GTA3 In Print! + A GTA3 Screen Shot! <11:30 PM CST - schu>
The latest issue of the Official Playstation2 Magazine UK has just been released with exclusive GTA3 screen shots and details.  I'm working on getting a copy, however I'd really like to get scans of the article and pictures in that issue.  If anyone can do this for me, please email them to me as soon as possible and I'll post them with credit to the contributor.  Until then I've already snagged a GTA3 screen shot for everyone to drool over.  Enjoy!  Thanks to Sean Moran and also thanks to my inside source at Rockstar for this update.

  
GTA Vegas & GTA Paris <11:59 PM CST - schu>
A few new GTA maps were released over the holidays.  Louis sent in the latest beta of GTA Vegas and threw in a copy of the Paris GTA mod he is working on.  GTA Paris is still in very early development and GTA Vegas has made a little progress since the last beta release.  Currently Louis is working on adding government services to Vegas.  I've zipped up both maps and a mission.ini he sent along with it into a 95k package.

Star Trek GTA - Beta2 <11:59 PM CST - schu>
John has been working on his Star Trek GTA mod and has just released beta 2 (3.95MB).  The beta 2 release features new cars, a new interface, new characters, and a few extra features.  The zip file includes instructions on which files you should back up and how to install the mod.  Please take a look at these before installing anything.  John also included a note along with the release asking for help from any Star Trek fans out there to help test Star Trek GTA beta3.  John is looking for any comments or suggestions and he could also use some help building the rest of the project (specifically, level designers and texture modifiers).  Join the Star Trek GTA Team @ clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/startrekgrandtheftauto.

Site Updates <11:59 PM CST - schu>
Ok, the addition to today's update is done and I've gone through most of the email.  The next update will either occur on Monday night or Tuesday sometime.  Until then, Happy New Year!

Seasons Greetings & All That <12:30 AM CST - schu>
Well news has pretty much come to a stand still so there really isn't anything to report, however I thought I should post an update since I'm going home for Christmas.  I'll be leaving on Friday afternoon and I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I'm guessing that its going to be just before or after New Years day.  I'll be checking my email from home and possibly updating if my mother's computer is cooperating so if anything major comes along I'll try and post something.  Have a happy holiday and here's to hoping that GTA news is better in 2001.

Random Stuff <11:50 PM CST - schu>

• Ouch... IGN just reviewed GTA2 for the Gameboy and the result isn't pretty.
• Toys for Violent Games? I could only laugh after reading this article.  "Here's my copy of GTA, can you please give me some pottery and candy in exchange."
• I can't find any GTA3 news, but I keep turning up these wacked out news pieces. Saddam Hussein and PS2s, w t f ?

Game Informer made a brief GTA3 statement in their article about Take2's latest financial report.  Not much there, but at this point any mention of GTA3 is better than none at all...

New GTA2 Maps <11:55 PM CST - schu>

• Kill Frenzy 1.0 - Beta
  BlitZ and Flesh have created a new GTA2 map entitled Kill Frenzy (213k), still in the early stages of development.  The map comes with a handy readme file with installation instructions and a nice map of the island you're on.
  

• GTA2 Arena
  The MoonMonkeys have released a GTA2 multiplayer map named GTA2 Arena.  The map was created solely for multiplayer use and works best with 2-4 players.  You can download it right here (34k) at G! and you can find out more about it at www.moonmonkeys.de.  The site is in German so unless you speak German you might want to use a translator.

  
LingSter's Autos RIP <11:55 PM CST - schu>
LingSter wrote in with some bad news.  Rather than relate it to you, I'll post LingSter's farewell message:

"Just to let you know, a LOT (read all) of the GTAXtreme web sites have either been hacked, or taken down by the provider.  It seems that www.gtaxtreme.net is still ok, but www.simxtreme.net (which is the web provider of all the sites under gtaxtreme) was taken down.
 
So with that, LingSter's Autos has finally closed...  For good.  No more of LingSters cars for everyone to enjoy."
 
The LingSter

"I am pleased to say that Gta Arena is back online.

I have had a little break from it all, but now I am going to give Star Wars Gta one last shot. I have to get it finished and release it because it is so good! and it would be a shame for people not to see it.

Also I think the Gta world is slowing down a bit, so hopefully I can get people interested again, so head to www.gta-arena.8m.com to see what I'm doing with Star Wars GTA."

