Spotlight
Digital FoundryRetro Face-Off: Grand Theft Auto 3
PS2 vs. Xbox vs. PC vs... iPad 2?
Digital FoundryGrand Theft Auto 3: PlayStation 2 vs. iPad Video
The original console game versus the iOS download.
Digital FoundryGrand Theft Auto 3: Xbox vs. PlayStation 2 Video
The first Digital Foundry retro Face-Off!
VideoGTA 3 10 year anniversary vid
Rockstar's classic a decade old.
Key events
1st August 2012
27th July 2012
17th December 2011
6th December 2011
5th March 2010
30th May 2002
30th October 2001
Bill Paxton to play Jack Thompson in BBC GTA drama
UPDATE: BBC confirms plot, Daniel Radcliffe to star.
UPDATE 22/4/15 10.55am: BBC Two has now officially announced Game Changer, the newly-titled drama that will detail development of Grand Theft Auto.
Rockstar Games up to 80 per cent off in Humble Sale
Get the GTA Complete Package for £7, Bully for £2.
Rockstar's greatest hits are heavily discounted this weekend on the Humble Store.
Daniel Radcliffe in talks to play GTA producer Sam Houser
In BBC drama helmed by Black Mirror and Misfits director.
Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe is in negotiations to star in the BBC's upcoming drama Grand Theft Auto, a feature-length programme about the popular game series' creation.
BBC is making a drama about the creation of Grand Theft Auto
But who should play the Housers?
The BBC is making a 90-minute live-action drama about the inception of Grand Theft Auto.
GTA Trilogy comes to Amazon's Fire TV and Kindle Fire
£6.99 San Andreas comes with a £20 Amazon Coins credit
Grand Theft Auto's 3, Vice City, and San Andreas have arrived on Amazon's Android-based video game console Fire TV, as well as Kindle Fire.
This year's BAFTA Fellowship award goes to...
King! No not really.
Last year it was Gabe Newell, and before him Peter Molyneux, Will Wright and Shigeru Miyamoto. The BAFTA Fellowship is, according to BAFTA, "the highest accolade bestowed".
Grand Theft Auto 3 on PlayStation Network this week
The PS2 no-frills version.
The delayed PlayStation Network release of PS2 game Grand Theft Auto 3 will happen this week, the US PlayStation blog has announced.
Grand Theft Auto 3 PlayStation 3 release date delayed
Music licensing "issues" radioed in.
The planned PlayStation 3 re-release of Grand Theft Auto 3 has been delayed due to music licensing issues, Sony has explained.
Sony had previously announced GTA3 would launch yesterday in North America, but it failed to arrive in the weekly PlayStation Store refresh.
A European release would presumably have followed today in our regular Wednesday update.
Grand Theft Auto 3 PS2 Classic PSN release date
That's a bit of a mouthful.
Old game Grand Theft Auto 3 will be released as a PS2 Classic on PlayStation Network this Tuesday, 31st July.
That's an American date, revealed on the American PlayStation blog podcast - Blogcast.
Maybe that means the European date will be Wednesday, 1st August.
Grand Theft Auto 3 and GTA: Vice City reappear on ESRB for PS3
Now, Tommy, that says "coming soon".
Open world PlayStation 2 gangster romps Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City may soon be re-released on PlayStation Network.
Digital FoundryRetro Face-Off: Grand Theft Auto 3
PS2 vs. Xbox vs. PC vs... iPad 2?
Back in October 2001, Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto 3 exclusively on PlayStation 2 and everything changed. A genre was defined by a gameplay formula that still persists to this day, many millions of copies were sold, and a megabucks franchise was born. 10 years later, Rockstar has unleashed a celebratory new version of the game for iOS and Android mobile devices - so what better opportunity for Digital Foundry to begin its long-threatened Retro Face-Off coverage?
In this article we'll be examining this iOS GTA running on iPad 2, and seeing just how Rockstar has converted it onto mobile platforms, noting the improvements made and perhaps the opportunities missed. We'll also be factoring in the PC version of the game, released seven months after the original in 2002, and most intriguingly of all we'll be examining the classic Xbox conversion, released precisely two years after the original once Sony's exclusivity period had expired.
In our usual Face-Off coverage it's rare that we actually see enormously significant differences between platforms these days. There's seldom any kind of financial imperative in making different versions of the game that utilise the respective strengths of each set of hardware to produce exciting, unique features, so instead it's all about finding a balance. With GTA3 on Xbox though, it was different, and with Rockstar Vienna on development duties the Xbox version was enormously improved over its predecessors on PS2 and PC.
Digital FoundryGrand Theft Auto 3: PlayStation 2 vs. iPad Video
The original console game versus the iOS download.
The original console game versus the iOS download.
Digital FoundryGrand Theft Auto 3: Xbox vs. PlayStation 2 Video
The first Digital Foundry retro Face-Off!
