Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Developer(s)	Rockstar North
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games Capcom (Japan)
Distributor(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Writer(s)	Dan Houser James Worrall DJ Pooh
Series	Grand Theft Auto
Engine	RenderWare
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox, Mac OS X, Xbox 360 (XBLM), PlayStation 3 (PSN)
Release date(s)	October 26, 2004 PlayStation 2 NA October 26, 2004 EU October 29, 2004 AUS October 29, 2004 JP January 25, 2007 Windows NA June 7, 2005 EU June 10, 2005 Xbox NA June 7, 2005 EU June 10, 2005 AUS June 10, 2005 Xbox 360 (XBLM) October 20, 2008 Mac OS X November 12, 2010 PlayStation 3 (PSN) NA December 11, 2012 EU December 12, 2012
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Media/distribution	Optical disc, download

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action-adventure video game developed by games developer Rockstar North in the United Kingdom and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall. Originally released for the PlayStation 2 in October 2004, the game has since been released for the Xbox and Microsoft Windows in June 2005, then released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360 in October 2008, then released on the PlayStation Store via PSN for the PlayStation 3 in December 2012, and has received wide acclaim and high sales figures on all platforms. It is the best-selling game of all time on PlayStation 2. It was made available on Steam on January 4, 2008, and on Intel-based Macs running a minimum of Mac OS X 10.6.6 in September 2011. San Andreas was released for the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network in December 2012. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was succeeded by Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and was preceded by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

The game is set in the semi-fictional state of San Andreas (based on California and Nevada), which contains three metropolitan cities: Los Santos, based on Los Angeles, San Fierro, based on San Francisco, and Las Venturas, based on Las Vegas. Set in 1992, San Andreas revolves around the gang member Carl "CJ" Johnson returning home from Liberty City to Los Santos, San Andreas, after learning of his mother's murder. CJ finds his old friends and family in disarray. Over the course of the game, CJ gradually unravels the plot behind his mother's murder.

The high-level plot of the game is based on multiple real-life events in Los Angeles including the rivalry between street gangs the Bloods and Crips (which the player's gang and rival gang are spoofed off of), the Crack epidemic (which is shown as a major point of conflict in the game), the LAPD Rampart scandal (forming the basis of several main antagonists in the game), and the game even culminates in a spoof of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Gameplay

The player driving a car towards the Grove Street cul-de-sac in Los Santos at dusk.

San Andreas is structured similarly to the previous two games in the series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open world environment in which to move around. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, eating, running, sprinting, swimming, climbing (the first GTA game in which swimming and climbing are possible) and jumping as well as using weapons and various forms of hand to hand combat. Players can drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, buses, semis, boats, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, trains, tanks, motorcycles and bikes. Players may also import vehicles rather than steal them.

The open, non-linear environment allows players to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain cities and content, they are not required as players can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, players can free-roam and look around the cities, eat from the restaurant, or cause havoc by attacking people and causing destruction. Creating havoc can attract unwanted and potentially fatal attention from the authorities. The more chaos caused, the stronger the response: police will handle "minor" infractions (attacking pedestrians, pointing guns at people, stealing vehicles, manslaughter, etc.), whereas SWAT teams, the FBI, and the military respond to higher wanted levels.

The player can partake in a variety of optional side missions that can boost their character's attributes or provide another source of income. The traditional side missions of the past games are included, such as dropping off taxi cab passengers, putting out fires, driving injured people to the hospital and fighting crime as a vigilante. New additions include burglary missions, pimping missions, truck and train driving missions requiring players to make deliveries on time, and driving/flying/boating/biking schools, which help players learn skills and techniques to use in their corresponding vehicles.

Not all locations are open to the player at the start of the game. Some locales, such as pay 'n spray, gyms, and shops, become available only after completing certain missions. Likewise, for the first portion of the game, only Los Santos and its immediate suburbs are available for exploration; unlocking the other cities and rural areas again requires the completion of certain missions. If the player were to try travel in locked locations they would end up getting a full (6-star) wanted level.

Unlike GTA III and Vice City, which needed loading screens when the player moved between different districts of the city, San Andreas has no load times when the player is in transit. The only loading screens in the game are for cut-scenes and interiors. Other differences between San Andreas and its predecessors include the switch from single-player to multiplayer Rampage missions (albeit not in the PC version), and the replacement of the 'hidden packages' with spray paint tags, hidden camera shots, horseshoes, and oysters to discover.

The camera, fighting, and targeting controls were reworked to incorporate concepts from another Rockstar game, Manhunt, including various stealth elements, as well as improved target crosshairs and a target health indicator which changes from green to red to black depending on the target's health. The PC version of the game implements mouse chording; the player has to hold the right mouse button to activate the crosshairs, and then click or hold at the left mouse button to shoot or use an item, such as a camera.

The player has a gunfight with members of an enemy gang.

In addition, players can swim and climb walls for the first time in the series. The ability to swim has a great effect on the player as well, since water is no longer an impassable barrier that kills the player (although it is possible to drown). For greater firepower, players can also wield dual firearms or perform a drive-by shooting with multiple gang members. Due to the size of San Andreas, a waypoint reticule on the HUD map can be set, aiding the player in reaching a destination.

RPG features in character development

Rockstar has emphasized the personalization of the main protagonist by adding many role-playing video game elements. Clothing, accessories, haircuts, Bling-bling and tattoos are now available for purchase by CJ, and have more of an effect on non-player characters' reactions than the clothing in Vice City. CJ's level of respect among his fellow recruits and street friends varies according to his appearance and actions, as do his relationships with his girlfriends. Players must also ensure CJ eats to stay healthy and also exercises properly. The balance of food and physical activity has an effect on his appearance and physical attributes.

San Andreas tracks acquired skills in areas such as driving, firearms handling, stamina, and lung capacity, which improve through use in the game. CJ may also learn three different styles of hand-to-hand combat (boxing, kung fu and Muay Thai) at the gyms in each of the game's three cities. CJ can also speak with a number of pedestrians in the game, responding either negatively or positively. According to Rockstar, there are about 4,200 lines of spoken dialogue.

Vehicles

In total, there are 211 vehicles in the game compared to approximately 85 in GTA III. New additions include bicycles, a combine harvester, a street sweeper, a hovercraft, trailers and others. Car physics and features are similar to the Midnight Club series of street racing games, allowing for much more midair vehicle control as well as nitrous upgrades and aesthetic modification.

There are several different classes of vehicles that serve different purposes. Off-road vehicles perform better in rough environments, while racing cars perform better on tracks or on the street. Jets are fast, but usually need a runway to land. Helicopters can land almost anywhere and are much easier to control in the air, but are slower. While previous Grand Theft Auto games had only a few aircraft that were difficult to access and fly, San Andreas has 11 fixed wing aircraft and nine helicopters and makes them more integral in the game's missions. There is also the ability to skydive from aircraft, using a parachute. Several boats were added, while some were highly modified.

Other additions and changes

Other new features and changes from previous Grand Theft Auto games include:

• Gang wars: Battles with enemy gangs are prompted whenever the player ventures into enemy territory and kills at least three gang members. If the player then survives three waves of enemies, the territory will be won and fellow gang members will begin wandering the streets of these areas. The more territory owned by the player, the more money that will be generated. Occasionally, the player's territory will come under attack from enemy gangs and defeating them will be necessary to retain these areas. Once all marked territories are claimed from one of the two other gangs for the Grove Street Families, that gang can no longer attack. Once the player takes control of all the territories, none can come under attack.
• Car modification: Most automobiles in the game can be modified and upgraded at various garages. All car mods are strictly visual apart from the stereo and nitrous oxide upgrade which increases bass and gives the car a speed boost when activated respectively; and hydraulics, which lowers the car's height by default and allows the player to control various aspects of the car's suspension. Other common modifications include paintjobs, rims, body kits, side skirts, bumpers and stereo system upgrades.
• Burglary: Continuing the series' tradition of controversy, home invasion is included as a potential money-making activity. By stealing a burglary van, CJ is able to sneak into a residence at night, and cart off valuables or shake down the occupants.
• Minigames: Numerous minigames are also available for play in San Andreas, including basketball, pool, rhythm-based challenges (dancing and 'bouncing' lowriders with hydraulics), and video game machines that pay homage to classic arcade games. In addition, there are the aforementioned casino games and methods of gambling, such as betting on virtual horse races.
• Money: The money system has been expanded upon, compared to previous titles. Players can spend their cash on gambling, tattoos, meals, etc. Excessive gambling loss can force the player to sink into debt, which is shown in red negative numbers. When the player leaves a safehouse, CJ gets an unexpected call and a mysterious person tells him about his debts. Four gang members suddenly appear and shoot Carl on sight if he does not erase the debt when the mysterious person calls him a second time.
• Multiplayer: Rampages have been modified to allow two players to complete them. The players are both shown simultaneously on the screen, meaning they must stay within close proximity of each other. The multiplayer rampages were removed from the PC version of the game. While multiplayer modes were absent on the PC version (as with the previous games), third-party modifications like Multi Theft Auto and San Andreas Multiplayer provide such functionality.

Synopsis

San Andreas
—  Fictional state  —
State of San Andreas
Country	United States
State	San Andreas
Cities	Las Venturas Los Santos San Fierro
Area code(s)	342 Los Santos (323/424 Los Angeles) 514 San Fierro (415 San Francisco) 207 Las Venturas (702 Las Vegas)
Website	Official San Andreas website

Setting

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas takes place in 1992 within the state of San Andreas, which is based on sections of California and Nevada. It comprises three major fictional cities: Los Santos corresponds to Los Angeles, San Fierro corresponds to San Francisco, and Las Venturas corresponds to Las Vegas. The environments around these cities are also based on settings within the Southwestern region of the United States. Players can drive up the half-mile (800 m) tall Mount Chiliad (based on Mount Diablo), parachute from various peaks and skyscrapers, and visit 12 rural towns and villages located in three counties: Red County, Flint County and Bone County. Other notable destinations include Sherman Dam (based on the Hoover Dam), a large secret military base called Area 69 (based on Area 51), a large satellite dish (based on a dish from the Very Large Array), Vinewood (based on Hollywood) and the Vinewood sign (based on the Hollywood sign) which is located in Mulholland, and many other geographical features. Interestingly the bridges in San Fierro are based on the Forth road and rail bridges which link Edinburgh, the home of Rockstar North, to Fife although the road bridge is highly similar to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. San Andreas is 13.9 square miles (36 square kilometres), almost four times as large as Vice City and five times as large as the Grand Theft Auto III rendition of Liberty City. The three cities are linked by numerous highways, a train system, and air travel. While its predecessors' areas were limited to urban locations, San Andreas includes not only large cities and suburbs, but also the rural areas between them.

Characters

Main article: List of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas characters

The characters that appear in San Andreas are relatively diverse and relative to the respective cities and locales which each of them based himself in. This allows the game to include a significantly wider array of story lines and settings than in Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City. The player controls Carl "CJ" Johnson (Young Maylay), a young African-American gang member who serves as the game's protagonist.

The Los Santos stages of the game revolve around the theme of the Grove Street Families gang fighting with the Ballas and the Vagos for territory and respect. East Asian gangs (most notably the local Triads), an additional Vietnamese gang (the Da Nang Boys), and a force of Hispanic thugs working for the local "Loco Syndicate" (the San Fierro Rifa) are evident in the San Fierro leg of the game, while three Mafia families and the Triads who all own their respective casino are more prominently featured in the Las Venturas section of the game.

Like the previous two GTA games, the voice actors of San Andreas include notable celebrities, such as David Cross, Andy Dick, Ron Foster, Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda, Charlie Murphy, Frank Vincent, Chris Penn, Danny Dyer, Sara Tanaka, William Fichtner, Wil Wheaton, rappers Ice-T, Chuck D, Frost, MC Eiht and The Game and musicians George Clinton, Axl Rose, Sly and Robbie, and Shaun Ryder. Young Maylay makes his debut as the protagonist, Carl.

The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition lists it as the video game with the largest voice cast, with 861 credited voice actors, including 174 actors and 687 additional performers, many of those performers being fans of the series who wanted to appear on the game.

Plot

Grand Theft Auto series fictional chronology
2D universe 1961 – London, 1961 1969 – London, 1969 1997 – Grand Theft Auto 1999 – Grand Theft Auto 2 3D universe 1984 – Vice City Stories 1986 – Vice City 1992 – San Andreas 1998 – Liberty City Stories 2000 – Advance 2001 – Grand Theft Auto III HD universe 2008 – Grand Theft Auto IV          – The Lost and Damned          – The Ballad of Gay Tony 2009 – Chinatown Wars TBA – Grand Theft Auto V

In 1987, Carl "CJ" Johnson witnesses his younger brother, Brian, being murdered by the rival gang members. Being blamed for the murder and under a lot of pressure, Carl leaves Los Santos and starts a new life, moving to Liberty City.

5 years later in 1992, Carl is an ambitious car thief and working with Joey Leone, a professional mechanic and a Leone Family member. He suddenly gets a call from his older brother, Sweet, who informs him that their mother, Beverly Johnson, has been murdered. Carl decides to go home for the funeral.

Upon returning and arriving in the hood, corrupt C.R.A.S.H. police officers Frank Tenpenny (Samuel L. Jackson) and Edward "Eddie" Pulaski (Chris Penn), whom Carl has had history with, apprehend him and threaten to frame him for a fellow officer's murder (which they had committed just minutes earlier) unless he assists them in their illegal operations.

Carl returns to his former home on Grove Street and reunites with his brother Sweet (Faizon Love) and fellow gangsters Ryder (MC Eiht), Big Smoke (Clifton Powell) and OG Loc to reestablish Grove Street Families as the predominant gang in Los Santos. Carl, Ryder and Big Smoke begin intercepting shipments of weapons, waging war with rival gangs "Ballas" and "Vagos" for turf, and reducing the influence of crack cocaine among Family members. Carl also begins helping OG Loc establish a music career by ruining the career of prominent rapper Madd Dogg (Ice-T). While working to re-establish the gang, Carl begins mending relationships and gradually earning back respect from his family and allies especially earning back respect from Sweet, for leaving Los Santos five years prior.

Shortly before a large gang battle with the Ballas, Carl receives a call from his sister Kendl’s boyfriend Cesar Vialpando (Clifton Collins, Jr.), a leader of the smaller Hispanic street gang "Varrios Los Aztecas", who shows Carl a green "Sabre" (the vehicle long-rumored to have been involved in his mother’s shooting) being escorted by Big Smoke, Ryder, a group of Ballas, and Tenpenny. Carl then realizes that they were the one's responsible for the slaying. Carl then attempts to rush back to the battle, but is too late to save his brother from being ambushed and nearly killed. Carl defeats the rest of the Ballas there, but is arrested by Pulaski and Tenpenny who arrive on the scene, and dumped in the San Andreas countryside to assassinate a witness threatening Tenpenny and Pulaski. They also instruct him to keep his distance from them and Big Smoke. Meanwhile, Big Smoke and Ryder, now openly in league with the Ballas, take over the remaining Grove Street territories in Los Santos, flooding it with crack cocaine.

While hiding in the countryside from the now Ballas and Vagos-controlled Los Santos,Carl is enlisted by Tenpenny to work with an aged marijuana farmer and hippie "The Truth" (Peter Fonda) in preparation to discredit a district attorney who has evidence of his and Pulaski's corruption. In the meantime, the similarly exiled Cesar sets Carl up to assist in a robbery spree with his cousin Catalina and joining in underground street races for some much needed money. Through these races, Carl meets the blind Triad leader Wu Zi “Woozie” Mu and wins the deed to a garage in San Fierro from Catalina. With help from The Truth, Carl works to convert the garage to a chop shop by hiring mechanics Dwaine and Jethro, and electronics expert Zero (David Cross).

Besides sending the D.A. to prison for planted marijuana for Tenpenny, Carl insinuates himself in San Fierro's Loco Syndicate, Smoke and Ryder's cocaine connection, consisting of pimp Jizzy B, San Fierro "Rifa" gang leader T-Bone Mendez, and undercover government agent Mike Toreno. Carl eventually assassinates the Syndicate leaders, Ryder, and destroys their crack factory. He also helps Woozie fend off a rival San Fierro Vietnamese gang, the Da Nang Boys. Zero also phones Carl to tell him that his landlord is selling his shop. Carl can choose to buy Zero's shop to save his business, and help him wage an RC war against his rival, Berkley.

Carl is contacted by the presumed-dead Loco Syndicate leader Mike Toreno (James Woods), who reveals he's a secret government agent and agrees to secure Sweet's release from jail in return for Carl's help in several shady operations.

Later, Carl is invited by Woozie to become a partner in the Four Dragons Casino in Las Venturas, where they are facing harassment from the Mafia-run Caligula's Palace casino. To displace the Mafia, they begin planning to rob Caligula's. Through The Truth, Carl meets music producer Kent Paul (Danny Dyer) and his client Maccer. Carl meets Caligula's manager Ken Rosenberg (Bill Fichtner), under pressure for support from the three Liberty City families. When Salvatore Leone (Frank Vincent) comes to Las Venturas to take over all of Caligula's for himself he takes Rosenberg, Kent Paul, and Maccer hostage, but Carl helps them escape under the guise of helping Salvatore. Whilst working for Salvatore, Carl is sent back to Liberty City in order to take out a Mafia family operating at Saint Mark's Bistro. After final planning Carl and Woozie carry out their heist, taking millions of dollars from Salvatore's Casino. After the heist Carl receives a phone call from an enraged Salvatore who repeatedly tells Carl he's "Dead!" along with threats of murdering his friends and family. Carl mocks Salvatore and hangs up. Salvatore isn't heard from again for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, Tenpenny and Pulaski, now under indictment, try to kill Carl, but Carl manages to kill Pulaski. Carl also saves the fallen Madd Dogg from suicide, becoming his manager, and reestablishing him in Los Santos. Shortly after Carl does one last odd job for Toreno, Sweet is finally released and has Carl once again help him restore Grove Street.

Tenpenny goes to trial for several felonies, but the charges are dropped for lack of evidence since all the prosecution's witnesses are either disgraced, missing, or dead. Tenpenny's release sends anger and shock throughout Los Santos, triggering the in-game rendition of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.

Meanwhile, Cesar has also returned to Los Santos and requests that Carl help him reestablish the Varrios Los Aztecas, as the Vagos have taken over the area. After Cesar returns to his gang, Sweet manages to track down Big Smoke who is living in a fortified crack fortress. Carl breaks through all of the fortifications and kills Big Smoke in a shootout, only to be confronted by Tenpenny, who steals all of Big Smoke's drug money and escapes in a firetruck. Carl and Sweet pursue Tenpenny through the streets of Los Santos until Tenpenny loses control and crashes off a bridge, landing at the entrance of the Grove Street cul-de-sac. Tenpenny manages to crawl free of the wreckage before collapsing. As Tenpenny is dying Carl considers shooting him, but Sweet stops him, saying that they shouldn't leave evidence that Tenpenny was killed instead of it just being an accident.

In the aftermath Carl's family and friends arrive at the Johnson house for a meeting. Madd Dogg announces that he's received a gold record for his new album. Cesar proposes to Kendl. As his friends and allies celebrate their success, Carl turns to leave. When Kendl asked where he's going, he replies, "Fittin' to hit the block, see what's happening."

Soundtrack

Main articles: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack Box Set

As with the previous two entries in the Grand Theft Auto series, San Andreas has an exhaustive number of tracks taken from the time period in which the game is based.

