GTA: Vice City Sells 8.5 Million Copies in 3 Months

Gus writes "Take Two Interactive Software reports that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has sold more than 8.5 million copies in the first three months since its late-October launch. The good news is Rockstar Games has 11 titles in the works. The bad news is the chances of the next GTA making it out this year are pretty slim." Also, there's still a couple people waiting on Duke Nukem Forever, and their patience is wearing thin.

GTA

[WilliamsDA]

I still think the original GTA is neat -- it also has an interesting perspective (overhead). If you haven't played it, go check it out if you're looking for a GTA fix!

Vice City

[funkhauser]

Honestly, I thought Rockstar dropped the ball with Vice City. The graphics seemed less polished, the controls seemed choppier, and, well, it just seemed a lot less fun than GTA3. Oh well.

Next Game's Time Period?

[Galahad2]

I'd like to see a Grand Theft Auto game set in 1930's Chicago. That'd be so awesome -- the mob, the depression, prohibition; there's huge number of possiblities! I just hope they don't do the 1970's... I mean, Vice City already did all the "boy, people were weird back then... look at their clothes/hair/idioms!" jokes.

I love it

[mao che minh]

GTA Vice City was the best game that I have ever played in my 16 years of video game playing (I am 23 years of age). It had an entertaining story line, great dialogue, unbeatable gameplay, and is just plain fun. The sheer volume of what you can actually do in this game, aside from the actual somewhat-linear story line, is worth 100 hours of game time.

GTA Vice City made this Nintendo fan boy buy a PS2 last week. I love it, and it's developers and designers deserve every penny they are making from it.

But don't think for one second that I didn't preorder the new Zelda. =)

it's not just you...listen to any real life 80s

[512k]

station, and you'll hear music that was in GTA:VC And when they picked the music for that game, they didn't pick the biggest hits from each artist..ie "Thriller" isn't on there, but there are some other Michael Jackson songs

Re:Duke Nukem Forever

[jrstewart]

Actually I think there were some signals crossed here. The next GTA isn't late, it's just not scheduled out this FISCAL year (i.e. not before Oct. 31, end of Take Two's fiscal year). Nobody so far has claimed that it was ever scheduled to be released earlier.

Also Take Two had to write down charges related to Duke Nukem Forever (as mentioned in the article). Right now they're taking the whole development as a loss. That could mean that there's no game coming out ever, it could mean that it's just going to take so long they don't want to keep the expenses on their books, or it could just be that they're taking the charge in a good quarter when they can offset it against high profits.

Since they've already treated the devlopment costs of DNF as a loss they can treat the sales when (if) it comes out as pure profit. This is the kind of game that accountants play to keep earnings statments balanced. Like in physics, no money is created or destroyed but when you report what affects how the quarterly numbers look.

games vs. movies as entertainment

[anonymous loser]

GTA:VC is still selling for $50 on store shelves, which means that Take Two has probably grossed at least $400 million (using conservative numbers) on this title in three months.

Few movies ever rake in that kind of cash, and let's face it: the movie market has been saturated for 50 years while the gaming market is still growing rapidly. When you think about it, it makes sense. Games are much more interactive (with the possible exception of pr0n, I guess) and typically deliver a lot more "bang for the buck". I can spend $6-$10 to own a 2-hour movie, or I can spend $20-$50 to play a 20-60 hour game.

Games also traditionally cost less to produce, meaning MUCH higher net profits for the publisher.

Frankly, I'm amazed that EVERY company in the movie business doesn't also produce games, as there's a lot of overlap between the two media. Sure, a lot of big-budget films (usually targetted at kids) end up with movie tie-in games, but I mean why not take some of the stories that are pitched and spend the money on making a game *instead of* a movie? It's going to be the same-or-lower risk, and potentially much greater profits.

Re:Where's the accompanying spike in crime?

[BWJones]

So if the "fake violence breeds real violence" crowd is right, we should be seeing a fairly significant spike in violent crime, right?

No? That's what I thought.

