O.o

This is... unexpected.

ooh ooh i'll be whores you be the pimps!

having the entire world unlocked would cause me to just get lost in it all. When I got to a certain point in GTA:SA I just started taking the long way to every destination just to see what cool shit I was missing.

If I started that from the beginning of the game ... well, I wouldn't get much done.

They will probably streamline the mission system so that doesn't happen.

I must be the only person on the planet that doesn't care about GTA, so this revelation doesn't influence me a great deal either way.

"Will gamers lose incentive to keep playing",

Not if the story is compelling enough. I think it would make more sense to open up the whole world from the beginning making it feel like a true free roaming environment.

Perhaps some environments would be extreamly dangerous until certain activities had been completed. Making it not "locked out" but a discouraged area.

They better have a mode to see who can "do" the most whores in a time limit. Loser has to wear pink thongs for the entire next round.

How awesome would an MMO GTA be?

oh wow. Even though they had some fun multiplayer on the PSP variants of the game, i never thought about it in the console game... And yeah it doesnt really affect me if the map is open at the start or not. Just driving around is half the fun of the game.

Uh...huh.

16 player multiplayer in GTA. Right. Let's hope it's not as crippled and time-consuming to unlock as San Andreas' "Co-op" mode was. I mean, sure, it was fun, but it took so much work to do right.

What's it going to be, just 16 people wandering the city? Destruction derbies? We need details!

@Stormrider900: Yes you are.

Oh, and wasn't it supposed to come out soon. I mean, I know it's been delayed, but wasn't it supposed to drop soon?

Damn. I loved unlocking new areas. It keeps the game fresh but if you just have it all at the beginning it will be a little overwhelming.

Will gamers lose incentive to keep playing?

Given what I've just learned about GTA IV from this news blurb, I've already lost my incentive to play this game. Don't reinvent the wheel, guys. If you have a new formula, make a new game.

GTA is by FAR, my FAVORITE game series ever created. It's the #1 reason on my list why I got a PS3 in the first place (STFU I know there's a 360 version :p). And I have to say this online mode makes me VERY happy. It's only a little disappointing because 16 people isn't nearly enough.... xD;;

@Dead Air ummm Dead Air: Got delayed till next March =(

@fumar: \
Horrible... Oh God I pray they don't listen to ya.

I played Vice City long enough to unlock the rest of the map, but mission in which you have to save Lance from Diaz's goons infuriated me to the point that I couldn't give a damn about the missions or story anymore.

@Stormrider900:

That makes 2 of us then.

Though my opinion on having the entire worls open from the start would somewhat kill the reward process and a sense of progression. UInless they plan on handling this through in other ways.

Hmm this should be interesting.

Personally I like the whole city being unlocked, since I always thought it was stupid having sections blocked off for no reason, then suddenly POP its open after completing something.

Sides as others have said, if the story is good, people shouldnt care.

@Stormrider900: I dont care that much but I am intrigued. The world is supposed to be a bit more condensed than previous games in the series so maybe the unlocked city wont be such a bad thing

@Throtex: You mike enjoy stagnant sequels, but some people dont.

Not sure how it would work for GTA, but I've always been under the impression that gates (usualy racing games ie:need for speed) have been built backwards. They need all the stuff unlocked, but priced so that you need to progress further on in the game so you can buy it. I've often gone through thoes games with enough cash to buy the queen, but that pearlecent paint job isn't unlocked yet. Lame. Have everything unlocked, and earn the cash to buy it is my motto.

The multiplayer will be just as shallow, repetitve, immature, and boring as the rest of the game will be/has been since the first one. This series would have fallen dead in the water if it wasn't so controversial. It's always been an ugly game, so it doesn't even have that going for it. I'd rather buy a 360 version (not PS3, I want the one with better graphics, lol) of the original E.T. for $130 than play a free copy of this one.

Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories on the PSP both had multiplayer modes, which I have never played because none of my friends have those games for PSP.
That being said, I'm looking forward to this because everyone I know with a PS3 will be getting this game.
As for there being less incentive to keep playing; I highly doubt that because this game is going to be insanely polished and different enough from recent iterations of GTA that it should keep everyone playing just to see what's new.

@NumberONE: *might...

Having to unlock places to go in GTA kinda put me off. I wasn't all that interested in the plot, just running around causing complete carnage. I like having all my options available at once. But really, I couldn't care less about the GTA plotlines. Maybe this one, since it seems a bit more intriguing.

Sounds cool. I thought the PSP multiplayer was fun but I could never get more than 1 or 2 other people together since it was ad-hoc networking only.

I'd definitely play some GTA online. It'd be really cool if they had special "missions" like bank robberies and other kinds of heists that required multiple people.

