Late to the Party - Red Dead Redemption

I understand that it's been a while since this game was released, but, well you know how it goes sometimes.  A game comes out and you decide to wait on it for a while and then a Game of the Year Edition is announced and you decide to wait for that and decide to wait for it to drop in price and sometimes you then wait for it to be gifted to you and basically there's a lot of waiting.  It happens.  And then sometimes you get it for Christmas and don't play it til almost the end of January because you suddenly have an urge to play a game that doesn't feature Winter in the slightest because you're in Winter and it's fucking cold, but it's nice because you like Winter, but it's still cold and cold is kind of bad and you try and warm up but playing games with Winter in them kind of doesn't help.  Even though you're not expecting something good, you pop in a game about being a cowboy in the desert because at least it's in a hot environment.

Then you discover, hey, this game actually -is- fun!

That has been my experience with Red Dead Redemption over the past couple days in which I've plugged in quite a few hours.  The bulk of it probably spent running around and hunting animals because oh man, hunting.  It's only when I run across it with a deeper mechanic than Tomb Raider offered - something closer to Far Cry 3 - that I realize how much I actually enjoy it despite the inherent 'issue' with it in that I'm not hunting for absolute necessity and/or survival, but for skins and such to sell.  But it's digital animals, so I don't -really- have to care too much about it.  No more than the people that I shoot, lasso, hogtie and drag around whilst on horseback are only digital people, thus I don't have to really care about them either.  It's just silliness in the desert.

As such, since I've spent the majority of the game dicking around, there's not a whole lot I can say about the game itself.  The story is something that's there, Marston is not the greatest character, but he's alright, and the mechanics are definitely from a Rockstar game, for better or worse.  I mostly just wanted to say that it's actually fun since I heavily doubted it beforehand - it was released close enough to IV that I worried it would be a bit stiff like IV was, not to mention the bad ideas from TLaD - and that I'm quite enjoying it.  And it is doing -something- for the perception of maintaining heat and such.  I mean, a space heater is probably doing the most of the heating task, but still.  Every little bit helps when your daily high temperature just barely breaks double digits Fahrenheit.

I kinda wish that the 'main encounter' would just happen already, I'm tired of doing side jobs for these ungrateful bastards

Grand Theft Auto Online Looks Amazing

So, last month, I pointed out that seeing a Gameplay Trailer for Grand Theft Auto V made me really excited for the game, to the point where I didn't quite know how it could get better.  If you would have told me that it would get better with the Multi-Player Portion of it, I would have called you silly, but damned if it didn't happen.  I'm not sure if it would be better for you to watch the above video first to see what I mean, or if you should read the Overview from the official site first to give context to the video before you see it, so I'm just going to give you both and let you decide.  Either way, both need to be consumed by your brain in some fashion, I urge this at least, so keep that in mind.

Grand Theft Auto Online is a dynamic and persistent online world for 16 players that begins by sharing gameplay features, geography and mechanics with Grand Theft Auto V, but will continue to expand and evolve after its launch with new content created by Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto community. Grand Theft Auto Online takes the fundamental Grand Theft Auto concepts of freedom, ambient activity and mission-based gameplay and makes them available to multiple players in an incredibly detailed and responsive online world.

In Grand Theft Auto Online, players have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto V.

Players can invest in their character through customizing their appearance, improving their stats, owning customized vehicles, purchasing personal property, and taking part in missions, jobs and activities to earn reputation and cash to open up new opportunities to rise through the criminal ranks. The world of Grand Theft Auto Online will constantly grow and change as new content is added, creating the first ever persistent and dynamic Grand Theft Auto game world.

Access to Grand Theft Auto Online is free with every retail copy of Grand Theft Auto V and launches on October 1st.

