GTASA being sold Monday (10/25) at 7pm in my local EB

[jztemple]

At my local EB Games (or EBX as some of them are now) in Viera, Florida, I was in today getting a game. On the counter was an ad for a GTASA Block Party on Oct 23 & 24. This seemed odd so I asked the clerk if GTASA was going to be in-store over the weekend. He said no, it wouldn't be on sale till Monday (the 25th). Odd, I said, the website says the game isn't shipping till the 25th. He said that they would have the game in on Monday and would begin selling them at 7pm local time to people who pre-ordered.

Anyone one else hear about this?

[Hetz]

Both the EB and Gamestop near me are going to be selling the game at 6PM on Monday.

[jztemple]

Both the EB and Gamestop near me are going to be selling the game at 6PM on Monday.

Yeah, one clerk at my store said "6pm" but the other immediately corrected him and said "it's now 7pm". Wonder how many of the zillions of pre-order customers will be standing in the store at 6pm!

[jersoc]

This is great news!

[Hetz]

Yes, it is!

BTW, it scored a 5/5 in the latest OPM. They say it is one of the best games ever made.

I can't wait for this game!

[Jeff]

I'm in Daytona (Port Orange, actually) and my EB today said "see ya Tuesday" as I left, referring to my SA pre-order, so no love for me.

[pr0ner]

I have you all beat!  My Gamestop told me 5 PM Monday.

But, they also said I should call first to make sure.  So it might wind up being later.

Mike

[jztemple]

Anyone ask how many people had pre-ordered at their individual store? I asked at one store in Orlando and was told 400! Imagine if even a quarter of those show up on Monday at 6pm!

[Hetz]

This game just sounds better and better...

"As I start writing this review, I have played San Andreas for 35 hours and nine minutes, and I have completed only 49.43 percent of the entire game....My sworn enemy is the Ballas gang. I've taken over three territoriews and lost one, and 158 enemy gang members have died over the course of the turf war...I've spent $160,000 on property, $32,411 on gambling, $11,400 on weapons, $1,675 on clothes, $1,505 on tattoos, $1,300 on haircuts, and just $2 on food. I've jumped out of a plane twice, and I've dated two different women, with limited success."
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"If you're expecting Vice City, only set in the 90's and with some RPG bits, you are wrong. If you believe they can't possibly push it as much as they have before, that it can't really be that good, you are wrong. San Andreas is shocking, not necessarily because of its typically contentious subject matter...but because of the sheer scale of the experience."
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"All that remains is to tackle the question we posed at the beginning of this review: Is it really the best game ever made? Quite possibly, yes. Some of you may not like it. Some of you might be quite cynical about the hype surrounding the game. I'm sure some of you will think that I'm being sensational and overstatin its quality, simply because we have the exclusive and we're obliged to do so. This is not the case. Before I played it, I was thinking that perhaps this story would be more interesting if we were able to say, "Grand Theft Auto loses its cool, San Andreas is actually crap," but the truth is it's spectacular -- it sets the bar so high that it leaves a lot of games in the dust."



BASE JUMPING
Learn to parachute at the flight school (it's like playing Pilotwings) and then grab a parachute pack and have some fun. Take a plane up over a city, land on top of a skyscraper, leap off the edge of it, and parachute down to the street.

IMPORT/EXPORT
Remember the car-smuggling business in Grand Theft Auto 2 on PS1? No? Go back and pick up a copy from the used bin in EB Games -- you'll probably find it for $5. You can relive the smuggling experience by purchasing a car dealership in San Fierro.

NOOKIE
Hooking up with the ladies is an important part of the game, and your sexiness will dictate how successful you are. The dates themselves are often very amusing, with romantically lit scenes of you wooing the ladies while cheesy music plays.

TRIATHLON
The game has running, swimming, and biking gameplay mechanics, so what better way to take advantage of them than to include a full-on triathlon for you to enter? You'll need to hit the gym and crank up those stamina stats if you want to win.


