Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Rockstar North |
| Publisher(s) | Take-Two Interactive |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Windows (PC), Xbox |
| Release | PS2: October 2004, PC, Xbox: June 7, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Action, Driving |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a video game that was developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto franchise; including previously released 2D titles bearing the Grand Theft Auto name, it is the seventh to be released. It was released for the PlayStation 2 on October 26, 2004 in North America and on October 29, 2004 in Europe and Australia. Following a press release issued near the end of 2004, it was released for the PC and Xbox on June 7, 2005 in North America and June 10, 2005 in Europe.
History and speculation
Following the success of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, many gamers eagerly anticipated a new Grand Theft Auto game on the PlayStation 2 in late 2003. Most theories were shot down when Rockstar had given no announcement of a new game by summer of that year. The first hint at there even being a new installment was on October 30, 2003, when Take-Two Interactive announced that an untitled "GTA5" game was set for release in the "latter half of the fiscal fourth quarter 2004" [1]. By this time, pundits online had two theories about the plot of the game; it would either be based in the city of San Andreas, California (based on Los Angeles) in the modern day, or in Sin City, Nevada (based on Las Vegas) in the 1970s, as both would be ideal regarding new innovative ways to commit crimes, and new storylines that could grow. The six levels of the original Grand Theft Auto took place in Liberty City (New York). On December 17, and December 21, 2003, Take-Two had registered 10 GTA-related trademarks (GTA5, GTA6, GTA: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, GTA: Sin City, Grand Theft Auto: Sin City, GTA: Bogota, Grand Theft Auto: Bogota, GTA: Tokyo, and Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo) [2]. After the information was divulged on January 12, 2004, it seemed likely that most of the titles were either red herrings or possible future incarnations of the franchise.
On March 1, 2004, Take-Two announced in a press conference that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be released Tuesday, October 19, 2004 in the US, and three days later, October 22, in Europe [3] and October 29 for Australia. However, on September 9, 2004 Take-two announced in its third quarter financial results for 2004 that the release date of the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be pushed back to October 26, 2004 in North America and October 29, 2004 for Europe and November 15, 2004 in Australia to allow Rockstar to remove questionable content that would have the game banned there. Nonetheless, the Australian version has been on sale on October 29 and proved to be the multilanguage European PAL (UK) version. In the same release, Take-Two announced a PC and Xbox version would be released on June 7, 2005.
The Xbox and PC ports of San Andreas released on June 7, 2005 in the U.S. In Europe, the release date was June 10th, 2005. Similar to past iterations of the GTA games, both versions have higher-resolution textures, the ability to make custom soundtracks from MP3s, and a 30 second instant replay feature. Both the PS2 and Xbox versions also have a 2-player option for certain missions; however, this feature was removed from the PC version.
The Calaveras Enterprise newspaper reported on November 3, 2004 that the Merchants' Association in the real-life town of San Andreas, California has become alarmed about the popularity of the video game, but has conceded that there is little it can do. Also, it turns out there is a retired pastor named Carl Johnson in the real San Andreas (Carl Johnson, the protagonist of GTA: San Andreas, shares the same name).
On July 20, 2005 production of the game was suspended and the game received a revised ESRB Rating of Adults Only, making San Andreas the only mass-released AO console game in the U.S. This was the result of the release of a modification allowing access to the hidden "Hot Coffee" portion of the game. Rockstar has given distributors the option of applying an Adults Only ESRB rating sticker to copies of the game, or returning them to be replaced by versions without the Hot Coffee content. Many retailers have pulled the game off their shelves to avoid selling an AO rated game. Rockstar North released a Cold Coffee patch for the PC version and re-released San Andreas with a Mature rating. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have also been re-released in a GTA Trilogy Pack for Xbox, and a Special Edition for PlayStation 2.
Details
Template:Spoiler Information about the game began circulating in magazines and on websites on May 11, 2004, including that the game world of San Andreas would be not just one city, but an entire state, encompassing three metropolises (Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas, based on Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, respectively), and the countryside in between. Intercity travel is facilitated not only by a huge freeway system but also by airports and a system of passenger trains, the Brown Streak Railroad, both of which have vehicles that can be operated by the player. In interviews, Rockstar's designers have reported that the map is between four and six times the size of the area in Vice City.
The game is set in 1992. This game has a soundtrack of period artists, as Vice City did, as well as "classic" rap and rock stations and a country station. Many of the missions which take place in the game are fairly obvious imitations of California-based phenomena from the early 90s, such as the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Plot
The player controls main character Carl "CJ" Johnson, an African American man in his mid to late twenties returning to Los Santos after five years residing in Liberty City. Carl left Los Santos after being blamed for the death of his younger brother, Brian, by his older brother, Sean (nicknamed "Sweet"). The murder of his mother causes him to return for her funeral. CJ returns to find disarray in his family and in his old gang, the Grove Street Families (named for their home territory, Grove Street), which prompts him to stay.
