GTA: Liberty Cities Stories (PSP) website launched
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Sep 12th 2005 at 2:00PM }
Rockstar has launched the companion website for their upcoming and much-anticipated PSP title, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, the game that some publications are already calling the "killer app" for the PSP.
Killer app or no, the website is limp, using some sort of bizarre email inbox navigation scheme that takes a good 10 Mississippis to open a single email. Here's a sample from one particularly prophetic email: "The internet is unambiguous evil. The only things worse than the internet are computer games and liberals." Yes, true, but the author of that email forgot to mention horribly bloated and slow flash navigation as a chief source of the Internet's evils.
Recommendation: skip the emails (as amusing as they are, they just take too long to load) and jump straight to the links in the footer of the site for the screenshots, a movie, and other information about the game. (Side note: The Warriors website is much better. What gives?)
Update: turns out that the site is much more tolerable on a faster connection and is actually a joy to explore once it plays nice and loads quickly. There are some nice easter eggs hidden on the site, one of which a reader posts in the comments section below. If the site was bogged down when you visited it earlier, try again now. It's worth a second look.
For a more detailed preview of the title, check Eurogamer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Why am I just not impressed? What does this offer over GTA 3/Vice City on the PS2? Is it going to have anything new?
Jules @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
A whole new story.
Jules @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
And the re-playability of GTA on a handheld is huge. Do a couple of crimes on the way to college = sweet :D
Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Um, given that GTA is evil (at least in the minds of many moral judges), I guess this means that LCS will be an online title. I mean, why go to the trouble of mentioning the internet in that slow-loading message if it isn't? Maybe those e-mails are useful after all.
sup909 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Wow looks like some great videos and very thematic. I think we will have plenty of time to grab a soda and some popcorn...........then wash the car, clean the gutters and water the plants while the games loads on the psp.
Does the game come with an extra battery?
OTAM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I don't want to sound like Negative Ned but i've given up on the GTA series after Vice City. The games have been stretched beyond capacity and they should just stop making them.
Really though,what is there actually left for the series that already hasnt been done or improved on?
Sanitarium @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
WOAH!! A brand new storyline (cause thats what we all play GTA for, right?) and you get to play it on-the-go!!! This game has everything!!! Except all the advancements San Andreas made for the series.
I've said it many times before, this game won't be a system seller, though it will sell very well among the people who already own a PSP. Nobody's going to pay 300$+ to get a 3-4 year old game (with a brand new storyline!! OMFG!) on the go when they could just buy it (or a better version) for 175-200$-ish on a home console.
And agreeing with number 5, the game will do horrible things to your battery life.
YoYo-Pete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
This game is built on a different engine than the other GTA games...
In my opinion GTA:III and Vice City were great games. San Andreas is way too dull and monotonous for me.
I think this game is really going to be one of the games that show what the PSP can do.
No, people wont buy the PSP for this game. I dont really think there could be any one game that would make people buy a system.
I think this will really turn out to be a good story and a good game.
As for loading time, well that's all speculation. This game has been in development for over two years. This group was one of the first to receive the PSP dev kit. The game will have loading times similar to GTA:III according to rockstar. only when the game loads and when you switch islands.
It wont kill your battery life. You can expect at least 3 hours of playtime on a charge.
I dont know why everyone seems to be so against this game. It's not a port of GTA:III with new missions... This is a completly new game that happens to take place in the same city.
This will be one of the amazing games on the PSP.
Sanitarium @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Completely new game? Sweety, its Vice City with a new coat of paint slapped on it.
And the amount of media-streaming the 3D GTA's do will make a 3 hour battery life with this game a world record.
GuyManDude @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
"I dont know why everyone seems to be so against this game. It's not a port of GTA:III with new missions... This is a completly new game that happens to take place in the same city."
Because it's a completely new game in a series that, according to most has completely dried up.
Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
This game is not gonna sell PSP's? What did GTA 3 do for the PS2? That game single handedly put more PS2's in peoples homes then any other game on the system, and to boot GTA has the biggest following then any other game here in America.
It's not only the hardcore gamer that enjoys GTA, its mainstream America that lives for this type of game. Publicity for the GTA series is priceless. Politicians hate it, then the people love it. Certain rappers have even used audio from the last 3 games on their albums. It gets to the point where Rockstar no longer has to give information on its game until a month before its release.
YoYo-Pete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I dont see any issues with making another version of a game if it's a good game. What if they gave up after Zelda 2? or what it Mario 2 was the last one in that series. How about SOCOM? Or Quake?
Just because the last game in the series wasnt that good doesnt mean that the next game wont be spectacular...
As for battery life, the game isnt going to stream as much as you think. It will do 3 hours easy.
metal_gear_jello @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I've bought my first GTA game in Vice City. I honeestly didn't like it and never quite understood why people play it, i found the police to be very cheap. They would gang up on you out of nowhere, giving you no chance to escape. And unlike most people I don't use the cheat. Regardless, this release should definitely push more PSPs out there, along with the release of Socom and Metal Gear Acid 2.
