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Episode 405: Grand Theft Auto III (Patreon)

Published:
2021-09-20 14:00:01
Edited:
2021-09-20 17:32:39
Imported:
2026-06
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I did not blink when the PlayStation 2 turned 20 years old in 2020, but now that some of its biggest hits are turning 20, these anniversaries are starting to get to me. Case in point: Grand Theft Auto III was originally released in October of 2001, after a brief delay caused by you-know-what.

I shouldn't be coy, as that eventful day in history will come up during our conversation about Rockstar's infamous open-world crime-em-up, and we did in fact record this episode on September 11, 2021. Ironic, or poetic justice? Probably a coincidence, as it was already September 12 in Japan at the time.

Native New Yorker Diamond Feit is our host this week along with regulars Jeremy Parish and Bob Mackey to tell the curious tale of how a small British developer turned a top-down driving game into a AAA global franchise. Honk if you love mob movies!

Art for this episode by Shaan Khan and edits by Greg Leahy.

Music credits:12:16 - Lemmings (Amiga): Smile if you Love Lemmings26:13 - Space Station Silicon Valley (N64): Penguin Playpen42:18 - Grand Theft Auto III: Opening Theme | Flashback 95.6: Rush Rush (Scarface OST)51:01 - Game FM: Scary Movies (Instrumental)58:39 - Lips 106: Joyride (Original GTA Theme)1:13:04 - Double Clef FM: O mio babbino caro (Puccini)1:19:26 - Flashback 95.6: Scarface (Push It To The Limit)Closing - Lips 106: Forever (Lucy)

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Comments

Komsomol General

The Retronauts A team on the sleeper hit of 2001.

Pontus Ottosson

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I just realised that I've subconciously been awaiting a Retronauts run-through of the GTA franchise. Please do more on the subject!

Andrew O.

I enjoyed the missions tied to vehicles like the taxi, cop car, fire truck, but especially the ambulance. Getting patients to the hospital would get really challenging. Luckily you could abuse the tank code to repeatedly spawn tanks and park them on the sidewalks. It would eat away at the memory, tank after tank, causing the spawning of normal traffic to reduce drastically. Not sure why the tanks in particular persisted in memory like that, but it made delivering patients much safer and easier.

VanDiagram

I never played GTA, and probably never will, but damn did I enjoy listening to you guys talk about it! Having Diamond take lead freshened it up, too. Great show all-around!

nw

Great job hosting, Diamond!

John Simon

Played GTA2 on PS1 and 3 seemed like a 3D evolution of 2, tanks and rival gangs and randomly placed flamethrowers all carried over. GTA:SA’s open world is a small miracle on the PS2. You could hear the CD drive constantly churning in response to your movements. Once I had CJ get launched into the air and he flew for a few hundred feet into an empty part of the landscape, only to bounce off an invisible wall. Five seconds later the wall loaded in along with the rest of the city surrounding it. Just another thing we’ll miss in these days of flash memory 😁

Brainwheeze

Good episode. One thing that confused me was when you were discussing the developers of the game and would mention some as being Scottish and others being "British". Did you mean English?

Ryan Hoye

Nice work hosting, Diamond! I love Jeremy and Bob hosting and would love more Diamond in the mix.

Virtual Balboa

Great episode! I remember being incredibly excited for GTA3. I was big into open world driving games like GTA, Midtown Madness 1 & 2 and Driver, so I was following this game during it's development. I was a Junior in college and spent literal weeks with my friends passing the gamepad around and causing as much mayhem of possible. One thing you didn't touch on were members of the gaming press that refused to give this series any respect. In the early days of Podcasting (late 06) there were several well known hosts from major outlets like IGN and 1Up that refused to play GTA or anything GTA esque because that genre of game was too crass. Naturally that didn't stop them from discussing and writing about said games. The phrase "I don't need to play it to know it's a bad game." was thrown around many times. It was infuriating.

CitizenMeh

A very enjoyable episode- Diamond did a great job in hosting, and it was nice that all three "Retronauts" had real experience with the game so could all fully contribute. I've actually never played the original GTA3 (I started with Vice City), but your point about it being an British perception of what American culture is like rings true. Back in 2001, UK culture, although obsessed with US media, still hadn't absorbed it so wholeheartedly into our day-to-day lives, so it still seemed somewhat of a an alien country - and just as some weebs exoticise Japan based on the anime they've watched rather than any real experience, many Brits had a very...Hollywood-skewed impression of the States. Now we've embraced craft beer, multiple flavours of ice-cream and the culture wars, I feel that gap has significantly narrowed and I wonder if a British developer would still be able to capture that "outsider-looking-in" perspective those early games did so well.

Taylor Garofalo

I thought I clicked on the GameCube minisode by accident when I heard Diamonds voice first. Great job hosting and a well put together podcast!

Christopher McDougall

I think this episode is a great summary of the GTAIII phenomenon. Diamond did a terrific job in hosting. As much as I love Bob and Jeremy, it's refreshing to have another person take the helm. Does this mean other retronauts such as fan favorite (to me at least) Stuart Gipp might host a future episode? Either way, I would love to hear Diamond host more episodes.

Alexander Pero

I was so surprised to hear Diamond opening this podcast! Had to make sure it wasn’t a “this week in retro” 😂 loved this podcast group, great work!!!

Michael Castleberry

I always felt like the main plot setup for this game was super similar to the Mel Gibson movie "Payback"

Cajun Baz

The making of Rockstar/DMA and even Take Two Interactive is more interesting than the games they've made. David Kushner, the author of Masters of Doom, also wrote Jacked, the story of GTA. Ryan Brant, the founder of Take Two, is the son of a billionaire. Supermodel Stephanie Seymour is his step-mom. The Housers' mom is Geraldine Moffat, a British actress who played Glenda in Get Carter (1971). The Housers went to St. Paul's (elite secondary school). With a lot of money and connections, they created these publishing houses because they wanted to be cool and stylish. They weren't developers but at this time, we're entering an era in gaming where being Jobs is more important than being Wozniak. GTA III, as produced by these over privileged kids, was the product that perfectly married their affinity for showbiz (see who their parents are) and their eagerness to be on the street fringe (even though they live in penthouses).