San Andreas world
San Andreas
The state San Andreas is generally based on California and Nevada comprising three major cities. Where Las Venturas and the surrounding desert correspond to Las Vegas and the Nevada desert; and Los Santos, San Fierro and the badlands correspond Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Californian badlands. Players can climb Mount Chiliad, a half mile (800 m) tall mountain casting a vast shadow, parachute from various peaks and skyscrapers, and visit 12 rural towns and villages located in three counties: Red County, Flint County, and Bone County, a massive dam, a large secret military base, a microwave dish, and many other geographical features. San Andreas is almost four times as large as Vice City, and five times as large as Liberty City. the player can also travel by rail between the cities.
Los Santos
Los Santos features landmarks reminiscent of the Watts Towers, the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Capitol Tower, and Grauman's Chinese Theater. The city of Los Santos has several important areas, including the gang-ridden Ganton, Idlewood and East Los Santos – based on the N.W.A-era Compton, Inglewood; and East Los Angeles, busy downtown, wealthy Rodeo and Mulholland, and glitzy Vinewood (complete with giant VINEWOOD sign in the hills).
San Fierro
San Fierro features Rockstar's interpretations of the Haight-Ashbury district ("Hashbury"), the gay Castro district ("Queens"), Chinatown, and the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as the city's prominent cable cars and hilly terrain. Several other familiar landmarks have been recreated from the Embarcadero clock tower and the "Big Pointy" Transamerica Pyramid to Lombard Street, and Scottish landmarks such as the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. There is a district known as "Garcia", an ode to Grateful Dead frontman and San Francisco native Jerry Garcia, and San Fierro's City Hall closely resembles San Francisco's ornate city hall.
Las Venturas
In Las Venturas (one of the biggest cities in San Andreas), the player is able to visit and even take over casinos. One is able to play various casino games such as poker, roulette, and slot machines. Off-track betting parlors are also available in the game's other regions. In addition to gambling, strip clubs are also prevalent in Las Venturas. Many real Las Vegas Strip casinos are faithfully interpreted on Las Ventura's Strip, including the Excalibur Hotel and Casino ("Come-a-Lot"), the Sphinx and pyramid of the Luxor Hotel ("The Camel's Toe"), and the Pioneer Club ([4]), with Vegas Vic and Vicki replaced by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City characters Avery Carrington and Candy Suxxx, respectively.
Vehicle modification
TransFender is a fictitious car modification shop in San Andreas. TransFender ranges in a wide variety of mods for a vehicle from nitro to hydraulics. Most car mods are strictly visual because they only add aesthetic appeal, as opposed to those which improve the performance. Many, but not all, vehicles can be modified in GTA:SA. Common modifications include nitrous tanks, hydraulics, and paintjobs. Vehicles can be divided into four categories: Cars that can be modified but are not low-rider or "street racer" cars can only be modified at a TransFender, low-rider cars can only be modified at Loco Low Co., street racing types are modified at Wheel Arch Angels, and unmodifiable cars (most emergency vehicles and some off-road vehicles) cannot be modified at all. One mission requires the player to visit a low-rider mod-shop and then to use the car in a hydraulics competition.
Crossovers from Vice City
Many characters, locations and fictional elements of Vice City were kept, sometimes with minor modifications to account for changes that would have occurred in the 6 years that separate both games' fictional worlds. Interestingly, some real-world promotional material Rockstar created for Vice City can also be found in this game. Since characters from Vice City appear and the events of the game are hinted at having really happened, this might indicate that Tommy Vercetti's adventures in Vice City gained considerable notoriety in the following years.
Real-world promotional material
- Action figures of Tommy Vercetti and Lance Vance can be found on the shelves of Zero's shop in San Fierro.
- Posters featuring the game's box cover art can be seen on some walls, most notably in Denise's room (the Hot Coffee mod is required to get there).
Recurring characters
- Ken Rosenberg still works for the mafia. He became a big shot after the events in Vice City, then lost it all because of his cocaine addiction and went into rehab. When he got out, he was picked as a neutral party to manage a mob casino shared by three families.
- Kent Paul is still a music group manager, though no longer for Love Fist. He now handles the Gurning Chimps.
- Jethro and Dwaine owned the boat yard in Vice City, until Tommy bought it from them. They now hold small-time mechanic jobs in San Fierro.
- Claude shows up as Catalina's new boyfriend, after she "dumps" CJ. CJ beats him in a cross-country race and receives his San Fierro garage as his winnings. When CJ sees how run-down the garage is, he calls Claude a "mute asshole" and a "fucking snake without a tongue".
- Catalina is Cesar Vialpando's cousin and CJ's girlfriend (for a brief time). She is generally hostile towards all men, except to CJ (although she really doesn't show it much). She's a profit-driven lady, who hooks up with Claude just to spite CJ. After she tries to kill Claude in GTA III, he kills her as she tries to escape in a helicopter.