Sanitarium @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Why don't you people get it? GTA3 sold PS2's 4-5 years ago because it was new and a great game that everybody loved. So all these people have bought a PS2 for GTA, so they release a sequel (a better version, though not by much) that also sells well due to the already built up fanbase. They release another sequel that is once again improving upon the series, and obviously, it sells on the same system that everybody bought GTA3 for.
GTA:LCS is a step backwards for the series, its by no means new (except for storyline, but seriously, come on). 4 years ago, it was new, and people bought PS2's to play it. Now, 4-5 years later, the same game is coming out, its not an improved upon sequel, its just the same game with a new coat of paint slapped on. Had this game be new or to a lesser extent, improved upon the series, it would probably sell PSP's, but since everybody who wanted to play GTA has already bought a PS2, xbox, or the computer version, they have no reason to spend 300$+ to get the same game only on a new platform that allows you to play it on-the-go. Its the same old game, only now its portable. why spend 300$+ for a 4-5 year old game to be played on-the-go?
Does that help clear it up?
Philip Wesley @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
ENTER FACITIOUS RANT MODE. PLEASE DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY! (I've been reading Blue State Web Forums...)
If you don't like San Andreas, can we call you a racist?
Is it because the antagonist is black in San Andreas? HMMM?
Are you a HURRICANE? Does M. Jordon see you sneering at him disapprovingly because of your RACISM in your criticism of his PERFECTLY FINE ability to play BASEBALL?
I am so appalled by your anti-San Andreas RACISM! How could you hate that game? That's just so very RACIST! Sure, it is just a slightly tweaked version of Vice City; but you are RACIST! By not liking San Andreas, you are pushing people like the HERO of San Andreas to the back of the bus! HEROES who just want to shoot up your neighborhood, loot your Wal-Mart, sell drugs, and drink orange soda! Just like in San Andreas! You are setting back civil rights to the age of lower taxes! WHY THE RACISM! CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG?
Yes! Hating RockStars VISION is PURE Racism! YEEEE-AAAAAAARGH!
END SNARKY FACITIOUS RANT.
On a serious note, I've no intention of picking up Liberty City Stories. I personally think the current GTA games are rental fodder. GTA 3 was, to me, the Mortal Kombat 2 of the Grand Theft Auto series. Everything before GTA 3 was Mortal Kombat 1, and everything past GTA 3 is like Mortal Kombat 3. Yes, I think that one of the first missions in GTA:LCS should be to steal a vehicle, find a shark, and jump over it.
GuyManDude @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Philip you forgot the most important issue of the rant....how Kanye West will feel about you!
Vance @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
The problem with a company making "console-quality" portable games is that those games have to compete with the full console versions, where developers put a ton more time into production because the intalled base is much bigger. Honestly, for me, the portability factor is not enough to get me to buy a sub-par GTA game. I'll take the real thing, thank you very much.
I think Sony made a serious error with the PSP. Developers are giving it the shaft because it competes with their console development efforts. That just means crappy rehashes of old games. If Sony wanted a mini PS2, they should have just *made* a mini-PS2--to the point where you could burn a UMD of a PS2 game and it would run on the PSP. IF that were the case, the game selection would be huge now. (Yes, I know Sony would have had to find a way to split multiplayer games across two screens.)
skype @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
This game will be the biggest game on the PSP. Not only will this game be sold out on the first day, the PSP will also be sold out.... Okay okay, I'm a fanboy, so slap me silly.
Anyways, the person who said GTA was 3 or 4 years old and people should stop playing.. Go F* yourself. GTA wasn't sold in 1 year. It was sold during those 4 year span. Whats old to some people is new to others. GTA is becoming more and more popular, not less. This game will sell out the PSP single handedly. Sorry about the Fanboyism.
- Skype
Kevin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I think Vance (#21) is right. I work for a development studio and this issue has been a big problem for us.
Hardware wise, the PSP is close to PS2 quality (yet, from our standpoint, not close enough.)That creates a sticky situation for us. First, it means that it takes a huge, console-level budget to create a quality game for the system.
When our execs discuss what platform to sink that kind of money into, they have always chosen the PS2 because the installed base is much bigger. This allows us to sell enough copies to get back all of those development costs. There's no way we can do that for a console-quality PSP game.
If Sony had made it so that we could just run our PS2 games on the PSP (on UMDs), we could develop for "two" platforms with essentially one budget. But instead Sony chose to make essentially another console platform that competes against the PS2. Also, because the PSP doesn't "quite" have the power of the PS2, it means we can't just do direct ports over to the PSP. It really does take a separate team to do a good PSP game, and the results end up being quite short of the PS2 version. (Battery life and load times become quite a problem there, too.)
Note that there are development similiarities between the systems, but not enough to make it so that production efforts can go across the two platforms without spending a lot of extra money.
In the end, when a developer has a certain hunk of cash to make a console-quality game, they will almost always choose the system that allows them to sell a ton of copies. Right now, the PSP is not that system. We will continue to develop for the PS2.
