PSM3 Article On Grand theft auto V

[Majestic123]

Actually some very interesting news in the article.

 

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/31518...urce=newsletter

[Shayan Shaffey]

Can someone copy-paste the text of the article here? The site is filtered in Iran.

[Duxfever]

 

Grand Theft Auto V will be set in Hollywood; use recession-hit LA as a backdrop to critique capitalism, celebrity, social networking, corruption, family and society; be voiced by Charlie Sheen and Megan Fox; launch in late 2012 and, obviously, change games and their relationship with the world forever.

 

Well, possibly. But it should do all that - read on and we'll explain how the evidence has lead us here.

 

 

Fact: Rockstar are working on GTA V. It's been in full-scale development for over three years, since GTA IV launched in April 2008. The smart bet is on a late 2012/early 2013 release in line with publisher 2K's financial year, which ends April 2013. If rumours can be believed - as tipped by news sites over a year ago, with supporting info leaking in the last few months - it's set in Hollywood, LA.

 

Of course, none of that should come as a shock - but if we've followed the clues correctly, GTA V won't just spring the odd surprise, it'll change the way we view games forever... their relationship with movies, celebrities and the entertainment universe.

 

You've already got a pretty good picture of what GTA V will be, but now we'll argue the case for what it should be - and why the two might not be mutually incompatible.

 

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

 

A Hollywood/LA setting has been so widely tipped that the rumour doesn't have any real rivals. The series has visited California before in San Andreas, with Los Santos and Vinewood as its versions of Los Angeles and Hollywood. History might suggest a return to these fictional areas - as we returned to Liberty City for GTA IV, not New York - but there's reason to think that, this time, it'll be a real-world LA and Hollywood.

 

Two casting calls in March 2011 for an 'interactive project' codenamed 'Rush' - from Rockstar's usual casting agency, Telsey + Company - correlate perfectly. These were to find characters including Mexican FBI agents, a Beverly Hills party boy, a Californian divorcee, struggling actors, agents and neurotic soccer moms. Or in other words: pure GTA.

 

Consider also that Rockstar just mapped the whole of LA for L.A. Noire, and while they can't use the 1930s visuals wholesale, much of the core schematics would translate to the modern day. And games are hideously expensive to build. Are these two facts related?

 

Rockstar, for all their rebelliousness, are a business like no other - and why would they spend more money when a solution already exists?

 

But would it be all of LA? Building a world with the scale of San Andreas, with the requisite level of detail, is a gargantuan task. So a focused slice of Los Angeles with thoughtful geographic diversity - the Hollywood Hills, the woods of Northern California, even the New Mexico border - makes sense. It would bring the density of city life up against rolling country terrain without the busywork - in terms of building it, and travelling it - of creating the state of San Andreas.

 

NEW HEROES

 

GTA's themes have historically followed broad patterns, but Rockstar's increasing willingness to experiment doesn't rule out a surprise. Broadly, Grand Theft Auto games are 'rags to riches' tales, steeped in corruption, friendship and betrayal with the hero - usually an outsider - spraying red into the greyer areas of the law.

 

GTA IV, however, was a deeper study of 20th century melting-pot New York, of how cultural fluidity is changing America while the American Dream - or the hollowness of it - stays the same.

 

GTA IV also touched broader themes of revenge, redemption and consequence. Do you kill Dwayne or Playboy X? Execute Darko Drevic or let him live? Brand him a war criminal or accept he's just another scumbag trying to survive... like you?

 

The outcomes were binary, but it did attempt to do something more thoughtprovoking than, say, mowing down 1000 pedestrians in a Rampage. In this post-Heavy Rain, No Russian, BioShock world, Rockstar need to up the stakes dramatically to remain edgy, adult and risk-taking.

 

In the wider entertainment and social context of today, people demand more from their heroes: hence Christopher Nolan's more grounded, harder, more believable Batman.

 

Rockstar's earlier games owe big debts to cinema and TV: to The Godfather (GTA III), Miami Vice (Vice City), Boyz 'n the Hood (GTA San Andreas) and Eastern Promises (GTA IV). GTA V surely will too, but in 2011 expect the likes of Lost (fractured storytelling, parallel narratives and mystery), Inception (ditto) and - above all - The Wire.

 

That show brought us multiple perspectives into every level of urban decay - cops, dealers, politicians, the press, even teachers - ranging from passionate but doomed footsoldiers to morally-void careerists and the outright corrupt at both top and bottom.

 

What does that mean for GTA V? Most likely, a study of systemic corruption taking in government, law, criminal cartels, celebrity and big business, told from several viewpoints. It's a framework to address today's global issues - recession, social networking, celebrity worship, political scumbaggery. As such, LA is the perfect setting, with big business rubbing shoulders with the A-list; gated mansions just miles from ghettos, all in one focused location.