- Salvatore Leone, the big boss of the Liberty City Mafia (until Claude kills him in GTA III) makes an appearance as the Mafia-head of the Caligula's Palace Casino. He provides Carl with a few jobs, until Carl and his crew rob Caligula's vault, which enrages Leone.
- Maria Latore, Salvatore Leone's mistress in GTA III also makes an appearance as a waitress in Caligula's, who Leone takes a shine to.
Radio personalities
- Fernando, the host of the Vice City radio station Emotion 98.3, hijacks the Lonely Hearts Show from its host (and former lover, though their relationship seems to have ended very badly) on WCTR.
- Lazlow, the host of V-Rock in Vice City, started hosting a show called Entertaining America on WCTR after the former host was shot. In between this and V-Rock, it is hinted that Lazlow spent years living on the streets, slept with his best friend's wife, signed up for the army, and did something to his grandmother that is illegal in most states. He no longer enjoys the rock music he played in the 80s. He also says "I wish I could take phone in calls", a hint at the fact that he will eventually become the DJ for the radio phone-in show "Chatterbox" in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.
- Timmy, one of the characters of the popular sitcom Just the Five of us back in the 80s, can be heard in a radio interview on WCTR News. He's attending a child-actor conference at the Four-Dragons Casino in Las Venturas. In his sitcom ad in Vice City, he played a bad-tempered child who claimed to be a 42 year old investment banker with a rare disease that made him look 12. In the interview on WCTR, we learn that he still looks like a child, although he claims to be 52 years old now, and that he still has the nasty temper his character had on the show. Whether this is real or Timmy can't break character after so many years is unknown. Timmy's show was cancelled and replaced by a new sitcom called My Five Uncles, about five gay men who adopt an orphan girl. This is a parody of the late eighties sitcom My Two Dads, about two straight men who adopts a teenage girl.
- During the WCTR show "Gardening with Maurice", someone calls in and asks why so many radio personalities are named Maurice, a reference to Maurice Chavez, a significantly different radio personality hosting the "Pressing Issues" show on VCPR. The show also references GTA III, where a caller to the "Chatterbox" radio station was told by Lazlow "this isn't Gardening With Maurice, that's on later!", to which the caller replied "No, they took him off the air!".
- At one point in the WCTR show "Area 53", Wave 103 DJ Adam First calls in reporting a strange incident involving a Domestabot he saw while hang-gliding over the San Andreas desert.
- Jack Howitzer who appeared only as a movie trailer in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the Rambo/Vietnam war movie parody Exploder as Tim, also appears in WCTR promoting his film Special Needs Cop, a parody of Kindergarten Cop
Other
- The popular fictional drink Sprunk, a parody of the carbonated lemon-lime drink Sprite found all around Vice City, is still being sold in San Andreas. Sprunk cans resemble grenades, owing to the marketing tagline given for the beverage, which says it has an "explosive, bursting" flavor. Or it could be that it resembles spunk, meaning that it is also an energy drink. Also, in the UK, spunk means semen.
- The doughnut shop Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts, mentioned in a radio ad on Flash FM, still exists. Some pedestrians mention Rusty Brown in their chatter. Also, an unused restaurant that shares its name has been found in the games code.
- The game console Degenetron, mentioned in commercials and interviews on Vice City radio stations, is still remembered. On the show Area 53, Marvin Trill accuses the console of implanting subliminal messages in the brains of people in the 80s.
- The Domestibots sold in radio ads in Vice City, still exist. It seems they rebelled and escaped human oppression, and now live hidden in a remote camp. One of them calls in on the Area 53 show.
- A franchise of the Vice City radio station V-Rock is still around, and still uses the old V-Rock triangular logo and the vulture mascot. However, it's not a radio station anymore. It is now the V-Rock Hotel in Las Venturas.
- Love Fist, the fictional hard-rock band, seems to have split and disappeared from the public eye. They are still remembered though. On the radio station K-DST, the host Tommy wonders "Whatever happend to Love Fist?", and CJ hides the specs of the Caligula Casino behind a Love Fist poster. Jezz Torrent can be heard in a radio ad for the Epsilon Tract sect, crediting the group for aiding him in giving up drugs. Love Fist is a reference to a sexual practice. Similarly, Jezz Torrent is a corruption of Jizz Torrent. This reflects the humour of the popular UK adult comic Viz, which provides the basis for many of the puns and colloquialisms used to humorous effect in the game.
- Specifically, Viz comic's "Profanisaurus" section describes the full meaning of phrases such as The Camel's Toe, and words such as "Jizz" which are referred to in the game.
- Similarly, British slang is used as the inspiration for further puns in the GTA series. Notably, the vans in Vice City which are signed "R S and L Bows" are referring to the crude UK phrase "to know one's arse from one's elbow", or to have a basic level of common sense. "Juank Air" is also a straightforward pun on a common UK insult.