Not a ton of detail on the minigames...Among the ones they mention are dancing, gambling in the casinos, driving trains, robberies. Nothing that hasn't been mentioned before. But it also appears that there's so much in the game that they couldn't possibly cover it all, and the reviewer does say that "I've shot a basketball and scored from 114 feet," so not sure what else there is.


As far as multi-player, it talks about two-player rampage missions. There are on-foot rampage missions and vehicle rampages, where one player drives and the other shoots.

[Kevin Grey]

Hetz, is that quote from OPM?  

Sounds great but I'm a little disturbed that they didn't finish it.  While 35 hours is a lot, they haven't played even half the game and I prefer major publications to finish games prior to reviews (though I suspect that is often not the case for most long games).

[Jeff]

Still, that review makes me drool. The sheer magnitude of things you can do is staggering. This makes me very happy I just got one of the new PS2's. I would seriously hate to miss out on this.

Speaking of things you can do in SA, has anyone seen a comprised list of all the activities in the game? something like:

* fly a plane
* ride a bike
* go swimming
* break in a house
* get laid

etc...

[Hetz]

Hetz, is that quote from OPM?  

Sounds great but I'm a little disturbed that they didn't finish it.  While 35 hours is a lot, they haven't played even half the game and I prefer major publications to finish games prior to reviews (though I suspect that is often not the case for most long games).

Yes, it is from the OPM review.

I agree that they should try and finsih the games, but I think in certain cases (ie. Very long games like Morrowind or GTA: SA) it  just isn't practical.

Still, like Jeff Jones said, this review makes me want the game even more. It sounds amazing.

[Hetz]

Here is another "review" of the game from another forum...

I slept over my friend's house last night who got it from a "connection"...which we all know what that would be. He fell asleep around 11, and I got a good 5 hours in before I drove home.

*NOTE: I WILL NOT INCLUDE ANY SPOILERS BELOW. I AM JUST POSTING TO REASSURE ALL THE DOUBTERS.


When I first started, I hated it...it took a while to adjust to the new look of it all, but after 20 minutes I realized how tuned everything was. The cars no longer looked cartoony...no longer did the cops just chase me all the time and other drive-bys happened...going down hills in a heavy car made me pick up mass speed , and going up hills in a heavy car or with bad torque was actually tough. Everything that made the game somewhat fake, was tuned, but left with that GTA 'feel' to it. While on the highway, people passed eachother...people sped the same speed as me....and on top if it, they added a blur to it all to make it seem you were going fast. When I happened to cause a wreck on the street, not all the cars instantly stop...some don't see it and add to the collision with parts flying around. I saw a guy actually park his car at at house and get out...all these touches made it feel more real...like I wasn't in a computer controlled city where everyone did everything right.

Now, on to the story...up front, I will tell you I'm the whitest person around, not racist, but I really don't go well with the whole slang of things. Let me tell you, this is the best story I have played with in a game...it doesn't need aliens and plots against the world, just real situations that really happen...and it really connects you to the characters right from the start. The voice acting, while it does contain many F-bombs and n-words...is never forced. It's not to the point that the script is just saying those words just becuase...it all fits into the theme and setting perfectly.

The last thing, would be the missions...let me say, that once you get done with the initial missions, I haven't played a same 'type' of mission yet. I am really amazed at the innovative ways they have come up with to constantly give mission after mission that seems just 'right' without repeating. things. It always has a fresh feel...but not to the extent that it repeats everything, I am truly amazed.


This is the end of my praise, believe me if you want. I will not answer questions because I'm not here to spoil the game when it's coming out so soon. Let me say this, I wouldn't regret paying 99.99 for this game on tuesday, and I encourage all the doubters to pick this game and be amazed at the job R* has done.

Now let me get my tent ready for tuesday!

