's written. :-)

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    America, Home of the Brave. ... .and the Squaw.
  39. Re:It needs guns by Xest · · Score: 1

    "Gun crime stats suggests criminals can get guns just as easily in the UK as they ever have been able to, despite a string of legislation over the last 13 years that's supposed to prevent it. And driving in London's no worse than in any other major city..."

    That's a bit of an oversimplification of the system though.

    Criminals getting guns is a bit misleading, because, well, when you get a gun like a handgun under UK laws you become a criminal. For example, the perpertrator in Virginia Tech or Columbine weren't criminals before they went on a rampage, they were non-criminals, and it is people like this who struggle to get hold of guns in the UK because they simply do not have the criminal connections, or the state of mind to build the criminal connections. Further, there's less incidence of death and injury from accidental discharges, heat of the moment arguments and that sort of thing. The key then is the amount of non-crminals getting guns, something which has drastically decreased. As harsh as it sounds, criminals with guns generally use them on other criminals rather than random passers by, you wont for example see criminals stealing handbags or whatever with guns on the streets in the UK, because they seem them as so precious they tend to keep them for gang warfare and such.

    Also, of those criminals who do have guns we're often talking about rusty old lugers, and shotguns or rifles (which are still legal for hunting etc.) which get stolen. Occurences of things like assault rifles which can really do some damage are extremely rare. Most criminals are really scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of the firearms they acquire now. Sure there's the odd Mac 10, and I think there was an older 'nam era M16 a few months back, but it's far less common.

    Effectively then, yeah criminals might be able to get hold of guns just as easily as before, but if non-criminals thinking of committing crimes are deterred by the fact it's too difficult to get a gun, if the people with guns are mostly just going to use them against each other rather than innocent passers by, and if the guns that criminals do get hold of are unreliable, more expensive, and of poor quality and low killing ability, it's still a major improvement.

    Now despite that, I'm not making an assertion here over the validity of the laws, because knife crime has become a major problem, and I suspect that's precisely because gun crime has decreased, so whether gun crime has decreased or not doesn't seem to matter if the number of deaths is still high. The fundamental violence problem is still there, although violent crime has seen a pretty big decrease in the UK over the last 15 years to be fair. I agree that gun laws aren't a magical be all and end all solution to violent crime, far from it, but it's dishonest to say that gun laws in the UK haven't massively improved the situation in lessening the effects of gun crime, it just means other weapons have filled the void, and provides at least a decrease, because weapons like knives aren't quite as lethal and hard to defend against.

  40. That would be awesome. by moxley · · Score: 1

    PS2 had a game called "The Getaway" that was a GTA3 type of open world crime shooter game, the map and landmarks/buildings were accurate to the real streets of London, (at least, that's what I remember) and it was actually quite a fun game....

    It hink the possibilities for a London GTA storyline would be endless. They could have the typical london mob boss, like in Guy Ritchie movies, or, they could make it contemporary or set it in the days of the Krays.

    I mean, they've done LA, Miami, and New York...London seems like the obvious choice.

  41. Fire Up The Quattro! by DocMAME · · Score: 2, Interesting

    GTA Meets DCI Gene Hunt... Fire up the Quattro... I am there!

  42. Re:It needs guns by hattig · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but I can drive out of London in under 5 hours, and everyone here would agree that is a fairly good "city to countryside" time for any city in the world, including St. Davids in Wales.

    Sure, Google Maps might say it should take 90 minutes (south circular, A2, Blackwall Tunnel, A12, M11, and out), but we all know that Google Maps is optimistic.

    Seriously, it's quicker to drive out to the M25* nearest to where you live, and drive around it, than through London.

    * The M25 is also known as the never ending car park.

  43. Re:It needs guns by xaxa · · Score: 1

    A colleague waved out of a car window as I cycled past him on the South Circular this morning. I got to work (a few miles further round the South Circular) only a few seconds before him, but this is going away from Central London at 9:40.

    A long time ago (1950s/1960s) there were plans to build fast roads right into the centre of London. Only a few bits got built (e.g. Hammersmith Flyover). Had it all been built everyone in London would have been living close to a noisy, congested, polluting motorway, and been surrounded by concrete tunnels/subways or impassable roads. Travel times wouldn't have been any different either -- people are simply willing to travel a certain time into work, and most adjust their work or home location, or transport method, to fit within their tolerance.

  44. Re:Really? by pandrijeczko · · Score: 1

    Yes, and presumably played by people like you who do nothing more than play games and read the gutter press.

    The UK has it's problems just like any other nation on this earth but actually most people here (like anywhere else) are law-abiding, tolerant people who just want to live crime-free, religion-free lives in a safe world.

    Unfortunately, news of multiracial communities living in peace and harmony, or kids becoming scientists or doctors does not sell newspapers; I don't know where you're from but suggest you take time to visit London one day because, despite being a tourist rip-off and scruffy in parts, it must be one of the most multiracial cities on this planet.

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    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  45. "Fallout: London" would be cool! by pandrijeczko · · Score: 1

    I've been to the US many times but never to Washington DC, so I don't know how "authentic" Fallout 3 was in terms of locations in the game and in real-life Washington DC - but I should say that the post-nuclear wreckage in the game was absolutely superb, especially around The Mall and Washington Monument areas where you *REALLY* got the impression of a once huge city now completely destroyed.

    So London, with it's wealth of historical locations and landmarks would be a great setting for Fallout also...

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    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  46. Re:It needs guns by hattig · · Score: 1

    Driving on the A12 between the Blackwall Tunnel and the M11 is one of the most depressing journeys ever, especially at night.

    This is made all the worse by having the 2012 Olympics Site right next to the road, which is amazing to look at. That's how bad everything else is. A grimy corridor of traffic.

  47. Re:It needs guns by Vanders · · Score: 1

    I live in Bristol. In five hours I can be in Cornwall.

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  48. Re:It needs guns by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

    Then I want my Desert Eagle .50! :D

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    Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.