The first Digital Foundry retro Face-Off!
Why Grand Theft Auto 3 has a silent protagonist
"This did not seem like a major issue," says Rockstar.
Rockstar has revealed why Grand Theft Auto 3 had a silent protagonist - ten years after the ground-breaking open world gangster game launched.
Grand Theft Auto 3 release date for iOS/Android
10th Anniversary Edition will set you back $4.99.
Grand Theft Auto 3: 10th Anniversary Edition arrives on the App Store and Android Marketplace on 15th December, Rockstar Games has announced.
Priced at your local equivalent of $4.99, it's the same game you played back in 2001, updated with touch screen controls. See the screens below for a better idea of how it looks.
As detailed on Rockstar's official site, it's compatible with the following devices:
How 9/11 changed Grand Theft Auto 3
"Very upsetting, very unnerving and overwhelming."
Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar has revealed how the September 11 attacks changed GTA3, which launched just weeks after the terrorist atrocities.
VideoGTA 3 10 year anniversary vid
Rockstar's classic a decade old.
Rockstar's classic a decade old.
Grand Theft Auto 3 coming to mobiles
Rockstar celebrates 10th anniversary.
Rockstar is porting 2001 mega-hit Grand Theft Auto 3 to mobile devices.
Original Grand Theft Auto design docs
A cop mode that required the map?
Grand Theft Auto was once known by the provisional title Race'n'Chase and was planned for release on SEGA Saturn and "Ultra 64" (Nintendo 64).
GTA V to be announced before E3?
Analyst reckons suspension is building.
Games industry analyst Mike Hickey has said a Grand Theft Auto V announcement may be on the way - and that it could be made before E3 kicks off in June.
"There is building suspension for a pre-E3 GTA V announcement," he said, as reported by Industrygamers. "Although we expect nothing from Rockstar at this year’s official E3 event."
Rockstar is more likely to hold a separate press event and make the announcement independent of any publisher conferences, apparently. That's because GTA V really is kind of a big deal.
Iain Duncan Smith has a go at games
Singles out that pesky Grand Theft Auto.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has claimed videogames are messing up the kids with their crazy violent ways.
Mad convict files suit against Rockstar
Wants restraining order on GTA games.
Bonkers convict Jonathan Lee Riches has filed for a temporary restraining order against Take-Two, Rockstar, and the "newest Grand Theft Auto games", claiming inmates who played the titles will knock him out and steal his "gold Jesus cross".
Rockstar dismisses GTA movie rumours
Eminem not to star after all.
Rockstar has denied reports it almost gave the go-ahead to a Grand Theft Auto film last year, saying the company is "not interested" in bringing the series to the big screen.
FeatureBorn Free: the History of the Openworld Game
From Adventure to Urban Chaos.
It's rather quaint to think that just over six years ago, we were all a-twitter at the prospect of Grand Theft Auto III and its swanky new 3D world. "How will that classic top-down gameplay work in 3D?" we mused, like big silly things. "Could it possibly beat Driver?" we pondered in all seriousness. Aah, innocent times.
For $25 million!
Confirming the troubled publisher's heavy reliance on its controversial Grand Theft Auto series, Take-Two's latest 10-Q filing includes mention of a three-year, USD 25 million deal to secure and safeguard the creative team behind its flagship franchise.
Says judge. Thompson happy.
An Alabama judge has denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed against Take-Two by the families of two police officers and a dispatcher killed by a Grand Theft Auto-playing teenager.
Thompson withdraws from Grand Theft Auto lawsuit
Controversial lawyer pulls out.
Anti-videogames campaigner Jack Thompson has withdrawn from the Grand Theft Auto lawsuit filed against retailers and publishers following accusations that he violated legal ethics.
And lazy devs in general.
Warren Spector, the former studio head of Ion Storm Austin and the brains behind Deus Ex, has slammed game developers for relying on tried and tested formulas instead of coming up with new ideas.
Xbox/PS2 owners encouraged to hop on the pimpmo-bandwagon.
Rockstar plans to release a Grand Theft Auto Trilogy pack for Xbox and a Special Edition of San Andreas for PS2 featuring a video DVD in the run-up to Christmas. So that's the GTA Threesome and the GTA Big Disc Edition for those living in a parallel universe where Jack Thompson hasn't been invented.
Japanese kiddies cheer.
Capcom is considering launching a legal battle over decisions taken by local government officers in Japan to ban the sale of Grand Theft Auto 3 to under-18s.
Review - Grand Theft Auto comes home to the PC; can it steal our hearts (and wallets) again?
Publisher
Take 2
Developer
Review - a new high in modern urban thuggery
Havoc mongering
Apparently somewhere along the line I agreed to write about games
as well as play them. So I suppose I'll spend a few minutes
