Welcome to GTANet’s Chatterbox, our interview series where hosts uNi, Spider-Vice, and Kirsty sit down and get personal with notable people from the GTANet and Rockstar Games community, or even Rockstar Games themselves! From the well-loved to the unknown, Chatterbox is all-inclusive.

Today we bring you an exciting interview with the one and only DJ Pooh! With a background in hip hop music production, writing, and directing, DJ Pooh’s creative influence on the Grand Theft Auto series spans almost two decades now. First collaborating with Rockstar Games to write for GTA San Andreas back in the day, he’s since made his mark with further writing contributions for GTA V and GTA Online, as well as hosting in-game radio station West Coast Classics and playing a major part in The Contract DLC with Dr Dre last year. He can also be thanked for encouraging his friends Young Maylay and Shawn Fonteno (CJ and Franklin) to audition for their roles as protagonists.

DJ Pooh’s enthusiasm for the series as both a fan and a long-time friend of the company is something to be admired, so much respect to him for everything he has and continues to bring to GTA. Now, let’s hear from the man himself!

GTANet: You have worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry and on one of GTANet’s most beloved games in the franchise: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. How important was the relationship between music and the series, helping it grow to be the giant Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto: Online are today?

Man, the music is 50% of that game, I feel like. It’s hard to say that because the game is just so massive and so amazing and it’s just everything. But then the music – nobody in gaming does music like Grand Theft Auto. I’ve always been a huge fan of how music goes in the game, but also how good it is.
People out here love the radio stations.  Some people say GTA radio is better than real life radio. It’s so crazy, you notice like you want to make everybody happy with such a broad game and that’s a hard thing to do, something nobody can accomplish. But I feel like GTA does that better than anybody, you always gonna have your hip hop guys but then the hard rock guys came in hard, man saying, “hey, hold on, man where’s our rock shit,” but it all comes around full circle all the time and everybody loves it, man. There’s something for everybody in there and it’s not just the songs that you knew were the singles off of albums and shit, it’s also those cuts that you don’t even think of, that people don’t even notice like, “oh, wow was that on that album?” You find gems in there, man. It’s like getting an education at the same time, because you get the samples and stuff like that in some of the newer records and then you can go flick over to some of the old school, lowrider stuff, and hear some of the original songs that came from that is too cool. When you go from there to there, you’re really doing something major in music. I feel like nobody else is doing music like that today, even music isn’t doing music like we doing music today.

GTANet: The West Coast Classics radio station in GTA Online received a couple of changes for The Contract DLC, how well was that received? Did it get the reaction from the fan base you were hoping for?

 People absolutely love the changes and it made me feel like we can start changing the music now and doing more and that, because the way people reacted to it. And the way Rockstar Games does all these cool-ass updates and stuff is phenomenal, especially when the music is able to update with it too. That means everything because the music is such an intricate part of the game. Yes, people definitely loved the Dre songs and the integration, not just being the music playing in the background somewhere but as Easter eggs, and the integration and the whole storyline, and they really having a vibe and feeling something of reality is – man I love it.

GTANet: You appeared physically in the GTA Online: The Contract DLC, with cutscenes and voice, can you talk about your experience? How was it seeing yourself immortalised as a character in GTA? (Plus the mythical DJ Pooh tee!)

 Oh my God. Being such a fan, I’ve been playing this all the way back when it was just 2D [Grand Theft Auto], like Pac-Man where you walk the player from above and you’re kinda going around the shrubs and stuff. And that was just the coolest thing. I used to play that back in my studio, Snoop and us would be in there, they’d be playing the basketball and the football, and I’ll be playing that too, but then I go straight back to [GTA], it was just my thing. I was a big fan of it and to see it just grow into what you know it is, it’s just amazing, man.

And to imagine being able to be in it and be a part of it was a dream come true, man. I’m a real fan of the game as you can hear in the passion of my voice, I’m a huge fan of GTA. First I play’em all, I love ‘em all. I was like, this is gonna be the future. Being a filmmaker, it makes me go, “oh shit,” I was jealous because this is better than films. This shit’s double, I’m in the movie right now, and so to be playing the game and then to see myself in the game was like a double, “what the fuck” like that is the coolest thing ever.