The keywords here are "dynamic" and "persistent online world" which are things that have been thrown around here lately for other such things like Destiny and possibly TitanFall, which are meant solely to imply something of an MMO-experience without stating it's going to be an MMO.  But let's face it - Destiny is an MMO, so is TitanFall kind of and GTAO is going to basically be a Grand Theft MMO, and you know what?  That's fine.  Excellent, even.  It's sort of one of those things that you never knew you wanted until it was thrust into your face and then all you wanted was to feast upon its wonder and splendor.  Or, you know, something that sounds a little less weird.
Grand Theft Auto IV's online portion was entertaining in its own right - giving you the ability to free roam the entirety of Liberty City with your buddies doing whatever the hell you pleased, but its short-coming was that there was....not that much to -do-.  There were multi-player modes you could join, sure, things that were specifically there to foster a multi-player mentality, but if you wanted to just faff about, then that's all you -could- do.  Have little impromptu drag races that aren't scored except with your collective imaginations.  See who can launch themselves the furthest from a motorcycle thanks to the wonderful physics engine.  Things that, while entertaining, were things that you had to figure on yourself.  That is where Grand Theft Auto Online's MP sounds as if it's going to shine, and where the MMO portion of it comes into play in practice.

Quests Missions that you can take with a crew of others, possibly -against- other crews, dynamic mini-missions like being able to properly knock over small stores (which I think I only did in Vice City, but I imagine you could do it in San Andreas and -maybe- IV as well?  Probably not) and take on other such activities has a wealth of potential.  It lends some legitimacy and depth to the experience overall when there's something to work towards (getting money and property) and having easy and fun avenues towards that (mini-jobs like robbery and proper missions), and that would be fine on its own.  Add to that the 'experience' of GTA with the little vignettes of characters (actual fleshed-out ones) telling you where to go and why, giving you back-story on the situation, and it's truly going to be something to look out for.  Hell, it might even be something fun to much around with on your -own- if it's as involved and dynamic as it seems (which might be how I deal with it regardless, what with the crap internet and all)

The only 'hitch' involved with GTAO is the fact that it's not actually going to launch alongside Grand Theft Auto V, despite being something that you can technically access from the disk, presumably.  Which I'm hoping does not mean (yet thinking that it does mean) that the game will be available as a download after-the-fact that's not even included in the game's hefty mandatory installation (8 gigs!) for both PS3 and 360.  I'm hoping that that installation is, of course, putting aside a lot of room -for- GTAO, in which you'll only have to download the 'access key' once it goes live on October 1st and updates/patches thereafter, but I'm wary and I'll reserve the right to wonder until we get a little clarification on that.  Regardless, so long as GTAV and GTAO combined don't take up an absurd amount of Hard Drive space, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, and from what I've seen here, it'll be worth it and any hassle that it might bring.

oh man, I just want to be the wheelman for a bunch of thefts, that would be so awesome

Suddenly, I Want a New Bully Game

A few days ago, Take-Two took out a trademark for "Bully" which you might remember as a Rockstar-developed Playstation 2 game that saw a few ports thereafter.  Being a Rockstar title, it was a sandbox action title in the vein of Grand Theft Auto, but scaled down quite a bit in terms of language and violence considering the characters were more or less kids.  Of course it didn't -lack- violence completely, which is something that a lot of groups at the time came out in arms about, though ultimately it didn't lead to much I don't think.  The trademark casts a rather wide net for use, so the obvious line of thought for the internet is that it's an indication of a sequel.  At the mention of that, I thought about it for only a brief moment before deciding that yes, that would indeed please me.

The interesting thing about Bully is that it is pretty much a game that had to be very, very careful with what it contained, given that it was doing something that most developers wouldn't even dare try to touch.  It was giving us characters that were kids doing things we don't want to believe kids do:  Fighting, cursing, scheming, bullying, vandalizing and just generally being bad.  It was all mostly parody, of course and despite the name of the game, the character you play wasn't really much of a bully, in that yeah, you could do some jerk-ish things to other kids, but the actual bullying generally had to do with the story and, more often than not, our main character was set out against it.  Still, despite the parody aspect of it, it was surprisingly candid in the story aspect of it while also striking a rather nice balance of funny and serious.  At least, some people thought so, since it won some awards for its script, and being a Rockstar game meant that it was...well, a good game, that's for sure.

A sequel to the game is tantalizing because Bully was a good game by its own merits and Rockstar has upped their game several notches on the whole Sandbox front, so a sequel in the same hands as the original could be fantastic.  If there was anything I didn't like about the original Bully, it was that, for as large as the surrounding area around Bullworth was, it felt by-and-large empty which is something that wasn't exclusive to that single Rockstar game since they were still in the process of refining the techniques of it.  While I understand we are talking about different branches of Rockstar here, I can't imagine that things are not shared between them all, so the vibrancy that we've seen in recent releases would likely be present in whatever setting a Bully 2 would have.  The end result will likely be something that makes a go-kart an excellent reward, given how fast and easily it'll let you get around and explore, rather than just being something fairly neat to drive around places fast and...go...back to school when you're done.

Unfortunately, I am wary about thinking of another Bully game getting made in today's world, given the renewed vigor people were using in going after video games not too long ago.  Schools and video games are even more touchy than they were back when Bully came out the first time and not without merit, even if, as stated, Bully was not bad nor dangerous in any way.  By all accounts, it was extremely tame and restrained for a Rockstar game, even with the different team working on it.  Still, perception and reality are often far too far apart, and I do worry what would actually come out of a Bully sequel as much as I want one made on the merits of the original.  That's partially why I'm wondering if this just isn't a preface to porting the game again somewhere else (like the iOS/tablet audience) or simply just....registering the trademark so nobody else can have it.  The coming months will let us know -something-, I'm sure, but regardless what comes of it, if it just reminds everyone what a good game Bully actually was, well, that ain't a bad outcome at all.

yes, I know there were things to do in Bullworth's vicinity but they were kind of boring things so they don't count

Okay, I'm Suddenly Hyped for Grand Theft Auto V

I'm not going to say that before tonight I wasn't looking forward to Grand Theft Auto V, but I can say with certainty that before tonight, I was not exactly excited for the game.  That has been remedied with the latest video straight from Rockstar, showing some gameplay of the game while also explaining many of its new features and the like.  In all honesty, I only saw it because of Chance's post that included it, so credit where it's due, but I'm very glad that I decided to watch it after finding myself completely without something to write about tonight.  News doesn't like to happen when I'm content playing games that I've already brought up on this blog and talked about at length, it seems, which is something of a problem, but that's neither here nor there, because this is just all about GTA V.

It's hard to even pick where to start because it's all just...so good.  It's all just visual confirmation of things we've already known about the game for some time, but that confirmation and seeing it in gameplay (relax, Rockstar, looking at the video, we don't have any doubt that it was made using in-game footage) is just...better than it was on paper, really.  It's just something wholly different than reading that it's going to do this thing and it's going to be awesome even if you can see it in your head, versus actually seeing it and being able to really deem it awesome for yourself.  Though it's true - everything that I read about and felt a little skepticism about has been shown off in the video and put my fears more or less to rest about it, even if it sort of just worked out like I expected.

I guess I should start with the obvious before anything else, though.  The game certainly looks like a Grand Theft Auto game, which sort of seems to have its own....style, now.  They're flashy enough without trying for a photo-realistic look and shiny enough while still reminding you that it's a video game, and not a video game trying to look like real life.  That suits GTA quite well, I should say, especially with all the scandals it finds itself in - hard to say, but I imagine there'd be far more fuel on the fire if it looked as good as, say, The Last of Us.  But that would require some wizardry that Rockstar generally places elsewhere.  I'm not...sure where that is, because it's certainly not animations either, but that doesn't matter.  Maybe it's just in the amount of fun you can have not doing anything impactful, since good lord, GTA games offer quite an experience outside of missions that some other open-world games just can't.

Anyway, I can't think of a way to actually just....write about the game, so I'll just sort of list things off that make me giddy with glee:

• Character switching seems easy and quick, not to mention serving a purpose in the overall game
• The game world looks -huge-
• I'm not sure I'm going to -want- to drop in to a character running from a 5-star wanted level, but man....that you can is pretty cool
• Customization in both Cars and weapons is rather encouraging
• Lots of character clothing options is a plus for the crazy person in me who likes playing dress-up
• Diving could be cool.
• Hunting!  Seems to be the thing to add in games these days.
• Humor!  From characters!
• Is that a fucking weapon wheel?  Oh my god it was a weapon wheel
• So I've seen golfing, bike riding, swimming, tennis, parachuting...there isn't going to be a lack of things to do
• Please tell me destructible environments is a thing, don't tease me with that tow truck
• Customized approaches to missions?  Mmmmm
• Stock market?  Hmm.
• Yessss, property purchasing, please make them places we can go in and such (I think it's a given that you can, though)
• Grand Theft Online....looks like there's actually a bunch of people in it.  Interesting!

There's a -lot- in that five minute video and I urge you to watch it if you haven't already.  It sent me from 0 to 60 on the hype meter, and I'm certainly going to make sure I have a pre-order on it next time I'm in GameStop because of this.  I sure didn't see that coming.

I literally went "Eeeee!" the first time I saw the weapon wheel, thank god

Grand Theft Auto V is Going to Be Huge

When I say that GTA V is going to be huge, understand that I'm not stating the obvious in that it's going to sell all sorts of copies and such.  What I'm saying is that the game is going to be huge if Rockstar isn't feeding us a line of bullshit which, of all the bits of information that've been put out by GameInformer, I think is the most interesting.  And there's a whole lot of information that's been put out there, most of which I'm using ComputerAndVideoGames to go off of today.  I mean, it's pretty much out there -everywhere- as even like friggin' Forbes is reporting it according to some googling, but CAVG seems to come up a lot or maybe I'm just imagining that, so I'm checking them out for a few things and might end up sourcing from them more often in the future depending.  Regardless, the rather long list of bullet points they've got about GTA V information is tantalizing and does quite a good job of selling it to me which I had previously thought was going to be a bit of a rough job.

The hugeness of the game lies in something that has been laid out flat as almost a challenge for us to anticipate in these months before the game will be available for purchase.  The actual map, the world of Los Santos, in GTA V will be 'bigger than San Andreas, GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption combined'.  That is a very, very tall statement, and I think that's aided by the fact that the ocean floor and mountain ranges will be fully explorable, meaning that every inch of territory within its borders (sans building interiors of course) is accessible through some means.  Not quite sure if that means you can scuba/deep-sea dive or if there's going to be submarines, but the ocean floor is 'fully detailed and can be explored' so take that for what you will.  As someone who thought San Andreas' map was huge, but completely underdeveloped, I am a little wary of course, because a map that takes you an actual hour to traverse one side to the other doesn't automatically make it good it there's nothing interesting in 80% of it because it's being big for the sake of it.

Still, 'scope' seems to be the name of the game here so I'm a little optimistic in assuming that it will be a fairly fleshed out map in its own right.  I say scope because not only is the map huge in scope, but so is the basic premise, the basic mechanic of the game, which is certainly a big departure for the series as a whole.  In GTA V, there will not be one protagonist, but three, all of whom are fully-realized and independent characters in their own right.  Michael, the character most figured was 'the' main character from the trailer, is a man in his 40s who is currently in the witness protection program after getting out of the business in the East Coast.  Now retired on the West Coast, he's stuck with a family that he hates (who hate him too) that is all too willing to spend all the money he made in his former life, leading him to need a new source of income and fast.  Easy come, easy go seems to be how he gets back into the game.

He's joined by the other two protagonists, Trevor and Franklin, who both have their own goals, motivations and backstories that are quite different.  Trevor is another man in his 40s, but where Michael exudes a confidence, perhaps even a bit of class, Trevor lacks that entirely.  He's grown up committing crimes and it's his main source of income.  Income which ends up funding vices - drinking and drugs, mostly - making him the 'seedy' member of the team, as well as the one that's the biggest liability.  Unlike those two, however, Franklin is a 20-something street hustler who's looking to move up into the big leagues.  I'm not quite sure myself just how these three get together to start up a little 'crew' as it were, but as the main characters, you can control any of them at just about any time through means of a quick-swap.  On missions where all three members have a separate job, you can hop into the role of any one of them (and switch part-way through if you so desire) to carry out their task, be it sniper, driver, air support or anything else under the sun.

Not only that, but apparently when you are not controlling two of the characters, they are off doing their own thing, and it is possible that, should you switch to them, you will find them directly in the middle of something, though what that is is unclear.  Doubtful that they take on 'missions', even side ones, on their own volition, but perhaps beating up pedestrians if you jump into the shoes of Trevor or hitting up some hot spots as Franklin.  Regardless of whatever they're into, you take control as soon as they come up from the Google Earth-style swap menu, so they do whatever you desire then on, but it's still interesting to consider leaving Trevor outside of an upscale neighborhood and taking control of him again to find that he's in a dumpy area of town scoring crack money or something of that sort.  Maybe even hopping into Michael's character as he's playing a round of golf to calm the nerves.  The possibilities are astounding, though I'm sure in practice they will be a lot less mind-blowing.