 

VERTICLE SLICE

 

Not convinced? Let's take a closer look at the 'leaked' cast list for Project Rush. There are three FBI agents. Mitch Hayes, 38: wise cracking, successful, does triathlons, drinks lo-cal beer. Miguel Gonzalez, 25: Mexican, clean cut, caught between mob bosses. And Calvin North, 55: clapped out, does TV shows, divorced, basically decent but is famous for doing something that turns out to be false. There are also frequent references to marijuana.

 

For a cast of soccer moms, sleazy agents, Chinese mobsters, party boys - we're thinking Justin Timberlake in The Social Network - jobbing hard-man actors and life coaches, there are a large number of people living 'in the sticks,' including a family called De Silva... which itself translates as 'of the forest' in Portuguese.

 

Only Kevin De Silva is on the main cast list - a fat, anxious and soft 18 year-old douche who likes to make racist comments in online shooters - but digging deeper it seems Rockstar did a separate casting for two more De Silvas; Albert and Simon.

 

Albert is Kevin's dad, while Simon is alluded to in the 'Rush' cast list via another character, 48 year-old paranoiac Nervous Jerry. Jerry lives near Simon but is 'terrified' of him - our bet is that Simon and Albert are brothers, presumably of different outlooks, who live in the country shipping or growing drugs. Or both.

 

So on one side, we have three FBI agents, spanning three generations; on the other, three family members, probably two brothers and a son, probably criminal. It all adds credence to the split-viewpoint story theory.

 

Speculating further, two potential lead characters leap out. First up, Miguel Gonzalez, the FBI rookie caught between gang bosses. He fits the 'troubled outsider' GTA profile, with a twist - he's the law. Secondly there's bad-guy Albert De Silva, whose son adds an interesting family dimension. Playing as a dad? The teenage GTA III fans of 2001 are hitting their late 20s/early 30s now. It fits.

 

If this all sounds a bit serious, the good news is we're expecting GTA V to be crammed with real-world celebrities. After the low-key voice cast of GTA IV, we're sure they'd love to shock everyone with the starriest A-list line-up ever, and what better time than now - when they've got MotionScan? L.A. Noire's tech makes acting possible.

 

If celebrities know they're going to look good - and not like meat puppets - they'll be more likely to sign up for what could be the landmark moment in 2012 pop culture.

 

More? Imagine if GTA V were to cast an actor of the gravitas of Robert De Niro. Yes, the same Robert De Niro who's founder of the Tribeca Film Festival. The same film festival that showed off a videogame for the first time in history, back in April. That game? L.A. Noire. Rockstar's L.A. Noire. It's a tenuous link, but... but.

 

So. They've got scope to break from the rags-to-riches standard but still tell a classic, action-packed cops versus criminals tale, now from at least two viewpoints that might lead into a co-op mode of some sorts, right? And they've got scope to intersect it with broad societal issues - the role of celebrity, the new breed of TV quacks, social network pioneers and everything else by setting it in one of the stupidest, flashiest, most alluring places on Earth.

 

REACH FOR THE STARS

 

Rockstar have registered domain names for CashForDeadDreams. com, SixFigureTemps.com and StopPayingYourMortgage.com, doing little to dispel the postrecession satire theory. Another domain, HammersteinFaust.com smacks of investment bankers Goldman Sachs, while LifeInvader. net sounds suspiciously like a social network akin to Facebook.

 

Circumstantial, all of it. But it's a lot of circumstance to ignore. So, there we go. It's an intoxicating and downright believable theory, don't you think? And goddamn, is it commercial. And edgy. And pioneering... y'know, like Rockstar tend to be.

 

If we're wrong, it's still the kind of exciting thing Rockstar could - and should - do. Of course GTA V might still end up set in London. Or Vice City. Or just behind a quasar in deep space. But, hey, if - or when we're right and you first clap eyes on the Hollywood sign in what will be the most hotly-anticipated teaser trailer of the last few millennia, try not to forget who joined all the dots in the first place.

[xFeashx]

 

Can someone copy-paste the text of the article here? The site is filtered in Iran.

Really? When I loaded the url it was completely in english..

 

Great read However, I dont think that the protagonist will be any of the characters mentioned. I'm definately looking forward to this game if it plays out according to the article.

[Majestic123]

I knew it was LA a while back with all the evidence. It's just that I don't want only LA I want venturas and San Fierro also. Don't forget the country side and area 51 and all that.

[xFeashx]

I agree. It would be a better experience to have a city, and country. I think thats part of what made SA a great game.

[darrellmonks]

I personally hope its not set in the real world, that would ruinnit for me. If its in the likes of LA or London ill be waiting for a secobd hand copy on ebay. Im sure itll be good either way but Los Santos or Vice City is the way to go.

[krammkracker]

Doesn't seem like there is any "new" news... Just a new person talking about the same old rumors that have been floating around here for awhile now... But like I have said before its good to have these big name magazines/websites (Gamespot, PS3M, OXM etc.) talking about GTA:V it may be just the pressure the guys at R* need to give us an announment.