- Maps of Vice City can be found in the trash cans outside the Clucking Bell of Angel Pine.
- The Tiki statues that symbolised the hidden packages found all over Vice City is now the sign of a store in Los Santos.
- Candy Suxxx, the porn-star, is still making movies. Two of her movies can be found in the Las Venturas sex store. A picture of her can be seen on the box of "Return of the Anaconda", and she is mentioned by name on the box of "That Can't Be Legal!: 80's Pornstar's Finest Yo!". Also, pictures of her are found on the walls of some of CJ's safehouses and she is also placed as a neon sign on the Old Venturas Strip located in Las Venturas. There is also a billboard in Los Santos promoting her new movie "Vinewood Callgirls".
- Vice City characters featured as playing cards in the poker machines of Las Venturas include Lance Vance (Jack of Spades), Candy Suxxx (Queen of Hearts), Ricardo Diaz (King of Hearts) and Sonny Forelli (King of Spades).
- The tag line of the movie "Exploder", a popular movie that was advertised on radio stations and billboards across Vice City, is still popular. Lazlow says I'll cry when I'm done killing during an interview on WCTR.
Gameplay features
Many new features have been included in the game. New vehicles include bicycles (which feature a new control scheme), trucks with detachable trailers, police motorcycles, operable tow trucks, combine harvesters, quad bikes, airplanes, Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) military jet fighters and trains.
New to the player's character is the ability to swim and climb up and over short walls and fences. For greater firepower, players can also wield dual firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with several gang members. The camera, fighting, and targeting controls were reworked with concepts from another Rockstar game, Manhunt, including improved target crosshairs that change colors from green to red to black, depending on the target's health.
Rockstar has emphasized the personalization of the main character. Clothing and accessories (which players can buy at some of the game's many clothing stores), haircuts and tattoos are now available for purchase by CJ, and have more effect on NPCs' reactions than the clothing in Vice City. Players must also ensure CJ eats to stay healthy, obtaining food from fast food restaurants such as Cluckin' Bell, street vendors, diners, bars and nightclubs. The balance of food and exercise has an effect on his muscularity and appearance. If CJ eats too much in a short period, he will get sick and throw up; if he overeats periodically, he'll get fat and move more slowly while on foot; if he fails to eat, he will become less muscular and, eventually, will lose health. San Andreas also boasts with the availability of skills in areas such as driving, firearms handling, stamina, and lung capacity that improve through use in the game. CJ may also learn three different styles of unarmed combat at the gyms in each of the game's three cities.
A new activity that continues the Grand Theft Auto series' tradition of controversy is home invasion [5]. Under cover of night, CJ is able to sneak into a residence, and cart off valuables or shake down the occupants.
Numerous minigames are also available for play in San Andreas, including basketball, pool, rhythm-based challenges involving dancing and hydraulic vehicles, and video game machines that pay homage to classic arcade games such as Gyruss, Defender and Gradius, in addition to the aforementioned methods of gambling.
Another improvement to the game is the AI. No longer can the player beat a pedestrian to death on a busy street in broad daylight and have bystanders not do anything: while most pedestrians will flee or duck for cover, some armed civilians and enemy gang members will attack CJ, and friendly gang members will shoot at and pursue his opponents. This would make the previously mentioned home invasions more difficult than one would expect because the occupants will resist, and in some cases, draw weapons.
The player can also voluntarily enable CJ to conduct dialogue with a number of pedestrians in the game, including drug dealers, prospective girlfriends, and fellow gang members. CJ's level of respect among his fellow Grove Street gang members varies according to his actions, as do his relationships with his girlfriends. Rockstar claims that CJ has a total of about 4200 lines of spoken dialogue.
A two-player cooperative mode has also been added for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Two-player icons are found in several key locations in the San Andreas world. Setting foot on one of these icons and pressing any button on a second controller starts up a series of special objectives similar to a "Rampage" in previous Grand Theft Auto games. Two human players will be able to go in a car or on foot. Both the players are required to remain on the same screen and within a reasonable proximity of one another.
Criticisms
PC Port
Much like earlier Grand Theft Auto games, some PC users have strongly criticized Rockstar for not substantially reworking the console-based controls for the mouse/keyboard computer gaming. Many users have discovered that a mission requires the user to press three or more keys at the same time, something the typical keyboard is simply unable to do. The best way to solve this problem is to use a PlayStation 2-style USB joypad. This way, the console-based controls can easily be mapped to joypad buttons. The resulting gameplay is virtually identical to the PS2 version.
The most salient example of this issue is in the mandatory flying-oriented missions. In one of the most infamous missions in the series, the player must circle an airfield. Because the mission was designed for a console game, some PC users believe that three hands are typically required to complete the mission under a mouse/keyboard setup: one to control the camera, one to control the plane, and one to control commands such as landing gears, weapons, and precise flying controls. However, most people should be able to effectively fly a plane with the default controls after some practice, as they will rarely need to control the camera in mid-flight. Some will require the USB controller, however.