16 people working at maximum efficiency in GTA IV could kill 1000 Hookers an hour! That's... that's great.

I'd rather play my Beautiful Katamari, thanks.

I wouldn't mind having the whole world open from the start. Running around in GTA, killing pedestrians and hucking sweet jumps in Corvettes got old after I played Vice non-stop for like a year. I play GTA games now for the story/missions. Sure, some of them are frustrating, but Rockstar usually makes the characters interesting enough that I really want to see what happens next. Plus some of the missions are classics. Like the one where that construction foreman is in a porta-potty and you have to push it into a pit with a truck. Lol. That was awesome. Think I'll go play some San Andreas.

I play GTA games for the mindless fun of driving around, crashing into things, and blowing shit up. I've never cared about the stories, and have only bothered with the missions in the past to unlock the rest of the map so the city being unlocked from the start sounds good to me.

I've wanted multiplayer in the games since GTA III. Unleashing sixteen people into the same city to wreak bloody havoc on everyone, and everything sounds like a good time to me.

That said I never play the GTA games for long stretches at a time; maybe an hour tops. Perhaps bigger fans of the franchise who play through all of the missions will be disappointed they aren't unlocking anything.

Having the whole game world unlocked from the start won't change anything.

Saints Row had the whole game world unlocked from the start all it did was add to the gameplay because at the start of the game you would find yourself all over the map like you were in a real city instead of on some invisible leash.

As for the multiplayer I hope it's better than that crap that Saints Row tried to pull. It was a great single player game but the multiplayer just wasn't there.

I don't understand why it's not just all unlocked from the start anyway. Then at least you give people the CHOICE to do whatever they want with the city from the beginning. If you just want to stick to the missions and get everywhere gradually, fine. But if you're the type that would just drive around the city for a couple of hours when you first start the game, you could do that too. But to me it should just be open from the beginning.

As for the multiplayer, Blah. GTA isn't a multiplayer game. They would have to make it pretty spectacular to be a fun mode to play, and I would imagine all they'll do is just implement multiplayer shooting/killing within the world without much depth to it. I don't see the point, but whatever.

Just get the game out on PC reasonably close to the same time as the consoles. Please?

I hope they utilize the boring mode more frequently than GTASA. You know nothing more fun than having to go shopping, work out, eat etc. In a video game.

Man that was SOOO much fun.

16-person Online Hot Coffee Orgy???

I was never a fan of artificial limitations in games that are supposed to be "real worlds" anyway, and I've always wanted multiplayer. The multiplayer for the PSP GTA was the one thing that almost made me keep my PSP.

Granted, my wife will still hate the game. *sigh*

I'm not a fan of GTA, so I can't say if it's good or bad. But from my objective point of view, I'm not sure how it'd work. GTA isn't a shooter game, so why would there be a deathmatch? I don't know, the idea of any kind of multiplayer in GTA is weird to me, because I always thought the game was made to be played by only one person. To make it work, there'd have to be specific missions that are multiplayer, because singleplayer missions with more than 1 player would be piss easy. If we were talking about something like gang wars, that may be a little more realistic, but at that point, this is becoming another 3rd person shooter.

"Will gamers lose incentive to keep playing?"

Mark, are you a fan of the GTA series? I think that's kind of a dumb question. We're not talking about a racing game here where one grows tired of old tracks and works to unlock new ones. In terms of GTA's appeal, unlocking new areas is a very small thing. I suppose it was a little different in SA given the fact that we were dealing with a MASSIVE game that was almost like three seperate states, but even then, I don't think it would have made that big of a difference. Especially not when we are talking about a single city.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing what they do with multiplayer. From the pics we've all seen it looks as though Rockstar is giving combat much more depth. I love the fact that it looks like there will be a cover system of some sort and honestly, I would be thrilled if firefights were anything like Gears or R6 Vegas. It could lead to great GTA multiplayer, something I never thought would really be possible.

I bet the 16 player support will be a PS3 feature.

I lost interest after 10 minutes into GTAIII and San Andreas. The only one I actually cared enough to beat was Vice City. I'll most likely get bored of IV after about 30 minutes. Depends of course on the story and characters told up to that point.

@Witzbold: i agree with you

another thing is that this time the city is a lot smaller than what we saw in san andreas, so , if they locked parts of the city, well...we will be playing all the time in the same 5 blocks ...

considering this is one of the few franchises that captivates me to the point of working towards 100% completion, I am not worried about losing interest. unlocked or not.

I would much rather have the entire city open from the beginning. I hated having to gradually unlock it and thought it was a cop out. I think it will allow for a much more diverse game from the get go.

I would LOVE to see the whole game unlocked from the beginning, that's always something that pisses me off.

It would be great if the multiplayer stuff was more like co-op than deathmatch.

