san andreas
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‘GTA: Online’ opens the doors to The Diamond Casino & Resort
The wait is over for GTA: Online's long-rumored "Vinewood Casino." The Diamond Casino & Resort opened its doors today. The "sprawling entertainment and luxury living complex" offers plenty to bet on, including roulette, blackjack and three card poker, plus slot machines and horse racing. And if gambling isn't your thing, you can always hangout in the infinity pool on the roof or customize your master penthouse.
Daily iPhone App: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is just as fantastic as you remember
Oftentimes, older video games are looked upon with rose-colored glasses thanks to the magic, memory-altering powers of nostalgia. I was a bit worried that today's release of the PlayStation 2 classic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- which, upon its release in 2004, quickly became one of the most popular games of all time -- wouldn't be quite as fantastic as history would have us believe. Fortunately, that's not at all the case. Like the rest of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, San Andreas is set in a fictional region modeled heavily after real-life counterparts. In this case, you'll be exploring various cities and suburbs drawn from the cultural memory of early '90s Southern California and Las Vegas. The story is long and winding, touching on everything from gang rivalries and police corruption to the street car-tuning scene. Just like in the original console release, there's really nothing you can't do within the confines of the game's setting. Want to grab a burger, hit the gym, start a police chase or simply take a scenic drive? Go for it. San Andreas is yours to explore, and it looks fantastic on a Retina display. The game is compatible with iPhones starting with the 4s, and tablets starting with the iPad 2, so there's a chance you may not be playing this on a Retina device. But if you are, you're in for a treat. The buildings, vehicles, foliage and just about everything else look quite good and remarkably sharp. Unfortunately, the character models -- which, keep in mind, were designed for the PlayStation 2 -- can appear a bit awkward at times, and this is only magnified by the HD resolution we are now treated to. This isn't anywhere close to being a deal breaker, but you may occasionally get a laugh out of a strange gait or goofy facial expression. Music is another high point, with classic '90s tunes filling the fictional radio stations. There are almost too many songs to even keep track of, but if, for some reason, you want to listen to your own tunes, you can do that as well through the game's custom playlist feature. San Andreas offers a few different control options, including virtual analog sticks, virtual digital buttons and so on. The game also features MFi controller support for devices like the Logitech PowerShell and MOGA Ace, though I haven't yet been able to test this feature (we'll be running some comparisons soon, so stay tuned). The virtual analog method feels the most comfortable of the options available, and with a little practice, it's easy to replicate the feeling of using a proper gamepad. Whether you're a seasoned GTA veteran or you've never touched the franchise before, GTA San Andreas is the perfect place to start, and it's practically flawless on iOS. The game is US$6.99, which is a bargain considering you could play the game for well upwards of 50 hours.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas begins assaulting citizens tomorrow
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will be following the path of its predecessor and making the leap to iOS devices on December 12. The game, which is widely considered to be one of the best of the Grand Theft Auto series, has been revamped for its iOS debut and comes complete with higher-resolution graphics, cloud saved support and custom playlist support. San Andreas will also be one of the first big releases to support the iOS controller framework at launch, which is great since the open-world nature of the GTA series makes fiddling with virtual touchscreen buttons a bit of a hassle. The game will set you back US$6.99 when it launches tomorrow.
