THE GTA ONLINE PREVIEW

By / September 30, 2013 / Grand Theft Auto V, News

GTAVORockstar GamesGrand Theft Auto V,  sold like gangbusters within the first week of sales. $800 Million in just the first day alone. With a gross sale of 1 Billion during its release window. Which pretty much says that it had to be the most anticipated gaming title to date. Pretty much surpassing even popular EA Titles and the likes of Black Ops II were toppled by GTA V sales.

GTA V was released without multiplayer, with intentions on releasing it a few weeks following the primary release. It’s also intended to be a separate piece from GTA V. Rockstar Games has big plans for GTA Online. They want it to be an immersive online experience, that offers limitless potential.  Modes of play and content updates will be under constant development. The Game will even offer you the possibility of creating your own content, with the Content Creation feature.  Races, Match Modes and more! They are going to want your input, which a method will be explained soon enough by them on how you can do that. It will help evolve this game into a true community experience.

I’m personally excited to have been given the opportunity from Rockstar Games to play Grand Theft Auto Online ahead of it’s release date. With much ado going on in the community. Many people are questioning, waiting and excited for GTA – ONLINE.  It’s a huge privilege to have been considered for the opportunity to play. My humblest of thanks to the Staff of Rockstar Games for the invite and get together of many of the Fan Site Community members. 

With basically a couple of days to do this event, it was rather a whirlwind of excitement in New York. There was food, Drinks, new & old friends, with lots of  GTA – ONLINE Gaming. Officially I can’t spoil the actual game for you, it’s right around the corner though. So get ready for it, it’s going to bring you a new experience.

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But what you should know about it is.. [highlight color=”eg. yellow, black”]CASH IS KING![/highlight]  You will need to manage your in game Money. Just like they point out in the preview videos and various articles.. Be sure to deposit your cash, often… Otherwise, blam you’re wasted on the street and that fat pocket of loot just might be gone in a heartbeat from the pull of a trigger from another player. Or a NPC, COP or a divine accident of your own doing may spill your cash out.. There’s no going back for it.. “It’s gone, all gone.. @@#$!”

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About my trip to NY, I had a pretty interesting start to it. I left early enough to deal with any delays. Most of which I expected at the Airport. In my case the problem was actually the flight. It was late coming in by an hour. My flight was packed and I felt like one of the cattle from RDR, just rambling into a corral. So when I arrived, I was more than excited to disembark the plane for several reasons. I met up with a driver and it was clear sailing from that point to meet up with everyone else.. The group was already ahead of me, and they  had arrived anywhere from 1 to several hours earlier than me. Originally I was going to be 15-30 minutes behind prior, but I added a whole hour to that late arrival. Despite being embarrassed for being late, I was super excited to finally get the opportunity to say hello in person to some people I’ve been communicating with for sometime, both from Rockstar Games and From the Fan Site community for the first time. I even gave that Hug to someone I had threaten to give nearly 8 or more months prior at a Rockstar Gaming Event for Max Payne 3.

I got settled in and grabbed a menu to order. Apparently everyone had already ordered, but the restaurant had a delay making all of the food for a large group. So it turned out that it was timed with my arrival. At least that’s what I was told. I certainly hope they did not keep everyone hungry on my account.

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I placed a quick order. Each of us had this handy menu on the table with some sophisticated connoisseur choices. My immediate favorite  of a cheese burger was available, but the one thing that caught my eye was the CHOP – CHOP Salad.. “Go get ’em chop!”  flashed through my mind. I pictured Chop bringing back a hand, a bong, a ball and grenade to complete a plated appetizer. I actually skipped having any appetizer. Instead I ordered a beer and began to connect with everyone. I tossed a Chicago Themed Beer Shirt to one of the R* reps that I’ve been communicated with for some time. I hope to hear that it’s being worn to the office, and that questions are raised about it’s origin… I love when there’s a story to tell about gifts.

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 I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear anything about my accommodations..So I won’t say anything other than they were excellent. I had a well appointed room, and a mammoth bed to get some well needed rest after my travel.