  
Blake's GTA2 Gameboy Impressions <11:55 PM CST - schu>
Blake was kind enough to send in an excellent write-up on the Gameboy version of GTA2:

"The GameBoy Color version of GTA2 was just released in the US, and I picked up my pre-ordered copy from Electronics Boutique today. I've only been playing it for about an hour, but here is what I can say about it so far:
 
First off, this game is an amazing conversion of GTA2. I'm only on the first level (Downtown), but the entire city is there. The detail is topnotch, as you'll see fans spinning on rooftops and amazing replicas of the city's features. Minor changes have been made to the level design, such as the lack of stairs on the building for the Loonies' easy missions (and I'm yet to see any car crushers).
 
The amount of pedestrians wandering the streets and cars on the road will make you forget about the empty streets from the first game. It averages 3 peds and 3 cars on-screen at once. This slows the game down, but it's hardly noticeable. The characters look all wrong, however. Peds look identical to cops (blue clothes with white hats), but cops look identical to your character (black clothes with red sleeves). The gang members look right though, the Zaibatsu are gray, the Yakuza are blue and the Loonies are green.
 
The controls in the GBC version of GTA were bashed by just about everyone who reviewed it, and Tarantula Studios (the game's developer) was listening. The game controls just as tight as the PC/console versions, with realistic vehicle handling and all the vehicles handle differently. Speaking of vehicles, just about all of them are in there, from the cop car to the Schmidt to the gang cars to the U-Jerk truck to the Bug. I have not, however, seen an ambulance after killing someone or fire truck after blowing up a car.
 
The gang system works just like the PC/console versions. There are three arrows at the bottom left side of the screen when you're not on a mission, all pointing to their corresponding gang's phones. When you answer one, only one arrow, the mission arrow, is visible, and the Respect-o-Meter is shown in place of the other two arrows (you can also pause the game at any time to see a full-screen version of the meter.
 
The cops are as ruthless as always, patrolling the streets on foot and in their cars. The Wanted Level meter isn't measured in cop heads, but by a bar meter that fills up as you commit crimes. The entire "if the cop didn't see it, I didn't do it" theme doesn't work here. Shoot a ped or cop in front of another cop, and nothing will happen. Run down a bunch of peds, even if no cops are around, and that Wanted Level grows like seaweed. When you wanted level is low, cops will just run after you and bust you if you touch them. When it's higher, they'll start shooting at you like crazy. I've managed to piss them off enough to send in a SWAT van, but unfortunately, only one SWAT member comes out, and he's no different than the street cops. Being that this is only the first level, the FBI or army have yet to show up.
 
On the weapons side, so far I've obtained the pistol, S-Uzi and Silenced S-Uzi (although there's no difference in sound between the two), flame thrower, and rocket launcher. The car garages are in the game, although instead of a respray, mines, oil, car bombs and vehicle-mounted guns, all of them are resprays.
 
So far, the missions have remained totally faithful to their PC/console counterparts. If you've played the GBC version of GTA, you'll remember how dumbed down some of the missions were. In the Angels mission in Gangsta Bang in Liberty City, your boss told you the goods were "in the bike's gas tank". Maybe if that "bike" wasn't a car, it would have made more sense. In GTA2, the missions play exactly like the bigger versions. The "Pizza Cake" mission is there in its entirety, and so is the Yakuza mission where you're illegally transferring money into Johnny Zoo's account.
 
The question as to whether the GameBoy language barrier has been broken down is still to be answered. In the GBC version of GTA, "My brother knows I'm banging his wife" was changed to "...seeing his wife" and "Move it, we got some fresh pussy here!" was changed to "...fresh coffee here!". I haven't seen anyone say "shit" yet (and with the Teen rating, I doubt anyone will), but "ass" makes its presence known.
 
So far, the game seems excellent. It's GTA2 crammed into the GameBoy. If you want to play GTA2 on the go, I suggest getting it, unless you're weary about judging the game by one gamer's thoughts from only playing the game an hour."

Once again, thanks to Blake for this great write up.
 

Announcements & Site Updates <11:55 PM CST - schu>

• HinGTA's band has a new website if you'd like to check it out.  You can visit the site @ gta2sad.gtaxtreme.net/pentagrae.
• Ok, I finally have DSL installed.  This has been a rather painful last few days but at least I learned from it.  Mainly I learned that Ameritech sucks ass, but I also learned a lot about tweaking my connection.  To make a long story short...  If you have a DSL or Cable connection, or if you are thinking about getting a highspeed connection, do yourself a favor and check out www.dslreports.com.  This has got to be the best broadband tweaking site in the history of mankind and its got loads of reviews on just about every provider.

