GTA: SA at E3 after all?

[Harryz]

I found this amusing and was surprised none of us realised this, heres the article from Gamespot.

Rockstar's upcoming crime epic makes an "appearance" at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

When we doled out our Best of E3 Awards earlier this week, GameSpot gave Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the dubious honor of Most Disappointing Absence of the event.

However, since then, visual "evidence" has surfaced that shows GTA: SA did make an appearance at E3--in spirit, anyway.

Yesterday, Rockstar sent out a screenshot of Carl Johnson, the protagonist ("hero" might be a strong word) of the upcoming action-crime epic. At first glance, the pic looks like an innocuous snapshot of Johnson riding his bicycle in a parking lot in front of a building.

Closer inspection, though, reveals the building to be none other than the Los Angeles Convention Center, site of the insanity otherwise known as E3. The image's title, "CJ spotted outside Convention Center," adds to this assumption.

As you may already have guessed, the picture is a gag. But instead of being fan-created, as some had suspected, the image was fully authorized by Rockstar. Reps from the publisher confirmed its authenticity to GameSpot, calling it "an official screenshot that Rockstar released to the Grand Theft Auto fan site Web ring," presumably with a straight face.

-Gamespot

Heres the screenshot if you haven't seen it.

Heres what the Los Angeles Convention Centre (E3) looks like.

 

[Pressure]

Woot woot.

 

[Crushenator 500]

hehe, wonder if its actually gonna be in the game .
btw, that picture of the la convention center is ruined by the large 'america online' sign :hmph:

 

[IchI]

wow, yet another crappy grand theift auto game.... great..... still using the same graphics engine as well... great.....

 

[Crushenator 500]

wow, yet another crappy grand theift auto game.... great..... still using the same graphics engine as well... great.....

dont get me wrong, i agree that the games are crap, and extremely overhyped. i just thought it was pretty funny for them to put the E3 place in there.

 

[Direwolf]

Its not cool to like stuff thats popular!
Anyways, thought I'd set you straight and point out that it is in fact a new (or upgraded heavily for nitpickers) graphic engine. Check out the other shots of the game to get an idea.

 

[Harryz]

wow, yet another crappy grand theift auto game.... great..... still using the same graphics engine as well... great.....

Learn to respect other peoples opinions; if you don't have anything positive to post towards the thread/topic, then don't post!

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Well i loved GTA3 and Vice City. I thought they were fantastically fun!

Only one question, does it use havok physics? Or any kind of ragdolling system? Because that would be a lot of fun driving cars on the sidewalk cleaning up pedestrians with all those lovely physics.

 

[el Chi]

Learn to respect other peoples opinions; if you don't have anything positive to post towards the thread/topic, then don't post!

Hmmm, I sort of agree, although it can be interesting to start a debate. Besides, those are his views and so respect them too...
Nevertheless, quite simply the guy's wrong. They are extraordinarily accomplished, polished games with great wit, style and longevity so precisely what's so bad about them I'm not sure... There's a very good reason the series is so critically acclaimed and successful. So ssshhh.

 

[Gunner]

How can you not like GTA? I mean you get to carjack people, run 'em over and everything :E

 

[blahblahblah]

I've seen the three (or so) screenshots of GTA:SA. They sure look nice, but the lighting reminds me of the colored lighting era of Quake 2.

 

[Gunner]

^^ it's the smog in LA hehe.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

How can you not like GTA? I mean you get to carjack people, run 'em over and everything :E

Frankly, the most fun part of GTA was avoiding the cops and doing fun stunts. The gun system wasn't good at all, IMO, and the missions were ballast.

So, it was basically just a 'driving with no traffic laws' simulator to me, and I got bored of it pretty quick. I really liked GTA 3, but 4 was just more of the same. Hopefully they try somthing more innovative in this next one.

 

[Maxi]

I'm not looking forward to it, since it's using the same engine as vice city, which used the same engine as GTA III...

 

[Axyon]

Well i loved GTA3 and Vice City. I thought they were fantastically fun!

Only one question, does it use havok physics? Or any kind of ragdolling system? Because that would be a lot of fun driving cars on the sidewalk cleaning up pedestrians with all those lovely physics.

Not sure if it's Havok, but they are using ragdoll physics this time, yeah.

 

[lans]

I'm not looking forward to it, since it's using the same engine as vice city, which used the same engine as GTA III...

