Jimbatron Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 (edited) I believe Michael is designed to be the GTA personification of the older Rockstar fan. Perhaps that sounds obvious, but let me elaborate - it's not merely that he is older than say Niko Bellic, but the stage of life he is in that is relevant. And I believe it is 100% deliberate, because R* realise they have a loyal section of their fan base that growing older and starting to have a different outlook on things. Having the three characters also allows them the flexibility of having a protagonist who their fans of different age ranges are likely to identify with. If, like me, you played the first top down GTA at University, you are in your early thirties now. And if you've stuck with the Franchise, a lot has changed in your life over the time you've been playing the games. You'll probably have had a job for a while, perhaps a lot more responsibility in life, perhaps even a wife and kids, or certainly many friends who have. Most likely witnessed both success, and failure at times. It has been said however, that responsibility is something men acquire as they get older whether they want it or not, or are ready for it or not. It doesn't seem to satisfy Michael "I'm rich and miserable - pretty average for this town". His criminal past, in my view, is meant to be analogous to the gaming history of the older fan of the franchise. "If you want my advice, give this 5hit up". Much as he tries to give up the fast past action filled life of crime, he can't. An similarly, although the average 30 something has way more important things be concerned with than computer games, there's still the craving for a bit of GTA when ever you can find the time. Anyone else thought this? Edited June 4, 2013 by Jimbatron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny_zoo Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Some cool ideas. I never thought like that by it does make sense. I think all the characters are made to give the player someone they can relate to.thats one of the reasons they chose three. Mostly because one character will not resonate with everyone. Take Niko Bellic; he's ugly therefore ugly people can relate to him. Handsome people like myself sit back and think "a toilet for a face sheesh that must suck." Bun yes I see your point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Theft Savage Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Never thought of this because I'm young as hell. But I think you might be onto something. Michael being a representation of an older Rockstar fan would be really deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waikzguy8998 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Or maybe the (3) main characters are a representation of the past 3 protags, just personified in a different light. Kind of Rockstar's way of bringing them all together without something as cheesy as..well...having them randomly come together Michael - striking similarities to Tommy Vercetti, looks, attitude, etc. Franklin - Pseudo gang-banger, from LS, definitely has some good in there, like CJ Trevor - Volatile, a bit crazy, but definitely likable, just like Niko. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian. Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I believe Michael is designed to be the GTA personification of the older Rockstar fan. Perhaps that sounds obvious, but let me elaborate - it's not merely that he is older than say Niko Bellic, but the stage of life he is in that is relevant. And I believe it is 100% deliberate, because R* realise they have a loyal section of their fan base that growing older and starting to have a different outlook on things. Having the three characters also allows them the flexibility of having a protagonist who their fans of different age ranges are likely to identify with. If, like me, you played the first top down GTA at University, you are in your early thirties now. And if you've stuck with the Franchise, a lot has changed in your life over the time you've been playing the games. You'll probably have had a job for a while, perhaps a lot more responsibility in life, perhaps even a wife and kids, or certainly many friends who have. Most likely witnessed both success, and failure at times. It has been said however, that responsibility is something men acquire as they get older whether they want it or not, or are ready for it or not. It doesn't seem to satisfy Michael "I'm rich and miserable - pretty average for this town". His criminal past, in my view, is meant to be analogous to the gaming history of the older fan of the franchise. "If you want my advice, give this 5hit up". Much as he tries to give up the fast past action filled life of crime, he can't. An similarly, although the average 30 something has way more important things be concerned with than computer games, there's still the craving for a bit of GTA when ever you can find the time. Anyone else thought this? Absolutely, on many levels, this outlook is completely supported by their track record, and not only that, their entire company has gravitated more toward the very mature audiences who will catch these rather intellectual bits and pieces that they throw into the scripts and the universe's lore and tangibility in all of their games, GTA being perhaps the most powerful example, having so many iterations to contrast against itself. But if they used the LA Noire license for more games, made some more max payne games, made some more bully and red dead redemption games, this sort of mature direction would shine through in those titles as well. Rockstar's marketing is also very keen to the older demographic. The average gamer is in fact in their thirties, as well. They could be called Serious Games or Grown Up Games, but it doesn't sound as awesome as Rockstar Games. They definitely do target the "real" average gamer. I am happy that they achieve massive success across all ages, regions, and sexes, and very pleased with how well GTA reaches into young hands, because I am old and mature enough to see that the only thing a kid would learn from GTA is what kind of people to stay away from and not associate with, what kind of dumb-you-down stuff in the media to avoid - and that's the only reason people fear GTA. It's not that they think it will warp minds and create murder rapists - it's quite the contrary, they see that it appeals to intellectualism in gaming and the mature audience and the views of people who see through the BS facade that we live in under the umbrella of modern hollywood and broadcast media, and the sheep that base their entire lives around it. They blamed GTA for that sh*t, when GTA really just shows it to you. Shows you what was already happening. If we are to believe everything we've ever seen about LA in the early 90's, San Andreas may as well be a true story. If we are to believe everything we've