[Hetz]

Scans of the OPM review are up here:

http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00895.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00896.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00897.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00898.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00899.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00900.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00901.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00902.JPG
http://www.viado.org/gtasa-scan/DSC00903.JPG

*THEY ARE BACK UP NOW*

[Hetz]

Here is a quote about him not finishing the game to review it:

I have not beaten San Andreas yet. This is something you need to know before I proceed. You could beat the majority of games reviewed this month 2 or 3 times over in the 35 hours 9 minutes. San Andreas though is very different. It's a very big game. The term "big" doesn't really do it justice. It's huge, massive, colossal, stupendous and somewhat humbling in it's enormity.

 :shock:

I need this game now!

[Hetz]

I just got done reading the scans...wow! There are 4 different arcade games that you can play in the game at an arcade. One is a side scroller called Go Go Space Monkey another is a space shooter called Duality. There are two others as well: They Crawled From Uranus and Lets Get Ready to Bumble.

I love the verdict:

The game promises just about everything and somehow manages to deliver even more than you expected.

Roll on Monday! (I haven't said that in a LONG time!)

[Jeff]

From Gamespot:

Rockstar promises that GTA: San Andreas will include no discernible loading times whatsoever for when you're traveling around, so you'll theoretically be able to cruise cross-state without any interruptions. Brief loading times will only be present when entering and exiting all the different buildings in the game.

And I really liked this:

Carjacking 102

Any GTA player worth his or her Glock knows how to jack him- or herself a car. The mechanic for "borrowing" someone else's vehicle has been an easy-to-perform staple in all previous games in the GTA series. So, we're terribly sad to report that the days of wine and roses are over, friends. Whereas the previous GTA games pitted you against docile citizens who flatly refused to lock their doors, the times have changed in San Andreas. The locals will be quite a bit more savvy and aggro than the "car donors" you've dealt with before. From the sound of things, there won't be many pushovers in the game when you make moves for their cars this time around. The surly citizenry won't give up their wheels without a fight, which you just know isn't going to end well.

In the previous games, I always thought it was too easy to nab a car/bike.

[Kevin Grey]

Here is a quote about him not finishing the game to review it:

I have not beaten San Andreas yet. This is something you need to know before I proceed. You could beat the majority of games reviewed this month 2 or 3 times over in the 35 hours 9 minutes. San Andreas though is very different. It's a very big game. The term "big" doesn't really do it justice. It's huge, massive, colossal, stupendous and somewhat humbling in it's enormity.

 :shock:

I need this game now!

I'm happy they ackowledge up front they didn't finish it. Still, 35 hours isn't that much nor is double isn't out of the norm for a lot of RPGs.  Hell, Star Ocean 3 took me 75 hours to beat and there's still gobs of bonus content I left undone.

[obb]

The first GTA with multiplayer since GTA 2 and I have to wait for the PC release....
Still, it'll be worth it.  I hope the coop stays in and gets ported to at least LAN if not internet play.  I would've played Halo PC had it retained co-op.  Most of my gaming is co-op/competitive with my fiance and we LOVED GTA 2.
Anyways, this game looks awesomer and awesomer.  My jaw dropped when I saw the guy PARACHUTE OUT OF AN EXPLODING PLANE in that one trailer about as much as when I heard it was a STATE instead of 1 city with influences from each town.

Funny thing, this past summer I had a roadtrip that basically covered San Andreas.  We poked about in San Francisco (near my parent's house in Fremont) then drove down to L.A. and finally headed up to Las Vegas, stopping at the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon as well.

[Hetz]

Here is some new info!

First off, info on the Stats Screen:

Number of Police bribes
Number of cars stolen
Current number of girlfriends
Number of girls dated
Number of times scored with a girl
Number of girls dumped
Number of houses burgled
Number of safes cracked
Burgular status
Number of stolen items sold
Number of eight balls in pool
Total number of wins playing pool T
otal number of losses playing pool
Times visited the gym
Body type
Number of meals eaten
Money made in Quarry
Time taken to Complete Quarry
Number of furniture purchased
Favorite console game
Highest civilian peds killed on Rampage
Highest police peds killed on Rampage
Highest civilian vehicles destroyed on Rampage
Highest police vehicles destroyed on Rampage
Highest number of tanks destroyed on Rampage
Highest basketball score
Fires started
Amount of drugs sold
Amount of drugs bought
NRG-500 best time
Flying skill
Lung capacity
Game gore rating
Game sex rating
Cycling skill
Snapshots taken
Total snapshots
Luck Territories taken over
Territories lost
Territories held
Highest number of territories held
Gang members recruited
Enemy gang members killed
Friendly gang members killed
Horseshoes collected
Total horseshoes
Oysters collected
Total oysters
Calories
Playing time
Hidden Packages found
Least favorite gang
G ang members wasted
Criminals wasted
Weapon skill


