[Mr. Mechanical]

I like that urban legend angle as well, Gorby.

Also new information: http://www.gtav.net/news/4521/gtav-online-previews-and-screenshots

Summary

Features
You can buy property; houses, garages, businesses and marinas can all be purchased for extra revenue sources.
You can pick up hitchikers, do stunt jumps and flying challenges, take part in yoga, golf, tennis, bike races and triathlons.
iFruit, the game's new phone, can be used to snap pictures and upload them to Rockstar's Social Club
The phone also has apps. In addition to the camera there is internet, contacts, social media, a calendar, and a replay missions app. There are three more Rockstar hasn't yet revealed.
A combat roll has been introduced for moving between cover
Liquor store and ATM robberies is possible.
Side missions will be making a return. One would involve Michael in Vinewood Boulevard racing a starlet away from the paparazzi.
Citizens will react to what you do, and if they see you robbing someone they could alert the police, film you, or even try to take you down themselves.
Hunting animals.

Customization

Player customization - tattoos, haircuts, clothing
Vehicle customization - paintjobs, wheels, window tints, grills, spoilers, along with robust performance upgrades to suspension, engine, brakes, and more that make meaningful changes to the way vehicles feel and handle
Weapon customization - Silencers, scopes, extended mags, laser sights, and more

Police Encounters:
The classic wanted system will be making a return - with five stars instead of the usual six.
They make the police encounters sound better, too. In this new game, we can still try to escape the circular zone that flashes on the mini-map when cops come after our malcontent protagonist(s). But, this time, we'll be able to try to hide inside that alarm radius, if we'd like. The cops will use a line-of-sight system, so they won't just magically know where you are. If they have a helicopter in the sky, they'll be able to see plenty. And you'll see them use hand signals to communicate what they're doing.
- Kotaku
Skill Categories:
Each character is rated in a series of skill categories: Stamina, Shooting, Strength, Stealth, Flying, Driving, Mechanic, Lung Capacity.
Each character has a 'Special': Franklin is an adrenalin junkie and can slow down time while driving; Trevor has a frenzy mode, where he does double damage, takes half damage, and has a unique melee attack; Michael has his own version of bullet time
Specials are governed by a meter, it drains after use and recharges slowly
Other skill categories are shared and can be improved by completing missions, side missions, activities and more
Trevor will always be the best pilot, Franklin will always be the best driver but each can improve their proficiency a little
One of the skill categories is stealth, suggesting players will be able to take different approaches to missions

Map
Similar to previous GTAs, the map isn't landlocked (surrounded by water).
The map 3.5 times the size of Red Dead Redemption in terms of playable area above ground. Five times if you count underwater area.
The geographical scope is huge and spans:
Mountains
Rivers
Lakes
Military bases
Farmland
Desert
Dense urban environments...and more
An underwater ecosystem exits, "the sea is teaming with fish and sharks"
A deer and a wildcat were spotted in the mountains.
Treasures can be found underwater, but NPCs will be looking for them too
Shipwrecks, sharks, hidden treasures and more could be found underwater
The entire world is populated with fitting wildlife and inhabitants unique to specific areas

Heists/missions
'Mini heists' are used to teach the player about preparation. Players must secure vehicles, outfits, masks, the getaway vehicle.
These build up to a bigger heist where the execution must be flawless. They'll require the right crew (which you can recruit) and players will have to decide on the cheap option, which results in less skilled people, or paying more for skilled crew members that will take a larger cut of the money.
These additional characters will be able to specialize in different areas such as wheelman, gunman, technician, and so on.
Hiring the same crew members across several heists (assuming they survive) will allow their skills to improve
There will be visual and audio alerts from your other characters so you're not completely caught off guard in case things get hairy.
You can attack targets by stealth or brute force. This will affect the content of the heist.
A huge payout to split between the crew
After-action report that tallies your total cash haul, each surviving member's cut, and any profit you managed to earn

Refinements to combat:

Fluidly run and gun from the hip while still maintaining complete control of the reticule
'Combat jog' that allows you to move at high speeds with your weapon out, but not raised.
Camera pulled back when zoomed in over the shoulder to open up players' field of vision
Combat roll to move strategically from cover and evade incoming fire
Reticule switches from white to red to identity an enemy
Tiny 'X' flashes over the reticule when targeted enemy is killed
Variable targeting options including free aim, soft lock, and hard lock (similar to Max Payne 3)
Smoother transitions when moving in and out of cover