Another example is in the "Vertical Bird" mission, near the end of the game. The player must fly an extremely fast plane, aim and fire missiles at 4 ships and 3 armed aircraft, launch countermeasures, and then land the plane safely. Some are finding that, without another person to control one or more aspects of the plane, the mission is essentially impossible. While some have completed this mission by remapping the entire control scheme, some players have found that the effects of "key jam" - the inability of a keyboard to understand more than 3 simultaneous keys - preclude this as a viable option. However, this mission is often exaggerated in difficulty as well. It is fairly simple to take each of these targets individually - the difficulty occurs when you attempt to do them all at once and in the wrong order. In addition, launching countermeasures is usually an unneeded feature, as missiles are easy to shake off. The aiming of your weapons is also automatic provided you press a certain key, which locks on to the target. For the ships, you can switch to VTOL mode so as to hover while destroying them.
One mission, "Stowaway", is impossible on many PCs unless video quality is dropped to the lowest setting (640x480, 16-bit color), as the plane will otherwise always leave the runway well before you reach it. A similar problem also exists in missions that require dancing or lowrider car bouncing. Unless the resolution is set to minimum, the visual cues for when to move will be out of synch, so rendering success or failure a matter of luck.
Another performance issue with San Andreas is that the game engine is not efficient at producing smoke effects. As a result, the frame rate can drop dramatically when you are in a situation where fire is present. The most noticeable missions in which this is apparent are the mission where you have to rescue a girl from a burning building, and the final story mission of the game which takes place in a torched factory. This mission is made more frustrating as you are being attacked at the time.
A new criticism of San Andreas lies in its camera. Previous editions of GTA games had the camera 'slaved' to the player. In San Andreas, however, the camera is freeform. As such, many have complained that this new 'feature' makes much of the controls more complex than is required. There is an in-game cheat that allows players to drive-by through using the mouse camera, but doing so will harm your record in the in-game statistics. However, you can still fully complete the game. This is not a widely spread complaint, and the freeform camera is a very powerful tool once the player is used to using it, and some find it difficult to go back to the fixed camera of Vice City and GTA3 afterwards.
Although some gaming websites like GameSpot have praised the graphics in San Andreas, there is some criticism of the graphical aspect of the PC version of the game. The engine used for the game is essentially the same as the engine used for Grand Theft Auto III. When the game came out for PC in early June 2005, titles such as Half-Life 2 were already available. Compared to what was possible at that time, the game looked slightly dated, but nevertheless better than the console versions.
Character criticism
Another criticized aspect of the game is Carl Johnson (the playable character) himself. In previous GTA games (except Vice City), the playable character was mute with little to no character development, with the development present portraying him as a petty thug and bank robber. As such, a person could kill random people in the game without compromising their own morals, stating that such actions would be done by the character anyway. In Vice City, the main character had dialogue and an established personality. Tommy Vercetti (the character) was portrayed as a brutal killer and made man in the Mafia, being released from prison shortly before the game's events. However, Johnson is portrayed as a nice guy who's caught up with the wrong crowd; who only does what's necessary. Certainly, killing innocent people on the street isn't necessary. In essence, when one is playing the game (and not doing missions), anything one does cannot be credited to CJ, but to the player. CJ, however, is a much more fleshed-out character in general than Tommy Vercetti or the various mutes of the other GTA games.
As well, when Rockstar announced that CJ would be a black character, there was some disagreement amongst forums. Some argued that it racially stereotyped black people as criminals, while some just simply discriminated CJ for not being a white character. The city of Los Santos also goes up in smoke close to the end of the game much like Los Angeles did during the race riots of 1992, though in this game the main police antagonist is also black, and acquitted on drugs charges instead of racial motivation.
Despite this, CJ is arguably the most successful African-American protagonist in video and computer game history.
Leaks, the "Hot Coffee" scandal, and Controversy
Six days before its release, a leaked edition of the game, along with its manual and its cover, were published illegally, DVD images of which are still available via a number of P2P networks. Similarly, around the time of release of the game in the UK, a leaked PAL version of the game was published.
In mid-June 2005, a file modifying the game dubbed "Hot Coffee" was released. After installing the patch/mod, users can enter the main character's girlfriends' houses and engage in a crudely rendered, partially clothed sexual intercourse mini-game.
The name "Hot Coffee" refers to the way the released game alludes to the unseen sex scenes. In the unmodified game, the player takes his girlfriend to her front door and she asks him if he would like to come in for "some coffee." He agrees, and the camera stays outside, swaying back and forth a bit, while moaning sounds are heard.