Second, here is some more confirmed info:

- If you get fat, you can have a heart attack
- Once you have wooed a girl (a few dates) you can use her house for things. E.g one of the girls is a mechanic = you get free car mods and re-sprays, one is a cop, you can lose wanted stars with her help and one has a stash of weapons.
- In the casinoes, you can raise your level, eventually you can borrow up to $1 million to gamble with.
- You can get a pilots license for access to all airports.
- Jetpacks are confirmed, They are found in a mysterious lab (area 51?)
- You work for someone called "The Truth", here is an actual in game quote from a jetpack mission "The Truth wants you to gain entry to the Area 69 research lab and bring back to him the Black Project that is being developed inside"
- Wheel of fortune and blackjack are mini-games.

[Chaz]

Man, you guys suck.  Here I was, all set to not get this, and wait for the Xbox version, and now I'm thinking that I just might break down and get the PS2 version on Monday.  

Come on, is anyone else planning on holding out with me?  If you do, I'll give you a cat butt!   :idea:

[obb]

I'll hold out with you until PC version is out.  But you can keep the cat butt.  Give it to whoever you get to take my place after the PC version comes out.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I dunno...I think I'm gonna have to fold and pick this one up as soon as its out.  :/  My wallet stings....

[Mike T]

Some more goodies from the latest Gamespot update:

To give you a rough idea of what to expect as you play, CJ has many different moods that he articulates through over 4,200 comments. This number excludes the over 3,500 scripted comments and lines in the over two hours of motion-captured cut-scenes. That may seem like a bit much, but all those lines are needed to give CJ's personality its individuality.

You'll find over 300 different kinds of pedestrians in the game, with 60,000 different comments.

[Mike T]

Some more goodies from the latest Gamespot update:

To give you a rough idea of what to expect as you play, CJ has many different moods that he articulates through over 4,200 comments. This number excludes the over 3,500 scripted comments and lines in the over two hours of motion-captured cut-scenes. That may seem like a bit much, but all those lines are needed to give CJ's personality its individuality.

You'll find over 300 different kinds of pedestrians in the game, with 60,000 different comments.

[Doomboy]

I already pre-paid for it.  Hoping to get it Monday evening, so no cat butt for me!

How in the world did they fit all that stuff onto a DVD?  And how in the world did they make a PS2 able to play it without load times and slowdowns?

[O.DOGG]

I have it reserved at my local Gamestop. I hope they have it for me Monday evening.

[JuniorDan]

Both my EB and Gamestop crew told me monday at 7pm the gamestop at the mall I work at said they are all closing at 6pm and reopening at 7pm to sell the game. and they said be ready to wait in line.
this is at Fashion Square mall in Orlando Fl,
Now my EB at hunters creek in Orlando FL, next to my house did not mention closing for an hour but however said at seven they will release 50 games to those with the early pre-orders paid in full.
so if you pre-ordered this or last week you screwed tuesday for you.
My Gamestop did say it will only give to those that paid in full on monday at 7pm also. no new sales allowed. She was adviseing people to get it paid in full before 6pm.

You want to know how prep. I am for this game?
I am on Vacation solely for this game. 7day all dedicated to this game :twisted:

[jersoc]

Is it monday yet?

[JuniorDan]

Is it monday yet?