MMO Burnout: Two weeks in the valley with Multi Theft Auto
OK, you know that guy who's always going on about how bloody awesome it would be if someone ever made a working multiplayer mod for Skyrim? If you don't know him, well, you do now, because he's me. Back before I was bitten in earnest by the MMO bug, I spent quite a lot of time messing with private servers of both the Jedi Academy and Neverwinter Nights persuasions. And when I say "messing with," I don't mean I logged into them, I mean I hosted them, made mods and skins for them, and generally wasted significant portions of my youth serving as a GM. Needless to say, it was a blast, and the thought of having that experience again in a larger game world is just short of orgasmic. Alas, no one has made much of a multiplayer Skyrim mod yet, and while private servers for NWN and Neverwinter Nights 2 are still running and serving their niche communities quite capably, those are topics for another edition of MMO Burnout. I'd like to tell you about something similar that I've been playing lately, though. It's called Multi Theft Auto. %Gallery-177696%
Newest version of GTA mod brings us one step closer to a GTA MMO
If you're a fan of the classic Grand Theft Auto games (the popular ones, not the older ones that nobody played), then we may have some good news for you as an MMO player. A new update has been released for the Multi Theft Auto mod (v1.3) that introduces voice chat, bringing us that much closer to a true GTA MMO. The wildly popular mod for GTA: San Andreas adds multiplayer functionality to the original Rockstar game, which was released just over seven years ago. It also includes a full map editor, dedicated Windows server package, and everything else you need to rat-a-tat-tat your friends in a simulated Dr. Dre album setting. Sound like a good time? Check out a video sample after the jump, and head over to the official website for more info.
Cypress Hill backup singer sees himself in Grand Theft Auto, sues Rockstar
Our friends, this next post is fraught with danger, excitement, and West Coast rappers with names like B-Real, Sen Dog, and Michael "Shagg" Washington. Indeed, the latter is alleging that Rockstar appropriated his likeness for the character CJ, a hood in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas whose life apparently shares many details with his own troubled upbringing, "including how the teen-agers in his gang rode around on bicycles," according to his lawyer. It seems that way back in 2003 the Cypress Hill backup singer met with reps from the game studio for a two hour interview "to talk about street life," and the next thing you know, San Andreas is released and you have criminals riding around on bikes! Coincidence? Mr. Shagg doesn't think so, and he's asking for twenty-five percent of Rockstar's profits from the game -- approximately $250 million -- because they've "stolen his image and never paid him." Now that we think of it, isn't there an obsessive gadget blogger in that game that looks awfully familiar? We'd better call our lawyers.
Grand Theft Auto trilogy finally coming to the Mac
Man, it's about $*#(ing time. The storied (and dare I say classic?) Grand Theft Auto trilogy, featuring GTA 3, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas, is finally coming to the Mac thanks to Transgaming. Of course, it's about ten years late -- the first game in the grouping came out in 2001 on the PS2. On current-gen gaming consoles, gamers have enjoyed Grand Theft Auto IV for a few years, and Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption earlier this year and is priming for a game called L.A. Noire. I'm surprised these haven't been released on the Mac yet; especially with Steam on the platform, you'd think there would have been a port at some point. You can order the Mac versions of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy right now for $15 each online, and in about a month they'll be showing up in various retail stores. If you somehow missed these the first time around, or if you just want a few terrific older games to play on your Mac, you can pick and play these. Just keep them away from the kids -- they're all very mature games.
PSA: Fable, other Xbox Originals are 'Deal of the Week'
This week's Xbox Live Deal of the Week finds a few Xbox Originals at a 33 percent discount (sounds so much more substantial that way). As previously noted, the promotion includes the original Fable for 800 ($10), along with Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at the same $5 discount. Before you impulse buy, make sure you aren't interested in next week's Deal of the Week, which finds all of Fallout 3's DLC (Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta) at 400 ($5) apiece. Broken Steel is a must-have for the level cap increase, but all the packs help deepen the already epic game.