General
The character selection wheel is split into four triangles: Franklin, Trevor, Michael, and your multiplayer character
Some boats will include gear such as wetsuit, flippers and tanks for diving
GTAV rewards exploration, there's no signposting underwater, so you'll have to find the treasure the hard way
Dives won't offer massive payoffs, but will "help grease the wheels"
Pressing Down on the d-pad will drop the play in and out of multiplayer.
There are subtle differences in the way each character moves to reflect their personalities; Michael is slower and deliberate.
Rockstar says there will be five times as many pedestrians in GTAV as there were in Grand Theft Auto IV
There's a "crazy level of detail": Tourist buses can be boarded for a tour of celebrity homes, film posters are plastered on the walls, men in comedy costumes try to corner you outside the Cathay Theatre, including the Superman-like Impotent Rage and Master Chief riff, Space Ranger.
You can switch between Franklin, Trevor and Michael during a cutscene, manually, or automatically when the AI takes control for you
Each character has a job to do, how much you switch yourself in or let the computer do, is entirely up to you
If you die the game reloads to the last checkpoint, even if two other characters are alive
Although it's up to the player when they switch, dialogue will suggest ideal moments. For example, when Michael and Franklin are being overwhelmed by snipers, Michael might ask for Trevor's help.
There is a wider field of vision, and players can run-and-gun
There are some restrictions to character switching, such as how you can't abandon a character while you have a Wanted Level. Lose the heat first! The character selection meter will let you know when you can swap out.
Michael's obsession with classic films translates into in-game set pieces based on real world movies. In the demo the three characters mount a heist very similar to the one from Heat.

Fun Facts:
Franklin alone has more textures than the entire ped population of GTA: San Andreas
Largest selection of vehicles in any GTA game
Largest selection of weapons in any GTA game


Yeah that all sounds pretty good. Really like that customization and improvable skill levels are back.
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[parker]

Swimming in froth
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[parker]

I wonder how much of that real life type stuff from Michael's trailer you'll be able to actually do. Grabbing the remote from his daughter to watch tv, out at starbucks with the laptop, chasing the pool man banging his wife out the window, etc. Sounds like this one is going to have more cutscenes beyond just mission briefings and endings, so that could be all it is or maybe it's more a on the farm at the end of Red Dead type deal.
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[Gironika]

[evnvnv]

[allensmithee]

man i want to only play music the characters would like when i'm playing as each of them

(also whats the cheapest way to cop all the gta iv shit i just think i wanna play that a bit on my ps3)
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[parker]

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[Mr. Mechanical]

I really like how this time around it sounds like the story is going to actually be a story and not just an interactive one-man's odyssey through some absurd criminal underworld. Like, the heists might really add some for real structure to the whole thing what with having to procure your get-away vehicle and disguises and weapons and etc. in the missions for the individual characters. So now you'll be doing all these simple missions and this time they'll all build up to a heist, which will be a Three Leaf Clover style payoff. And then it'll happen all over again, five or six times, until the credits roll.

I look forward to pulling off the perfect heist as well as saving a botched heist from total failure.

Also I love this screenshot of the beach, just for the fact that now you can see all the people, or rather their umbrellas and beach blankets and stuff, from the air. I just love all the detail that it's each little scene we see of this game.

And in this one you can see the little light house from the Kifflom screensaver background! I knew that was going to be in the game somewhere.

This one is obviously from the side mission they showed where Michael has to get a celebrity home while being chased by paparazzi. Check out the dude on the back of the motorcycle. He's taking pictures with a camera at Michael and the female celeb in the car!
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[Mr. Mechanical]

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/50061/announcing-the-grand-theft-auto-v-special-edition-and-collectors.html

PREORDER NOW TO GET ACCESS TO THE BLIMP

For reals lol. Doesn't matter which version.

I just preordered!
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[Mr. Mechanical]

http://i.imgur.com/7WHa567.jpg

Some of the map showing the Los Santos area.

http://i2.minus.com/j7UO2tEyLF1JQ.jpg

This one's cleaner and to scale with the blueprint measurements. So that's about a third of the the map revealed so far. Good teaser.

http://i.imgur.com/wdxGz3P.jpg

And this one's rotated and flipped to show it with North pointing up.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

I like how the water is translucent now.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

[Mr. Mechanical]

http://m.edge-online.com/features/grand-theft-auto-v-we-take-a-spin-and-a-skydive-and-a-swim-in-the-sprawling-blaine-county/

Well Edge is saying in the second to last paragraph that GTA V has regenerating health. This could be really bogus.
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[shrugtheironteacup]

[Mr. Mechanical]

https://twitter.com/RockstarGames/status/354253783183794177/photo/1

Gameplay trailer coming in a couple hours. I'm thinking it'll be like the ones for Red Dead Redemption that basically show and explain the game.

Also apparently Game Informer will be putting out some new information today as well.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/51111/grand-theft-auto-v-official-gameplay-video.html

4 minutes 50 seconds!

I'm letting it buffer because I want to watch it in hd.
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[Winona Ghost Ryder]

Looks amazing but no way a current gen console could handle it that well.

[parker]

They keep saying the trailers and stuff have all been on ps3 hardware and whatnot but I don't buy it either.