That's your opinion and I respect that, however here is mine:

Just bescause the game doesn't have good graphics doesn't mean it isn't fun. True, GTA can get repeatitive, but it has a lot of freedom - possibilites, and huge replay value. I'm looking forward to the next gen games too, but one can not forget the great games we have at present. My friend says "GTA sucks" ever since he played far cry, and till last year he called it "the greatest game ever" - which proves he's been blinded with graphics..pfft.

 

[Gunner]

Frankly, the most fun part of GTA was avoiding the cops and doing fun stunts. The gun system wasn't good at all, IMO, and the missions were ballast.

So, it was basically just a 'driving with no traffic laws' simulator to me, and I got bored of it pretty quick. I really liked GTA 3, but 4 was just more of the same. Hopefully they try somthing more innovative in this next one.

Yeah it's true. You know what this game really needs? multiplayer! I mean the soft mod MP available is laggy and let's face it, it sucks. A sort of MMO MP on GTA would be great. You could pick your side: cops or gangsters, and work your way up through the ranks to get better weapons and gear.

 

[el Chi]

Yeah it's true. You know what this game really needs? multiplayer! I mean the soft mod MP available is laggy and let's face it, it sucks. A sort of MMO MP on GTA would be great. You could pick your side: cops or gangsters, and work your way up through the ranks to get better weapons and gear.

I'd be surprised if they weren't working on it already, as the TRUE sequel to GTA3.
From what I've heard though, San Andreas is going to be HUGE is scale of cities and areas etc. What would be spaff-tastic would be if they implemented the respect system from GTA2 into the cinematic style of the GTA3 crowd. It'd be ridiculously huge in terms of space for voice files etc etc but it would be THE most free-form story-driven game ever - it'd be insane.
Why does no-one ever consult ME on these things, eh?

 

[Pressure]

This game looks great! I don't see how anyone can hate these games. The graphics look fine for a PS2 game and the game gives you so much freedom compared to most other games. I've already pre-ordered this one so I can play its sweet sweet goodness on the day it comes out.

 

[Harryz]

I'm not looking forward to it, since it's using the same engine as vice city, which used the same engine as GTA III...

I agree, that they need to use a new engine and not modify it for each sequel. I guess their saving that for the next GTA, which will supposedly be on the PS3.

The thing that got me interested me in this GTA is the drastic change from Vice city; its based in 3 cities. GTA 3 to Vice city was just a mere update, it looks like I will be occupied for a long time on San Andreas.

 

[Sui]

GTA multiplayer? stop, your making me drool. an MMO game would be nice, but i wouldnt want to pay monthly...

 

[simmo]

GTA multiplayer? stop, your making me drool. an MMO game would be nice, but i wouldnt want to pay monthly...

heard of Multitheftauto ?, not that good really...loads bugs and real laggy ;(

 

[JimmehH]

Well i loved GTA3 and Vice City. I thought they were fantastically fun!

Only one question, does it use havok physics? Or any kind of ragdolling system? Because that would be a lot of fun driving cars on the sidewalk cleaning up pedestrians with all those lovely physics.

I think they'll use the renderware physics engine. It'll save them a lot of time integrating it into their modified engine.

Linky.

 

[ComradeBadger]

I wish Vice City would work for me ;(

I bought it, and was only able to get up to the flying missions... ;(

I loved it, and think it's one of the best games ever..

 

[slinter]

rl gta is waaay better WOOOO

 

[el Chi]

I agree, that they need to use a new engine and not modify it for each sequel. I guess their saving that for the next GTA, which will supposedly be on the PS3.
The thing that got me interested me in this GTA is the drastic change from Vice city; its based in 3 cities. GTA 3 to Vice city was just a mere update, it looks like I will be occupied for a long time on San Andreas.

Anyone who complains about the graphics is missing two important points:
1. The graphics are very good, considering its system requirements and what it has to handle in terms of size. So what if it's an old engine? They're spending their time on gameplay and good design rather than getting by on amaaaazing visuals.
2. The GTA series has never been overly concerned about graphics. The games aren't about stunning graphics, they're about good gameplay and a fully-constructed world to wreak mayhem.

Vice City most certainly wasn't a "mere update" - it was one of the best games ever (not merely my opinion, that's what it was voted as in the UK PCG top100 and the Readers' Top 100) It took GTA3 so much further and added so much in terms of style, gameplay, story and God-knows-what-else.
But yes you're right, San Andreas will, it seems, keep you very occuppied for a very long time.

 

[Pressure]

Anyone who complains about the graphics is missing two important points:
1. The graphics are very good, considering its system requirements and what it has to handle in terms of size. So what if it's an old engine? They're spending their time on gameplay and good design rather than getting by on amaaaazing visuals.
2. The GTA series has never been overly concerned about graphics. The games aren't about stunning graphics, they're about good gameplay and a fully-constructed world to wreak mayhem.

