Grand Theft Auto finally adds multiplayer mode [Update1]

by Vladimir Cole { Oct 1st 2005 at 12:44AM }

Rockstar has just announced ad-hoc network multiplayer support for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, a first for the best-selling Grand Theft Auto series of games.

The Liberty City Stories website has been updated with details, and IGN has posted an article on their experience with multiplayer mode. This is the game that will finally breathe life into the PSP's ho-hum game line-up. Multiplayer mode will be hot, like scalding coffee hot.

Update: clarified language regarding multiplayer functionality.

[Thanks, Adriaan]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

'This is the game that will finally breathe life into the PSP�s ho-hum game line-up.'

I agree with you 100%. It will be a HUGE system-seller.

Einhanderkiller @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Multi Theft Auto on the go!

jeff @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

wait... so you need 6 players to be on the same network in the same location? who the hell knows anybody with a psp, mcuh less 5 people with psps, who would conveniently be at the same location at the same time. Get with the times Rockstar... its 2005 for christs sake

give me a list of internet servers to connect to, via wi-fi, and I vow to buy a psp and this title. Until then, its all xbox live for me.

Ryan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

The original Grand Theft Auto had multiplayer.

noi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

I heard super mario brothers 3 has multiplayer

SargeMonkey @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

I just shat my pants!

Oshi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

#6 Wipe your bum with the GTA game disc!

Arizona Glover @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

wow...

mike oxbig @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

This GTA on PSP is bad idea. Now gangs will have easy access to step-by-step instructions of car-jacking technique. This will positively lead to the biggest car-jacking rashes of all time. God help us for none of our Cheetahs or Rhinos will be safe.

dslamngu @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Agree with #4 Ryan, also IIRC GTA2 had netplay.

Then again, multiplayer is a first for the "best-selling Grand Theft Auto series," not the more obscure 1 and 2, which were not really best-selling.

Jules @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Does the San Andreas two player minigame count?

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Meh. Still GTA. Have no problem finding two or three friends to play this with... Could get 5 others if i really wanted, I just don't like those people. I mean, if I can pull together 15 others(usually a few others too) for Halo2 LAN parties, I'm definitely not going to have trouble getting 6 people together with PSPs and GTA(or an ISO loader with GTA). Xbox live isn't that great, go make some gaming friends. Even if you're hellbent on non-personal interaction, you can just get a wireless nic for $30 and use Xlink Kai or Xbox Connect to tunnel your PSP multiplayer(Ad Hoc) experiences online with others.

Nobody here really likes to read into how to utilize anything, do they?

The1 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

"3. Posted Oct 1, 2005, 2:18 AM ET by jeff

wait... so you need 6 players to be on the same network in the same location? who the hell knows anybody with a psp, mcuh less 5 people with psps, who would conveniently be at the same location at the same time. Get with the times Rockstar... its 2005 for christs sake

give me a list of internet servers to connect to, via wi-fi, and I vow to buy a psp and this title. Until then, its all xbox live for me."

Jeff hit it on the NOSE, the game does not support infrastructure mode. As such, I have no one to play online with close to me. I have one friend in Chicago who lives 5 miles from me; and my other friend lives in Baltimore that has a PSP. How are the three of suppose to play this game together. I do not this game will sell the PSP like crazy. Sony is missing out on wireless play and when Ninetendo releases Mario Cart it will support Infrastructure mode and will sell like HOTCAKES. Again, the way I use my PSP is to look at movies while I am on a plane using my 1G memory stick.

Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

"Sony is missing out on wireless play and when Ninetendo releases Mario Cart it will support Infrastructure mode and will sell like HOTCAKES."

Sony has infrastructure games already... Nintendo took an entire year to finally release infrastructure games... Like I said man, if you're in a jam, read up on Xlink Kai or Xbox Connect, both programs allow you to play PSP ad-hoc games with anyone else in the world. All you do is set it up, join a lobby for the game you want to play, then go to join game on your PSP. It's easy and ups replay value on PSP games.

swarmster @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

When I hear things like "this is the game that will finally breathe life into the PSP�s ho-hum game line-up," it really makes me fear for the system. First of all, one game does not a "line-up" make. Secondly, am I the only one who finds yet another GTA the definition of "ho-hum" at this point?

Kenneth Powers @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas had many multiplayer modes:

Free Roam
Death Match
Pool Table
etc.

darryl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

It's about freakin' time Rockstar! Thank you! I had a hunch they would do this for the PSP as almost all games released thus far support some sort of multi-player mode.

Zachary @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Thats great, but I don't know anyone with a psp, when do we get true internet play?

darryl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

"when do we get true internet play?"

You don't, you won't... If you would like to play over the internet, then read the comments above and all shall be revealed. I play adhoc games over the internet all the time, works great. GTA:LCS will be quite fun.

n8 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

The1: make new friends.

The lack of an infrastructure mode is a bummer. But I think that there's the possibility that an external service could make up for it, and it's always possible that R* has some tricks up its sleeve as well. Maybe I'm just dreaming though.

Setting aside the infrastructure mode, you have to give credit to R* for 7 different multiplayer modes, and supporting up 2 to 6 players in addition to what promises to be a great single-player game. For those with a few PSPer friends, or those who ride the subway in New York, I think this game could be a big hit.

Sanitarium @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

System seller? No.

