Trailer coming next week, 2nd November!

The simplest of announcements has now been made. http://www.rockstargames.com/

A couple more interviews with vice president of Rockstar Games, Dan Houser, have surfaced recently. One of these contains a nice little tidbit regarding the setting of GTA games and slight reasoning for the choice behind them. Surprisingly it's the slightly unrelated Entertainment Weekly blog coming forth with the goods this time.

The bulk of the interview discusses the past GTA games and other franchises Rockstar have produced, but on the final page of the interview the following question about the setting of the next/future GTA games is posed:

Looking forward with the GTA series, would you want to do another international edition? You’ve been in America since GTA III.
We go backwards and forwards on it. There are very interesting crime stories and other stories you can tell about anyplace in the world. Whether that would work with Grand Theft Auto — when so much about Grand Theft Auto is about the Americana, about the American media — is something I’m not sure about.

So Dan's not really sure if a GTA set outside America would work so well. Do you agree? Personally, I've always felt that the next GTA would return to Vice City, I've since accepted that San Andreas is also as likely a setting. That said, I might be surprised with a brand new setting - if so, I think I'd still expect it to be in the USA. Of course this discussion could go on and on, especially when we start considering the possibility of multiple locations...

Dan teases us with his response to the interviewer's next question:

Are you looking to the next stage of the GTA franchise?
There is gonna be one? I don’t know. [Smiles] I know nothing about anything after Max Payne 3.

Sure Dan, we believe you!

Sound off in the comments with your thoughts on this. Where do you think is a likely place to set the next GTA?

In the past week there were many, mostly reflective, news articles published regarding GTA III. We didn't bother posting each one so as not to overload you. IGN's coverage was the most in-depth, they dedicated the week to celebrating Grand Theft Auto III - so here's a round-up of all the stuff they posted.

• How Grand Theft Auto III Carjacked Open World Games - Rockstar focused more than two decades of open world game design into a single classic. and left the industry a better place for it.
• The Game Industry Remembers Grand Theft Auto III - Leading lights from Bethesda, Insomniac, Valve and more celebrate GTA III's tenth anniversary.
• Dan Houser Talks Grand Theft Auto III - In a rare interview, Rockstar's Dan Houser reveals the stories behind the making of GTA III and his personal experience of the controversies that followed...
• How Grand Theft Auto III Delighted a Generation - Rockstar chief tells IGN how GTA III was initially misunderstood and "utterly ignored".
• GTA 3: Liberty City Radio Set the Bar - Grand Theft Auto III's soundtrack legacy lives on.
• GTA III's Best Easter Eggs - Ten years later, we look at some of Liberty City's best kept secrets.
• Grand Theft Auto III: IGN Editors' Best Memories - Ten years after its launch, IGN editors look back at a game that changed the world.
• IGN's GTA III Celebration Round-Up - IGN brings the curtain down on our celebration of Grand Theft Auto III.

The Dan Houser interview is a particularly nice feature, though he doesn't exactly reveal much on the future of the series. If you feel like a nice trip down memory lane after getting all nostalgic over the past few weeks, check them all out, especially if you have some free time. They're all good reads.

Can you believe it was 10 years ago today that we first got our filthy little hands on Grand Theft Auto III? At the time, I hadn't been following all the hype surrounding the game. I'd played the classic GTAs, but I had no idea that GTA III was so revolutionary in comparison. It wasn't until a couple of months after its release, just after Christmas, when I watched my best friend play the game. Within 5 minutes of watching him play I knew I had to buy it. After 5 more minutes he let me have a go - but I was already sold. I went out and bought the game the very next day.

Did anything else happen in the year after its release? I've no idea. I was obsessed with the game. I 100%'d it 5 times on the PS2, and 3 more times on PC, I just couldn't get enough of it. The replayability of the game was insane, and still today if I picked it up I know I could spend hours playing it and not get bored. I'm sure many of you would play the game with friends and show off all the cool shit you could do, all the funny glitches you could find. It's qualities like this that made the game such a phenomenal success. It's qualities like this that made me decide, a year later, to dedicate so much of my free time to creating a fan website for it, and the whole GTA series.

This 10th anniversary of GTA III has certainly renewed a lot of people's interest in the game, and indeed the whole series and what's next for it. The game's upcoming release on mobile devices (here's some footage of it being played on an iPad 2 by the way) is sure to whet a lot of fans' appetites who will be craving even more for GTA V. Only time will tell what Rockstar have in store for us with the next GTA, but you can rest assured we'll be covering it; an announcement could come any day now, or it could be months away, we just don't know for sure.

For now, though, I'll leave you with a video. It's a video made by Jordan from our friends at PlanetGTA, one which we posted when he originally made it 6 years ago. It's a tribute to the whole GTA trilogy, which back then consisted of GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas. Enjoy.

Let us know in the comments any fond memories you have of GTA III, or any memorable quotes that you love.

