Grand Theft Auto / GTA Online

[Dante Fireseed]

Preordered last night on PS3

[AndyKurosaki]

Well, Amazon didn't get my copy sent early, so hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow. Though god knows when I'll get chance to play it, going to hospital after work to see a consultant.D'oh.

[Dante Fireseed]

Stop Press, shock announcement!

Looks like GTA V is a good/great videogame

[chase210]

Midnight launching this. Kinda excited.

[Scrustle]

Just found something you guys might be interested in. Rockstar have released a free iOS app called Grand Theft Auto: iFruit which allows you to do various things connected to the main game. You can customise cars, and create your own number plate (if you were in the Forza lobby earlier this evening you'll have heard me mention that before), and play some mini games with Chop, Franklin's dog. All of it carries over in to the main game too.

[InsrtCoins]

So, as can be expected for every major release, anyone not giving GTA V a perfect review score is getting pretty badly harassed. While I fully intend to buy and love the game, I would like to talk a bit about what The Escapist and Polygon, in particular, said. The criticisms that they level at the game seem entirely valid and justified. I especially respect Polygon for calling GTA out on its archaic gender dynamics. Polygon stood in front of quite a bit of rage after their review of Dragon's Crown took exception to its overly sexualized art style. The fact that they are not afraid to give similar feedback to an even bigger title makes me really appreciate their journalistic integrity.

It should also be noted that Polygon's score was still very high. The complaints leveled against the game seemed to be targeted more at raising awareness and beginning a conversation about gender dynamics in AAA titles. It's very out of line for gamers to feel so indignant about these scores.

[Todinho]

For as imature and uncalled for as these harressments are they are nothing new I still remember people being outraged at someone who gave Gad Hand a bad score(but to be fair that review was pretty bad) if the internet proved anything is that people get upset at the most stupid and smallest of things and are pretty vocal about it when there's anonymity and a box of text separating them from whomever they are displeased at the moment.

The more recent backlashe's against reviewers especially for the representation of women in games issue has been a response to them challenging the status quo,all of a sudden you have a bunch of reviewers criticquing games for issues that would never been brought up 5 years ago,a game that would only be praised a while ago now gets slammed(in their vision) for something that they never thought about and honestly dont care as long as it doesnt get in the way of their enterteinment,they only lash out agaisnt reviewers because they say that these type of games have to change and they are "bad for the medium",and they dont want them to change because they see no reason for it and so they go full defensive mode to protect something they like and think is under attack.

Sad thing is most of this could be easily solved by the two sides talking to each other directly most people arent irrational morons as the internet would like us to believe(of course you'll have extremists but they a minority),but all you'll hear is shouting everywhere and nobody really wants to talk to each other.So in one side you see people defending stupid things like gigolo mode because if they cant give an inch,on the other side people will demonize most AAA games for no reason and instead will focus on indie games(but true indie games because people that just want to make games based on what they played as a child are also holding the medium back) that "help elevate the medium" despite most of them being terrible and as worthy of note as crappy student film that thinks it's clever.

In the end though more games will have better female characters and representation in general and some will not and people will still get mad at each other over nothing because it's the internet.

By the way sorry about the jumbled mess that the text has become it was a stream of consciousness.

[AndyKurosaki]

The review score backlash is utterly ridiculous. "It only got 9 out of 10!". Honestly, who gives a fuck? I read reviews to get an idea of what a game is like, but I've long since stopped caring about the score at the end of it. People that see a score and think "I'm not bothering with that then" are, in my opinion, insane. Play it yourself, and make your own mind up.

[ratsoalbion]

There are the others too, those who believe that reviewers are weak and/or on the take because the game is clearly "overrated" and will play it determined to 'prove' that its only worth a 6/10 or something. Nuts.

As Justin McIlroy said yesterday, most good reviewers would rather not have to slap a coverall score under their carefully considered thoughts and musings, but they exist because readers - and therefore the industry - demand it.