Like I've said before, nobody is going to pay 250$ for a PSP so they can play the same game they bought 4-5 years ago on-the-go and with (*GASP* New Function of the Year) multiplayer. People who already own a PSP will buy it, but barely anybody would be willing to spend 300$+ for the same game they had 4-5 years ago and that they can buy for around 200$ (for a PS2/xbox and San Andreas) if they still don't have it.

jeff @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

I used to play gta2 on pc multiplayer, and it was great. Even though it was the top-down view, it was an original and fun multiplayer experience... except with the same problem... those of use who didnt have nerdy friends found it hard to find players.

Nine @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

the problem i see is with what IGN wrote in their article:

"The only snag we ran into was due to one PSP which hadn't been updated with the recent Firmware 2.0 update."

guess that menas that you need 2.0 to play LCS. and that after i've just downgraded.

jason @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Now I feel alittle better. I sold my PSP to a dude in Italy and recieved almost enough to by the 360. Then the freaking Madden game hit. And it looked so nice, but with the long load times and the messed up franchise mode(my favorite mode fromt he home console besides online play) I could have skipped it. But this game was waiting in the wings and i was feeling bad about selling the old psp. I mean all i did was play movies from my computer on it, I could do that with my laptop. But now that GTA has dropped the ball and not allowed true online multiplayer support. I will just wait until they drop the price of the system and there are more games out before I rebuy. Come on Mulitiplayer these days means online. Not just 2 or 6 players in a room. All with PSPs and all with the game. Thats a freaking lan party.

bd @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

22, check pspupdates and you can get the WAB version faker. I'm playing Burnout Legends and SNES games on the same machine.

BlackYoshi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Aww, I thought it would be more like "gang war MMORPG multiplayer" than "third person shooter deathmatch". Since GTA's aiming and shooting in general is pretty poor compared to a dedicated shooting game (IMO, its more spray bullets in general direction rather than any skill), I don't think the deathmatch-style multi is going to be that amazing.

xej @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Please, R*, give us some fricken INFRASTRUCTURE! HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN ASKING FOR THIS?

A New Challenger @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

I would like to play this game, but I will not spend $300 to do so. I acquired GTA 1, 2, 3, Vice City, and GTA Advance for less than 30 dollars altogether (legitimately, I might add). Granted, I already had the hardware to play these games (the first 3 I have on PC); none of them sold the systems for me.

Also, http://www.rockstargames.com/classic . Have fun.

Nine @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

@ #26 BlackYoshi:

As far as i am told the PSP GTA should have a new (at least new to the series) targeting system.

@ #25 bd:

I'm not entirely sure if this will be fakeable or if it uses some of the features of the real 2.0 firmware. If the game can be tricked I'm more than happy because I like my SNES RPG's and GTA:LCS was one of the games I was waiting for since I first heard of it.

jay @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

yea! great... ad hoc. so i need a computer, an Xlink Kai account and the software. so i have to be near the computer with the software? hmm. anything else on the checklist? whats that? DS and Nintendo Wifi Connection? oh right! thanks! :)

Shaun C. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Not as System seller?

I bought a ps2 for Gta
I bought a psp when I found out there was a New Gta gane in the works

I WILL buy a ps3, all because of one series
Grand Theft Auto

The Number 1# System seller
Now Mutiplayer on the psp

Im making at least three of my friends buy psp's
Just so we can play GTA:LCS together
(not to mention, that AMAZING capability's of the system)

Sony and Gta have got me by the balls

-Shaun

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

I hear you, Shaun.

At the time, the main reason I bought a PS2 was because of the Grand Theft Auto series.

It WILL help to move MANY units of the PSP.

darryl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

"yea! great... ad hoc. so i need a computer, an Xlink Kai account and the software. so i have to be near the computer with the software? hmm. anything else on the checklist? whats that? DS and Nintendo Wifi Connection? oh right! thanks! :)"

You can get a linksys WRT54g which is reprogrammable with xlinkd, no computer required after that. They go for less than $50. If you want a DS, then just buy one... no need to tell us about it.

Who cares if there isn't infrastructure mode... I wouldn't use it anyway. If I'm at home I'd rather game on my PC or PS2, not the PSP. However, when I'm in transit or with friends (most of whom have PSPs) then awesome... I'd rather be in the same room as the people I'm playing with, love the verbal abuse :)

hashim @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

come on guys, you've got it ALL WRONG. You get support for up to six players in GTA, so you could just be playing with ONE friend. And so what if there's no infrastructure, we're getting a genre and platform- defining game in our hands on the 25th, please be grateful after a slow Q2

Leon single @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

IT is damn wicked, multiplayer can be fun just one on one. look at some games like COD, they are amazing one on one, only on death match though.

Twilight @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Driving around Liberty City, strapped w/an uzi in a 3 person speedbike "gang" with your friends? Lookin' for the other 3 people smart enough to have a PSP? Oh no...That sounds lame to everybody doesn't it?
Rockstar has made it clear that there will be "extensions" to Liberty city...I'm sure they are still programming to the last second before it is released...It would take a lot longer to program online gameplay into the original release, (pushing release back)and U think they don't know the value of a living breathing Liberty City online? They just want to get the game out to their salivating fans and I'm sure they will have online available soon...PSP is going to have plenty of updates for their hardware and software...(Video camera, Flash, Streaming capability and such)
The only thing about LCS that I WISH they had been able to include was SKYDIVING...That woulda been sweet basejumping off buildings, even if there were no airplanes...
If plenty of people bought Mario 64 for DS, which is EXACTLY the SAME as the original and is an even older game(with totally lamer graphics on a matchbook size screen), then I think LCS, which is a highly updated version and now features Multiplayer will do fine...Not to mention IGN said the graphics look sicker than San Andreas...Much Love to Rockstar...U just don't disappoint...