If waiting for monday wasn't bad enough.
how about most of monday damn I taught 7am to 10am took for ever or even lets say lunch time to 5pm home by 5:30 playing by 5:35.
noooooo 7pm and this is to wait in line have game by lets say 8pm
conseal game and scoop out the parking lot for suspecious people make move to car by 8:05 home by 8:10 70mph. playing game by 8:11
ignoring wifes bickering about playing violent game while the kids are up.
ground kid to their bedrooms until newness wears off.

What will I do from 7am-6pm?  if I aint sitting outside watching to see when the fed-x plane fly over for a landing I will be sleeping because it will be one long ass night till whenever I get hungry(run out of food) :twisted:

[jersoc]

good point. the wait on monday will be much worse.

[pr0ner]

You know, the guys at my store told me to just call at 5, and if they have it, walk in, show my "paid in full" receipt, get handed game, walk out of store.  No word of any lines or any of that nonsense.

Then again, maybe it's just because I've paid in full.  Is everyone else just doing the bare minimum deposit, or fully paid?

Mike

[Hetz]

New gameplay videos and pictures:

http://www.infect3d.us/~g0npsy/gta_exclusives/media.html

[Doomboy]

Jeez.  After having watched those videos, I am sure as hell hoping that my Prepay in the Silverdale Mall is one of the few, and I am allowed to have my copy of this game on Monday night.

I am ashamed to say that I was a little worried if I would enjoy playing a black gang-banger from the 90's, but after having watched those vids, I realized (happily, I might add) that I really don't care what color the character is.  I just want some new GTA action. I just love the series more and more, with each incarnation.

Damn you Hetz!  Getting me excited for something I may not get until god knows when!  Dangit!

Although, that bicycle riding mission doesn't look like it will be a whole lot of fun, if it is as difficult as it appears in the vid...

I do still wish they had gotten Samuel L. Jackson to play the main character.  It would have been awesome to play a Jules type character.  But, I guess I will get over it, and learn to love  the guy who plays the protagonist in this game.  Much the same way I learned to enjoy being the guy in Vice City, even though I would have loved to have the main character in that played by Don Johnson...

Anyway, back to your regulary scheduled GTA San Andreas I Hope I Get It Monday Festival...

[obb]

I was actually reading in a magazine how Rockstar wanted to use an unknown rather than a well-known actor for the main character so they didn't bring along so much baggage.

If Samuel L. Jackson was the main character, you wouldn't feel like you owned him or relate to him, you'd feel like you were Samuel L. Jackson kicking ass.  Now while that might not be a bad thing, that's not the direction Rockstar wants to take GTA.  They want you to connect with your character and not be painted into a corner like you are with movies now a days (Oh there's _________, I know his character will be strong and insensitive but cool)

It's kinda like how when casting Star Wars Lucas didn't want the big name actors and went for unknowns to allow the audience not to think of who these people were from other movies.

Besides, Jackson IS in the game.  You can hear him in Trailer 2 :-) From the sounds of it, you'll be butting heads with him some.

[Jeff]

Besides, Jackson IS in the game.  You can hear him in Trailer 2 :-) From the sounds of it, you'll be butting heads with him some.

 :shock:  Is there anything this game doesn't have?

[obb]

It does not have suckage.  Sorry.  Try True Crime for that  

No offense intended to True Crime fans, I just was looking for another game to point at that I didn't think many would take offense at.

[Jeff]

I called my local EB just now. No Monday love for me! The guy said the deal was that the big EB hubs would get it Monday. in FL, he said that meant 1 store from J'ville, Orlando, Miami and Tampa.

btw, JZ Temple, he said highly unlikely you'd get it Monday where you are (Melbourne?). So one of our EB dudes doesn't know the deal

Oh, and I thought of something else GTA:SA doesn't have... Orcs!

or does it?

[jztemple]

Oh, and I thought of something else GTA:SA doesn't have... Orcs!

or does it?

Wouldn't they be guarding the pseudo-Golden Gate bridge? Or is that trolls?

[jersoc]

Circuit City is advertising they will have the game before noon on tuesday. In case anyone didn't pre-order. Hetz, I notice you live in WI. Have you called EBs yet?