As regards to the political issues in the game, here are some thoughts I just posted on our Facebook page:

I'm a card-carrying liberal lefty yet one of my favourite films, Goodfellas, portrays despicable men being violent, sexist and racist. Is it a sexist, racist film though - is Martin Scorsese a sexist and a racist? I don't believe so. I think this distinction is important. I haven't played GTAV yet (I'm hoping beyond hope that it arrives in the post this morning) but based on what I've played before I feel that while the GTA games can be sensationalist, I don't believe they set out to promote a bigoted agenda. Whether or not some of the game's consumers read it that way - the sort of people who failed to see the satire of Alf Garnett and promoted him as a champion of their narrow-minded causes - is another matter however.

[ratsoalbion]

Digital Foundry has posted its usual very dry and technical comparison of the two versions:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... 5-face-off

[dezm0nd]

Just had a nice 4 hour sesh. I adore it already! Felt it was wise to have a break and do something else but I know it won't be long before I get back on it.

I love experimenting and questioning the game world which mostly has me stunned by how many times it answers them correctly and usually it's the small details which impress me the most. And then this happened.

A group of Mexicans at a corner/bus stop waiting to go to work at the crack of dawn standing in a group.

One of them says "I'll fuckin' kill you!" As Franklin, the African-American protagonist bowls through, going to get a haircut. A fight breaks out and I'm the last man standing. As I cross the road, I stand next to a prostitute and I told her to fuck off which provoked a passer by.

He proceeded to throw a punch and miss. I uppercut him and floor him, walking away taking her dirty sex money. Amazing! (Forgot to add, the crack whore got knocked out, too!)

There are so many small instances like this which I can recall but go and dick around in the world, question it and be amazed by how it answers you. It's brilliant.

[AndyKurosaki]

Spent well over an hour watching TV, listening to the radio and generally pissing about

[ratsoalbion]

Drove up a mountain to a cable car in the middle of the night listening to West End Boys by the Pet Shop Boys. Got bored waiting for the cable car so picked up a parachute and jumped off the gantry, spiralling back down through the night air to the city below. Boosted a car and drove off in the morning light to the sounds of Pure Shores by All Saints. Pure GTA magic.

[DomsBeard]

Sounds amazing. Going to give in and get it this weekend.

[InsrtCoins]

I'm really enjoying it so far. I was born in L.A., so it's fun going back, so to speak. I frequently get homesick for palm trees.

[dezm0nd]

Being born in Plymouth and lived in Torquay for a few years of my childhood... I know exactly how you feel

They never did look right down there. Palm trees in England. Idiots.

[Baron Phil]

Only an hour and a half in but early impressions, the driving it massively improved and there are checkpoints during missions, two things I really disliked in IV. I also really like the new mini map.

[InsrtCoins]

One of the things I've really been impressed by, and it's not something I usually notice, is the force feedback. Driving from a blacktop surface to a metalwork bridge feels eerily accurate.

[Beck]

How are you guys getting on with the driving? I can't seem to drive without fishtailing from left to right, the sensitivity seems off to me. I think I've got it adjusted to my preference but it takes a bit of getting used to. By the time I got through the first driving mission the car was lucky to be moving

Also, have you guys changed the aiming mechanics? I'm not sure if I prefer the free aim or the auto aim option. Auto aim seems to make it too easy at times but the free aim doesn't feel right.

I'm really enjoying it so far though, I've just finished the pot / alien mission

[Scrustle]

I'm really liking the driving feel. I get what you mean about the fishtailing though. I've had that a few times, but I've managed to keep it under control. It just takes some getting used to. Learning how much countersteer you need to put on. But overall I really like how the cars drive, but it does seem to lack a bit of a feeling of speed. There isn't any motion blur or anything like that when you're going fast. At least the cars actually do go fast though, instead of having all those effects trying to fake a feeling of speed when you're actually going really slow.

I've found the on-foot controls to be a bit sluggish though, like the last game. I've not really had a problem with the shooting outside of that. I have kept it on auto aim for the most part though. I tried to use it like free aim (without actually changing it to that) in a mission where you have to shoot people chasing you in a car, and it was a real pain. Once I realised I could auto aim from the car it was no problem.