San Andreas to become an Xbox Original
According to Xbox.com's Xbox Originals section of the web, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will be releasing to the Marketplace as a 1200 Microsoft point Xbox Original download. Though, we don't exactly know when, because Microsoft has yet to officially announce it or its release, but according to the Xbox.com page, next Monday, October 20th will be the time to cruise the streets of San Andreas. [Via Shacknews]
Rumor: GTA IV DLC going coast to coast, Niko books ticket to San Andreas
New cities? Pfft! How about an entire state?! While rummaging through the Rockstar Social Club, a GTAForums poster uncovered the plane ticket pictured above (full view). Looks like Niko is headed to the fine state of San Andreas, famous for its lowriders and piping hot coffee. Whether it's the stuff of fan fiction or a not-so-subtle hint of content to come, your guess is as good as ours, but the ticket does rekindle last month's rumor that the exclusive GTA IV DLC for Xbox 360 will feature "new downloadable cities." What's curious is that the flight isn't destined for one of San Andreas' specific airports, but rather the state itself. What could it mean? Well, for one, that you'd need a bigger hard drive.Alternate theory: The "San Andreas" on this plane ticket could be a reference to the original San Andreas, a top-down city based on San Francisco, from the first Grand Theft Auto. [Via X3F]
Counting Rupees: GTA IV vs. Iron Man
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming: According to several "analysts" last week, the successful launch of Grand Theft Auto IV threatened to sink the box office returns for Iron Man. The thinking went that since the game and the movie both target primarily the same demographic (males 18-29), that demographic would stay home and play the game instead of going to see the movie. While it's impossible to declare with complete certainty, as Variety did, that GTA IV had absolutely no effect on Iron Man's opening (with $104.2M in domestic receipts, $201M worldwide, and a release date for a sequel already announced), whatever effect it may have had was clearly not enough to significantly impact the movie. But clearly, many had predicted that the game could adversely affect box office receipts. It makes me wonder -- have we ever seen this sort of effect before?
No new GTA games in the works for PSP
San Andreas Stories? We never knew thee ... and we may never. GTA4.net has information supposedly from the Australian OPM. In their Grand Theft Auto IV preview, they reveal that work on San Andreas Stories is not happening. In fact, there's no plans to develop a PSP GTA title at all. "When asked about a San Andreas Stories for the PSP, he replies saying that they don't have any plans for that at the moment, suggesting that they likely haven't started at all on another GTA PSP title."We're a little saddened by this revelation, if only because we'd love to see San Andreas squeezed onto the portable. It seems that crime-loving gamers will have to look towards Driver 76 to get their fix.[Via DCEmu]
GTA: San Andreas Stories - the fan trailers
Rockstar's made Liberty City Stories. They've made Vice City Stories. So, San Andreas Stories is inevitable, right? Well, that's what one GTA fan's thinking. He's created a series of fake trailers for a potential San Andreas Stories, and we have to admit, these teasers have us salivating.
Video Game Decency Act: saving the children, or one-way ticket to tyranny?
As Congressman Fred Upton's Video Game Decency Act continues to percolate through Congress, Upton (R-MI) is singing its praises to the press, telling his local paper, the Niles Daily Star, "This legislation will restore parents' trust in a system in which game makers had intentionally deceived the ratings board to deliver violent and pornographic material to our kids."This whole foofaraw kicked off when Rockstar Games tucked away some sex-related gameplay into Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and, while the content was only accessible by using hacking tools, it was there for the minigaming. When word got out, lawsuits flowed like coffee, and Rockstar rushed out a "clean" version in order to avoid the dreaded "Adults Only" rating. The Video Game Decency Act would make it a crime to hide such content from the ESRB, the independent ratings board created by the industry in 1994 to avoid federal regulation.Seems pretty reasonable, right? Well, it is. Whether you believe all sexual content deserves an "AO" rating or not, developers who want a rating from the ESRB should fully disclose anything that might affect that rating. But if the bill passes, the government will finally have its paws in the game rating pie, in a very official (and probably irreversible) way -- exactly what the ESRB was founded to prevent. Fine by you? Or is this the next step on a slippery slope of governmental control that will end with a dystopian, 1984-style wasteland?[Via GamePolitics]
GTA: San Andreas #1 in Japan
Ghetto is fabulous in the land of the rising sun, as GTA: San Andreas hits #1 on the Japanese sales chart. The game, which represents the U.S. in all its early '90s, drive-by, 40 pourin', in da hood and gang-bangin' glory days, premiered at the top spot selling close to a quarter million units. Cooking Mama and Brain Age are out, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E be in da house $%&%a'-%&#@ers!So now we wait for the first piece of controversy to flow out of Japan. If nothing else, GTA is always good for some stories of an absurd nature following any release.See also: Boston transit system bans M rated game ads
Today's raddest game video: GTA San Andreas bike stunts
It takes a brave man (or woman) to try his hand on the dangerous streets of GTA:SA, and an even braver man (or woman) to try those streets on a motorcycle. Then to go above and beyond that, and drive like a complete and total maniac? Fugeddaboutit.Thankfully, someone else has done all the work for you, slapped a thrashing soundtrack to it, and uploaded it to YouTube. All you have to do now is sit back, hit play, and enjoy. Better yet, watch it, and then go out and try it all yourself. Virtually, that is. Please don't try this at home. Unless you're trying it on your console. We don't mean standing on your console, we mean ... ah, forget it. Just watch the darn thing.
