- 6,546
- matthewjlcoleman
Not the End: An Editorial by Jordan Liles from Planet Grand Theft Auto:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is only 19 short days away. After Vice City's four million pre-orders made by stores back in 2002, there is no telling how many pre-orders San Andreas will have. We can all assume that there will be at least four million this time around, if not more.
But wait...why assume it when we have the facts? When asked on September 9th how much higher San Andreas' pre-order numbers would be compared to Vice City, Take-Two Interactive Software said that it's a "significant" rise. And when they made that statement, there was still a month and a half till the game's release.
Let's look at this another way. With San Andreas' pre-order numbers being "significantly higher" than those of Vice City, just how many are we talking about? Or rather, where will it stand on the all-time-most-pre-orders list?
The GTA series has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide to this day. Who is ahead of that? The Mario series is the obvious dominator with more than 100 million copies of the Mario games sold to this day. The Zelda series is near 40 million, and Tetris for the Game Boy sold more than 33 million.
When GTA passes Tetris in just a few weeks, it won't be a major milestone. Let's not take any credit away from the greatest puzzle game of all time. It's simplicity of fitting shapes together has the same effect today as it had back then; it stands the test of time. Most of the GTA games won't stay popular for 15 years as Tetris for the Game Boy has. Of course, Tetris is one game while GTA's 32 million is for the series as a whole.
Despite claims from those at Nintendo...let's say...David Gosen (managing director of Nintendo Europe)...Grand Theft Auto is not a "dead-end street." One of the questions that many are asking these days is "Where will the next GTA game take place after San Andreas is released?" An even bigger question is "Is this it for GTA? Is this the last one?" I can answer that with confidence: no.
While Take-Two Interactive Software might not admit it, San Andreas is going to save them from even worse financial troubles. With financial problems and top-position management changes over the past year or so, its going to be a godsend for them. It's almost as if they are starving of hunger for a big financial boost, and this will feed that hunger. They need Grand Theft Auto to keep going.
Does this mean that if Rockstar Games says that they want to stop the series that Take-Two will try to force them to do another game? Maybe. But I don't see Rockstar calling it quits anytime soon. The situation I just mentioned is just a "what if?"
With Half-Life 2's online pre-orders starting earlier today and the huge release of it nearing, many PC gamers want to know what they can look forward to next. What's coming up after this year's big moneymakers? What can we look forward to? Will videogames ever reach a peak?
There will be more GTA games. As to where it will take place or if it will have online compatibility is still unknown, but I can say this for sure:
No one even had the thought that the next game after Vice City would take place in three cities plus countryside with 12 small towns. The only big discussions before anything was announced about San Andreas was "Is it going to be in Sin City, San Andreas, Bogota, London or Tokyo." Notice the "or." If you had told someone that you think it would be in three cities with countryside and 12 small towns, you would have been bombarded with replies such as "a PS2 disk can't hold all that" or "that can't be done in two years" or several other responses.
Rockstar is full of surprises...whether it be the way they do publicity or the original assortment of games that they bring out. Don't worry about the next one in the series. It's going to be great. Rockstar is one of the very few developers that has that kind of track record.
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I believe the rumours from a while back, where they said that they wouldn't be surprised if the next GTA, almost definately on the PS3, will be set back in the present in Liberty City. It will probably be a follow-on of the storyline in GTA 3.
What do you guys think?
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is only 19 short days away. After Vice City's four million pre-orders made by stores back in 2002, there is no telling how many pre-orders San Andreas will have. We can all assume that there will be at least four million this time around, if not more.
But wait...why assume it when we have the facts? When asked on September 9th how much higher San Andreas' pre-order numbers would be compared to Vice City, Take-Two Interactive Software said that it's a "significant" rise. And when they made that statement, there was still a month and a half till the game's release.
Let's look at this another way. With San Andreas' pre-order numbers being "significantly higher" than those of Vice City, just how many are we talking about? Or rather, where will it stand on the all-time-most-pre-orders list?
The GTA series has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide to this day. Who is ahead of that? The Mario series is the obvious dominator with more than 100 million copies of the Mario games sold to this day. The Zelda series is near 40 million, and Tetris for the Game Boy sold more than 33 million.
When GTA passes Tetris in just a few weeks, it won't be a major milestone. Let's not take any credit away from the greatest puzzle game of all time. It's simplicity of fitting shapes together has the same effect today as it had back then; it stands the test of time. Most of the GTA games won't stay popular for 15 years as Tetris for the Game Boy has. Of course, Tetris is one game while GTA's 32 million is for the series as a whole.
Despite claims from those at Nintendo...let's say...David Gosen (managing director of Nintendo Europe)...Grand Theft Auto is not a "dead-end street." One of the questions that many are asking these days is "Where will the next GTA game take place after San Andreas is released?" An even bigger question is "Is this it for GTA? Is this the last one?" I can answer that with confidence: no.
While Take-Two Interactive Software might not admit it, San Andreas is going to save them from even worse financial troubles. With financial problems and top-position management changes over the past year or so, its going to be a godsend for them. It's almost as if they are starving of hunger for a big financial boost, and this will feed that hunger. They need Grand Theft Auto to keep going.
Does this mean that if Rockstar Games says that they want to stop the series that Take-Two will try to force them to do another game? Maybe. But I don't see Rockstar calling it quits anytime soon. The situation I just mentioned is just a "what if?"
With Half-Life 2's online pre-orders starting earlier today and the huge release of it nearing, many PC gamers want to know what they can look forward to next. What's coming up after this year's big moneymakers? What can we look forward to? Will videogames ever reach a peak?
There will be more GTA games. As to where it will take place or if it will have online compatibility is still unknown, but I can say this for sure:
No one even had the thought that the next game after Vice City would take place in three cities plus countryside with 12 small towns. The only big discussions before anything was announced about San Andreas was "Is it going to be in Sin City, San Andreas, Bogota, London or Tokyo." Notice the "or." If you had told someone that you think it would be in three cities with countryside and 12 small towns, you would have been bombarded with replies such as "a PS2 disk can't hold all that" or "that can't be done in two years" or several other responses.
Rockstar is full of surprises...whether it be the way they do publicity or the original assortment of games that they bring out. Don't worry about the next one in the series. It's going to be great. Rockstar is one of the very few developers that has that kind of track record.
--------------
I believe the rumours from a while back, where they said that they wouldn't be surprised if the next GTA, almost definately on the PS3, will be set back in the present in Liberty City. It will probably be a follow-on of the storyline in GTA 3.
What do you guys think?
I didn't even realize R* North was not in North America 
But either way, So far, the Second generation GTA games have felt like an American Franchise. All we have are sports games.... And First Person Shooters. No truly Great Game Franchises. I just want something to call my own! :cries:
