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.

PC and Xbox ports

The PC version of the game, released on May 21, 2002, has been criticized for performance problems, especially in light of the much smoother performance of the next game in the GTA series, '. This was due to technical issues; the game engine rendered everything within the draw distance, even things hidden behind buildings or trees, whereas ' only rendered what could actually be seen. The PC version does, however, support higher resolution textures and a custom option for MP3s.

Related Topics:
May 21 - 2002 - Game engine - Draw distance

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The Xbox version was initially supposed to be released in spring 2002 but it was shelved when Sony signed an agreement with Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games' parent company), making the GTA series a PlayStation 2 exclusive until November 2004. However, the agreement was amended in 2003 and the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack containing both GTA III and Vice City was released for PS2 and Xbox in December 2003. The Xbox version of the Double Pack has improved audio, polygon models, and reflections over the PC and PS2 versions of the game. The Double Pack was not released for PC.

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