The games on show at E3 2011 are some of the best in living memory. So you really owe it to yourself to vote in CVG's inaugural E3 2011 Awards... in the Most Anticipated Title category.
Shortly before the show, we'll work out which of these 60 special E3 game previews have enjoyed the most page views, Facebook 'Likes', ReTweets and poll votes (see below) and crown our first victor at the Los Angeles event. Shower your favourites with online love!
Publisher: Rockstar
Likelihood of E3 2011 showing: Rumoured/Unconfirmed
Bin off Bohan, ignore Idlewood and let go of Liberty City: The more evidence leaks online, the more market trends emerge and the more industry tittle tattle we hear, the more we're convinced: Grand Theft Auto V will be set in real world Los Angeles.
The time is surely ripe for Rockstar to take its unique - and uniquely mesmerising - cocktail of violence, satire and societal mayhem out of the realm of fiction; to halt the homage and begin showing us just how ridiculous the real world has become.
And where better to unleash life-mirroring than the most self-parodying sun strip on earth?.
Rockstar has always been the one having the last laugh at the haters; the moralistic naysayers who'll gobble up MTV Smut, Beautify Your Kids and America's Most Wanted - yet kick back against an OTT game that stars an immigrant brutishly snatching his own chunk of the American Dream.
But one thing it's never been able to get away with is directly mirroring New York or L.A's mean streets. Shooting someone in an in-game Times Square/Rodeo Drive/Compton clearly has more real life repercussions than gunning someone down in Star Junction/Rodeo/Ganton.
Yet even since the release of GTA IV three years ago, the acceptance of video games borrowing from reality's landmarks - in the same way that movies have for decades - has blossomed. Games such as Resistance, The Darkness and Homefront have tested the waters by mixing annihilation and authenticity, and come away largely unscathed.
We're no longer talking about a tabloid target in Rockstar, either. We're talking about a lauded guest of Tribeca; and a darling of Newsnight Review and Mark Kermode. Even if the slop-haired genre-meandering critic doesn't know the meaning of a spoiler (see below).
The evidence is certainly building towards a reveal for GTA V anytime soon. The first signs of the game crept online in February via an actor's CV, and were quickly followed by some suspicious Rockstar-registered URLs.
These suggest that the developer has lost none of its ability to skew current affairs for it's own ends, with those profiteering from the global recession clearly in the crosshairs this time. (Stoppayingyourmortgage.com, anyone?). Social media's all-powerful grip on our lives will also be sent up, judging by the registration of Lifeinvader.com. When it comes to social commentary, Rockstar's teeth, it seems, are as sharp as ever.
Evidence from as far back as December suggest that the game is being codenamed 'Rush' and features characters including a "Welsh monk/cult leader/yoga teacher", a "weed evangelist", a "swinger" and - top of the pops - "an ugly but comfortable mellow Californian divorcee". Hmmm. 'Rush'. Which city immediately springs to mind when you hear that phrase?
Comments
20 comments so far...
cam123 on 1 Jun '11 said:
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE CVG???
THE NEW LAYOUT IS HORRIBLE!!!!!!
Barca Azul on 1 Jun '11 said:
The new layout is good, especially for my mobile, its quicker, but the should be Blue, not red.
Im still not convinced we will see GTA V at E3, Im guessing a teaser countdown to blow the net again.
I also wish they would leave the US for once.
TheExpendable on 1 Jun '11 said:
i dont know..they did LA in...obviously..LA NOIRE but still im sure if they did it it would be amazing but it just feels cliched and unoriginal in my opinion
mogel94 on 1 Jun '11 said:
Im hoping for any GTAIV news at E3, even if its an official confirmation that its being made.
Also, this new layout is pretty darn snazzy
dragonjim on 1 Jun '11 said:
I don't think GTA V is even in development
Shamanix on 1 Jun '11 said:
Nice new layout cvg!!!! Lets hope to see gta 5 soon!!!
WiffleBalls on 1 Jun '11 said:
What time is the spoiler in the video review?
WiffleBalls on 1 Jun '11 said:
And WTF happened to CVG! it's all growned up.
alan666 on 1 Jun '11 said:
that was a pretty good review of the game
newsinthefield on 1 Jun '11 said:
Please, CVG, banish the new layout to the darkest corner of the internet that your code monkeys can find. I liked the old layout, and I'm sorry to say that the new red colour theme reminds me of the websites of various 'red top' tabloid newspapers.
*shudders*
flash501 on 1 Jun '11 said:
I've just noticed that there's no option for the new Tomb Raider in the 3 "what are you looking forward to" boxes at the bottom of these E3 articles. What gives dood?
RandyChimp on 1 Jun '11 said:
Rockstar would be fools not to make a GTA5, it's a series that really hasn't dipped in quality, compared to other such game series, naming no names *cough* COD *cough* HALO *cough* oh, ahem, excuse me.
I'd buy it, that's for sure. However, no to the whole real world thing. The beauty of GTA is loading the game up for the first time and seeing what Rockstar have managed to create. If it's based in the real world, we lose that feeling, since we're familiar with it already to a certain extent. Logically, they should stick with made up places and draw inspiration from real places.
eastldn on 2 Jun '11 said:
THEY NEVER SHOW GTA'S AT E3 YOU MONGS
Mandatory Grape on 2 Jun '11 said:
Can't wait untill we see the first screens of GTA5, going to be great. Please rockstar put some sort of zombies mode in there with zombies running around the screens eating people while mowing them down on a fagio.
boxstar on 2 Jun '11 said:
these new HTML5 webpages all look the same, theres somthing fake looking about them.
EvilDog77 on 13 Jun '11 said:
I really hope that GTA V is NOT set in LA.
I'm bored s**tless with the place, what with LA Noire and Midnight Club recently added to my collection. It's such a boring layout too, like driving through a warehouse full of cubes as far as the eye can see.
Umuhut on 18 Jun '11 said:
OMFG Rockstar u c**ts. This is a total f**king disaster. The next GTA should have been set in a real life MIAMI! NOT f**king LOS ANGELES!! Miami would have been much, MUCH better. I think the next GTA game should definitely be set in a real life Miami, that rly tropical metropolitan city in Florida, the sunshine capital of the USA.
Umuhut on 18 Jun '11 said:
lol
richard99 on 18 Jun '11 said:
Well it wasn't at E3. I hope the rest of the article's wrong too to be honest. A realistic LA would be impressive but it doesn't sound like a lot of fun. I'd be surprised too since R* make a point of parodying cities rather than just recreating them.
My vote's for GTA Italy, ideally in the 60s (complete with the chance to recreate the Italian Job
) . GTA London would also be cool.
A return to San Andreas or a new take on Vice City would still be pretty amazing if Rockstar want to keep to the same cities though.
krazykunal85 on 18 Jul '11 said:
GTA LONDON? Have you played Getaway on PS2?
Also, Italian Job on PS2.
Lets try South America...