Dude, spend a little time in an inner city emergency room some Friday or Saturday night. Make sure that it's a level one trauma center too as that's where all the gunshot victims go to. My point is not to draw a direct correlate between video games and violence, as the causes of violence are complicated, but desensitization *does* play a role.

For instance, I've pointed this out before, but one of the real difficult problems that the military has is desensitizing folks to pulling the trigger to take another human's life. Recently the Corps (Semper Fi) have experimented with the integration of video games to "help" desensitize recruits as well as attempting to teach squad theory. The only thing I do worry about is this issue of desensitization.

Re:Vice City

[Chester K]

The graphics seemed less polished, the controls seemed choppier, and, well, it just seemed a lot less fun than GTA3. Oh well.

They're unforunately constrained by the power of the PS2. They shoehorned some new features into GTA:VC (compared to GTA3), but as far as visually impressive features, there's not much they can do.

I wouldn't mind so much if the next GTA uses the same engine, but please for the love of god I hope for two things: 1) Las Vegas as the setting, and 2) a mission generator.

Next Grand Theft Auto message board

[pheph]

GTA-SA.com [gta-sa.com] is a message board dedicated to the new Grand Theft Auto (SA is for San Andreas) as well as all of the previous Grand Theft Auto games...

getting older?

[bascheew]

I don't know if it's a sign of getting older but after playing GTA for about ten minutes I put the game down and decided not to play it or its sequels again.

Just something about courting prostitutes and being a druglord's monkey that wasn't appealing to me. Sure it was fun to drive around, but when I killed innocent sprites on the side of the road I felt bad.

Oh well, I think I'll go to kill some people in [insert your favorite first person shooter here] now.

postmortem and analysis

[Anonymous Coward]

I would be interested in seeing how long the project lasted, at what staffing, who they outsourced and an approximate cost. Basically I am curious how much the dev's got and how much was pocketed by the middlemen. The publishers often seem oddly like the RIAA. Perhaps that is why it is so frustrating that indy games and "non traditional" production/distribution loop games get ignored regardless of their value and by the very people who stand to benefit the most (short term by playing that game, long term by introducing/upping the bar for other games in the future through competition). But when the majority of people's reviews start with "the graphics are..." you are not exactly expecting much from them (unless they are referring to a graphical interactive game like Myst)

Bring back the game play, bring back the immersion, bring back the innovation, bring back the stories, bring back the non-linear play options, bring back the well designed internal mechanics, bring back the occasional uniqueness, bring back the fun

It's all about the motorcycles.

[ChaosDiscord]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City does have it's weaknesses. It's hung on me several times. Bad guys have the amazing ability to shoot through walls. The save your partner mission was particularlly difficult given that someone I needed to kill was inside an object. In certain parts of the city, if you're zipping along quickly, it can't load geometry fast enogh, sometimes causing an object to pop into view just as you hit it. The missions by and large lack the "fun" that Grand Theft Auto 3 had.

But it's all worth it for the motorcycles. Roaring down the streets on the PCJ-600, leaning slightly forward to get the slight speed boost (nice touch in the game), racing between cars, knowing that a slight miscalculation will throw you a hundred feet. That's my addiction.

Re:rate of unemployment?

[enigmiac]

GTA:VC came out the same week I was laid off. I will admit that at 5pm the day I found out, I was at electronics boutique buying GTA and tony hawk 4. They managed to keep me amused until earlier this month, when .hack//infection [dothack.com] came out in the US. I'd have to say it's probably the best video game I've played since Blaster Master on the original NES.

GTA Vice City is great

[linux2000]

GTA-VC is the greatest console game I've ever played. I absolutely love it. The cool slow-motion jumps, being chased by the police, harassing pedestrians, eavesdropping on pedestrians conversations, and so much more.

The attention to detail is amazing - at the right time of day, the sun can be "in your eye", so it's hard to see where you're going, AND the light will glint off the sides of the cars in traffic!

I especially love all the secret stuff in the game. I don't just mean the 100 or so "hidden packages", but the real stuff you can find if you try. Have you managed to get a golf-cart out of the country club? You can do it - and drive it around on the regular streets. Have you found "the" motorcycle, the one that lets you try to complete a sequence of highspeed jumps in a 2 minute time period? How many Unique stunt bonuses have you gotten? Have you been up in the top of the lighthouse?

