Developers: Rockstar Games, Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar Toronto, Rockstar Lincoln
First release: Grand Theft Auto, Oct. 1997
Latest release: Grand Theft Auto III(for iOS, Android), Dec. 15, 2011
-Grand Theft Auto(GTA) is a multi award winning video game series created in the UK by dave Jones, then later on by Dan Houser and Sam Houser.
-It's primarily developed by British developer Rockstar North
-The name of the series refers to grand theft auto, a type of car crime referring to motor vehicle theft
-The series is set in fictional locales heavily based on American cities, while an expansion for the original was based on London.
-Gameplay is open world, meaning you can run around, explore, do missions at your leisure, side activities, consisting of driving, action-adventure, occasional role playing, stealth, racing.
-The game play has comedic satire based on American culture, but the series has been under fire for it's controversial adult nature and violent themes. The game is focused around different good guys trying to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld. The bad guys are commonly characters who have betrayed the good guy or characters who have the most impact preventing the good guy from his/her progress
-And as for voices, famous people have provided voices for characters in the various games of this series. Such as:
- Michael Madsen
- Phil Collins
- Jenna Jameson
- Gary Busey
- Ray Liotta
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Danny Trejo
- Frank Vincent
- Robert Loggia
- Kyle MacLachlan
- Peter Fonda
- Dennis Hopper
- Burt Reynolds
- Chris Penn
- Joe Pantoliano
- James Woods
Overview
-Each game allows it's player to take on the role of a criminal or wannabe in a big city, typically an individual who rises through the ranks of organized crime through the course of the game. The player is given various missions to accomplish by kingpins and major idols in the city underworld which have to be done in order to progress.
-Assassinations and other crimes appear regularly, but occasionally driving a taxi, firefighting, street racing, bus driving, or learning to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are also present
-In the later ones, most notably Grand Theft Auto 2, the player is given a more expanded storyline in which he is forced to overcome an unfortunate event(i.e. being betrayed and left for dead) which serves as motivation for the character to advance.
-Grand Theft Auto III and later games have more prevalent voice acting, and radio stations, which simulate driving to music with DJs, radio personalities, commercials, talk radio, pop music and American culture.
-The use of vehicles in an explorable urban location provides a basic idea of a working city, complete with pedestrians who obey traffic. Further details are used to create an open ended atmosphere that has been used before, such as in The Simpsons Hit & Run, which is more family friendly.
Setting
-The GTA series is set in a fictional version of the world, in a number of various time periods. The original GTA introduced 3 main locations: Liberty City, which is based on New York City, Vice City, which is based on Miami and San Andreas, which is based on Los Angeles.
-Later games have been redone and expanded on the original. GTA: San Andreas takes place in the state of San Andreas, which is based on California and Nevada and includes the cities Los Santos(Los Angeles), San Fierro(San Francisco) and Las Venturas(Las Vegas).
-There have been other versions made, like an expansion pack for the original have London 1969 and London 1961, set in London, have been made as expansion packs for the original.