Ambition is the clear name of the game here, and even though it initially will not please everyone for the exact reasons we feared, if it succeeds in half the things it attempts, it'll be successful and quite so at that.  Not being able to buy property (which is slightly understandable, given the three different characters with three different lives thing) is a small price to pay for something a little different and a little more organic in the game, if just to see how it ends up playing out.  And so long as everyone's buddies aren't hitting you up every ten minutes or so to go shoot pool or look at 'giant american titties', I think we'll be juuuust fine.  After all, this stuff, this is all just the tip of the iceberg.  I'm honestly far more invested in the game than I thought I would be on concept alone, as, hey, I have dug multiple-protagonist games in the past and, done right, I'm sure this will offer something quite interesting with that type of scenario.  Even if the melee system isn't going to be focused on and just 'improved' some.  Because I'll always have Sleeping Dogs for that.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Coming Spring 2013

With every genre out there, there's generally one game or series that can more or less encapsulate what we all consider that genre to 'be' or at least used to be in some cases.  Basically the stand-out series that has steeped itself in the tenets of what that genre -is-, that we tend to associate it with the genre and vice-versa.  For First-Person Shooters it's (currently) Call of Duty (formerly Halo, formerly Doom, etc. etc.), for Role-Playing Games it's somewhat still Final Fantasy though pretty much by default, and for the Sandbox Game Genre, it's basically Grand Theft Auto.  There's competition, surely, but Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas basically cemented its place as the fore-runner of the genre with nothing else really coming along to seriously challenge the throne.  Saint's Row has come perilously close, thanks to its insistence on sticking to out-of-the-box shenanigans and parodies where Grand Theft Auto 4 strayed off course, earning it some ire, but it never quite made it, and it's hard to say that it -will-, with 3 being a mixed bag and no 4 in sight.

Being the fore-runner of the genre means that whenever a new installment is heading out to the masses, it's kind of a big deal because folks get excited for that thing.  I might count myself among those excited for the announcement of a release window for GTAV, but I'm not quite sure just yet, based on how IV did end up.  The funny thing is that I like IV, and I even have a few stories from it (one from the Multi-Player portion of the game if you can believe that) but it's not a game that can hold your heart or your vigor for long, especially when others come along that do what it does and better.  And it's because of those games that I just have to wonder how V is going to compare, as it's not a matter of simply being uncontested in everything it does.  It's going to come up short in some areas when based against other Sandbox games, simply because it cannot do everything, and it's mostly a matter of how forgivable those short-comings will be.  It'll likely be a matter of how well it does what it does well, really, and that's just something we'll have to see.

As for myself, and this comes as no shocker I'm sure, I'm sure I'll end up basing GTAV against Sleeping Dogs, because I really really like Sleeping Dogs, and it certainly has some interesting takes on the 'formula' that GTA games tend to follow as a basic principle, as well as unquestionably being leaps and bounds above it in quality for some areas.  The melee combat for sure, and I'd argue that it simply covers all close combat things (meaning I'm counting melee weapons as well) better, where the actual gunplay is down to opinion.  (I prefer SD, of course for the slow-mo, but I'm willing to step back and say it's not perfect since it's not a 'focus' as it were)  I'd even venture to say that some of the things it does with driving, namely the action hi-jacks and the ramming are miles ahead of anything GTA IV or even previous games in the series, could hope to meet, and it's not something I look for V to implement.

Depending on what your opinion of IV was, V either has a little or a lot of room for improvement, and I certainly cannot see a future in which people lament that "X was better in IV", so all that remains to be seen is just how -much- of a leap in quality V is over IV.  Going back to the familiar haunt of Southern California (though not necessarily to San Andreas, Los Venturas or San Fierro) is a start in the right direction, but a tricky one as well, as that means it's going to get a lot of allusions drawn to GTA:  San Andreas, which some consider to be the best game in the series.  If you don't manage to fit in that amount of stuff that SA had, you're gonna get complaints probably even moreso than IV which is a troubling thought for sure, and based on IV's rather sparse (in comparison) landscape of things, that's going to be a challenge.  Buying property's basically a sticking point if you ask -any- GTA fan, so I would certainly hope that Rockstar is smart enough to include that, and in a way that's satisfying.  It'll need an overall economic re-shift for the mechanics, of course, since you're likely going to be making money off these properties, thus you'll need things to buy with said money and in consideration of how much you're likely going to get around a certain point in the game, but that's for forward-thinkers and balancers to worry about; just get it in the game and we'll be happy.