SEC filing reveals 3mil Take Two shares unloaded
Hedge fund Glenview Capital Management have revealed in an SEC filing that it sold exactly 3 million shares of Take Two stock over the course of six transactions on December 21 at $19.25 each, amounting to $57.75 million. Glenview also disclosed that it held a 6.7% stake, or 4.88 million shares, of the controversial publisher. You might be quick to think something rather shifty is going on behind the scenes with such a large quantity of sales, but remember that GCM is a hedge fund with a fiduciary responsibility to its investors, and Take Two's stock has been on a steady rise since the FTC concluded its investigation of the Hot Coffee incident in June.[Via Seeking Alpha and Dubious Quality]
Capcom bringing GTA San Andreas to Japan
With controversy having cooled, Capcom has reached a deal with Rockstar to localize, publish, and distribute the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in Japan. The release is scheduled for January, a full 27 months after the game's initial debut in North America. What's with the delay? Guess car jacking and gang banging doesn't move units at quite the same pace in Japan.
Take-Two in trouble with NASDAQ
Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the famed Grand Theft Auto series, is under pressure to complete its quarterly report. NASDAQ has filed a non-compliance on the company for failing to report its July 31, 2006 statement on time. If Take-Two fails to comply, the company may have its stocks de-listed from NASDAQ, which would cause havoc with the share prices. Take-Two's official stance is that they wish to review their stock options before releasing the financial report, though taking over three months to do so is suspect. According to the SEC, 10-Q forms (the form Take-Two is late on) must be filed within 40 days of the end of the financial period. There's gotta be something more than a simple review of stock options going on. Could Take-Two be shuffling around records to hide or eliminate a fraudulent transaction? Maybe the media exposure over Bully has hampered sales; TT could be stalling for time to release the bad news, hoping the share price impact is softened by strong holiday sales outlooks. In any case, Take-Two needs to get their act together or investors may look elsewhere to keep their retirement assets. If so, TT would need a mega-hit series to keep the investor's money from falling out of their pockets ... oh, wait.
Steal this toy: GTA Vice City action figures [update 1]
Rockstar Games and Medicom Toy Company have teamed up to release a set of action figures inspired by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The limited edition set is part of the famous Kubrick line of toys. The set of five includes Tommy Vercetti, Lance Vance, Ricardo Diaz, Candi Suxx, and Ken Rosenberg, scruples-free attorney.Toys teach kids to kill? Barbie caught in hot coffee scandal? The bad jokes are limitless.The set will be available this fall, but you can pre-order now for $35 -- that's nearly one-fourth the cost of the Fierce Deity Link. How often do you get to say that a Sony (inspired) product is vastly cheaper than a Nintendo (inspired) product?[via PSP Fanboy][update 1: Misread the sales page; the entire Grand Theft Auto Kubrick line has been in development for two years, not just this Vice City set. Snark removed.]
