7 Grand Theft Auto Facts You Didn't Know
Prototyped At Birth
Like many games, GTA was on its way to being a completely different game than we know it today. During its development, the first GTA was known as “Race’n’Chase”, a memorable name that would totally launch a franchise into blockbuster status. It was, at its core, a game of “cops and robbers” minus any of the fun. Playtesters were not very receptive to the game or its concept. The game would change after staff found a glitch where AI cops would pursue the player. With a new build of the game, Rockstar would implement this glitch into it, and the playtesters loved it! The rest is history from there.
The GTA V Trifecta
Top 10 Grand Theft Auto Facts
We all know the GTA V trio of Michael, Franklin, and Trevor. They’ve become about as memorable as CJ and Tommy Vercetti. But Rockstar had a skeleton already built for these three at the very beginning of development. Our three Los Santos residents are actually based on what Rockstar deems as the three types of GTA players. Michael is the player who wants to enjoy the smaller bits of the game, plays casually, and doesn’t take it too seriously. Franklin is the player who seeks to be the best, doing whatever it takes to complete the game and do everything there is to do. As for Trevor, well…care to guess the type of player he embodies? Yeah, the kind that just wants mindless violence. Hey, we all have our reasons for playing GTA.
A Lifetime of “Bad Press”
The 10 Weirdest Unlockables In Grand Theft Auto Games
Oh, don’t worry. If you know your video game history, you’ll know who we’ll be talking about very soon. For now, let’s focus more on GTA and controversy in general, or at least, the lack of any real controversy. See, there was a moment in time where the first GTA could have launched without ruffling any feathers. But that’s not how history unfolded. After hearing about the House of Lords, a legislative chamber for the UK, considering banning the game from sale in the UK, Rockstar rolled with the punch and chose to exploit the discussion for marketing. Rather than fight the system, they went and hired publicist Max Clifford to deliberately talk about the game’s supposed controversial nature. In other words, the public’s shock towards “Grand Theft Auto” was practically fabricated by its very creator.
The Hollywood Game
History of Grand Theft Auto: From the PS1 to Worldwide Phenomenon
It’s certainly no secret that “Grand Theft Auto” has featured celebrities throughout its games, most notably Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Tenpenny, the main antagonist of “GTA: San Andreas”. However, there have been several other famous actors, comedians, and musicians who appeared in the series, and we’re not just talking about those cameos of Ricky Gervais, Katt Williams, and Phil Collins. “Vice City” was graced with the presence of Gary Busey, Danny Trejo, Dennis Hopper, and even Burt Reynolds. “San Andreas”, on the other hand, would have appearances by James Woods, Ice-T, and Peter Fonda whereas “GTA III” would bring in the talent of crime film actors Robert Loggia, Michael Madsen, and Joe Pantoliano.
Tommy Liotta-Montana-Iannuzzi Vercetti
Speaking of celebrity roles, we intentionally left out Ray Liotta as his character deserves his own entry. Before playing “Vice City” protagonist Tommy Vercetti, Ray Liotta was famous for his role as Henry Hill, one of the main characters in Martin Scorsese’s crime film masterpiece, “Goodfellas”. Liotta’s character was actually part of the inspiration for Tommy, and the love for crime drama didn’t stop at Liotta. Many elements of Tommy’s story can be traced back to “Goodfellas”, legendary crime film “Scarface”, and even real life mafia associate Joseph Iannuzzi. It’s no wonder Tommy is regarded as one of the more layered and deep protagonists in the franchise.
Saving Hurts
Now, we’ve already spent a good chunk of the video discussing various bits about the 3D games, but for you youngsters out there, GTA used to be an entirely different game. By now, you’ve probably heard countless times about how the first two games were, more or less, top-down shooters, focused on chaining crimes together. However, this wasn’t the only feature that comes off abstract in retrospect. The save system used to be more harrowing to tolerate. Whereas the first game only gave you a certain number of continues before you hit a “Game Over”, the second game only allowed you to save if you went to the Jesus Saves church and paid fifty thousand dollars of your in-game cash. Saving came at an immense cost, and it’s a feature we do not miss.
The War With Jack Thompson
Top 10 BIGGEST Grand Theft Auto Controversies!
In case you aren’t familiar with the name “Jack Thompson”, all you really need to know is that he was a Florida-based attorney who became notorious for making frivolous lawsuits against rap music labels and artists as well as video game companies. Rockstar is very familiar with Mr. Thompson as the now-barred attorney spent years attempting to sue the company across multiple states. Thompson would use various crimes committed as an effort to prove that violence in video games would lead to violence in real life. Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, would soon grow irritated by Thompson’s actions and would sue the attorney for attempting to violate the company’s First Amendment rights. Despite the two parties reaching a settlement and Thompson agreeing to cease his behavior, Thompson has continued to bark about the alleged harm of GTA to government officials, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, and even Zelnick’s mother.