That's honestly really all I'm expecting out of GTAV in all honesty.  I know it's going to be a cinematic game, bordering on 'experience', and I'm sure Rockstar is planning on sneaking a little more parody into this one than the last, but other than that, it's really kind of a blank slate.  And that, more than anything, I think, is really exciting, since we've seen what they can do with the tools they have.  To see what returns from IV, what -doesn't- return from IV like the man-dates and to see what just comes in 'new' (like property ownership, and if I'm wishing, then customization) and to see what level of polish it all has is what's going to really have me looking forward to it, more than anything else.  Say what you will about the mechanics of any game they release - the recent ones generally have a level of polish on them that a lot of other studios really can't afford to have, and that goes quite a long way on its own.

Max Payne 3's "Cheater Pool" is Brilliant

If you've been following Max Payne 3 news at all, which I assume the bulk of us have been, then you may just have heard about the "Cheater Pool" before now.  I had read about it when it was but a mere suggestion, and chose not to bring it up because I figured it would never see the light of day.  I mean, it's an entirely smart and actually kind of hilarious idea, thus it's chances of existing for real are quite low.  Against all odds, however, it is live and absolutely glorious because of this fact.  As a validation of this type of thought, I imagine we could see it permeating into other games in a similar fashion, so I think it would behoove us all to keep an eye out on just how this one plays out.  Or....maybe the next iteration of it, since I imagine the next iteration (in a new game) will likely not wait a month and a half or so to come out as a way to relegate the players, since cheaters are likely going to get in early and get gone quick.

If you don't know what the Cheater Pool is and don't want to click either of the provided links, let me assure you that it is of a design that is quite brilliant.  One of the scourges of playing online is, from the mouths of just about anyone who -has- played a game online, running into folks who have this and that set up to help them cheat wins and kills.  Cheaters reliably suck all of the fun out of a game for the simple fact that they are generally insurmountable.  You might take to them as a challenge at first, someone to be taken care of specially, to be flanked or otherwise out-strategized, but it rarely ever works like that.  Eventually, it takes all of the verve out of the majority of us, as we simply find ourselves this cheaters second, third, fifteenth kill in a match.  So what does the Cheater Pool do that is so brilliant?  That it might make the days of cheaters destroying your fun draw fewer and fewer in between?

It pits Cheaters against other Cheaters, well outside of the bounds of the rest of us common, decent folks.  Players who are found out to be using modded or hacked game saves or any other sort of cheating device are quarantined from the normal matches and lobbies to the special ones reserved purely for their ilk.  Within the Cheater Pool, Cheaters are the only ones there, and there they remain until it is clear that they want to play on the straight and narrow again, presumably by means of simply re-downloading the game and not dicking around with the tools and programs out there.  At least, that's how it starts, but the actual way to get yourself a ticket outside of the Cheater Pool is a bit more nebulous, and for good reason I assume.  Rumor has it that the way to earn your way back into good graces is by playing (win or lose) 100 matches within the Cheater Pool unassisted with mods, hacks or other such nonsense.  Of course, that's just for the first offense.  If you get your way out and muck it up again, you can look forward to playing against other Cheaters for the duration of the games multi-player lifespan, barring special circumstances, I should assume.

Of course, the worry of such a system is "What if I get caught in it, because I never cheat?"  First off, if you never cheat, you wouldn't be worried about that.  So don't worry about that.  Stop worrying about that, you're ruining everything great.  Well, there is a support page where you can email the Cheater Pool team to have your case investigated, but by all rights, if you're in the Cheater Pool, it's because you were cheating.  Apparently every person relegated to the Pool is manually checked over, as in not automated, and only when it's absolutely clear that the player is cheating are they kicked out of respectable society, so to speak.  If anything, that's probably a flaw in the entire system, since it likely means that it won't be all that streamlined or quick, but I imagine it will succeed in its goals.  The human touch to it is probably the double-edged sword in all of it, for the reasons I spoke of already, but anything to thin the numbers at least a little bit.

