Good things come to those who wait, and we've certainly waited long enough for Grand Theft Auto 5, the next, California-bound chapter in Rockstar's fame-making open world series. When the debut trailer arrived, the game was tipped for current generation release, but Take-Two's elusiveness on the subject in a recent chat with investors suggests the publisher is strongly considering a bump to Xbox 720 (and whatever Sony and Nintendo end up calling the successors to those other consoles we don't discuss). Tragic news, right? Not necessarily.
I'm not here to extol the virtues of next generation hardware, because (a) I'm not 100 per cent sure what said hardware amounts to, beyond "more power", Kinect 2 and more Xbox Live, and (b) I've got a pretty solid track record of despising technology for technology's sake. Doubtless, the inevitable processor upgrade will be of interest to any programmer looking to get 10,000 AI bots marching in lock-step, and if there's one thing I know about artists, it's that their thirst for RAM knows neither reason nor restraint. But the benefits of all that won't materialise overnight, not if you set any store by precedent. In hindsight, Xbox 360's launch games were only the gentlest of cuts above the cream of the original Xbox.
But what care we for the fortunes of faceless corporations? The key point is that as far as open worlds go, things have never been better. Skyrim's release last November led a regular carnival of decent-to-amazing, open-ended odysseys, including Amalur, Dragon's Dogma, Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 2 (in places) and Minecraft Xbox 360. Coming up we've got Sleeping Dogs, the aforesaid Borderlands 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2012, Assassin's Creed 3 and Darksiders 2. Not all these games bear direct comparison with GTA, of course, but they scratch similar itches.
Soften the definition of an open world a tad, and there's still more reason to put off that return trip to San Andreas. Unbelievably, Call of Duty now has designs on the title of a sandbox shooter. Every mission you'll undertake in Bethesda's Dishonored is a festering cauldron of possibility. And Hitman: Absolution? I'll let Log's three page preview do the talking there.
If nothing else, think of the embattled videogame press. Thanks to that creeping Pandora's Box design ethic, reviewing videogames for a living is, quite frankly, terrifying at present. These sons of bitches are huge. Writing about them in any credible manner is like trying to write with the point of an Ancient Egyptian pyramid. I dearly want to play Grand Theft Auto 5, but I'm more than a little concerned that I'll have to quit my job to do it.
Go on, pick an ideal GTA 5 release date. It's like pinning a tail to the world's largest invisible donkey. Here's a round-up of GTA 5 facts, rumours and speculation.
3 comments so far...
YoungTobias on 2 Aug '12 said:
I disagree. It shouldn't be rushed by any means, but nor should it be held back longer than necessary just to tie in with an undefined eighth generation. If the game can be made before 720 and PS2 come out, without sacrificing its technical merit, then there's no reason to wait longer than necessary. I suppose you could argue that they could hold off a bit and release it on day one of eighth-gen, thus increasing anticipation for it, but there will be so many other games doing the same thing that it risks being lost in the shuffle (yes, even GTA could suffer from market inflation), whereas if they get it out on 360/PS3 it allows for one last, massive hurrah for the console and far greater profits - there's no way everyone already shelling out for an expensive new console will also shell out for GTA V at full price, especially when it's obvious that 360 and PS3 both have plenty of life left in them. But people will buy it on current gen in absolute bucket-loads. If GTA V simply won't work on PS3 or won't be coming out until next-gen systems are on the shelves anyway, then I can understand focusing on those. But arbitrarily holding off would be a major gamble and one without any real merit, since the sales for the foreseeable future are still going to be coming from PS3 and 360.
Bezza89 on 2 Aug '12 said:
I agree next gen is better for all the reasons you can think of, except my impatience poking me with a bottle of Pibswasser. I want to play it now damn it! But I think if it has to come out next year it has to be next gen, it'll boost sales of consoles it is released on, it would solve probable disc capacity issues for xbox, frame-rates, definition, and you get a whole 'nother years polish.
Scratch that, though. Gimme, gimme, gimme! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwW3ytid4DA
ridinglikesatan on 2 Aug '12 said:
From what I've heard, it seems pointless to wait, as the consoles will still be out of date when they're released. The best thing they can do it release it as high a spec as possible for PC, like Battlefield and Crysis did, then downgrade and port it to the consoles.