Rockstar Asks for GTAV Crew Suggestions

As we found out with the release of Max Payne 3, the overhaul of the Rockstar Social Club to feature the Crew system has proven a big hit for multiplayer.

Now it's the community's chance to make suggestions and feedback, and we could see them feature in GTA V!

Rockstar have just updated the Newswire asking for our ideas.

"As we're busy working on Grand Theft Auto V, we'd like to take this opportunity to ask all of you for your feedback, input and ideas for features you'd like to see created for Crews in the game.

Whether it's suggestions for competitive in-game Crew features in Multiplayer, new ways to manage and recruit, ideas for enhancing Social Club Crew pages and leaderboards, things you did and didn't like about Crews in Max Payne 3, or any thoughts at all related to Crews really that you'd like to share - we're all ears."

As stated, the only place our ideas will be heard is by emailingGTAVCrewFeedback@rockstargames.com

Discuss ideas you've submitted to Rockstar in this topic over at GTAForums.

Game Informer to preview GTA V in December issue

Game Informer editor Andy McNamara has just tweeted that he is in New York to see GTA V for the December issue of Game Informer simply stating:

"In NYC, about to check out December's cover game #GTAVpic.twitter.com/001Miuec"

Rockstar have also posted an image of the tweet on their Newswire, making it official.

Game Informer's December issue will likely be released to subscribers in early November. Discuss this latest bit of news on the forums.

GTAV Trailer 1 Without Music

Within the movie and video games industries, there is an entire art form dedicated to creating sound to match the action on screen. Called Foley Art, it is often created on a sound stage, as is demonstrated in this video.

Using sound created by those artists, there are people who replace the original musical soundtrack of popular videos with foley art - which can create some interesting results, as seen in the video "Gangnam Style without music".

YouTube user Auxeum, of "GTA IV - Gangnam Style" fame, have done just that, by removing the sound track to the first trailer of Grand Theft Auto V, and simulating what the game world may have sounded like originally:

Watch on YouTube & Discuss on GTA Forums!

What Rockstar said about "Universes"

My apologies if you got a sudden rush of excitement in thinking that this is entirely new news; however, I think some might find this as news to them! After seeing several GTA fans talk about or speculate on the return of characters from previous games to GTAV, be it Carl Johnson from San Andreas and/or Tommy Vercetti from Vice City, I thought it was worth bringing up a statement Rockstar made in December of last year.

While a lot this will seem quite obvious to many of you, with forum postings still popping up on the matter, and after a quick sweep of Twitter, it seems there are still fans under the impression that these characters are either factually or possibly returning.

Now, nothing against them, I can certainly understand why they would think so, especially after a mainstream game source hyped this last year.

So what I wanted to bring to light is this statement Rockstar made last year within a fan Q&A of theirs. Someone had asked about characters crossing "universes". You can read the full question and answer below, paying particular attention to the parts I highlighted in bold on the answer:

SammiiDoogles
There are many references to GTAIII characters and brands (El Burro graffiti in LC for example) in GTAIV, but do any characters (other than Lazlow) actually exist within both 'universes'? Is that where Donald Love went? Did he hop dimensions into the GTAIV universe?! Plot twist!! Are the two universes completely separate? I understand it'd make almost no sense having two Liberty City's but is there any way we'll see characters from GTAIII return? GTAIV has some amazing characters, but some of the characters in the III era are just unforgettable.

Rockstar says:
El Burro is referenced as he was also referenced in GTA 1, so it felt appropriate that he should cross "universes" - the "universes" are the worlds interpreted at different definitions, 2d, 3d and high definition, so we felt brands and radio / back ground characters would exist in both, but 3 dimensional characters would not. This is the logic (as far as it could be considered logical) behind it - so no, we don't believe any GTA3 characters could exist in the GTA4 universe. 

Now, while this question and answer wasn't specific to GTAV, I think what we can deduce from it is that what they said about GTAIV applies to GTAV as well - given that they are within the high definition interpretations of these fictional worlds.

That makes perfect sense if you think about it. Imagine if characters from the GTA 3 trilogy crossed over to this new interpretation of Los Santos, specifically CJ. Wouldn't it seem odd to think that the history CJ had with GTA: San Andreas' neighborhoods, the layout of the streets, the size of the map, all suddenly completely wiped out and replaced with a more broader city?