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As a group we we’re spread out between some hotels, but we all had the perfect  neighborhood to explore. I spent my free time wondering around before and after our event window. So when I could I focused on taking snapshots of the abundant GTAV ads all over the City. Sometimes it was to bright to see my phone to take pictures, or the battery would be near death.. So I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked to have snapped. I grumbled a bit about that. My phone seems to operate on it’s own agenda most of the time. It’s like it knew I needed it to work, and it rebelled against me!

During one shot, I told a couple of the guys I had the best shot, when they were taking snaps of the cityscape from a reserved penthouse we gathered at for the event. (The left image is from the top side, the right from street level.) I pointed out the ad at street level from our point of view. I personally thought it was pretty cool to get a comparison of what adverts look like from different points of perspective. And that it was relevant to our being there.

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Now on with the show!

As we gathered to say hi again. We waited for some final preparations by Rockstar Staff. When we we’re let in, everyone had a nice large screen TV’s with comfy chairs to settle in for a long day and night of playing.  We had headphones, with mics so team chatting was available. Drinks, candy and various snaking was available to. It was a real treat, and I’d have to give a Five Star wanted level for the kindness, and thought that went into this event!

GTA ONLINE

is going to really be something new to everyone in in the room. You can expect that the Rockstar Games Universe is going to change for you too! It’s fresh, and bold. Like a Spot of whiskey with a nice kick, and smooth flavor. The first thing I noted, is GTA:O will have some character tweaks that will help you maintain a unique look in the game. Rather it will help you have a very unique look that helps you maintain your own way of physically looking, as well as clothing choices. Pretty much the same way you can with the Story mode. But will much more finesse. I won’t spoil the details, but I’m pretty sure most people are going to get what they’ve been looking for in the GTA Multiplier character customization. GTA IV was some what versatile for it, but most of the time, you could find someone wearing and looking nearly identical to you. GTA:O will help remove the chances of looking identical to another player. Which I personally like to have a unique look. So it’s a nice feature full of rich details that I can’t tell you anything else about. 😉

Rockstar Staff gave us thumbs up as a group to tweet and tell people we we’re actually playing GTA:O. and then told us we had a prize challenge for the day. Earn the most CASH in game by the end of the day, we’ll pick a winner. (The prize at that time was unknown.) I love challenges, I think my best comes out when I’m challenged. So I hit the ground running asap in the game, I spent

gtavgolda couple of minutes preparing avatar choices, and shot out the gate like a horse being whipped senseless. I sought out the immediate ways to obtain cash.. So what came to mind immediately was the whole liquor store robbery, as shown to us with the Online videos posted recently by Rockstar. So began my spree! I held up every freaking store I could, and made sure to deposit my loot as fast as possible… I was all over this like Flies on Chops steaming piles.. From one store to the next, I made a haul, and fled the scene..

We took a few breaks during the match. Apparently everyone was privy to my loot! I was already way ahead of the pack. I was determined to stay there.. It was not easy either. I had been sidetracked a few times with in game shoot outs with other members.. Trashing my car, and exploding into the abyss of death a few times. I kept swiping fast cars, and cutting though the map like a salmon determined to get up stream and avoid the bears! (No, I’m not saying there’s bears in the game. It’s an analogy.. get over yourself.. HA!)

I played some deathmatches, team deathmatches and races too. I wanted to see what the game had in store for the community. I’m telling you now, you’re going to like it. But prepare for a new experience. Especially with the opportunity to create your own content. This games going to be SICK!!

THE CHALLENGE OF THE DAY RESULTS!

By the end of the day, I was still stoked, and still playing for keeps! I had seasoned Rockstar gamers to go against!