ever seen in 80s miami, VC may as well be a true story. If we are to believe everything about modern day new york city that we see in media, music, and emulated by the rest of the world, certainly Liberty City is a living painting of NYC. I am happy that they have had this kind of success with such a smart series, that it has been embraced by even the people it portrays and changed lives in that way on some occasions I've seen, but I hope they do not begin a trend of embracing it back - GTA V was a dream come true for me up until I saw the blimp wasn't available unless you preorder. I'm a ~30ish year old, mature, wise-with-my-cash PC gamer. You don't really get preorders on PC for games that come out after the console releases, and if they do that, that would be really corny. I wonder how slighted the younger console crowd with time to sample many games as opposed to use older wiser PC gamers playing only the finest releases time will allow for feel about this. Are you wippersnappers pissed? I assume for the sake of history that GTA V will have a 60 dollar complete edition when it comes to PC, perhaps lacking any episodic content, but including any core bonuses and DLC's. So I'm okay about that, what I wonder about, is how that feels to know you must buy a game before it is even truly reviewed or else you won't get use a piece of it, and how it feels seeing Rockstar Games doing something exploitative like that with Grand Theft Auto. I've always been okay with it with other titles so far in the DLC and preorder bonus generation, but never expected it to be done with GTA. GTA IV was "that much better" because its DLC was full on 2 new stories to play that gave insight to the main story, and I didn't have to preorder to fly the Annihilator. Now the blimp thing, just kind of hits me hard, as what I consider to be one of their main targets, I think they have really missed the mark big time, and seeing something like that, if it's a one time thing, cool, but if it's their new model, that is super duper disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKalashnikov Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Or maybe the (3) main characters are a representation of the past 3 protags, just personified in a different light. Kind of Rockstar's way of bringing them all together without something as cheesy as..well...having them randomly come together Michael - striking similarities to Tommy Vercetti, looks, attitude, etc. Franklin - Pseudo gang-banger, from LS, definitely has some good in there, like CJ Trevor - Volatile, a bit crazy, but definitely likable, just like Niko. Agreed with all the points you've made here. It could also be to do with GTA's overall setting and their strong personalities reflect the environment. Without their strength of character it wouldn't be believable that they'd survive in that world. That's probably why a lot of the protagonists have a decent amount in common. Interesting that you mention the ageing fans in relation to Michael though, OP. It wouldn't surprise me if that was Rockstar's original intention. They've always been good at connecting players to the character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Leprechaun Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Honestly, I always thought he was a Neal MacCulley/Michael Cherrito kind of guy from Heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChatterBoxFM Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 claude, duh! OT pretty much any badass de niro character Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTAMAN567 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 In my opinion he represents an older Claude, whether he is or not (we have argued enough) Michael is the "GTA character who won" as described by Rockstar, Claude is the original GTA character and him and Michael do share some similarities (similar features,similar history etc) Michael, IMO, was created after the Rockstar team sat down and wondered what might happen to Claude after GTA3. I think he takes inspiration from other similar GTA characters such as Tommy (looks,personality,temper, crime life) Also Toni Cipriani (both mafia history probably, similar voice) BTW before anyone jumps on my back I am not saying that Michael IS any of these people it was just an answer to the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josephene123 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 In my opinion he represents an older Claude, whether he is or not (we have argued enough) Michael is the "GTA character who won" as described by Rockstar, Claude is the original GTA character and him and Michael do share some similarities (similar features,similar history etc)Michael, IMO, was created after the Rockstar team sat down and wondered what might happen to Claude after GTA3. I think he takes inspiration from other similar GTA characters such as Tommy (looks,personality,temper, crime life) Also Toni Cipriani (both mafia history probably, similar voice) BTW before anyone jumps on my back I am not saying that Michael IS any of these people it was just an answer to the question. Why would he 'represent' an older Claude? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian. Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I don't know why claude either, I felt more echoes of tommy in him, and his voice in the first line of the first trailer, kinda sounded like liotta too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALeSsAnDrO Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 So Michael is telling older GTA fans to "give this sh*t up". In other words, stop playing games? That's not very smart business wise... Anyway, you guys are reading too much into it. Even R* couldn't make up their minds as to how old they wanted him to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Above Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I cannot ignore these threads any longer. I think he's meant to be Michael. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieleng Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Although my life is nothing like Michael's in any way, shape or form, I still identify with him the most & that's probably because of my age. I was old enough to legally buy GTA 1 on release & I like that lots of modern day protagonists aren't cool twenty-somethings with frosted hair & smooth skin. John Marston is Rockstar's best protagonist, Max Payne in his last installment was early 40's, Johnny & Niko were in their thirties. Now we've got Michael & Trevor who are probably early 40's & late 30's respectively, with Franklin for the GTA fans who started with Vice City or San Andreas. All the bases covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazzer14 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Damn, that's some deep sh*t But absolutely agreeable, I'm 16, but I can fully see where you're coming from, it's quite 'romantic', in a way, that Rockstar are adapting their protagonists to their audience, drawing a parallel in narrative to that of a large majority of its fanbase, so that Michael's life, while not strictly equal to the average middle aged man (I mean, how many 30 + men rob banks weekly?) but it does draw similarities; are you ready to settle down? are are you still clinging to your old ways, the partying and the not caring, no responsibility lifestyle you once had but chose to leave behind. I could write an essay on this, but I really quite tired now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTAMAN567 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I don't know why claude either, I felt more echoes of tommy in him, and his voice in the first line of the first trailer, kinda sounded like liotta too. I don't get that , he sounded NOTHING LIKE RAY LIOTTA in trailer 1,2 or his own. In my opinion he sounds like Michael Madsen. Listen to Tommy then listen to trailer 1, no similarities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thamuz Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I Identify more with Trevor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerJG Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 This is by far the best post i've read since I joined a few weeks ago!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbatron Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) So Michael is telling older GTA fans to "give this sh*t up". In other words, stop playing games? That's not very smart business wise... You can tell from the tone of voice in the trailer that he's blatantly not taking his own advice. After all, GTA V would be pretty short if he did. He knows he prehaps should concentrate on other things, but he's not going to. I cannot ignore these threads any longer. I think he's meant to be Michael. I agree that they will have a new character who is different from others, but they have the freedom to pick any background and lifestage for a character they want. I don't believe they randomly pick it out of a hat, they are deliberately choosing a canvass a certain section of their fans will identify with. This is by far the best post i've read since I joined a few weeks ago!!! Thanks man! Edited June 5, 2013 by Jimbatron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDredMan Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Claude! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokrie Dela Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Holy sh*t a nature post! Wtf?? I thin you're into something OP. Michael may well be the reflection of older gta fans but also calmer styles. Niko hinted at the professional, and games like (older) splinter cell offer s different pace Michael fulfils that, but there's more to him. He's got a temper it seems, and is as animate as Trevor Talking if Trevor: I think he is representitive or at least catering to the crazy gta gamer You know the guy who mows down peds in downtown in a pink combine harvester Or dresses in their pants and wears a false nose/glasses disguise and beats people with a dildo Franklin appears to be their take on the modern day gangsta I see the most potential here: ea trying to get out an make something of himself He's really not a black man a at least the 50 cent architype of one. All three are looking good. I think their stories can be awesome. If down right The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. Click here to view my Poetry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakeney Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Brian! You guys wont know him, he lives local to me... but i think Michael is supposed to be him, he is old... kinda rich... looks like Tommy Vercetti, Claude and every other white dude gta has seen... must be him?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian. Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakeney Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 But in reply to OP not some of the posts (like my last post was..), it's deep but I can see where you are coming from with it. I think R* would like to enforce the 18 ratings if they could (we all know company's like Activision would happily sell cod to an under 18 if they could, and proberly see the ratings as blockades). Ratings to R* means if they aim to make a game for an adult audience, they can do it safely in the boundaries of an 18+ rating, it really isn't R*'s fault under 18's get their hands on their games. Take Manhunt for example, that game is art! Art for adult gamers, but because parents have issues with following ratings systems, it means R* can't be free to provide their art to willing adults, which is a shame... but i think that since IV they have been trying to shake off the kiddy fans and all that bad press that comes from them playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakeney Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Me? I did see you post after i posted that (thinking i had made a good random name selection) and had a small lol at myself for randomly picking the name of the first replier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macabro Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I always thought he was some kind of Tony Soprano. Specially from the pic where he's kind of relaxing by watching an old ganster film. Also the lazy spoiled kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjmthe2nd Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 In my opinion he represents an older Claude, whether he is or not (we have argued enough) Michael is the "GTA character who won" as described by Rockstar, Claude is the original GTA character and him and Michael do share some similarities (similar features,similar history etc)Michael, IMO, was created after the Rockstar team sat down and wondered what might happen to Claude after GTA3. I think he takes inspiration from other similar GTA characters such as Tommy (looks,personality,temper, crime life) Also Toni Cipriani (both mafia history probably, similar voice) BTW before anyone jumps on my back I am not saying that Michael IS any of these people it was just an answer to the question. You have no proof they have similar history, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacoMeter Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) Talking of older gamers, does anyone remember the 1989 computer game Midwinter? EDIT: I saw this image while reading an old copy of The One magazine on the toilet. Thought he looked a little familiar. Edited June 6, 2013 by Rodwasp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandthefthoughto Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Talking of older gamers, does anyone remember the 1989 computer game Midwinter? great game! played on my trusty amiga 500 back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now