In the middle of July 2005, the ESRB, as well as various politicians including Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), launched an investigation into the Hot Coffee mod. Initially, Rockstar released a statement that strongly suggested that the Hot Coffee content was entirely created by "hackers". However, this claim was undermined when codes were released on web forums for the PlayStation 2 Gameshark and AR Max cheating devices that demonstrated that the controversial content was, indeed, built into the console versions.
Confusing the issue is a recent version of the Hot Coffee mod which replaces the semi-nude girlfriends' textures with unclothed bitmaps that cannot be seen without the mod.
On July 20, 2005, San Andreas was rerated as "AO" (Adults Only) by the ESRB. Rockstar has halted production of all versions of San Andreas and plans to release a censored version of the game, which is intended to conform to the initial "M" rating, later this year. Due to the new AO rating, many major retail outlets, including Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Block Buster, and GameStop, have pulled the PC and console versions of the game from their shelves.
On July 29, 2005, as a result of the newly-discovered scenes, the OFLC revoked the game's "MA15+" classification (the highest currently available for computer games in Australia), and changed the game's status to "RC" (Refused Classification) meaning that the original version could no longer be sold in Australia. The patched version was given an "MA15+" classification on September 12, 2005.
As of July 23, 2005, however, the PEGI rating for the game has remained unchanged, although it is likely that the PEGI sexual content label will be added to the game cover. The effect on San Andreas sales is as of yet unknown, but Take Two Interactive has revised its projected financial statement for the quarter to reflect a further anticipated loss.
On August 10, 2005, Rockstar Games officially released a patch for San Andreas. Nicknamed the "Cold Coffee Patch" by some, the patch fixed many performance issues and bugs. However, the most major addition was that the patch disabled the controversial "Hot Coffee" scenes, even if the "Hot Coffee" mod was reinstalled.
The game has since been re-released with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed (Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas 2.0), allowing the game to return to its "M" rating. However, the "Hot Coffee" mod dashed financial expectations for TakeTwo Games, which lost $28.8 million in its fiscal 3rd quarter of 2005 (May to July) partly because of the rerating; the company lost $14.4 million in the same quarter in 2004.
On August 24, 2005, Rockstar announced a mandatory recall for all games still owned by the general public. Consumers who had already purchased the game were allowed to keep it in certain areas, but with the patch installed, although many serious players refused to use it as it did little but block out an unused part of the game's code.
In November 11, 2005, FOX program Killer Instinct's latest episode focuses on a hit online video-game with explicit violence that can cause players to murder people. Other parts of it shows us that teenagers are playing it and the worst thing is unlocking sexually explicit scenes and mini-games (aka Hot Coffee Scandal) caused the detectives to find the creator of the game, get information and stop the murderer who's been playing the game for hours (a la Devin Moore). The fictional game title was Murder One: San Fransisco and the box art looks similar to San Andreas and Vice City but with badly drawn art. Also, the fake game is actually pre-rendered with models from Poser. It is also combined with another upcoming controversial game, 25 to Life, a cops and robbers simulator.
Myths and easter eggs
San Andreas is distinct from the first two PlayStation 2 GTA games in its easter eggs and player-propagated myths. Shortly after the release of the game, several message boards sprouted claims of alleged Bigfoot sightings, and several alleged photographs were released, all of which have been proven to be faked.
Mysterious map
There is a "restricted area" in the desert at the Area 69 military base, which is a parody of the real world Area 51. This led to more speculation in the fan community about UFOs and aliens. A large map of San Andreas, found in Mike Toreno's home and in a diner called the "Lil Probe Inn" (a cameo to "The Little A'le'Inn" located in the tiny town Rachel, Nevada which is the nearest settlement to the real world Area 51 made famous for displaying a time capsule received from the production crew of Independence Day), has markers scattered randomly across the state. Fans initially thought the map was a key to the UFO appearances; however, Rockstar claims the map means nothing. Area 69 is a reference to the 69 sex position.
The single obvious and confirmable presence of living extraterrestrials in the game comes during the mission "Stowaway", in the form of a group of "Men in Black". Encountered onboard of a cargo plane, these black-suited characters (clearly based on a popular urban legend/UFO conspiracy "theory") proceed to attack the player and shout out numerous utterances signifying their contempt for the inferior human race ("Carbon-based buffoon", "You evolved from shrews!" and more).
Even though there seem to be no UFOs near the Area 69 besides the fake one in the "Lil Probe Inn", you can find an easter egg to the northwest near the El Castillo del Diablo. There is a hole between some rocks that has 6 bodybags inside it with a Bobcat parked near it. However, even this is something that can be easily explained. It has nothing to do with aliens or conspiracies. In The Introduction film (which can be seen when you purchase the soundtrack), there are two Mafia members who have just dumped the bodies in the hole, and even mention that they got rid of those "problems". A typical thing to do for Rockstar Games, since they like referring to the movies that inspired the games. This easter egg is a simple reference to Casino, in which both Sam Rothstein (Robert DeNiro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) mention the fact that the mobsters get rid of their "problems" by burying them in the desert. Since Las Venturas is based on Las Vegas, and there are missions where you work for the Mafia, it is not strange that Rockstar included this. One spot on the map also is pointed in the forest areas of San Fierro, some fans thought the infamous bigfoot was hiding here.