There are those, however, who say that this is the "bold new direction" Rockstar is taking by bringing back older characters. But that is unlikely given that they issued this statement a month after GTAV was announced with its trailer.

Of course, as mentioned by Rockstar, this does not apply to in-game branding and radio personalities. While we don't yet know for certain, I'm sure when Lazlow isn't busy playing rugby or making stripperscry, he's hard at work recording and producing radio content for GTAV.

On a separate note, you may have noticed we haven't yet seen many night time scenes from the game assets released so far on GTAV. If you want to get hyped, make sure you check out the video "NightFall" by Colin Rich - a "three minute tour of light through the City of Angels".

New GTAV Screenshots - Business

Rounding out this week's surge of GTAV screenshots are an additional four new images within a set called "Business". Rockstar noted that this will be the last screenshots for a while, and will be providing more "in a few weeks or so".

A "grand theft auto" business?

Farm related or drug trafficking?

Import/Export Business?

As these screenshots prominently feature a different character than the white male highlighted in previously released game assets, fans are speculating that this brings some truth to the rumor that the game will feature multiple playable protagonists - and we think so too!

So what are these "business" screenshots meant to highlight? Side missions (jobs), perhaps? The truck screenshot seems like it can form part of a "grand theft auto" business, with the crop duster screenshot being something along the lines of "farming" or drug trafficking.Discuss and speculate at GTAForums!

New GTAV Screenshots - Leisure

As promised, Rockstar Games released another set of screenshots today, all featuring leisure activities within Grand Theft Auto V.

Looks amazing, right? On the game's official website, Rockstar have opened up a further three empty slots following today's screens. Are these planned for release this week, as well? We'll have to wait and see, so stay tuned!

Discuss at GTAForums.

New GTA V Screenshots - Transport

Rockstar Games have released a second batch of screenshots today on their Newswire; this time showing us some modes of transport around Los Santos!

Bicycles are confirmed with the first image, and in the others we can see the Cheetah sportscar and the Hydra jet.

If you weren't excited enough by the screenshots, Rockstar added"More to come this week..." at the end of the Newswire update. Has the GTA V marketing campaign officially started?

Update: Rockstar have also updated the official GTA V website to include all the screenshots released so far; but there are three empty spaces. Keep your eyes peeled on Rockstar's Newswire and GTAV.net this week.

What do you think of the new screenshots? Discuss them here over at GTAForums.

GTA V Viral Marketing Begins

Rockstar's first GTA V viral marketing campaign has begun, starting with a number of tweets from the previously dormant Epsilon Program.

The Epsilon Program first made an appearance in GTA San Andreas and has been mentioned numerous times on radio stations and by pedestrians. The religious cult brainwashes it's followers into handing over large amounts of money and is believed to be a parody of the infamous Church of Scientology.

Will we see more GTA V viral marketing in the coming weeks and months? Join the discussion on GTAForums.

First Screenshots of GTA V

The first official screenshots of Grand Theft Auto V have been released today on Rockstar's latest Asked & Answered.

The first shows a police helicopter across the Los Santos skyline, and the second some NPCs sitting in a suburban park area.

Click for a larger size!

As well as treating us to the images, Rockstar also answered some community questions.

Without revealing any new surprises, they have confirmed that we can fly planes in GTA V, and that they are simply still "very busy" working on the game.

This, coupled with using both "huge" and "biggest open world game to date" to describe the project, sounds very promising in terms of map size.

What do you think of the first screenshots? Discuss them here over at GTAForums.

GTAV Easter Egg in Max Payne 3

GTAForums user CantPauseToast made a pretty cool discovery while playing Max Payne 3. He found an office with images of planes up on the wall which look like they were recorded in-game. However, the planes don't appear in Max Payne 3, and 2 of them look identical to the planes featured in last year's Grand Theft Auto V debut trailer.

GTAV images in Max Payne 3.
(Thanks to GooD-NTS for providing the images)

So there's a very good chance that the screenshots in the above picture were recorded in GTAV! Discuss this on our forums.