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I learned in the last few minutes of the challenge window,that someone had caught up with my score by only a few thousand dollars. It was now down to what I had in my pocket, and what was in the bank. It became a race to the nearest ATM.. I sorted out where the nearest one was, and it was on like Donkey Kong.. I literally hit a barrel! I hammered the gas in my car, and swam though the streets of cars, poles and pedestrians. Time was ticking and I was focused, and tenacious like a hungry shark! I arrived by the atm, with little time left .. I punched into the atm and made my deposit of 2,300ish, and blam! $84,500 balance with some change..!! pheew… It was close by 2000 – 3000 ish between myself and one of the GTA Forums Admins. I congratulated him for a game well played! I was then awarded an unknown prize!! Wait, how unknown is this to you?? I know you can see it, it’s right there on the right… hahah! Awesome huh? I won a Bugstar Suit

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and a GTA V Custom Golf Club!  It was awesome. My opponent won a special prize too for being a very close contender. It was a great experience and chance to get together with new and old friends!!

I’m sure you want to hear more about the game. But out of respect for Rockstar Games, and by their

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request. I’m not going to divulge any game details to the public. It’s not long until it’s released, so they and I especially feel you should experience this game for the first time on your own. Take your  time, explore every little bit of the options and functions in the game. Then hit the pavement and take the town hard and fast! Remember those words I highlighted earlier!

CASH IS KING!

You will earn it, and spend it to survive in Los Santos to be the King of it all!!

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BONUS: The unexpected Celebrity!

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The Day after the event, I had some time to kill prior to my flight out of NYC. So I decided to take a walk over to Rockstars Office on Broadway. Just to see if they had a fancy banner, or huge V sign anywhere. It turned out that they confiscated the Subway sign to have  ads on both sides. Instead of one like the rest I ran into. You ask, how’s an unexpected celebrity fit in there.. Well, I guess my timing was just right.

I walked up to find a well dressed woman taking snapshots of the street level ads I was about to snap (see image on left) She was taking very purposeful shots. So I said, “I’m don’t feel strange, now that I know others are taking pictures to.” I did a quick introduction to her that I was with a fan site of Rockstar Games, and she told me she was taking pictures because she was a voice actor in the game. She told me plays Sapphire in V.. and that “I’m happy not to have to be keeping secrets anymore about this game. it’s a relief..” The thing is she told me nothing that was a secret, other than the name of her character… At least it was to me. Our conversation was quick, she had to get going. I thought about asking for a picture, but it seemed like the wrong thing to ask her. So I simply said goodbye, as we both went different directions.

streetbikesadAt that point I had not played the game far enough to know who Sapphire is. I looked it up and learned who she was.  I also learned she is in the IAA  when I recognized her voice from a mission. Only when I got home and did my web research it occurred to me much who she was. I finally realized why I recognized her voice…….. Niko: “Michelle, would you like to go out on a date?”  Michelle: “Sure, come on over.” It was Jamie Sara Lewis! She played Michelle in GTA IV and as Sapphire in V. WOW! I thought, what are the odds. I actually ran into a voice actor outside of the Rockstar Building, and I was expecting just to be taking pictures of the building/ads near it. It’s one of those moments you do a double take in your brain, and the physics alone of the odds of that happening do a sponge squeezing to your brain!

Over all I had a seriously, I  need to remember this time in my life time experience. Thanks to Rockstar Games! I was so amazed by the entire experience. It was great to meet everyone that I had not meet at all before. But either had some form of communication with, and others I’ve not really had the opportunity to communicate with!

Thanks everyone!!!

Chicago Enigma!

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ADDITIONAL OFFICIAL DETAILS HAVE BEEN RELEASED HERE: www.rockstargames.com

If you use instagram.. check out more photos there: http://instagram.com/chicagoenigma

Other Fan Site reviews:

rockstarnexusigta5 | thegtaplace | gtagaming | gtav.net

[gameinfo title=”Grand Theft Auto Online” game_name=”Grand Theft Auto V” developers=”ROCKSTAR GAMES” publishers=”TAKE2″ platforms=”XBOX 360 & Playstation 3″ genres=”Open World” release_date=”September 17th 2013″]

**Facts source:
| Forbes.com – | Carl Ichan’s bet on GTA & Call of Duty: Black Ops II, | www.rockstargames.com | Experienced in person!

About Author

Chicago Enigma

Rockstar Games Fan since GTA2 .. Following, playing and participating more actively in the community since 2008/09.

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