Bigfoot
Probably the biggest rumor in the GTA franchise. Thousands of gamers are trying to find the legendary beast and are trying to prove it by taking pictures of it with the in-game camera. However, many pictures submitted were creatures that were large, hairy, ape-like creature in the woods. Fans saw stuff like uprooted trees, and heard strange noises in some parts of the area, including the remote forest, Back O Beyond, where all the water, rock, and ghost car glitches occur. Bigfoot has been denied by many, but lots have found the creature. A website showed a television set, and on it was CJ on a bike in the badlands, outside the forest, on the side of the road was a thing that resembled a bigfoot, just walking around. The guy quickly put red tape on the TV, he made the tape in letters saying,"yeti," and an arrow and circle on the creatures. He took a picture of it, but many called it a fake. According to X-Play on G4 Tech TV, bigfoot doesn't exist. Many say he doesn't do anything but slouch around and roar.
Ghost cars
Another rumor, the so-called ghost cars, brought much hope to the fan base. Ghost cars are cars that spawn in a regular position, shortly operate by themselves, and have damage that cannot be repaired, unlike normal cars. There is also a "ghost car" in the remote Back o Beyond region which rolls downhill without any visible driver. Coincidentally, the location of the ghost cars coincides with one of the markers on the Toreno map. Some fans suggest that the ghost cars are just normal parked cars that roll down hills because their spawn-point is on a slope or steep hill, supposedly being nothing more than a glitch. The glitch happens because the car spawns on a hill, so everytime you go to the area of its spawning location, the car rolls down the hill.
Plane crashes
Several planes crash occasionally throughout San Andreas, which disappear seconds after the crash. One that occurs most often is a crash near the VINEWOOD sign. This is because Rockstar programmed it intentionally to add a feel of realism.
Debunking the myths
Weeks after the myths had begun, and search teams formed, an e-mail message (message currently suspended) was received from "Mouthoff@rockstargames.com" and posted on several fan forums. Many questioned the authenticity of the letter, but upon further inspection, it did indeed seem to be from Rockstar Games.
After the initial letter, it is assumed that the address received many letters from fans, as it soon switched to an automated response system. The first automated return letters had a minor typo in it which led many fans to believe it was not an official Rockstar employee. Shortly after these claims were made the address owner soon issued a new return letter that validated new claims, but denied some of the ones in previous letters. This pattern continued, and some speculate that it is just a plot of Rockstar to create more publicity among the fan community.
The most important claim of the letter was that Bigfoot was false, and is not present in the game. Having been the shining light of the many search teams, many fans were dismayed. However, the letter mentioned that there was something in the woods.
Many rumours of a "piggsy" (from Rockstar's Manhunt) or Leatherface-type character (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) soon sprung up. Many of these claims were unsupported by video or picture evidence, and soon lost credibility with the community. The most popular picture of a masked man holding a chainsaw in one hand turned out to be nothing more than a picture of the main character wearing a gimp suit and an ice hockey mask.
The letters also detailed the idea of UFO landings in the game's desert. Though this is often thought to be plausible by fans, no reports or claims have been made. There are also flying orbs that frequent the San Andreas skies. Many fans claim these to be Rockstar's implementation of UFOs, while others point out a much more terrestrial explanation: Rockstar used the same style to animate commercial air traffic in Vice City (bright lights, contrails, etc) but forgot to modify the names of the aircraft. This leads to mass-less 'airplanes', with active running lights, flying in the sky. Rockstar has not said anything about the orbs, and its intentions with them are still unclear.
Some fans soon found objects within the game's textures, such as deer and what they claim to be dinosaur skin. This would support one of the early claims that fans made in the very beginning of the game, of animals in the woods and an appearance of a dinosaur. Oddly enough, with the disproof of Bigfoot, many of these people took back their claims, saying that they may have been mistaken.
Easter eggs
There are also the commonplace Rockstar Easter eggs, such as hits at competitor games, or the classic signs. Billboards in Los Santos are made to look like the cover for the True Crime: Streets of LA game and refer to the game as trash ("Get rid of old rubbish, fast! True Grime: Street Cleaners"). Most easter eggs appear in San Fierro, mostly dealing with the Golden Gate inspired bridge and the video game and movie series Resident Evil. These and other myths in the game have brought a new level of life to the GTA games. Many fans have commented on the new level of reality of the game. Currently, many search parties have websites with further information.
