In a new email from the Rockstar Games Mailing list, Rockstar lists the new titles of 2005 as follows:
APRIL 12, 2005: Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition for PlayStation 2� and Xbox�
COMING SOON:
* Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition for PSP�
* Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Xbox and PC
* An all new Grand Theft Auto title for PSP
* The Warriors - Coming in September for PlayStation 2
Notice that the
Grand Theft Auto PSP is listed after the
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for
Xbox and PC. This could possibly mean that the PSP title will be released on the same day as, or after the
Xbox and PC release on June 7th, 2005. Remember to subscribe to the mailing lists and keep checking back here for new information.
Aidan has our first Mod of the Week for this new mod cycle that will continue into the launch of San Andreas on the PC! The mod is "Vercetti Mall" and it changes North Point Mall into a building of the same name!
Download the mod and then try it out for yourself! Submit mods for Mod of the Week to
sonnyforelli@planetgrandtheftauto.com.
The
Grand Theft Auto series has long been a target of the media due to its successful run over the past seven years. Tonight,
60 Minutes, arguably the most successful investigative story television show in the world, examined
Grand Theft Auto to see if there is any sort of a connection between the game series and several murders from 2003.
GRAND THEFT AUTO - Can a violent videogame called Grand Theft Auto be responsible for an 18-year-old murdering three people? That's what the families of the victims are saying in a lawsuit and to Ed Bradley.
That's the tagline for the story. Read the entire transcript and see the first three minutes of video
here. The first three minutes are biased against GTA, but ESA's Doug Lowenstein comes in later to explain "our" side:
"Look, I have great respect for the law enforcement officers of this country. I don't think video games inspire people to commit crimes," says Lowenstein. "If people have a criminal mind, it's not because they're getting their ideas from the video games. There's something much more deeply wrong with the individual. And it's not the game that's the problem."
Can you say it any better than that?
As promised, we have some new information regarding the PlayStation Portable
Grand Theft Auto game. Here is what Take-Two Interactive had to say in their report:
Also planned for release in the third quarter is an all new Grand Theft Auto title, set in Liberty City, for the highly anticipated PSP handheld entertainment system.
The third quarter is May-July when speaking financially. Also,
San Andreas is headed to Japan:
Rockstar also expects to publish a new console title from their internal studios in the fourth quarter, as well as introduce Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
Lastly,
San Andreas has sold 12 million units since launch! Here is more:
Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in late October for the PlayStation�2 computer entertainment system, was a significant contributor to the first quarter results. Created by the world-class developers Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the top performing product in Take-Two's publishing business in the quarter.
According to NPDFunworldSM, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the top selling PlayStation 2 title in the United States in each of the four months since its release. The Company's life to date sales of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas through the end of the first quarter have exceeded 12 million units.
No new GTA games were announced. I expect the PSP game to come out on the same days that
San Andreas comes out for Xbox and PC - June 7 in the USA and June 10 in Europe. Stay tuned as the conference call hasn't even begun yet. Check out
more!
Update: As far as pricing for the GTA PSP game, Take-Two said it will get a "premium price." A "premium price" on current consoles is $49.99, so use your imagination.
I have added a new hosted site that is run by Aidan/SonnyForelli that is called
The GTA Mafia. Here is Aidan's explanation of his website:
"The GTA Mafia is a hosted site based on making first-class mods for anybody who wants them. Our image is that we will make many great mods for Vice City, and will make many people happy with them. We hope you appreciate our work. Welcome to the Family."
- Aidan
Be sure to not only check out the new
website, but also post something in his
forums "to get the ball rolling" in there!
GTA Ads Banned Before "Watershed"
If you live in the UK, don't expect to see
San Andreas ads during the day anymore:
"Adverts for a violent computer game have been banned from being shown on television before the watershed (21:00 GMT) in the wake of complaints from viewers."
If they really wanted to do this, it's a little late if you ask me. Just like Jack Thompson wanting to take
Vice City off the shelves more than two years after it came out, it seems that more people were more than a little late. See the
full story.
San Andreas PC Details Soon
About a month from now, PC Gamer will put out a new issue with the first details on San Andreas for the PC. Here is the e-mail I got:
"I recently got my new copy of PC Gamer magazine in the mail and they mentioned at the back that next month's issue will have exclusive details and more regarding Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the PC."
- John Glass (aka. Batmanvscrane)
They did the same for Vice City's PC version, and I have the full scoop on what that had
here. With PC Gamer getting the exclusive, the only thing I expect to hear by Thursday is a GTA PSP release date. It would be very unlike Take-Two to not announce anything new GTA-wise when they do their quarterly results report then.
PlanetGrandTheftAuto's Birthday
PlanetGrandTheftAuto turns one year old today! The core of this website has been around for three years, but PlanetGrandTheftAuto launched a year ago today. For the full (yet summarized) story on how this website came about, read today's article entitled
One Year Old, What's Next? What do you think of the website so far?
Let me know!
Comment!