Related video: Jordan's Liberty City Tribute

Steam have a pretty incredible deal this weekend, offering 66% off all individual GTA games. Pretty amazing right? Wrong, you'd be a fool if you bought any at that price. Why? Because the "complete pack" (which includes every GTA game released for PC) includes all the discounted games with an additional 75% off! This means you can own every GTA game for just £4.99 ($12.49). Offer is valid until the 24th October.


UPDATE: Apparently the "complete pack" deal is country-specific, while the individual games are on offer worldwide. It's definitely available in the UK and US though. Let us know if it's available in your country in the comments below. This deal is a pretty good one that you won't want to miss out on.

Link: GTA Weekend Deal on Steam | GTA Complete Pack on Steam

In honour of the GTA III anniversary weekend, Rockstar will be holding a special GTA IV multiplayer event tomorrow evening 5-8PM EST (10PM - 1AM GMT) on the PS3. You'll have the chance to enter to win the Grand Prize sweepstakes: a deluxe Grand Theft Auto III Anniversary prize pack including:

• Two hand painted, limited edition and individually numbered custom Grand Theft Auto PlayStation 3 controllers, complete with a laser-cut Rockstar insignia home button
• One GTAIII Anniversary Limited-Edition Claude Action Figure
• One Grand Theft Auto III mug, complete with brass knuckles for the handle
• Two Grand Theft Auto t-shirts
• Assorted Grand Theft Auto and Rockstar stickers

Rockstar have invited some of the old-school fansite webmasters to play as special guests, while this is a PSN event, some of us will be on Xbox Live. Our gamertags:

• G-WizZ from GTAwh.com - Xbox LIVE Gamertag gtawh
• adamcs from GTANet.com - Xbox LIVE Gamertag adamcsx
• Zidane from GTAGaming.com - PSN ID CaseyTheVA
• Psy from iGrandTheftAuto.com - PSN ID Psycopsy
• Chris from TheGTAPlace.com - Xbox LIVE Gamertag LazyPyro88

OFFICIAL ROCKSTAR PSN IDs
Participating PlayStation Network Rockstar Games IDs for this day will be:

• PlayRockstar10
• PlayRockstar11
• PlayRockstar12
• PlayRockstar13

Only add one PSN ID to your friends list to play. If you have a different version than the Complete Edition disc for Grand Theft Auto IV, no worries as you will be compatible with us.

For more information about getting in game with Rockstar, check out the Newswire post.

To mark this Saturday's 10 year anniversary of the release of Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar have put together a nice tribute video to the game. Hard to believe it's been so long... check out the video below.

Rockstar also extend their thanks:

We would like to extend our immense gratitude to all GTA fans worldwide for your amazing long-time support, from early on all the way to today. Thank you.

Source: Newswire

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of GTA III, Rockstar are asking for your questions about the game for a special edition of Asked & Answered. They are welcoming questions "about the characters, about the making of the game, really anything you've been dying to know for the past ten years." No questions are off-limits, anything goes as long as it's related to GTA III in some way - so they don't want any questions about the next GTA (nothing to say yet!).

You can leave a comment over on the Newswire post or on Twitter or Facebook. You have until this Friday, October 21st to get your questions in.

Rockstar Games have just come out with a somewhat surprising announcement, albeit quite a cool one. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar will be releasing a mobile version of the game for a select few mobile devices (check the list below to see if it is coming to yours). As of yet there are no details on exactly how the game will differ from the original version, but judging by the power of modern mobile devices it's quite likely it will be fully 3D just like the original.

Rockstar point out that if you’re in the NYC area and heading to New York Comic Con, you can stop by their booth where mobile versions of the game will be available to play! You'll also be able to tour an exclusive gallery featuring the game’s signature art, and have chances to win the special anniversary edition Grand Theft Auto III and Rockstar Games gear.

Full list of devices supporting GTA III 10th Anniversary Edition:
Apple iOS Devices: iPad 2, iPhone 4S
Android Phones: Droid X2, HTC Evo 2, LG Optimus 2X, Motorola Atrix, Samsung Galaxy S2
Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

In addition to the game, Rockstar also announced a limited-edition action figure of Claude, the protagonist of GTA III. It's been created by renowned collectible manufacturer Sideshow, and will be available for pre-order in limited quantities at the Rockstar Warehouse. See a slideshow of images below.

This fully articulated 1:6 scale action figure of Claude comes dressed in his original attire of cargo pants and a bomber jacket, but can also sport his iconic Liberty City Prison-issued jumpsuit (supplied) and comes equipped with an arsenal of classic weapons from Grand Theft Auto III including a bat, knife, grenades, pistol, sniper rifle, and assault rifle.

This rare and valuable collector’s item MSRPs for 9.99, but Social Club members have the exclusive opportunity to nick one for free. Visit www.rockstargames.com/socialclub/sweepstakes/gtaiiianniversary and fill out the entry form by this Sunday October 16th for a chance to be one of three lucky winners.