SetupWeasel @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I'm sure that GTA:LCS will sell PSPs. The question is: how many has it already sold? A lot of the early adopters bought the PSP for the promise of a GTA release.
I'm a DS fan myself, and I will tell you that I bought the system for the promise of certain games none of which were Nintendogs. Nintendogs is a particularly important game because its appeal stretches beyond what the early adopters wanted. Nintendogs is a killer app that broadens the DS's appeal.
I don't see GTA doing that for the PSP. The people who are willing to spend $300 for a portable GTA may have already spent it.
Zach @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
EXPLICIT CONTENT BELOW
DO NOT VIEW IF YOU'RE YOUNG:
Ok like that had any effect. Just, as a tangent, to get off this bickering, anyone notice what the acronym for "citizens united negating technology" is? Yep, c*nt. How about the acronym of the full name of the organization on the organization's website: "citizens united negating technology for life and people's safety" = c*nt flaps. Just thought that was really funny and seems to be Rockstar taking a stab at all their "anti-technology anti-videogame" critics.
Agent X @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Vance, you're calling Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories "sub-par." So, have you actually PLAYED a finished copy of the game, or are you just (once again) demonstrating your bias by making snide remarks about the PSP and its games every chance you get? You've clearly got an agenda here, and it reeks of fanboyism.
Do yourself a favor and read the Eurogamer preview (mentioned in the Joystiq article above), which explains in great detail that this is essentially a brand new, full-scale GTA game (or, as you like to call it, "the real thing"), that just so happens to be on a portable system. Then, PLAY the game before you bother to comment on it again.
Retro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Sounds like Agent X has the fanboy agenda, if you ask me... Geesh, grow up, kid.
Anyhow, I'll probably buy this game. There's not much else out there to get my money. I wonder how they got around the city-loading issues for the slower UMD.
Flagg @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Kevin, I think your anaylsis is mostly correct in that many studios will decide to put their money to making games for the PS2/Xbox over the PSP, but you forgot one thing: Sony has "encouraged" development on high-end games for the PSP. It's a little-reported fact that much of the budget for GTA:LCS comes from Sony. They know that GTA sold lots of PS2s and they want to repeat that story with the PSP. I know they can't foot the bill for every good PSP game in the future, but they will surely buy enough of a user base with this title to make it worth while for other developers to put their budgets towards PSP games. (I hope.)
Gareth @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Agent X: I can't help but notice the hilarious irony in YOU accusing someone of being a fanboy. You just made my day. Thank you.
JamesP @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
Has anyone, anyone at all, thought of the possibility that not everyone has a gta game? Or that not everyone has something that plays a gta game? No? Didn't think so. I bought the psp so I could play some of the ps2 library watered down or not how would I know if I can't play the original? So to all of you nay sayers: SHUT UP AND WAIT FOR SALES FIGURES I'M GOING TO BUY IT!
YoYo-Pete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
To everyone who thinks this is just GTA:III with new missions... It's not.
This is a all new game built on a completely new game engine. It takes place in liberty city, just as GTA:III did. The environment is all new. Lots of buildings are different or being built. There is expanded areas of the north island that you couldn't get to in GTA:III.
I wouldn't say it has new paint on it since it is a new game engine. They built this thing from the ground up. It's not just a modified port of the existing game.
Shaun @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I will buy anything they put GTA on.
Which is Why I got a PS2, a PSP and will eventually get the PS3. Sony's and Rockstar has got me!
HELP!!!
(or don't Most Sony products are Wicked Sweet!)
-Shaun
Tyler @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM
I do think that GTA:LCS will be a PSP seller. It's already been said, look what GTA3 did for the PS2. The GTA 3 made Rockstar a household (among other places) name.
Plus I think that a lot of you are forgetting that the PSP is still in its first run. Look at the PS2, it's been around for what? 5 years or so? Look at how advanced everything has gotten. The same thing will happen with the PSP. The press wasn't shitting us when they said that the PSP will have the graphics power of the PS2. The only real flaw with the PSP is the lack of a 2nd analog nub. So what there aren't 4 shoulder buttons. 99 percent of the time you didn't really do anything with them anyway.
GTA:LCS Is everything that the GTA series embodies on a different console. so what, you can't make your character a fatass, there will still be just as many cars, the music will still be there, the guns, the explosions, the voice acting, and what you guys are forgetting is that if you turn off the WLAN switch, and don't crank the fucking volume (or just buy headphones that jack up the sound for you) you won't waste too much battery life.
This is GTA3 only pre GTA3. There are new things, like subway systems to get you from one island to another. There is a new game engine that yeah, maybe you'll have to deal with a load screen for every island, but i doubt that it's going to be anywhere near as bad as the load times for Midnight Club 3. Plus the cars have improved damage modeling, the lighting systems been improved. They are going to work your PSP. and you're all going to like it.
I'll bet anything that the majority of the people here who are knocking the portable GTA are either a)DS owners who are jealous or b)psp owners who will buy it anyway.