Grand Theft Auto III Message Board

One IGN fan is 17 today. What Mature games should he nab?

R.I.P. PlayStation 2: 2000 - 2012

Though the PlayStation 2 has been essentially démodé ever since its bigger, bulkier, more technologically advanced replacement came along in 2006, that doesn't mean the system just disappeared. In fact, it's been right there all along, still appearing on store shelves, and occasionally even maintaining just enough interest to ensure that, for a number of years after the PlayStation 3's arrival, PlayStation 2 ports of major titles still popped into existence.

No longer will this be the case, however. As of last week, Sony quietly shut down further production of the console in Japan, and over the weekend the console maker confirmed to The Guardian that the PlayStation 2 had reached its inevitable end.

The PlayStation 2 leaves the field as essentially the most successful home console ever produced. Over the course of its 12-year run, more than 150 million units were sold at retail, alongside countless titles produced by myriad publishers. Many of Sony's biggest current exclusive franchises, including Ratchet and Clank, Killzone, and God of War all originated on the system, while numerous major third party franchises, like Guitar Hero, Katamari Damacy, and, of course, Rockstar's 3D-flavored Grand Theft Auto III, all made their debuts there as well.

While it's always sad to hear about an old favorite finally exiting production, the truth is that the PS2 hasn't existed in any impactful capacity in years. Units have continued to sell in spurts, primarily in Japan (where the last few volleys of software have mostly originated as well), and there is even purportedly one remaining game releasing sometime in 2013--the Final Fantasy XI expansion Adoulin no Makyou. But trickling Final Fantasy XI expansions do not a console make. It's clear that the PS2's time was up a while ago. This is just the final death knell.

It was a legendary run, one that it seems increasingly unlikely any new console will overtake in the foreseeable future. But instead of hand-wringing over the future, let's take today to remember the past and bust out some of our most favorite PlayStation 2 games. I've already pulled out copies of Ape Escape 3, Tony Hawk 3, and the original Guitar Hero. Now if I could just find my original PS2 guitar controller...

#grandtheftauto Later this week, Grand Theft Auto III is being released on the PlayStation Network. It's going to be hard to get very excited about it when you look how well this little project is coming along. More »

Grand Theft Auto III was a revelation at the time, yet we still know so little about its development.

Grand Theft Auto III had an enormous impact on video games, in terms of the kinds of video games the industry focused on, what video games were capable of and their mainstream acceptance.

Its developer is also notoriously secretive, only speaking to the press when it chooses to, and keeping its creative leadership, brothers Sam and Dan Houser, largely out of the spotlight.

The 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III has prompted Rockstar Games to bring the curtain back a bit, and the company has been revealing some incredibly interesting tidbits on its web site.

I simply had to pass on a few of them.

Over the years, for example, there have been theories that Grand Theft Auto III was tweaked in some way because of 9/11.

“About 1% different. We removed only one mission that referenced terrorists and changed a few other cosmetic details – car details, a couple of ped comments, lines of radio dialogue etc – the game came out a very short time later. The biggest change was the US packaging which remixed the previous packaging into what became our signature style – because the previous packaging [which was released as the cover of the game in Europe] was, we felt, too raw after 9/11. All of the more extreme rumours are amusing but impossible to have been achieved in such a short period of time.”

And how come the dodo wasn’t able to fly?

“Because we were making a driving and shooting game - even that, as a combination of core gameplay elements, was very, very radical at the time. The Dodo was never meant to be flown very much at all, and it certainly wasn’t grounded as a result of 9/11 – it was just a fun thing that people then went crazy with when they figured out various bugs that let them fly it!”

Everyone remembers Grand Theft Auto III having a monstrous, sprawling script for the time, but...

There are plenty of other interesting tidbits that I haven’t mentioned, either. Make sure to check it out!

#grandtheftauto It's long been a subject of fan speculation as to how much Rockstar Games changed Grand Theft Auto III in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. In the decade-plus since GTA III came out, rumors have abounded: cut sequences where planes hit buildings, a supposedly removed pair of Twin Towers-style skyscrapers and the erasure of children and school buses. More »

#grandtheftauto Merry (belated) Christmas, owners of the recently-released Grand Theft Auto III on iOS and Android. That mobile version you bought is actually, in almost every respect, the old PC version of the original, meaning if you can get at its file structure, you can use PC mods on it. More »

#grandtheftauto You might be celebrating GTA III's 10th Anniversary by playing it on your iOS or Android device, with that version freshly out today. Rockstar's celebrating in a different way, though. On their official site, the developer's revealing all kinds of trivia and minutiae about the open-world crime game that put them on the map. More »

We spoke to Dan Houser, the guys who made the game, industry luminaries and IGN editors. We looked at the game's design, influence and impact, as well as much-loved details like Easter eggs and the radio stations. Now IGN is bringing the curtain down on our tenth anniversary celebration of Grand Theft Auto III...

Ten years ago Grand Theft Auto III appeared in our lives. For many of us here at IGN, GTA III was a defining moment in gaming. We decided to honor Grand Theft Auto III with stories about what it meant to us back in 2001, and what it means to us now...

"Objects contain the possibility of all situations," Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote. He was not talking about Grand Theft Auto III, but the process by which Rockstar's open world game came to be is a model of the sentiment. Perhaps more than any other form, video games are bound by the expectations o...

Grand Theft Auto III is 10 years old, and while the mere mention of the game brings back all sorts of warm and fuzzy memories, it also brings up a lot laughs. Believe it or not, Rockstar hid a bunch of goodies in its open world game, and finding them meant you were in on the joke. Here are some of our favorite GTA III Easter Eggs...

Ever since Space Invaders pioneered a descending four-note bass progression, video game music has been adding new levels of atmosphere to gaming experiences. Certain pieces of video game music are as timeless and recognizable as any number of film score pieces, and you'd be hard pressed to find ...

Dan Houser, Vice President at Rockstar Games never expected GTA III to be as big as it was. After an unspectacular appearance at E3, where it was "completely and utterly ignored," Rockstar wasn't sure about how the game would be received leading up to its release. Internally, the team knew they ...

Dan Houser hardly every gives interviews. Thankfully, when he does, he's happy to do the talking. He and his brother Sam are the creative force behind Rockstar, creating some of the biggest games of the last decade. IGN visited Dan at Rockstar's offices in New York to talk about GTA III's tenth anniversary, and to hear the amazing story behind this seminal game's launch and its controversial aftermath...

One of Grand Theft Auto III's irrefutable achievements is the devotion it inspired from a huge audience, and the respect it holds from the game industry's creative community. The game excited and enticed more than 14 million players, while laying forth a design model that has since become boilerplat...

Grand Theft Auto III didn't invent the idea of the open world game, but it may have perfected it. From Warren Robinett's Adventure for the Atari 2600 to Maxis's offshoot SimCopter, allowing players to author their own experiences in a simulated world has been fundamental to video game design. ...

On October 22, 2001 Grand Theft Auto appeared in U.S stores. This week, IGN will be celebrating the game's tenth anniversary with a series of features that honor GTA III's impact on game design and popular culture...