Still Nothing <11:41 PM CST - schu>
No news to report today, but I'll keep looking...

Site Updates <11:50 PM CST - schu>
Well I'm back but with nothing to report because nothing is going on.  I hope this isn't indicative of the week to come.  Hopefully Rockstar will announce something soon and get us out of this no news rut....  

Nothing Today... Nothing Tomorrow <10:30 PM CST - schu>
Not much going on today...  My inbox is empty and I wasn't able to turn up anything on my rounds, and on top of all that there won't be an update tomorrow.  I'll be out of town for the weekend but I'll be back in time to update on Monday.  Hopefully next week will prove to be more interesting.

First... You can pre-order it from a number of online retailers if you are so inclined.  Personally I'm going to wait for more reviews before I go out and drop $30 for it.  I took a quick look around and found pre-orders on EBWorld, GameStop, Chips&Bits, etc, etc...  Regardless, its going to cost you about $30 no matter where you get it, unless you catch it on sale at Best Buy or something.  

Second... Currently it looks like it will be hitting stores early next week (Tuesday to be exact).

Last... Blake wrote in with a quick correction.  The red packaging was only used for the Dreamcast version whereas the other packaging with the taxi in the crosshairs was used for the PSX version.  So, they could use either for the US release, not that it really matters.  Blake also mentioned that he would be buying it when it comes out and that he would send in some gameplay impressions later this month.  Until then I'll keep an eye on my inbox.

Random GTA3 Stuff <11:55 PM CST - schu>
To prove I haven't been just sitting on my ass all this time, I've tracked down a few random news bits on GTA3 but its hardly worth reading because its all been said before and most of its rehashed from the Sam Houser interview on IGN a while back, but what the hell, here you go: 1, 2, 3

Unmetered ISP For UK Gamers <11:55 PM CST - schu>
I saw this bit of news on Gamespot UK that might interest some of the UK gamers out there.

"I have run across what appears to be a flaw (or feature as Microsoft would say) which appears to greatly speed up the rate which GTA2 operates.  It's quite simple.  Just run the Windows Media Player at the same time you play GTA2 and it REALLY speeds up play.  This is occurring on a Windows 2000 Professional system and it seems to be operating system related.  I would estimate that the speed is more than double normal operating rate.  The extra speed really makes a hell of a difference in playability.  I have not played GTA2 on anything else than Win2k based systems so either this increased speed is how its supposed to be in the first place or the speed isn't supposed to be there but should be.  More than likely I am guessing that media player is adjusting the speed to how its supposed to be so this shouldn't be a big deal."

I'll give this a try tomorrow on Win98.  I'd like to hear from some Win2k users out there as to whether this works for them so if someone can please try this and let me know the results I'd be rather interested to hear if it works.

More Gameboy Packaging <11:45 PM CST - schu>
Stan64 sent in a few other variations on the GTA2 Gameboy packaging.  The package in the last update is probably just for the UK.  The two posted below match the console and PC GTA2 packaging here in the US and elsewhere.  My guess is that they will use the red packaging here in the US since all the other console releases of GTA2 use the same red package.

Site Updates <11:45 PM CST - schu>
News has been rather slow lately, but I'm sure you've pretty much figured that out for yourself.  I didn't update Monday because I was out of town, but considering I had nothing to report anyway it wasn't much of a loss.

GTA2 Gameboy Reviewed <1:45 AM CST - schu>
I saw this review on DailyRadar UK a while back but for some reason it never clicked that it was GTA2 for Gameboy and not GTA.  Regardless, Blake was on the ball and emailed me about it.  After checking again it finally clicked.  According to Blake the GTA2 for GBC is only out in the UK and Europe at the moment but it is supposed to be released in North America on December 6th.  I did some looking around and I turned up another review on the EuroGamer site.  Both DailyRadar UK and EuroGamer gave it fairly good reviews.  Once again, thanks to Blake for sending this in.  Here are a few screenshots.  You can find more in the two reviews.

Site Updates <1:45 AM CST - schu>
Not much going on lately.  I've had some computer problems lately but since I didn't really have anything to report I guess it didn't affect much.  In other news, I finally got my car repaired after I had that SUV dropped on my hood.  Now if I can just get my $250 deductible back from the insurance company I'll be happy.