Then - when you get tired of the game (I assume that may actually happen to me some day), there s many pages of cheats out there, some that are really original, and a lot of fun. Don't go and download a cheat-sheet until you've played the game for a few weeks, though.

I haven't owned the game for very long, but I bought a PS2 just so I could play it. GTA Vice City rocks.

Re:GTA

[fuzza]

Although for some reason I didn't like GTA2 as much as the first.

Ditto. I think the main reason (for me) was because of the poor game physics. For instance, try the following:

• Get in a Mack truch (the almost-square ones, I forget what they're called). Don't get one with a trailer though.
• Hold down left or right.
• Slowly, and in spurts, press forward (accelerate).
• Observe this nice big Mack truck turning on the spot (on its axis), without actually moving forward at all.

Good fun... or not, depending on how intensely you're being chased :(

Re:cough*meladramatic*cough

[Tronster]

Way off topic, but this thread has hit nerve...

I can see you are taken off guard by the response, as your intended post was not have people pick a part your personal life. It comes off (to me) as a post intended to show a "true-ism" which happens in all relationships. To a degree these true-isms hold, but from the language used in your post and rebuttle, it appears there is a problem in your relationship with your fiance'.

If you've been dating for a long time (6+ months), haven't had any break-ups (or time-outs), and no periods of an overwhelming desire to be left alone (even for a little while) then your okay. If any of these have occurred, tread lightly.

I speak from my own experience. I've been in about half a dozen serious relationships, with one that seemed to mirror your situation. I found it more important for me to be sure my girl-friend was happy than for me to admit I enjoyed "The Man Show" or do one of a dozen other things I enjoy. Just like your situation, my girl-friend had valid points but I also LIED to her in order to make her feel good about her statements and that I shared her opinion.

These may seem like innocent statments, but in the context of the thread they act as a warning:

"I don't need to lie to her to be alowed into bed, but it is nice to make her feel like her opinion on that topic is shared."

"Playing this game would not make me as happy as being with her."

P.S.: In my above situation, I was in love too...the physical relationship was the best I had ever had (or yet to have)...but it cost me my identity, which I found is much more important than playing with boobies.

Re:GTA

[iocat]

I don't think the reason you prefer 2D games is not that developers concentrate more on the gameplay in a 2D game, but rather that it's easier to have total situational awareness in a 2D game. We're doing a 3D game right now, and I know people are concentrating as much on the gameplay as they did when doing 2D games. There are definitely more distracting technical problems with 3D games than 2D games, but I don't think that affects the gameplay signifcantly, since 3D games also tend to have more people on them, and have longer schedules.

Re:GTA

[Mac Degger]

Homeworld: a 3d game that looks amazing, has an amazing storyline and hell, even the music is amazing. This game, much mroe than Halflife or something like it, comes close to being art.

Re:Where's the accompanying spike in crime?

[cluke]

Playing games may give you the hand-eye coordination required to aim quickly but firing a gun is a world away from clicking a mouse button.
The one and only time I fired a shotgun, I took careful aim (at a fench post) squeezed the trigger and *blammo* massive recoil, bullet goes God knows where up into the sky. All my FPS experience was useless when it came to the real thing.

With the sheer force and noise, it's actually quite physically traumatic to fire a gun.

Re:Games on Slashdot?

[Anita Coney]

Yeah, who could ever take a multibillion dollar industry serious?! Especially when one considers that the gaming industry is actually profitable and is GROWING when other tech sectors are failing.

Heck, Sony only, yes ONLY, makes 40% of its profits from Playstation. It's a drop in the bucket!

And the fact that GTA: Vice City sold twice as many copies in the last 3 Months than the best selling CD sold last year! Who cares?! It's still JUST gaming! And because it's merely gaming, and utterly profitable, and successful, it's not worthy of anyone's time!

Yep, the gaming industry is a joke. Anyone associated with it is a loser. Slashdot should stick to industries that lose money, have shrinking markets, and no future!