According
to an alleged employee of Rockstar North in Glasgow, Scotland, the next installment in the GTA series
"will be titled Grand Theft Auto: London and will take place in the Great City of London in
1997."If true, this sounds suspiciously like Rockstar trying to claim the "Great City" back from Sony's supposed usurpers to the crime-drivin' throne. Also, if you recall, there was a PC expansion to the first GTA in 1999 called Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, so this is either a bad rumor or a likely remake of old material.
We here at Joystiq hear a lot of crazy rumors about games, of course, but we sometimes wonder what to make of anonymous tipsters who claim to work for certain "developers of interest." Read on for the other details we received, and make the decision for yourself.
According to our source (who admittedly doesn't have the most perfect spelling), the "3 Island" system will be replaced by a new "North, East, South, West" system, and the main character will be an ex-gangster starting off in the "rough-and-tumble east end of London." Unlocked regions are to include the North End, South End, and West End, in order. The game is supposed to be about 60% finished, with the graphics and physics engines both completed. The focus is now mainly on the game's story component. The game is currently set to launch with the Playstation 3 in North America and Europe in Q4 2006. With about a year's work already done, the PlayStation 3's "fantastic graphical power" should provide some better horsepower under the hood of the sandbox series.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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since when are Miami and San Andreas fictional cities?
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The strength of gta is found in its love of american bad habits and its moching of all the american anacronisms. Take that away and you lose the best part of whats kept gta popular and relevant, despite its inferior graphics and poor physics engine.
Im no london hater. I loved the first getaway game and I even listen to the streets regularly.
As far as taking place in the nineties, That was where san andreas dropped the ball. The 90's are still TOO close to be entertaining.
The best next gta to me, would be a late 70's-early 80's based washington d.c. exploit. Think about the possibilities in that universe. Messing around with politicos(maybe even running for office?) and getting crazy in the worst crime city in america. It would be GLORIOUS!
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"Gawdon Bennet! Get the shooters, we're goin' round 'is manor ter put one up 'is jam roll. "
What am I thinking, of course they will, but at least the music will be the dogs.
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But, erm, R*^ is in Edinburgh...
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San Andreas is a fake city and it was Vice City, not Miami.
I still don't see them doing a real city, mainly because they probably don't want to get locked into the whole "make sure it is 100% accurate" thing and just make up the city to best suit the gameplay.
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since when are Miami and San Andreas fictional cities?"
Are you kidding? Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas are all fictional cities. San Andreas is a fault line, not a city.
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And no I'm not buying a PS3.
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GTA: London makes no sense at all. Why would they create the whole GTA universe with Liberty City, Vice City, San Fierro, Las Venturas, and Los Santos and then just throw in a real city? It may be based on London, but it won't be called GTA: London
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http://www.city-data.com/city/San-Andreas-California.html
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No, it's really found in classy mob-bosses who'll shove your face through a wood-shredder in all the while he's covered in beautiful women and laughing at the same.
The whole : "American Acronisms" is more of a sub-theme, the real theme of GTA is in the gangs and the mobs.
Of course, you've probably only play San Andreas with tries to 'hip' with the whole hip-hop urban stuff. Which, I suppose, is an american theme, but it really can't compare in entertainment value to two well-dressed men showing up to collect your 'protection' money.
I really do think London is perfect for the whole mob thing.
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Liberty city, San andreas, Vice city.
Later it got a expansion pack, and that had:
London.
The whole GTA3+ series is as good as a remake of GTA1. And now they are remaking the expansion pack. It only makes sense that it's london.
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for those who didn't really get the joke... Liberty City refers to New York... Vice City is another name for Miami (drug dealing? get it?) and of course, San Andreas refers to the greater Los Angeles area
As to the 90's being too close, you're obviously too young to understand what happened in the 90's with gangster rap ... early nineties rap theme was perfect.. it was a hard core balance to the cheese that was Vice City...
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1. If this came from a Rockstar employee, he is now an ex-Rockstar employee. Take it from me.
2. That being said, it did not come from a Rockstar employee. As you can see right here (click around until you get the "about" area), Rockstar North is in Leith, Edinburgh, not Glasgow: http://www.rockstarnorth.com/
In fact, their exact address is 1 Calton Square, Edinburgh, EH1 3AP.
