Vice City Celebrating 10th Anniversary With Mobile Release

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Vice City Celebrating 10th Anniversary With Mobile Release

The iOS and Android versions of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will feature "several enhancements."

It's time to take a trip back to the 1980s... or 2002, when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released. Originally launching on the PS2, it eventually made its way to the Xbox, PC, and Mac, and will soon be able to add a variety of mobile platforms to the list. To celebrate Vice City's tenth anniversary, Rockstar is releasing it on iOS and Android platforms later this fall.

Details are scarce at the moment, and there wasn't a list of specific phones and tablets supported in Rockstar's announcement [http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121026005217/en/Rockstar-Games-Announces-10th-Anniversary-Grand-Theft]. Rockstar's Sam Houser called Vice City "one of the most iconic and vibrant settings ever realized in a game" and "a defining moment in the series," stating that the iOS and Android release will be "a stunning, updated version for phones and tablets."

The press release didn't specify what additions would be made to the tenth anniversary edition of Vice City, but did promise "native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements." Grand Theft Auto III also received an iOS and Android release for its tenth anniversary late last year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114575-GTA-III-Sticks-Up-Phones-Next-Week], so it's not surprising that Vice City would follow in its footsteps. What's really strange is that a game that seemed impossibly big just a decade ago can now fit on our phones.

Source: Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/26/3558078/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-ios-android-10th-anniversary]

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[fix-the-spade]

Oh God, ten years. I feel even older than usual now...

It does highlight how little gaming is moving forward now. Compare Vice City to a game from ten years previous or even GTA2 and the realm of what was possible kept moving in leaps and bounds. Now it seems that advancement has subsided in the pursuit of ever more polygons. That annoys me.

 

[smudgey]

Oh God, ten years. I feel even older than usual now...

It does highlight how little gaming is moving forward now. Compare Vice City to a game from ten years previous or even GTA2 and the realm of what was possible kept moving in leaps and bounds. Now it seems that advancement has subsided in the pursuit of ever more polygons. That annoys me.

True, in fact you could probably say the same about nearly all technology. Phones, TVs, cameras, computers, etc. Every generation just a small improvement on the previous one.

On topic: Hooray! Vice City was always my favourite GTA, i wasn't a fan of the more serious approach the series took afterwards.

 

[Milanezi]

Probably buying it but never playing it, just like I did with GTA III. I played both back at their time and loved them, but I can't feel the same anymore, the graphics are just too damn ugly, I know it's not all about graphics but they were simply awful, even back then I remember playing GTA because I enjoyed it, but never thought too much of the graphics, the gameplay was also horrible compared to what we have today. But still, I enjoyed those games, GTA III and Vice City started something, they laid the foundations of how sandbox games should be, and solidified the series in the market for good. So don't get me wrong, I love both games, I just feel that those mobile releases aren't exactly "right", if they polish and whatnot as they did with GTA III, than by all means, stop right now, because it looked bad played even worse, if you can't adapt it for iOS or whatever, than don't release it.

They COULD go with a remake, see someone just complained about "more polygons and all", not wrong but not right imo, fact is they SHOULD upgrade graphics, it makes things look better, be it for realism or just plain fun, but sure, they should also update gameplay, and that's not happening anywhere, they did it right with Gears of War, but then copycats are feeling fine just doing the same, the same goes for Call of Duty, God of War, and yeah GTA. Al those games are great, and I don't think it's right to complain about their core gameplay not really evolving and everyone focusing on their graphics, what angers me, is every other franchise copying them.
So just imagine a remake for GTA Vice City, ditch the weird polygons, and go for some twisted cell-shading (is that how you spell it?), in the style of the game's own "opening credits arts", I say that because cell-shading has a great plus to it: if it's well done it hardly looks outdated, and when it does, it remains looking good...

 

[Milanezi]

Oh God, ten years. I feel even older than usual now...

It does highlight how little gaming is moving forward now. Compare Vice City to a game from ten years previous or even GTA2 and the realm of what was possible kept moving in leaps and bounds. Now it seems that advancement has subsided in the pursuit of ever more polygons. That annoys me.

True, in fact you could probably say the same about nearly all technology. Phones, TVs, cameras, computers, etc. Every generation just a small improvement on the previous one.

On topic: Hooray! Vice City was always my favourite GTA, i wasn't a fan of the more serious approach the series took afterwards.

Funny thing, I only started to truly appreciate the game when it took the serious approach ahahaha... Still, I know what you (and most fans) feel, it was a BIG departure from the wacky crazy fun to the more realistic-but-still-sorta-nuts mood of GTA IV, in my opinion the old GTA feeling has been handed over to Saints Row (which I understand messed up in the third game, which I didn't play, by taking everything way too extreme)...

 

[Nimcha]

Awesome, I've been playing GTA III on my phone a lot lately. Every time I have to wait for something

 

[maddog015]

It'd better be Xperia Play optimized just like GTA3 was. I love my phone.

 

[Stryc9]

I might have to get this, Vice City is my favorite GTA game of the entire series. I just hope that one of the "enhancements" they're planning to make is to cut out that fucking RC helicopter mission, that was just bullshit and serves no purpose other than to drive the player insane. Everything else about Vice City was just about perfect though.

 

[Carrots_macduff]

i got gta 3 for my iphone and it was actually surprisingly playable with touch screen controls, and isn't it only 3$? if vice city is the same price i would totally buy that. if i could use a controller id probably pay 10

 

[Rad Party God]

Vice City still is my favorite GTA of all time, now, come on and feel the noise.