GTA V gameplay trailer is why are you still reading this?

I’ll say this for Rockstar Games – they’re masters of stringing you along, this is known; but when they deliver, boy do they deliver.

It looks…well, it looks fantastic. The graphics are good, it looks like they’ve put some thought into improving the mechanics, and the world…you know, the worlds GTA’s given us over the years were always the biggest draw for me. Whether it was the keen sense of satire around the inhabitants, the abundance of tucked-away easter eggs and other secrets or the simply staggering attention to detail, there was nothing I enjoyed more than getting up to speed in Rockstar’s Bizarro metropolises. And I absolutely cannot wait to sink my teeth into this one.

It’s either a testament to the reputation Rockstar’s built for itself or to my unashamed status as a GTA fanboy (or both), but I was grinning before I even clicked ‘play’. That grin stayed on my face throughout, except for all the times my jaw dropped; and there were quite a few of those. I’ll probably take a more in-depth look at the snippets the trailer reveals, but right now, I’m just going to watch it a few more times and try to hold back my growing conviction that Rockstar’s done it again.

Somewhere between joyful and peachy? Sounds about right.

Get to know Michael, Franklin and Trevor in these new GTA V trailers

Open-world action games are a dime a dozen these days, but there’s just something about GTA. Whether its the impeccable song choices, the scathing social commentary or just some brilliant writing, there’s a flavour to a Grand Theft Auto game that’s all its own. And these trailers have it in spades.

Franklin’s arc looks set to be a return to the war between Grove Street and the Ballas that featured prominently in San Andreas, while Trevor…is almost certainly insane. In a good way. There’s a man who’s clearly read How To Win Friends And Influence People. Despite Franklin and Trevor each being callbacks to earlier GTAs in their own way, I have to say that the one I’m most interested in right now is Michael. The Ulysses character is nothing new, but in the hands of Rockstar? It could be something great.

5…months…more.

It’s okay to stare at the official cover art for Grand Theft Auto V

If that isn’t one of the most iconic cover styles in gaming, I don’t know what is. Oh September, you just can’t get here fast enough.

86-year-old grandmother plays GTA, brings back memories I’d rather forget

One of the most traumatic gaming experiences I’ve ever had occurred early in GTA III. I’ve forgotten the specific mission, but it was incredibly hard. Well, actually, all I recall is that I failed it on a number of occasions, in a wide variety of ways – I’m kinda inferring the difficulty of the mission, to be honest. Anyway, after about an hour of trying and trying again, I finally managed to complete the damn thing and I was on my way back to my safe-house. Both Claude (GTA III’s protagonist) and the car he/I was driving were the worse for wear, but I just needed to be done with it as soon as possible. Of course, it didn’t exactly go according to plan –  I got sideswiped by another car in a vicious, unprovoked attack, and hurtled towards the wall, barely missing a pedestrian on the way. Plowing into the wall was enough to make my battered car give up the ghost, so I dove out and ran for it. The explosion brought Claude down to under 10 health, which wasn’t ideal, but I could actually see the safe-house alleyway up ahead. The end was in sight.

At which point, the granny that I had just missed running over (through some fairly breathtaking driving skills, I might add), who was clearly overwrought that I had nudged her handbag or something, pulls out a frickin’ M16 and proceeds to go all Scarface on my ass.

It’s all very well Hilda Knott talking about how games keep her mentally active and that she’s been gaming for over 40 years, but I got a case of the shivers when I read ‘grandmother’ and ‘GTA’ in the same sentence. Those words should never be together, ever.

I want those hours of my life back.

Grand Theft Auto V delayed until September

To the wailing of infants, the beating of breasts and much gnashing of teeth, Rockstar today announced that GTA V will release on September 17th, 2013. Originally scheduled to arrive in stores this spring, this significantly pushes back the launch of what is easily my most-awaited game of 2013. Not that I’m taking this personally, or anything. YOU $%@#$%@$#%#$!

In other news, reports that the Rockstar executive who made the announcement looked like this are yet to be confirmed.

Dude, where’s my car? – Meet the GTA Legends

I don’t know what would happen if you actually managed to get every GTA protagonist in a single room (apart from all the ‘commandeered’ vehicles parked haphazardly outside); but I do know that I’d give anything to be a fly on that wall, because that would be one hell of a party. Or massacre – really, it could go either way. We’d almost certainly have to bring in Michael Bay for the documentary, too.

This artwork is the creation of Patrick Brown – he’s a gamer and an immensely talented artist, and that’s a very good combination for the rest of us. I highly recommend browsing through his work on Deviant Art, so much so that I’m going to link to it again!

Click on past the break for the remaining pictures in Patrick’s ‘GTA Legends’ series.