[GTA_dog]

It's not officially in Los Angeles, it's just what the article author wishes and predicts. This is basically just like a thread in the forums that has a topic starter predict only this is posted to a larger audience. No news here, just predictions and statements that only seem obvious for the author even though there's absolutely no official news for Five. I don't feel excited of this

[mantis117]

Same old, same old. Another mag wildly speculating with no real facts or details.

[Shayan Shaffey]

thanks duxfever!

@xfeashx It's censored, stupid government.

[Sanjeem]

Same old, same old. Another mag wildly speculating with no real facts or details.

This.

[Nah Tso Gud]

I've always thought the casting call was the biggest indicator, apparently this guy thinks the same... But its not 100% fact yet, and if they don't have anymore info than we do it sortve bugs me that they pass it off as truth..

 

As for the "real LA" thing, I think he thinks it'll be set in real LA solely because of the casting call.. and I think they used real LA locations because if they used their fictional sites such as "Vinewood" none of the potential voice actors would know what the hell they were talking about...but people Can relate to "Hollywood"

[captchaup]

but why would they go from such a large scale san andreas to one city?

[Wenis IV]

Can someone copy-paste the text of the article here? The site is filtered in Iran.

Really? When I loaded the url it was completely in english..

 

Great read However, I dont think that the protagonist will be any of the characters mentioned. I'm definately looking forward to this game if it plays out according to the article.

I think he means CVG is blocked in the country of Iran, where he lives

[Nah Tso Gud]

 

but why would they go from such a large scale san andreas to one city?

To keep detail at a high level I suppose, also so they could do the specific city "justice" as they did with NYC in 4.

 

The cities were pretty small in SA.

[captchaup]

nah its vice city man... read teh genesis topic

[OysterBarron]

Yeah forgive me for not paying to much attention. It was pretty obvious after iv's hype train that mags and writers for mags just do this to sell. the amount of stuff that was pressumed fact even after they had officialy seen the game turned out to be bs. Im not saying everything they say will be a lie but they seem to let there imagination run wild sometimes. the location for iv was actually leaked on chris moyles show on radio 1. stating a rockstar source that iv was to be set in a contemporary new york so keep your ears peeled..... for info it can come from anywhere.

[GR7]

*Sniff Sniff* can you smell that, smells like bullsh*t. Megan fox as a voice actress really??? Loool The only reason she gets roles in films is for anything but her acting if you know what I mean . Charlie Sheen on the other hand would make for a great wisecracking arrogant asshole of a protagonist even though its not gonna happen.

[R.F.]

this "next gta" thing is starting to look alot like hl2ep3...

[mattymcs]

I got down to the part where they started saying there is no reason why it won't be set in real life LA and stopped reading, because that is total bullsh*t. I would bet anyone £100 it won't be set in a real life city.

 

Is the rest of it worh bothering with?

[BVJ]

I got down to the part where they started saying there is no reason why it won't be set in real life LA and stopped reading, because that is total bullsh*t. I would bet anyone £100 it won't be set in a real life city.

 

Is the rest of it worh bothering with?

I agree. Won't be Los Angeles, but probably will be Los Santos. Basically the article takes a load of circumstantial evidence that individually doesn't mean much, but when all put together sounds quite convincing. If GTA 5 is as the article says (but in Los Santos not real LA) then I'd be happy with that.

[valensim]

It's just old rumors written by a new person. It wount be in a real-life L.A., it'll be the fictional L.A. aka Los Santos.

 

Nothing New

 

PS: When will the ''Official XBox Magazine'' be released ????

[Original Light]

It's all rumor and speculation put into one article. Basically stuff that we already know.

[CookPassBabtridge]

Agreed with the others, it's a hash together of oldish news. But, that's how it is with mags now. The part about it being set in a real LA was just lazy.

 

Hopefully the late 2012 release is false too....the longer they spend on this GTA, the further the fall if it doesn't eclipse IV. Given the lack of announcement it could be accurate though.

[ryan_J]

The day GTA is set in a real life city is probably the day the GTA series dies.

[tranceking26]

I actually don't like this article

 

A lot of guess work & going on about stuff we already knew

 

 

[Nah Tso Gud]

I got down to the part where they started saying there is no reason why it won't be set in real life LA and stopped reading, because that is total bullsh*t. I would bet anyone £100 it won't be set in a real life city.

 

Is the rest of it worh bothering with?

Lol, exactly what I did....

 

We couldve written this article awhile ago...

[Snake Without a Tongue]

I got down to the part where they started saying there is no reason why it won't be set in real life LA and stopped reading, because that is total bullsh*t. I would bet anyone £100 it won't be set in a real life city.

 

Is the rest of it worh bothering with?

Lol, exactly what I did....

 

We couldve written this article awhile ago...

Sorry for the quote SPAM, but all this -- My sentiments exactly.

 

 

[Staten]

I like what the writer did with the cast list, pointing out the groups of people from three generations on either side of the law. It makes a change from all the "will GTA use NaturalMotion?" articles that have popped up. But apart from that, I agree it's old news.