I think it's pretty obvious as to why I find the idea both wonderful and hilarious, so much so that I don't need to elaborate on it much further.  It's simply a system that, if it works properly, cleans up the riff-raff more or less who detract from the overall online experience while then pitting them against one another to ensure that they get a taste of their own medicine.  Yeah, your aimbot is so cool that everyone else has it too!  I have to wonder, however, how one -knows- if they're in the Cheater Pool.  Does it say that in the lobby?  Does it give an indication next to your tag or something?  Or is it just when you receive crushing defeat or at least mild difficulty in the wake of your tools that you realize "Oh, I am not alone"?  I can't find anything specific, but at the same time I suppose I don't care so much.  So long as it works and we don't see anyone shouting from the rooftops that they were 'so unfairly relegated' to it and cause a big to-do.  I imagine that there's a fail-safe in place that can be produced quickly in such a case, but we'll just have to see.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Officially Announced

Let's all put on our best surprised faces.  Really, I'll wait.  No, I'm kidding, I'm not going to wait, because this isn't a surprise at all.  Timing-wise, perhaps a bit, but we all knew GTA V was going to be a thing eventually and it more or less was just up to Rockstar on when to begin the hype engine.  And now it has begun and I'm sure we're all awaiting with at least the slightest bit of optimism, no matter what your opinion on Grand Theft Auto IV was.  Personally, I squeezed a lot of enjoyment out of it, playing through the story twice (once right after launch, the next post trophy-patch to, well, get the trophies) and while I understood the criticisms, they personally didn't hold a lot of weight with me personally, so I, obviously, can't fault the game them.

Of course, I did end up, as most people did, feeling that there was at least a little lacking from the game on a fundamental level, which didn't improve with The Lost and Damned at least.  (If you'll remember, The Ballad of Gay Tony has been tossed onto my ever-growing "To Play" pile where it will languish for a while, I'm sure.)  Not having played Red Dead Redemption or L.A. Noire (only included because I'm not sure how big a role Rockstar played in sending the game out) I can't be confident one way or another that they've learned their lesson or not, so I can only hope that, come release of GTAV, that lacking feeling has been dealt with.  The few details that have been tossed around as 'rumors' are fairly inspiring, however.

Apparently, the game is set to take place in Los Santos, the Rockstar version of Los Angeles, previously seen in Grand Theft Auto:  San Andreas.  This is a pretty ballsy move on Rockstar's part, as setting this game, directly after the eventual mixed reception of IV, in roughly the same area as the 'best' GTA game will draw a lot of parallels, and a lot of them are going to be very, very direct and near-unforgiving.  I'm hoping this is a calculated risk, rather than, er...for lack of better term, arrogance on Rockstar's part as this game is going to be released under the gun, and I think we all would like to see as few reasons for everyone to latch onto and complain about as possible.  Since, well, I think we would all like an 'undeniably good' GTA game again, much like, well, every non-GTA IV game, apparently.

Obviously, the architecture of Los Santos is going to be very different, as was Liberty City before it, which will likely be for the better.  Should they decide to go with as big a map as San Andreas had, I would personally hope that a lot of the rolling wastelands would be less, er....empty and generally useless to explore, aside from looking for Sasquatch who was always faked.  Granted, there was a -lot- out in the deserts, but then again, there was always more desert that was nowhere near as interesting or useful.  Perhaps in Multi-player such an area would be more desirable, I'll concede and it's obvious that GTAV is going to have Multi-player, so I guess we'll just see.  Whatever we end up with for the map will likely not match any preconceived notions we have about it so arguing what would be good/bad for it is a bit moot at this point.

Also mentioned in the article linked above, is the possibility of multiple main characters in GTAV.  Whether this means in a style mimicking...er....another Rockstar game (Yes, I know it happens, yes, I'm angry it was spoiled for me) or something more like....well, Yakuza 4 (run through each story, eventually able to switch them out), or a self-contained layout like GTA IV and its DLC packs, it should actually be a fairly refreshing change of pace for the series.  This isn't even considering -who- the main character(s) will be, merely musing on how they'll be introduced/utilized.  While there's no actual news beyond "Hey, we're just announcing this game, trailer on November 2nd", there's certainly a lot to think about for the simple fact that Grand Theft Auto V is happening.

Remember what I said about the hype engine?  Wasn't kidding.