Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto III, or GTA III, is a video game developed by DMA Design, published by Rockstar Games in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2 video game console, May 2002 for Windows-based PCs, and in November 2003 for the Xbox video game console. It is the third in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Market performance and critical acclaim

Upon its release, GTA III unexpectedly emerged as a smash hit at its initial US$49.95 price and became the #1 selling video game of 2001 in the United States. Later discounted to $19.95 as part of Sony's "Greatest Hits" program, it continued to sell well and went on to become the second best-selling video game of 2002, behind only the next game in the series, 2002's '. This was a remarkable achievement in an industry where most games experience strong drops in sales despite price drops, as gamers have a strong tendency to purchase only the "next new thing". GTA III continued to sell well as part of the Xbox Double Pack, even though it was two years old when the Double Pack hit shelves in December 2003. The Double Pack's success for Xbox was due to several factors, the critical acclaim (not just for the GTA series but also for the Xbox improvements) and controversial game content, two games in one, graphical improvements, and lastly the Double Pack debuted at half the price of a regular Xbox game.

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Unexpectedly - United States - Sony - 2002

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Grand Theft Auto III was the first game in the series to feature a deep storyline with high quality voice acting and navigable three-dimensional graphics. All of this is seemlessly integrated in the realistic setting of a (dysfunctional) urban environment which parodies a real-life city. Although multiplayer was discarded, it had a minimal impact as the many major improvements won legions of fans over to a series which formerly enjoyed a cult following. Also notable is that GTA III was the first in the series to be released on video game consoles before the PC, citing the growing size of the console market. As a result of these shrewd moves, the GTA series was now a blockbuster franchise. All subsequent games in the series have followed the GTA III formula and have been best-selling and critically-acclaimed (and controversial) as a result.

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The game was touted as revolutionary by several game review websites and publications, and received such rewards as Game of the Year from GameSpot, GameSpy, and Cheat Code Central, and Best Action Game of 2001 by IGN, receiving an average of about 95% from the review websites and publications. http://www.take2games.com/index.php?p=news&page=5, http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/466217.asp?q=Grand%20Theft%20Auto

Related Topics:
GameSpot - GameSpy - IGN

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