Like all 3D GTA games, San Andreas contains an "underworld", an in-game limbo popularly dubbed "Oblivion", or "Blue Hell", though it is not always blue. The name Hell part is derived from the fact that if you go in unprepared, you will most likely find yourself falling for some time before you reappear above the city. Aside from Blue Hell, there is the interior hell. Many unused and cutscene only interiors can be found here, such an incomplete model of Liberty City from Grand Theft Auto III, and secret interior spaces. The partial Liberty City model is used in the mission "St. Mark's Bistro," where CJ flies back to Liberty City to do a hit for Salvatore Leone. Only a small portion is solid though. The interiors for the girlfriend's houses can be found there also. Much like Liberty City, many cutscene and unused interiors have unsolid areas also.
Many in-game pedestrians die in what seem to be bizarre suicides, although these may be due to oversights in the scripting of the pedestrians' movement rather than intentional Easter eggs. For example, photographer NPCs may take pictures and then drown themselves. In what some call a hint at DMA's Lemmings, pedestrians will sometimes appear on a ledge and walk off to their deaths.
A corporate building called "ZomboTech" in San Fierro is a joking reference to the Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil franchise. This has started unconfirmed rumors of zombies late at night in San Fierro. Another popular but unconfirmed myth is that CJ's mother and other ghosts may appear in photos taken in graveyards. Though no ghosts have been proven to exist in the game, there are "ghostly" occurrences. For example, the cemetery in Los Santos mysteriously becomes covered in graffiti at night. The graffiti ("Grove Street 4 Life") disappears once the sun comes up.
The January 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly included a story on the San Andreas rumors. The CEO of Rockstar, Terry Donovan, denied the existence of Bigfoot: "There is no Bigfoot, just like in real life." Rockstar also denied the existence of CJ's mother's ghost, as well as miscellaneous rumors. In the next issue of EGM, a subscriber sent in a photograph of such a mythical creature appearing on his game in the countryside. The magazine called the creature a Yeti instead of Bigfoot.
Following the Epsilon Program website and related "clues", players have been looking over San Andreas for the Epsilon cult and its meeting locations. Epsilon appears to be closely modeled on the Church of Scientology. Players have found pedestrians who talk about Kifflom (the Epsilon Program's "deity") in San Andreas, such as a barber and backpackers. It has yet to be proven that these comments are intended for any purpose other than adding flavor to pedestrian dialogue but even one of your girlfriends from San Fierro, Katie, a nurse obsessed with death who practices martial arts, refers to the group on one the many random comments when you take her out for a ride/walk by saying: "Those Epsilon nut-jobs freak me out". Epsilon has scientifically ridiculous beliefs, such as "The World is 157 years old", and hidden information that one can only read if one pays money to the Epsilon Group (despite the fact that the "Epsilon Tract" has not even been written yet), popular celebrity endorsements (Jezz Torrent claiming the Group aided him in giving up drugs), an openly shameless leader. You can also hear about the Epsilon Group in the WCTR radio in of the Entertaining America with Lazlow shows in which he interviews Epsilon's founder, Chris Fromage, who refers Kifflom as well.
One of the biggest easter eggs in the game is located on top of the Gant Bridge in San Fierro which is based on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. On the top beam located on the south side of the bridge is a sign that says "There are no Easter Eggs up here. Go away."
Characters
External links
Other Wiki websites
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the Gameinfo Wiki
- WikiGTA.org Dutch and English Grand Theft Auto wiki
Official pages
Teaser sites
- Epsilon Program - Teaser site 1 - Scientology or Epsilon Team parody
- Maccer.net - Teaser site 2
- Cluckin Bell Happy Chicken - Teaser site 3 - Taco Bell/KFC parody
- FearItDoIt.com - Teaser site 4 - self-help/inversion therapy parody
- eXsorbeo.com - Teaser site 5 - Game Boy parody
- Forgotten Legends of West Coast Rap - Teaser site 6 - covers Madd Dogg's fictitious record label, Blastin Fools Records; also covers OG Loc and Forth Right MC
Reviews
- San Andreas PC reviews on GameRankings
- San Andreas PS2 reviews on GameRankings
- San Andreas Xbox reviews on GameRankings
Fan sites
- GTA-online.info.se
- GTASanAndreas.net - Part of the GTA Network
- GTA: The Webcomic (online fancomic)
- GTA Domain
- Grand Theft Auto: SA
- GTA Ireland
- The GTA Place
- Gta Online
- GTA Warehouse
- PlanetGTA
- GTA-SanAndreas.com
- GTA Paradise
- San Andreas Heaven
- The GTA Underground
- GTA King
- San Andreas Paranormal Investigators
- Investigation of extraordinary San Andreas phenomenon (requires registration to view message board)
Modding sites
- GTA Garage - Part of the GTA Network
- GTAGaming
- GTASAMods.com
- GTA Projects
- GTA LVS
- SAFiles
Cheat codes
Other resources
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at IMDb
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at MobyGames
- Five-Star Confirmation List
- GameFAQs page on San Andreas
- Rating change
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