I would think a Rockstar employee would know what city he works in. And no, there is no "Glasgow branch" of Rockstar North. This is an office of like 20 people, they barely even need one branch.
There's no doubt this rumor is fake. Which is not to say the next GTA *isn't* in production for the PS3. No doubt it is. But whether it's called "London" or something else and whether it's set there or on the planet Pluto is not something anybody outside of Rockstar in either New York or Edinburgh knows right now.
oh, and btw, San Andreas as used in the game was a *state*, not a city. So it was as fictional as Vice City or Liberty City - based on a real place, but not a real place, whether or not there's a *town* named San Andreas.
And last thing, related to that - GTA London 1969 was developed before Take 2's purchase of DMA Design. Take it for whatever it's worth, but there has not been a real city in GTA since Take 2 took the company over in 1999.
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they gotta have some east london boys in there, being an east london boy myself. I wouldn't mind a GTA set in London, give us a break from all the american culture and you guys get to see what us londoners are all about.
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You are aware that there is a custom soundtrack option, unless you're some tool using a PS2.
Ha-
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Pure BS.
Can't wait till we hear some real info on the next game, its going to be awsome.
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Guess thats when the kid who sent this in was born
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http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/gtalibertycitystories/news.html?sid=6125234
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Who says Rockstar isn't going to make up a fictional name for London?
I can see where Rockstar is going. As Vice City played off of Miami Vice of the 80's, San Andreas played off of LA hip hop culture of the early 90's; I imagine they will play off of the British heist/gangster movies of the late 90's by Guy Ritchie
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I'm too young to understand huh? I won't even humor you with my age but rest assured Ive been paying taxes since long before there was a gta game. And I don't think that san andreas was hardcore at all. Instead it was just a trivialization of lifestyle that IS HARDCORE.
Yeah i still enjoyed and played the game to the end and I was glad that the main character was black and young and wasn't a coked out mafioso.
With vice city they could have just called it 'gta:scarface/miami vice' and they played that up to the ultimate degree. And too me that made the game cohesive.
With san andreas the music(outside of the gansta rap)was poorly chosen and uninteresting. Instead of making 'gta:boyz in the hood/friday'(which would have been a much better game' they made 'gta: california games' The first game would have been much better. Anyways ultimately it felt like the storyline and the character development was rushed. What made me say the Nineties is still too close is that I guess I feel that too many people are still currently living the life Cj was in. And the way the game handled it was neither accurate or poigniant.
Anyways there no need to iply I'm a 'young punk' to get your own point across.
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I was hoping for a fictional Europe (all of it) in GTA. That was maybe 4 or 5 times larger than san andreas.
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Or better yet, the Beatles, Black Sabbath, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Mot?ad....
Say what you will about the limeys, but they do manage to send some good music over the pond ever so often.
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And no I'm not buying a PS3."
That's a borderline racist statement! What the fuck does that have to do with the next GTA? In all of the games excluding San Andreas, all of the characters where either white, or european.
"Thug Ghetto Black Shooting People" thing."
Grow up man.
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PS:- Vice city did of course reference drugs but IMHO was relating to the sex industry at the time.
PPS:- NO liberty City
vice SEX city
NATURAL DISATER san andreas AT ANY TIME
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And yes, Rockstar North is based in Edinburgh, Scotland - quite a distance from Glasgow. There's absolutely NO WAY an "employee" would get the two mixed up.
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First came GTA. This contained the cities Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City.
Then came GTA: London.
Then came GTA2.
Then there was GTA3 (Liberty City), GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas.
It would make sense that they would revisit London now!
And I'll bet that after London they do the city from GTA2, Anywhere City.
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I also think that the next GTA will have more than one main character. Make it a “four brothers” type of game play, where you build up one character to a certain point, then jump to another, another, another, and have it all come together at the end. May work…
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Don't forget about some Radiohead. London would be an interesting change for the GTA series. That is, going from America to Europe. If this is true, I'm expecting a good soundtrack, and next gen gameplay.
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Al3x, you might want to change that 'is' to 'was'.
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* QUESTION FOR #18 captain_duck *
If GTA1 had liberty city , vice city , and san andreas and then GTA London was an expansion pack then what was GTA 2 ...
Email : threeill3@yahoo.com
XBOX LIVE Gamer Tag : TWO ILL
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