I want a basketball court in the STEALWORKERS UNION penthouse hq like in Brother.
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[TXTSWORD]

God Damn

[Mr. Mechanical]

I dunno after watching this video I don't really have a hard time believing this is what the game will really look like. I mean, you can still see the fuzzy/blurry textures/dithering at medium and long distances as you saw in the previous games. Likewise with object pop-in. It's improved over IV but all that stuff is still there.
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[Holdypaws]

Looks pretty gosh darn amazing, like most Rockstar games. I wonder if this will be the first one I continue playing after the first two hours?

Something about the writing in their games rubs me the wrong way... It's not that they aren't well-written (for games), but I always feel like they aren't as well-written as they think they are..

This one seems like it could be an improvement in that area too, so I'm hopeful.
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https://twitter.com/super_catback

[CubaLibre]

Have you played Red Dead, because that one is exactly as well-written as it thinks it is.

You kind of need to play through to the end to really get it, though, which is a tough perscription for someone who isn't entirely sold on the game. I mean the story mode alone is like 15-20 hours long probably.
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Let's Play, starring me.

[Holdypaws]

Even Red Dead's main character kind of bothered me. He was more of a hick than a cowboy. But yeah, that one definitely seemed the most playable, in many ways, so I want to give it another go. Also I happened to be reading Blood Meridian when I played it, so I can't really hold that against it.
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https://twitter.com/super_catback

[CubaLibre]

[Holdypaws]

I mean, he felt like an undergraduate film student's idea of a hick. Basically all of Rockstar's games seem to be written by people that have watched A LOT of movies, very probably lots of good ones, but that's their only pool of knowledge to draw on. I get the idea they think they're being really clever, and that's never a good impression to have.

It's really possible I didn't play enough of it, so I probably shouldn't say anything else.

GTA5's story seems pretty legit.
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https://twitter.com/super_catback

[TXTSWORD]

[Guillotine]

[Holdypaws]

I totally get why you say that, but I think pure regurgitation is pretty gross no matter where it comes from. (Gross = boring, in this case).
It's like how they say Shigeru Miyamoto uses his real life hobbies for inspiration and everyone says he's a genius because of it. That's a totally different topic, but I think good stories are the same.

I actually can go easier on stupid nonsense game stories when they are a) entertaining, for intended reasons or not, or b) something I haven't seen before.

But really, the Rockstar writers are approaching actual adult-geared entertainment writing and just falling short, so I want to criticize it more. If you act like you're throwing your hat into the ring with the big boys you should be judged at that level.
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https://twitter.com/super_catback

[Holdypaws]

Also I'm just going to openly admit that if the protagonist of GTA was a plucky little girl and all the NPCs were cats, I would probably like it more.
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https://twitter.com/super_catback

[TXTSWORD]

[parker]

[CubaLibre]

You should also check out Max Payne 3 if you haven't, easily Rockstar's second-best-written game after Red Dead.

One of the genius strokes of Red Dead, to me, was painting the story-Marston of cutscenes and dialogue with enough subtlety that he can encompass the game-Marston of your choice, whether you're an asshole murdering bandito or a noble desert wanderer. I mean, it doesn't quite cover the true possible breadth of murderous rampage you can go on, there's no real way to write a person that may or may not slaughter an entire cityful of people, but the ludonarrative dissonance of any normal playthrough is almost gone.

The way the relationship between Marston and the lady (Marston is the only character's name I can remember ok I'm bad with names) flouts cliche lands right square in real-people-land believability for me, like parker is talking about.

There's some weird stuff later on with a man heavily intimated to be the Devil. The game flirts with Dead Man mysticism.

It justifies the "you can 100% this game whenever you want no matter what's happening in the story" element of all checklist-sandbox games with a beautiful coup in the ending that is also a comment on the cyclical nature of violence. I mean, this is real top-class stuff here.
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Let's Play, starring me.

[Ronnoc]

Man, the biggest problem I had with the DLC of GTA IV (not really), was that they expected me to believe there was 3 GTA protagonists driving around at any given time. I think you would probably notice if there was someone else out there driving like a video game character.

If they actually have the other characters driving around like I drive, I will lose my gosh-darn mind.

[Broco]

There's about 5 seconds of driving a car in that trailer, the "Auto" is starting to be a bit of a misnomer.

[remote]

[Victor]

Walked by the marijuana dispensary flashed on the screen in the fake Venice Beach of the trailer, two weeks ago on our California vacation. There was a family sitting out front, on the sidewalk or whatever. Man in/of weed shop accosting mother, trying to convince her to enter for her $40 weed eligibility exam. "What about my kids?!," mother says. "There's plenty of space inside!" Cannot wait to witness holodeck recreation of this exact exchange.

[parker]

See what I mean
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[parker]

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[Felix]

[boojiboy7]

The mexico section definitely drags, but the rest of the game makes up for it, so it isn't a bad thing. Even the dragging fits the section, really.

[Felix]

yeah, like I said, the pacing ("drags") is really good and apropos, there are just some repetitive mission design elements.