San Andreas is serviced by eleven radio stations; WCTR (talk radio), Master Sounds 98.3 (rare groove, playing many of the old funk and soul tracks sampled by 1990s hip-hop artists), K-Jah West (dub and reggae; modeled after K-Jah from GTA III), CSR (New Jack Swing, Modern Soul), Radio X (alternative rock, metal and grunge), Radio Los Santos (gangsta rap), SF-UR (old school Chicago house music), Bounce FM (funk), K-DST (classic rock), K-Rose (country) and Playback FM (classic hip hop).

The music system in San Andreas is enhanced from previous titles. In earlier in the series, each radio station was essentially a single looped sound file, playing the same songs, announcements and advertisements in the same order each time. In San Andreas, each section is held separately, and "mixed" randomly, allowing songs to be played in different orders, announcements to songs to be different each time, and plot events to be mentioned on the stations. This system would be used in Grand Theft Auto IV. WCTR, rather than featuring licensed music and DJs, features spoken word performances by actors such as Andy Dick performing as talk show hosts and listener callers in a parody of talk radio programming.

Lazlow again plays as himself on the show "Entertaining America" on WCTR in the same persona as in III and Vice City. He takes over after the former presenter, Billy Dexter, is shot on air by in-game film star Jack Howitzer. Lazlow interviews guests such as O.G. Loc, who is one of the three characters Carl encounters during the game that is on the radio, along with Big Smoke and The Truth.

The Xbox and Windows versions of the game include an additional radio station that supports custom soundtracks by playing user imported MP3s, allowing players to listen to their own music while playing the game. This feature is not available on the PlayStation 2 version of the game or when played on the Xbox 360.

Reception

Awards
IGN's Best of 2004	PlayStation 2 Game of the Year, Best PlayStation 2 Action Game, Best Story for PlayStation 2
GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2004	Best PlayStation 2 Game, Best Action Adventure Game, Readers' Choice — Best PlayStation 2 Action Adventure Game, Readers' Choice — PlayStation 2 Game of the Year, Best Voice Acting, Funniest Game
2004 Spike TV Video Game Awards	Game of the Year, Best Performance by a Human (Male), Best Action Game, Best Soundtrack

Upon its release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was met with universal critical acclaim, with many calling it one of the PlayStation 2's best games. It received an average review score of 95%, according to Metacritic, tying for the fifth highest ranked game in PlayStation 2 history. IGN rated the game a 9.9/10 (the highest score it has ever awarded to a PlayStation 2 game), calling it "the defining piece of software" for the PlayStation 2. GameSpot rated the game 9.6/10, giving it an Editor's Choice award. GameSpot said "San Andreas definitely lives up to the Grand Theft Auto name. In fact, it's arguably the best game in the series". San Andreas also received an A rating from the 1UP.com network and a 10/10 score from Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Common praises were made about the game's open-endedness, the size of the state of San Andreas, and the engaging storyline and voice acting. Most criticisms of the game stemmed from graphical mishaps, poor character models, and low-resolution textures, as well as various control issues, particularly with auto-aiming at enemies. Some critics commented that while a lot of new content had been added to San Andreas, little of it had been refined or implemented well. Nevertheless, since its release, San Andreas has been regarded to be one of the greatest games of all time, placing at number 28 in Edge's Top 100 Games to Play Today. Edge declared that the game remains "the ultimate expression of freedom, before next-gen reined it all back in."

Sales and commercial success

By March 3, 2005, the game had sold over 12 million units for the PlayStation 2 alone, making it the highest selling game for PlayStation 2. As of September 26, 2007, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has sold 20 million units according to Take-Two Interactive. As of March 26, 2008, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has sold 21.5 million units according to Take-Two Interactive. The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition list it as the most successful game in the PlayStation 2, with 17.33 million copies sold for that console alone, from a total of 21.5 million in all formats. In 2010, GTA: San Andreas is the 3rd Best Selling game of all time. In 2011, Kotaku reported that according to Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has sold 27.5 million copies worldwide.

