Welcome back, Miami

 3731 days ago, on September 17th, 2013, a little bit over ten years ago, we witnessed videogame history with the release of Grand Theft Auto V. As quoted by IGN reviewer Keza MacDonald at the time: "it pushes the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 further than it has any right to, and it looks incredible.". I vividly remember all the different gameplay trailers showing up in my YouTube feed, me restlessly rewatching all of them to catch a glimpse of the tiniest details and potential things to come. Having spent hundreds of hours in the virtual rendition of NYC, Grand Theft Auto V was the new pinnacle of open-world gaming.

I normally don't care much for pre-orders. The amount of games I have pre-ordered in my life can literally be counted on one hand. The first game was Pokemon Diamond for the Nintendo DS in 2007, which conveniently released a mere 3 days after my birthday. The second game I have pre-ordered was the deluxe/collectors edition of Catherine (game developed by Atlus which combined puzzle and dating sim elements) in early 2012 for XBOX360 and contained some game-related paraphernalia like drink coasters, an art book and a way oversized t-shirt (I believe it was 3XL) which my girlfriend from that time was able to use as a t-shirt dress. It was literally that big. The third game? You guessed it. Grand Theft Auto V, for the XBOX 360. 

Having never went to a midnight release before and being a poor college student, I coughed up some old videogames (the store had a policy of offering discount on the purchase of a new game if you sold them a few old ones) and went ahead in the pouring rain around eleven 'o clock at night. Early enough, so I'd thought. I was kind of shocked upon arrival to see the queue literally going throughout the entire main shopping street. At twelve 'o clock sharp, I heard people applauding and cheering as the doors finally opened. Finally, I thought. It shouldn't take long, I thought. I thought wrong. At 1.30 in the morning it was finally my turn to pick up my new shiny copy of Grand Theft Auto V. I showed them the games I wanted to turn in for some discount. 'Sorry, not applicable on midnight releases', I was told. I eventually caved, spent the full amount (and lived on noodles and sandwiches for two weeks but it was so worth it) and returned home. 

You know how everyone used to read the backcover of new videogames in the car while on the way home as a kid because you were too eager to play the game? I did that, but by walking and reading at the same time. I don't recommend doing that. After removing the plastic I discovered the install disc which I had not anticipated upon. I decided to take a shower while waiting for the install so it wasn't much of a dealbreaker to me. Then, at 2.30/2.45 in the morning, I was finally able to get my first glimpse of Grand Theft Auto V. As I always did ever since my first minute of playing GTA, I drove around the map and completely ignored the missions (except the mandatory first few ones and cutscenes) and was blown away by the seemingly never ending roads, Los Santos, driving through the country side etc. At 5 in the morning I decided to call it a night, only to return to college three hours later. Some of my classmates had suffered the same fate. 'GTA syndrome', I asked? They all nodded. Did I know at that time that this game would be such an important form of expression for me just a few years later? Of course not. But boy, do I have some vibrant memories of this game. Playing it on XBOX360 in the early hours of the night. Playing it on computer years later, playing it with friends and family members on next-gen consoles, getting absolutely wrecked for no reason online and all the hours I dedicated towards the exploration of the map and machinima-making.

Train Drive, Regression 1 till 4, and many other films made by other machinimators over the years were conceived within this vast and magical world. This 'wow'-factor that GTA 5 had, which I experienced ten years ago with its highly anticipated release and numerous gameplay trailers, was present once again just a mere hour ago as I dived into the first look into what's in store for the future.

We've had NYC, we've had LA. Now, it's time for Vice City to shine. I can't believe it has been 21 wonderful years. (We don't talk about the definitive edition). It still takes a year and a half for its releasedate of April 2025 to commence, of course, and there are still many lingering questions in my head ("will there be a rockstar editor?", "what creative freedom will be given to the player?", "what machinima potential can be found?", "how will the post-production pipeline be?", "what activities can be done in game", "what will the map look like?", "how can the camera be manipulated?", "is it possible to create sets and adjust lights, props, actors etc"). It is unknown if the game will have a rockstar editor of some kind, what kind of gameplay activities will be included, what kind of QoL improvements will be included, what Online will look like, if it will blend (that's the question), what modes of transportation are found in the game (since Vice City did not have trains, planes or metros) etc. 

The game has been announced; something that many of us have been looking forward to for years and it's an absolute joy to look at. The new style used for the graphic design and the logo looks simply precious. The volumetric lighting, the classic neon aesthetic, vast improvement and diversity of character models; let alone the world itself. There is much more happening in such a small space. There are more npc's, more cars and more things going on in the background. Of course, there hasn't' been much of an outlook towards game play on the horizon (which will undoubtedly be shared over the course of 2024). It is safe to say, at least for me, that my brain has already turned into overdrive the moment I saw the trailer and over the course of its final development cycle I will be adding, adjusting and deleting numerous ideas for GTA VI machinima. I doubt the game will be playable on PC right away and only enjoy a console release at first and I doubt I will have a machine that is able to run the game at full speed around that time when that happens, but of course, GTA VI machinima such as new Regression installments and perhaps more story-based films will eventually be on the agenda. I hope the console versions get a Rockstar Editor but considering GTA 4 and 5 did not have this on the original console releases, I cannot be entirely certain and I hope Rockstar sheds some light on this later next year.

While San Andreas is my favorite GTA out of the 2000's 3D GTA games, Vice City was my first and is the one I consider the most special. It was my first introduction to open world gaming and 1980s music. Many of the tracks I've heard over the hundreds of hours I spent in-game are still without question unmissable in my spotify lists to this day. Think of Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Aneka, Yes, Micheal Jackson, the list goes on. It just hits the spot when you are driving around in your car, the sun is coming up, and you're driving past Ocean Beach while the classic 'Just the Five of us' ad or Billie Jean starts to play.

I am extremely excited to see the further gameplay and machinima potential for this game. Welcome back Miami. Welcome back Vice City.