AFTER REGISTERING A RIDICULOUS NUMBER OF NAMES with the US patents office for copyright purposes last month, Rockstar has revealed that San Andreas is to be the location of the next GTA. Not Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Tokyo, but San Andreas, the setting of the original GTA and one of the grittier locations of GTA 3. Loosely based around the West Coast cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, GTA: San Andreas will embrace Californian hippie ideals [Sean Ryder is doing some voice acting] and the edgy gangsta- filled projects of Los Angeles. Expect more action, a larger map to explore and more modern forms of transport. GTA: San Andreas has also been confirmed as PS2 exclusive and will arrive on October 22, just days after it arrives in American shops. Listen closely and you can hear the screams of a thousand Xbox owners. Theyll have to wait at least a year before experiencing what could well be the best gangster game ever.
Our source has excitedly blabbed snippets of information that speak of online capability. Visit an airport, get in a plane and you can socialise with wannabe criminals all over the internet in an open plan world featuring REAL people. At least thats what our source revealed when we threatened him with the electrical testicle clamp and told him to spill or be killed. Further rumours suggest that massive True Crime style freeways will be included for racing mini games and police bikes are expected to appear alongside new vehicles, so you wont be able to grab a scooter and outwit the police by simply speeding down an alleyway. Rockstar is also likely to respond to illegal internet hacked versions of GTA by adding a stunt creator mode, plus the ability to create characters in a style similar to the mode seen in The Sims Bustin Out. Hacked versions of GTA: Vice City on the internet feature everything from Britney Spears to Bin Laden and a selection of licensed vehicles from Gran Turismo 3. Some fans are even test-driving some Toyota Supras around a map thats been designed by a fan eager to offer his artists impression of San Andreas long before the official game hits the shops.
Rockstar North head honcho Leslie Benzies says his team are going all out to make GTA: San Andreas so good, it will make you cry: We are extremely humbled by the success of the Grand Theft Auto series, and it has made us push ourselves further than ever.
THE NEW WAVE
GTA: SAN ANDREAS IS HEADING BACK TO CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ARTS WITH A ROCK AND RAP ROSTER OF STARS
50 Cent
As far back as 2000 when GTA 3 was in production, Rockstar hooked up with a small New York rap label created by a DJ to hype new acts in need of exposure. Since the release of GTA: Vice City, the same label gave birth to 50 Cent and in turn, created the fastest-selling debut album ever in Get Rich or Die Trying. Expect In Da Club to be major rap anthem in GTA: San Andreas
The Happy Mondays
When you were a baby, Manchester was cool. So were the baggy jeans, unwashed hair and drugs. The Manchester-based Happy Mondays had all of these things. With Dizzy frontman Sean Ryder at the helm, they created the classic Pills, Thrils and Bellyaches album. Ryder is currently signed to do voice acting but expect to hear the Mondays on the GTA airwaves too.
Justin Timberlake
Face it, by the time GTA: San Andreas comes out, Jacko will be in jail and Rockstar won't touch him with an antiseptic cattle prod. Enter the younger, hipper and altogether more legal Jacko 2.0. No pop station would be complete without new prince of pop and Rockstar will lap up the beatboxing skinhead faster than you can say, "I'm Lovin' It".
