I think this is something anyone who has played any Grand Theft Auto game can relate to: driving around, just for the hell of it, flicking through radio stations, laughing at Lazlow's shenanigans, listening to the well chosen songs from the game's soundtrack. This new Android thingy, allows you to do this in real life by cramming all the soundtracks from all the games into one app.

This is genius and I can't understand why it hasn't been done up until this point (probably licensing)! The app contains almost every radio station from GTA III, GTA Vice City, GTA Liberty City Stories, GTA Vice City Stories, GTA San Andreas and GTA IV. A few radio stations are missing, but apparently the team behind the app is working on that for future updates.

GTA Radio [Play Store]

The "Hot Coffee" scandal—a sex minigame found by a modder inside the code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—still weighs on Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, which makes the series. In an interview with The Guardian, Houser said he views the seven-year-old incident as an attack on video gaming in general.

"We never felt that we were being attacked for the content, we were being attacked for the medium, which felt a little unfair," Houser said. "If all of this stuff had been put into a book or a movie, people wouldn't have blinked an eye."

The Guardian goes so far as to suggest "Hot Coffee" has shaped how Rockstar deals with the press today although Houser said he and brother Sam's reluctance to do many interviews comes from a Rockstar culture in place well before Hot Coffee.

I think Houser's right but it's also important to remember this took place in 2005, an eon ago in the relationship of video gaming to the mainstream press and culture. Since then, adversaries like Jack Thompson have vanished, screwups like Fox News had in covering Mass Effect, and Call of Duty making everyone comfortable with casual violence thanks to ads like these, have toned down the mainstream's knee-jerk reaction to video games. Thoughtful releases from Rockstar like L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption have also set an expectation that an M-rated game is no less meritorious a work than an R-rated film is.

Grand Theft Auto's name alone may still incite some stupid reactions but I'd be surprised if its next game is treated like anything other than a mainstream work of entertainment, with all the privileges given to it.

How Dan Houser helped turn Grand Theft Auto into a cultural phenomenon [Guardian]

With the mobile version of Grand Theft Auto III still tearing up the Android and iOS charts, Rockstar readies a second helping of mobile free-roaming mayhem with the December 6 release of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition.

More than any other installment in the series, this is my Grand Theft Auto. I fell in love with Vice City the first time I heard Toto's "Africa" on in-game radio station Emotion 98.3. It spoke to me intimately, in a way latter entries in the series haven't.

The mobile version of the game is enhanced with updated character models, enhanced lighting effects, more precise shooting options and full support for retina devices.

The Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition hits Google Play and iTunes on December 6 for the ridiculously low price of $4.99. To avoid disappointment, make sure you have one of the devices listed below before then.

Supported Devices

Apple iOS Devices: iPad, iPhone 4, 4S & 5, iPod touch 4th & 5th Generation

Android Phones: Motorola Razr, Razr Maxx, Razr Maxx HD, Motorola Atrix, Motorola Photon, Motorola Droid Bionic, HTC Rezound, HTC One X, HTC One S, HTC Evo 3D, HTC Sensation, HTC Droid Incredible 2, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Nexus S, Samsung Galaxy Note 1 & 2, Samsung S2, Samsung Galaxy R, Sony Xperia Play, Sony Xperia S, P, T & TL, Sony Walkman Z Series Media Player, Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy S3, Google Nexus 4

Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, LG Optimus Pad, Medion Lifetab, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 / 10.1, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Sony Tablet P, Toshiba Thrive, HTC Flyer, Google Nexus 7, Google Nexus 10

Grand Theft Auto IV was released on PC, but when Grand Theft Auto V was announced, a personal computer version was nowhere to be seen.

It's still nowhere to be seen, but Rockstar is at least talking about it, Dan Houser telling IGN that "Everything else is up for consideration. That's all I can give you."

"The main thing is we are not... we are a third-party publisher", Houser added, speaking about both a possible PC and Wii U version. "We're not Nintendo, we're not Sony, we're not Microsoft. We love all of them in different ways. But we can do what we want wherever there's the appropriate business opportunity and chance to find a market. If that's on Apple we put something on Apple. Wherever it might be. I think that's the fun in what we do. We see ourselves as a content company that uses technology. We don't make it; we use it to make the most fun stuff."

While a PC version seems likely, don't count out a Wii U edition either; GTA games have graced Nintendo handhelds in the past, and that Wii U gamepad must be interesting to somebody at Rockstar.

GTA V: Burning Questions Answered [IGN]

We saw the first Grand Theft Auto V trailer recreated in the original San Andreas (GTA: San Andreas, to be exact). Then someone set it in Grand Theft Auto IV. So, with the second trailer's release earlier this week, it's natural we get that one rebuilt inside IV as well. This is by YouTube user underage117.

If you want to compare it to the original, it's embedded below. Or watch them side-by-side here (might want to mute the volume on one.) My suspicion is that this won't stop until Grand Theft Auto V is recreated in Grand Theft Auto IV, which will be a hell of a trick considering its map is, at most, about 1/7th the size of what GTA V's is said to be.

GTA V Trailer #2 remade in GTA IV uploaded by underage117 [h/t Adriaan V.]

When Grand Theft Auto: Vice City disappeared from Steam's marketplace a few days ago, some suspected it was because of the game's upcoming release for iOS devices. Instead, what appears to be a lapsed license for one of the songs appearing in the game has forced the takedown, until the matter is resolved.

Gaming Blend reports that the song in question is appropriately enough, "Wanna Be Startin' Something" by Michael Jackson, to which Sony Music Entertainment owns the rights. Rockstar Games, in a post on Steam's North American forums, didn't specify the song but did say music licensing was involved and "we'll make it available again as soon as possible."

Those who bought Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for PC via Steam may still redownload and install the game.

GTA: Vice City No Longer On Steam Due To RIAA Copyright Claim [Gaming Blend]

This is RISE, a Grand Theft Auto-inspired short film by director Gevorg Karensky. Whatever quality and budgetary limitations you might think this has because it's "fan made", you go right ahead and throw them out the window.

If this is what Grand Theft Auto VII looks like on my ValveBox TVPC, then the future might be OK after all.

Grand Theft Auto: RISE - Live Action Short Film [YouTube]

I'm excited about Grand Theft Auto V. You're probably excited about Grand Theft Auto V. And with so many people excited about Grand Theft Auto V, pretty much everyone out there with a keyboard an functioning brain has taken to the internet to voice their opinion about the impressive second trailer that Rockstar released yesterday.

Some folks expressed their excitement on various message boards, and some of those comments are very funny. In fact, some brilliant soul started GTAVTrailerComments.tumblr.com, a tumblr devoted entirely to setting the best YouTube comments against peaceful, stock-photo backgrounds.

Some highlights are below, though you can read plenty more at the site. (Salty language follows):

And my personal favorite:

GTA V Trailer Comments [Tumblr via David Rayfield]

Rockstar sure knows how to make a good clip—loads of gameplay footage sure helps—but for those after something a little more stylish, check out Russian artist Ilya V. Boykov's custom trailer for Grand Theft Auto V.

Slicing together and animating GTAV's official artwork, it doesn't do the greatest job of selling the actual game, but it sure does look pretty.

So... just like a proper trailer, then.

Grand Theft Auto V - ART IN MOTION [YouTube, thanks
ILYA
‏@jBhIpS!]