GTA4 or Why can't companies count?

[nmrahde]

Why is it that releases made before a franchise was popular are treated like the crazy uncle nobody admits they have?

GTA already had a 1 & 2 (They were top-down only affairs that didn't sell explosively). Then comes GTA 3 (which was called GTA 3) which is the first one a lot of people really bought. The fourth GTA game was Vice City, and San Andreas was the fifth.

Lucas Arts did something similar with Jedi Knight. The original was actually Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. Then there was Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. I wish there'd been a Jedi Outcast 2 so we could have a Dark Forces filetree...

It even happens in music, the only example I can think of right now is Slipknot's Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses which was actually their forth album I believe.

...and I'm not even going to touch the Final Fantasy series here.

[vrap]

It's silly to say Rockstar can't count, they made the games. It's almost entirely about branding, and by not numerating Vice City and San Andreas they clearly wanted to indicate that the two games were to considered as being in the same "chapter" or generation as GTA3 Liberty City. Not only did the games share the same engine (albeit improved with every successor) but they were very similar in basic design. By naming the next game GTA4 they give the impression that this is the next iteration and the next level in terms of the series' engine technology and design.

This applies with most other examples out there. There's always a reason behind a product name, though it may not be marketing admittedly, and if you have trouble telling things apart just because they don't have a number to differentiate them .... ;)

[nmrahde]

To the contrary I prefer sequels to have a separate name versus just a number. I've found that (usually) when the developers took the time to think up a new title for the next game in the series they usually take their time to do other things right as well.

I just don't like numbering releases based on public perception of which number in the series said release is. I understand the logic behind it as far as marketing and branding go - I just don't like it. :P

[jackinthebox]

i think they call it GTA IV because it is the fourth GTA settled in the present, while Vice City and San Andreas were a little in the past... it would be perfectly logical =)
btw: the trailer (http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/index2.html)is out...

[Silent Film]

Presumably it marks a re-development of the series, either a major overhaul of the engine or main game systems, or both, so the new number represents the next generation for the series.

Vice City and San Andreas were never really more than varying themes on GTA3, with a bit more polish and minor additional features. Naming them GTA 4&5 would've been a bit misleading.

[takymen]

hey...isn't this forum supose to be about Bioshock:confused:

[jackinthebox]

you are in the off-topic section... almost everything can be discussed in here (besides nonsense ;) )

[Rapture]

i think they call it GTA IV because it is the fourth GTA settled in the present, while Vice City and San Andreas were a little in the past... it would be perfectly logical =)
btw: the trailer (http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/index2.html)is out...

GTA2 was set in the future :P

GTA4 is also the third game set in Liberty City, as GTA2 was set in Anywhere City.

They only use numbers on the first of that generation. The GTA3 era was based on GTA1, which had all 3 of the cities in the game, and what Rockstar did was reimagine them as a singular and recreate them.

It can go anywhere with this next generation of games however, as they are unlikely to set anything on GTA2 as the game was generally viewed as their worst (GTA1 did exceptionally well in the UK) game.

So far Tokyo has been thrown around in the past, so maybe the second game of the 4th era will be set there.

/speculation

[Silent Film]

Liberty City was obviously a caricature of New York. I just saw the video and this time it clearly is New York proper so I assume GTA4 may be taking the series in a more realistic direction.

[Rapture]

Well, you say that, but there is the boat that has Liberty City strewn across the back of it, which is minor evidence, but then you have the Liberty Tree adverts on the street, which was featured as a promotional website for GTA3 and was the cover of the GTA3 manual.

It does look like NYC sure, but im not sure Rockstar are going to start setting it in real cities (ok, London was the exception). As for the more serious tone, check the adverts out all across the streets, the advert is also a parody of a fairly famous film (which i can't recall the name of right now) which could explain the serious tone of it, but the Getalife logo and other fun really shows us the game is sticking to the humor of the previous games.

[Hatesink]

Presumably it marks a re-development of the series, either a major overhaul of the engine or main game systems, or both, so the new number represents the next generation for the series.That's what I would have thought.

[gughunter]

It does look like NYC sure, but im not sure Rockstar are going to start setting it in real cities (ok, London was the exception).

In the GTA universe, Liberty City is NYC. In GTA1, the three cities were Liberty City (NYC), Vice City (Miami), and San Andreas (San Francisco). The confusion is just because GTA3's Liberty City didn't include many obvious references to NYC.

[Silent Film]

Well, you say that, but there is the boat that has Liberty City strewn across the back of it, which is minor evidence, but then you have the Liberty Tree adverts on the street, which was featured as a promotional website for GTA3 and was the cover of the GTA3 manual.

It does look like NYC sure, but im not sure Rockstar are going to start setting it in real cities (ok, London was the exception). As for the more serious tone, check the adverts out all across the streets, the advert is also a parody of a fairly famous film (which i can't recall the name of right now) which could explain the serious tone of it, but the Getalife logo and other fun really shows us the game is sticking to the humor of the previous games.

I'm not just basing this observation solely on the relation to NYC. The series has always featured cartoon-like visuals, and the art direction has changed to become more realistic. The tone of the music is also not typical of a GTA game and suggests something more serious. Now, I don't think GTA is suddenly going to become a 'serious' game, but I'm curious to know what these changes mean for the series.

[gughunter]

By naming the next game GTA4 they give the impression that this is the next iteration and the next level in terms of the series' engine technology and design.

Yep, I've seen this mentioned in past interviews with Rockstar folks.

[gughunter]

The tone of the music is also not typical of a GTA game and suggests something more serious.

It's possible, but then again, the original GTA3 trailer had classical music and didn't do much to hint at the humor:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WUi3davvBmM

IMHO, considering that humor has been a big part of the series since GTA1, I seriously doubt Rockstar will try to tone it down much, if at all.

[Silent Film]

In light of that they probably won't, but I have to wonder how well that will go down (at least for me) when the exaggerated nature of GTA doesn't match the visual/physical environment, as it did in the past.

[nmrahde]

While a lot of the individual missions were fun, for the most part GTA has not been able to tell a coherent story, IMO. I felt there were lots of areas I was left wondering "Why the hell did you do that?" at the main character.

Such as in 3 during the circumstances which get you kicked off the first island, and in San Andreas where you get criticized for not being true to the hood.

(Of course I'll buy it right away if they ever decide to make a PC version)

[Rapture]

Thats one thing im wondering too, so far we've heard all about the PS3 and Xbox360 having exclusive stuff and so on, but every GTA i have played has been on the PC, and i really hope that even if like before we have to wait a year, we can also have 4 on the PC.