Controversies

Hot Coffee mod

Main article: Hot Coffee mod

A screenshot of the hidden sex minigame unlocked by the "Hot Coffee mod"

In mid-June 2005, a software patch for the game dubbed the "Hot Coffee mod" was released by Patrick Wildenborg (under the Internet alias "PatrickW"), a 38-year old modder from the Netherlands. 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.

After installing the patch, users can enter the main character's girlfriends' houses and engage in a crudely rendered, fully clothed or nude sexual intercourse mini-game. The fallout from the controversy resulted in a public response from high-ranking politicians in the United States and elsewhere and resulted in the game's recall and re-release.

On July 20, 2005, North America's organization that establishes content ratings for video games, the ESRB, changed the rating of the game from Mature (M) to Adults Only (AO), making San Andreas the only mass-released AO console game in the United States. Rockstar announced that it would cease production of the version of the game that included the controversial content. Rockstar gave 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 pulled the game off their shelves in compliance with their own store regulations that kept them from selling AO games. That same month in Australia, the Office of Film and Literature Classification revoked its original rating of MA15+, meaning that the game could no longer be sold there.

In August 2005, Rockstar North released an official "Cold Coffee" patch for the PC version of the game and re-released San Andreas with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Version 2.0), allowing the game to return to its "M" rating. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have also been re-released with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed in the Greatest Hits Edition, the Platinum Edition, the "GTA Trilogy Pack" for Xbox and PlayStation 2, as well as a Special Edition for PlayStation 2 that includes the documentary film Sunday Driver. The updated game disc has "SECOND EDITION" text under the "M" rating logo.

On November 8, 2007, Take-Two announced a proposed settlement to the class action litigation that had been brought against them following the Hot Coffee controversy. If the proposed settlement is approved by the court, neither Take-Two nor Rockstar would admit liability or wrongdoing. Consumers would be able to swap their AO-rated copies of the game for M-rated versions and may also qualify for a $35 cash payment upon signing a sworn statement.

A report in The New York Times on June 25, 2008 revealed that a total of 2,676 claims for the compensation package had been filed.

Alleged racism

San Andreas was criticized by some for its perceived racial stereotyping. Some saw the alleged stereotyping as ironic while others defended the criticism by saying the storyline could speak to people of different backgrounds.

The Introduction

The Introduction, an in-engine video, was provided on a DVD with the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Official Soundtrack, as well as the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition re-release for the PlayStation 2. The 26-minute video chronicles the events leading up to the events in San Andreas and provides insight on the development of the characters of the game, to the point when Carl learns of his mother's death in a phone call from Sweet and returns to Los Santos to find his life is ruined. The game incorporates locations from the original Grand Theft Auto III game. The PS2 release also includes a live-action documentary on the custom car culture (featured prominently in the game) called Sunday Driver.

Follow-ups

Rockstar released two major follow-ups to San Andreas: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories before retiring the GTA III continuity and relaunching with Grand Theft Auto IV. Both games include references to characters featured in San Andreas, with Liberty City Stories set about 6 years after the events of San Andreas (in that game, for example, radio reporter Richard Burns, featured in news bulletins in San Andreas, returns as a radio call-in guest). Both games feature far smaller sandbox playing areas than San Andreas, and also eliminate gameplay elements introduced in the earlier game, including the ability to swim (in Liberty City Stories, but reintroduced in Vice City Stories) and climb. Except for news bulletins, radio programming in the later games also does not change based upon player progress. While character customization elements such as wardrobe changes are retained, for later games, Rockstar eliminated the need for the game protagonists to eat and exercise.

Los Santos, one of the three central cities in San Andreas, will be the main location of the next game in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto V.

An unofficial content port of the game's map to the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, along with similar ports using assets from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto III, as well as the original Grand Theft Auto game, was created by several users from the GTAForums community, which replaced the Liberty City map in Grand Theft Auto IV with a version of the one found in San Andreas.

External links

• Official website
• GTA San Andreas on Grand Theft Wiki
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas guide at StrategyWiki
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at the Open Directory Project