I’ve spoken to two different friends about the Grand Theft Auto V trailer, and we were all in agreement that none of us had planned to be excited about the game, shrugging it off as more GTA when Rockstar unveiled the logo last week. Then the trailer hit, and we admitted that we all dissolved into quivering puddles of excitement. Holy mother of chocolate milk it looks amazing!

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s two posts down. Alternatively, if you’re extra lazy, you can just hit this button word here. Since the trailer launched yesterday at 18:00 our time, Rockstar has been keeping quiet, until now.

They have since confirmed that the game is set in the city of Los Santos and its “surrounding hills, countryside and beaches”.  Of course, this was all visible in the trailer. What they have not confirmed is whether this game will have the same scope as San Andreas.

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The odds of you not having seen this by now are slim, unless you actually have a life outside of gaming and you were doing something last night with, you know, real people. Incidentally, I was sitting poised on Rockstar’s website, watching the last few seconds of the countdown clock tick away so I could hit the play button as soon as possible. You can guess which category I fall into!

So we’re heading back to Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto V. That’s a great thing, right? The trailer doesn’t show us who our playable character is, or if it does, then it doesn’t point him out. Rumour has it this GTA game will allow us to play as multiple characters.

You can get the vibe that Rockstar is aiming for in this fifth instalment. There are a lot of signs of poverty in the trailer which indicates this could be drawing on the recent recession and America’s current economic state. There is a bunch of other cool things to notice like fighter jets, mountain forests and even a dog right at the start. If that’s not just a cutscene, then PETA is going to LOVE this game!

Not so long ago, and in honour of the game’s tenth anniversary, Rockstar announced that Grand Theft Auto III had been ported to iOS and Android devices. There are far more Android devices capable of running the game at present, but Rockstar hasn’t ruled out bringing the game to further mobile platforms in the future. The iPhone 4S and iPad 2 are the only currently listed iOS platforms for GTA III.

Of course, when Rockstar mentions GTA III, it’s a scientifically proven fact that every single gamer on the planet immediately thinks Vice City and San Andreas. This time is no different, because no sooner had Rockstar announced a portable port of GTA III, people started speculating and requesting the same treatment for Vice City and San Andreas.

Good news then that Rockstar has said that it’s entirely possible.

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Man, this is getting old. I’m just going to start writing a billion of these “GTA made me do it” articles to keep on hand. I’ll write about GTA style rampages in different settings involving different people (ex-cops, school kids etc) and then, when they actually happen in real life, I’ll have the news article ready to go. It’ll be like journalism’s answer to Minority Report.

In this latest real-life GTA rampage, twenty-three year old Ryan Donovan used a SA80 assault rifle against his fellow officers onboard a (wait for it) submarine. He shot and killed Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux at point-blank range. He also shot and wounded another Lieutenant Commander. He was eventually tackled and subdued by two members of a group that was being given a tour of the docked submarine.

Donovan had reportedly been drinking heavily the night before his shooting spree. He had told friends that he was about to commit a “Grand Theft Auto style massacre” prior to his violent actions.

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In case you were unaware, London (that place where about 90% of South Africans go to live before realising that their home country is actually pretty awesome) is experiencing some civil unrest. On the 6^th and 7^th of August, mobs of people began rioting and looting in various suburbs of London following the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old civilian by the Metropolitan Police Services.

Now, because the non-gaming media seem to be incapable of resisting things like this, newspapers in London are blaming the riots and violence on Grand Theft Auto. I know right, who’d have guessed?

According to a front page banner headline in the London Evening Standard, “children as young as ten, inspired by videogame, among the looters”. The article then elaborates and says: “Children aged between 10 and 14, said to have been inspired by video game Grand Theft Auto, were seen rampaging through Enfield and Brixton as riots and looting also spread to Dalston and Fulham.” Who exactly said that, however, is never referenced, but MCV claims that the link was made by a police officer.

Source: MCV