@CreepyP: I think games are addictive because of how they limit players. As proven by ruining a game by getting all the guns with a cheat code, the construct is what keeps games fun and keeps us playing them.

I definitely see how an unlocked city could make GTA a more fluid experience, and maybe limiting an open world seems like a dated notion during this gen. But when those bridge gates go up and you speed into a new area for the first time, it's pretty damn fulfilling.

@sinny: Good point.

@usfslacker: I've had fun with the whole series and look forward to IV.

@usfslacker: so im guessing you dont like gta....

Anyways i like the whole city being open idea because honestly all i ever did in gta was get in my car and drive around doing stupid shit. To me the funnest thing about GTA was cheating, driving, and blowing things up.

@Mark Wilson: I see what you're saying now and I'm definitely with you on the cheat code thing.
Thinking back, it is a pretty good feeling when you're cruising into a new area of the game, especially in SA but it's not anything I feel I will be missing too much. I'm getting the feeling, and I really hope that I am right here, that there is going to be much more meat to everything about this one. It just looks heavier, if you know what I mean and maybe a more visceral experience than we have grown accustomed to with GTA. I think that if this is indeed the case, certain things that we enjoyed in previous installments, like opening up new areas will be easily forgotten. Of course, I'm sure you've actually seen gameplay so you have a much better idea of what we've got coming.

The whole city might be accessible from the start but it won't really be unlocked. I bet you'll still have to do all the missions if you want to buy savepoints in further out areas, or buy anything special at the stores. So, you might be able to get to all the places, but you have to drive all the way back home if you feel like saving, and that's just tedious.

People won't stop playing this until GTA V, whatever happens. No-one i know plays GTA for the crappy missions- they all play for the freedom of exploration and such. The while city being open means not HAVING to do missions.

@sinny: Five blocks? The game is not only based in Manhattan, it's based on NYC 5 boroughs so unlocking different boroughs somewhat make sense. it's going to be a big map when all is said and done. Yeah 16 people in 5 boroughs, it'll take half an hour just to find one person.

The whole Kane and Lynch Multi-PLayer Bank Heist is a fantastic idea for a co-op mode and would blend well into the GTA universe. My bet is that this is how they are going to play it, where there are a certain number of scenarios that would require you to have a "crew" in order to pull-off. On the other side of the coin, youll likely be able to choose to be a police officer as well and try to keep the "bad-guys" from pulling off a heist, a "hit" or other nefarious activity.

I never play Oblivion because it's so damn expansive, and I've never finished a GTA game. So that might answer your question.

@Dead Air ummm Dead Air: No he's not. There are plenty of people that would rather play other things than a mafia and ghetto gangster simulator.

Having the whole world unlocked at start worked very well with Crackdown, so why not. In fact, with Crackdown already setting some barriers (unprecedented freedom and multiplay options, for instance) way over what GTA series has done, I think they need to come up with this kind of stuff. So, I guess it's all good :)

If Rockstar can top SA:MP and MTA:SA, I give them kudos and will be interested in their game. If they can't, then I go back to wasting care on other games. I wish them luck! I really want something to top those two multiplayer pariahs.

If the whole game is unlocked at the beginning, then I'm not gonna waste hours trying to fly over those damn checkpoints. Probably a good thing.

Greeneggsnham has a good point. No boundaries means more of a playground for those less interested in the missions. However, they are going to need something to make you want to continue the missions to finish the game. I liked the neighborhood block-to-block gang wars in GTA San Andreas.

At this point, GTA IV is going to have to show me what the big innovation is because after playing Crackdown with its revolutionary vertical evolution system & over-the-top destruction, I have little interest in a straight open-world game. I tried to play Saint's Row after finishing Crackdown and I fell asleep after 5 minutes. I'm looking much more forward to Crackdown 2 than GTA IV.

I'm the type that plays a single player game all the way through before I savor the multiplayer. Plus it gives me a slight edge, so I don't jump in all noobish-like.

Not that GTA can be 'beaten', but I'll probably jump into multi after I unlock the entire map.

@Ignatius: This is....SPARTA.

Sorry. But really, I can't wait. Wasn't a fan of the two player on San Andreas.

Damn it, now I'm intrigued. Here I was, taking a moral stand against Rockstar's decision to sell content to MS, and now I want to buy the damn game again.

I'll still buy it on my PS3, though. My 360 is still acting up (number four for those who are counting) and I don't feel like getting invested in a big game like this just so it can crap out.

I'm getting Mass Effect for it, because I have no choice, but anything multi-plat is going PS3.

I'll see you freaks online. I'll be the guy with the rocket launcher. Oh, and knowing Rockstar, probably incredibly large, out of proportion hands.