Vice City most certainly wasn't a "mere update" - it was one of the best games ever (not merely my opinion, that's what it was voted as in the UK PCG top100 and the Readers' Top 100) It took GTA3 so much further and added so much in terms of style, gameplay, story and God-knows-what-else.
But yes you're right, San Andreas will, it seems, keep you very occuppied for a very long time.

I couldn't agree with you more. Graphics don't make a game, gameplay does. Graphics are just a plus and aren't really as important as the gameplay. Newer game like FartCry tried to sell by having only good graphics and crap gameplay. That kind of stuff doesn't fly with me. I palyed it and right away I was like Wow this sucks but it looks nice. I gave it more of a chance but it kept on sucking but it looked good. I'm just glad I didn't buy that game cause I think it'd be a waste of cash. GTA games on the other hand have amazing gameplay that'll keep you busy for a long time AND it has excellent graphics considering what its running on (PS2). It's like the total package, good long lasting gameplay + good graphics. People who the the game sucks because the graphics are bad , which they aren't, are just look for something thats visually appealling and not something that has good gameplay.

 

[IchI]

hmmmm, I have been reading through looking at all th mixed feelings towards this game. First of all, el Chi do read a magazine that isn't comercial. Infact... the whole gta 3/5 series is totally commercial. Why do you think they just look like mere updates. You forget why they make these games...

I said the game sucks, I supose that was a bit straight to the point. So here is what I really think.

I played gta 3 for the firsttime when I was totally ****ed off my head, I found it ****ing hastericil. But I don't really ned to explain why that was. I then played it again at my friends house and found it pritty funny again (I wasn't doing the missions, I was just killing mindlessly). So I thought, this is actually pritty kewl. So obviasly I bought the game. I knew that the playstation version has crappy texture quality so I decided to buy the PC version. I played it for about 2 days for about 1 hour each day of just mindless killing and this was getting really tedious now.... It got to the point where I was kinda bored of killing and I decided to see how many cars I could get in one area and just basiclly getting boring. The next time I played the game I thought what the hell lets see what the missions are like. I played though the first 10 and realised how crap the game actuall was. The end...

Ok back to other stuff. Multiplayer GTA3 in my opinion would fail. You need control in your little world and since most people just wanna run people over it would get very boring. I don't think you could ever really incoporate that game without having about 80% little dickheads and in some ways it would proberly end up worse than the cs community.

Tha games are good for a little bit but get very boring. The fact that the new games and not yet released gta game just look exactly the same does not really give me any reason to buy this game at all. If it had something new in it... maybe they changed the game compeltely then maybe yes, but they are just eally peaces of comercial shite that people are wrapped around and all they do is just bring in the cash. You will have bought 3 games and all they have brought out is 1.5 of game. SIMPLE!

 

[Harryz]

Anyone who complains about the graphics is missing two important points:
1. The graphics are very good, considering its system requirements and what it has to handle in terms of size. So what if it's an old engine? They're spending their time on gameplay and good design rather than getting by on amaaaazing visuals.
2. The GTA series has never been overly concerned about graphics. The games aren't about stunning graphics, they're about good gameplay and a fully-constructed world to wreak mayhem.

Vice City most certainly wasn't a "mere update" - it was one of the best games ever (not merely my opinion, that's what it was voted as in the UK PCG top100 and the Readers' Top 100) It took GTA3 so much further and added so much in terms of style, gameplay, story and God-knows-what-else.
But yes you're right, San Andreas will, it seems, keep you very occuppied for a very long time.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree with you that gameplay is much more important factor then gameplay. When I say Vice City was just a "mere update", it didn't add anything drastically new from GTA 3, except from the PCJ 600 and the assets you can buy. Vice City is still one of my favourite games of all time and I didn't enjoy GTA 3 as much since I got bored too easily. I love everything about Vice City from its soundtrack to its missions, but I feel they could have added a lot more like they are doing with San Andreas.

hmmmm, I have been reading through looking at all th mixed feelings towards this game. First of all, el Chi do read a magazine that isn't comercial. Infact... the whole gta 3/5 series is totally commercial. Why do you think they just look like mere updates. You forget why they make these games...

I said the game sucks, I supose that was a bit straight to the point. So here is what I really think.

I played gta 3 for the firsttime when I was totally ****ed off my head, I found it ****ing hastericil. But I don't really ned to explain why that was. I then played it again at my friends house and found it pritty funny again (I wasn't doing the missions, I was just killing mindlessly). So I thought, this is actually pritty kewl. So obviasly I bought the game. I knew that the playstation version has crappy texture quality so I decided to buy the PC version. I played it for about 2 days for about 1 hour each day of just mindless killing and this was getting really tedious now.... It got to the point where I was kinda bored of killing and I decided to see how many cars I could get in one area and just basiclly getting boring. The next time I played the game I thought what the hell lets see what the missions are like. I played though the first 10 and realised how crap the game actuall was. The end...

Ok back to other stuff. Multiplayer GTA3 in my opinion would fail. You need control in your little world and since most people just wanna run people over it would get very boring. I don't think you could ever really incoporate that game without having about 80% little dickheads and in some ways it would proberly end up worse than the cs community.

Tha games are good for a little bit but get very boring. The fact that the new games and not yet released gta game just look exactly the same does not really give me any reason to buy this game at all. If it had something new in it... maybe they changed the game compeltely then maybe yes, but they are just eally peaces of comercial shite that people are wrapped around and all they do is just bring in the cash. You will have bought 3 games and all they have brought out is 1.5 of game. SIMPLE!

I have to agree with you have GTA 3 got tedious and boring fast; The missions didn’t even really appeal to me – I guess it was the freedom and diversity of the game that caught my attention the first time. Vice City expanded on these factors such as making the missions more interesting and giving you a wider freedom throughout the world/environment. There is something sensational about cruising down a road on a PCJ 600 with “Kool and Gang – Summer Madness” playing on the radio, as you can taste even taste the salt water in your mouth.

 

[Goobers]

Anyone seen Midtown Madness 3 on the Xbox? If they could get the graphics looking like that for the next *real* sequel to GTA, then they would be onto a winner... tho i suppose it has its cartoony style to... y'know, stop it being censored too heavily or something... :\

 

[Axyon]

Anyone seen Midtown Madness 3 on the Xbox? If they could get the graphics looking like that for the next *real* sequel to GTA, then they would be onto a winner... tho i suppose it has its cartoony style to... y'know, stop it being censored too heavily or something... :\

What you're looking for is Driver 3. It's only a week or so off, too!

 

[Harryz]

Driv3r looks pretty good aswell. The damage system for the cars is pretty good. The missions look pretty fun and diversified from Driver 2 and 1; they looks good, especially the 18-wheeler mission. The cities themselves are pretty detailed, except from Maimi, which looks bland too me. Anyway, when is the PC version going to be released? Is there a multi-player?

 

[Axyon]

Driv3r looks pretty good aswell. The damage system for the cars is pretty good. The missions look pretty fun and diversified from Driver 2 and 1; they looks good, especially the 18-wheeler mission. The cities themselves are pretty detailed, except from Maimi, which looks bland too me. Anyway, when is the PC version going to be released? Is there a multi-player?

PC version is supposed to come out sometime in November, I think. Not sure about Multiplayer, don't think there is one in the console versions, but that may change for PC.

 

[mortiz]

GTA:Vice City is apparantly popular with the ladies as well.

I played and loved the first two "Grand Theft Auto's" on the PC, which had simple top-down graphics, but the gameplay was there. I was slightly dissapointed when the series moved to console with the third installment, but it was still an excellent game. The GTA series (more specifically the last two) are perhaps overrated, but are they by no means bad games.

 

[Adidajs]

i thought the gameplay of gta3 was amazing, but shocked that gta:vc could one-up that. sure it's fun just to drive around and randomly kill people, but that gets boring. I really enjoyed the missions. there are so many side missions i never even attempted. i doubt anyone here even got 100% complete on that game. it's just too big. Sure the graphics are no "farcry" but when i turned up aa and af, it looked quite nice to me.

 

[el Chi]

First of all, el Chi do read a magazine that isn't comercial. Infact... the whole gta 3/5 series is totally commercial. Why do you think they just look like mere updates. You forget why they make these games...

Always a good counter-argument to someone who likes something that's popular. Heaven forbid that they should like it by virtue of what it is... No. That would be too easy. Clearly they only like it because they have been brainwashed :hmph:

To be honest, if they make those games purely to make money (and I'm not entirely sure that that is their sordid little agenda seeing as how much effort they pour into making those games) I don't care, so long as it entertains me. If you refuse to play games that are intended to make money and only the ones that are doing it for the love of it all, you would play far far fewer games.
Another example could be UT2004 - shameless opportunism, but still good fun.