(On the DJ Pooh Tee) I love that shit so much being in the game, cause that [DJ Pooh] t-shirt goes back 35 years and it hasn’t changed at all, it’s the same shirt from back in the day and people that didn’t know it or remember it, they know it, but people are just getting introduced to it. They like the shirt. People send me pictures on Instagram and on Twitter and all the social media stuff, and when they have that shirt on, bro the way that make me feel, I just go, “oh, wow!” It’s the same shirt I’ve been rocking man from way back in the day, man. Same exact shirt, orange shirt.

GTANet: How was your experience with working with Dr. Dre again, but in a completely new industry? 

Dre is the person that put the first drum machine in my hand and showed me how to work it. Dre got me into producing music and is just a great friend of mine, man. My whole entire music career, Dre and I have been connected in some way. Dre’s never put out a record without playing that whole record for me before he put it out and got my opinion and I value that so much. He sends me music, I’m trusted with it. I love Dre, he is my brother.

I’ve been working with Rockstar for almost 20 years and to be able to bring these two together, this is the best of the best, the best shit in music, the best shit in games, it’s like pulling two of the homies together. Oh my God, it was just dope.

I’d been trying to do it for so long, Dre’s not a gamer, so he really didn’t get it. But when I took that PlayStation to his house and he saw us playing, he couldn’t believe all the stuff you could do. He was just like, “holy shit, this is the real deal.” And then when he heard all the music, I really started flossing with the stations going between this, that FlyLo here and that stuff, he just lost it when he hears me and Big Boy, he said, “I want my own station!” He was all in because he got it, he saw it was really cool, really fun, and he said, “man, I had no idea. ” From that point with Dre saying, “I wanted to do it,” it was just like, wait a minute this might really happen. Seeing it come together and being a part of it with Dre mocapping inside of a studio that was built in a mocap room, like a full studio, like who does this?

GTANet: Do you think his experience will help other people change their minds about working with games?

I think so. And I think people will see the potential in music. The marriage between music and games is just as good, if not better, than the marriage between music and film or any other medium out there. The more you look at it, music doesn’t stand in the place it once did for many reasons, it’s not the same, it’s smaller, but it’s bigger – it’s strange. Coming from music, to see something that still has that traditional thing where, you know, it’s not to just throw everything at you, but it’s curated in a way as if someone cared, I like that.

It feels special, man. It feels special. I know a lot of the artists whose music make it into the game, I know these artists and they’re so happy. And so that integration has always just been one of the best natural things I feel between music and gaming, but then being able to actually be in the game with Franklin, Lamar, me, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, all on a golf course and doing all this, plus we built Dr. Dre’s studio in the game. Like you can go in there and just be chilling in Dr. Dre’s actual studio. This is something that I dreamed about, thinking like one day this will be happening. And man, that day is now!

GTANet: Do you have a favorite game in the GTA series? Which one is it and why?

 You really gonna make me do this, I feel trapped! It’s really hard because it’s three of them really. it’s hard to decide between the three, but if I had to decide, first of would be GTA V of course, then Vice City, I fucking love Vice City, and then San Andreas. There’s something so special about that game. All of them are special, but it’s kind of like your first, that’s right when I linked up with Rockstar and got opportunity to work with them. San Andreas was just so ahead of its time before everybody started trying to rip Rockstar off, and it just set the tone – the future is big. That game just means so much and to have had one of the little homies that that I grew up with be able to come in and play CJ in the game, that was just a special thing, too.

And just being a fan of the game and all the cool music that went into it – it was so west coast. The guys from Rockstar came out and we did everything – we flew choppers around so we could really map out everything with attention to detail. They met all these wonderful, cool people in all these different neighborhoods and communities and stuff and they wasn’t afraid to do it, they came out and they did it right. I really just love the way that whole experience unfolded for the first time.

Plus, to have a lead black character in something so big and anticipated and cool, and the way it was done with Samuel Jackson as Officer Tenpenny it was phenomenal. It’s better than any movie that came out at that time, and it’s still a lot of people’s favorite game. I still play it! And so to be able to play that, it’s just the best nostalgia and just the coolest thing. I’m out there with the Ballas and Grove Streets, I’m having a good time. I freaking love that game. 

So I’d have to say between that one and GTA V, but I don’t wanna lose Vice City, it was so Miami. It was so cold, bro.

A massive thanks to DJ Pooh for taking the time to answer our questions, and again to Rockstar Games for their continuous support in arranging these interviews!

Follow DJ Pooh on Twitter and Instagram!

Previously on Chatterbox
Roger Clark, Razed, TezFunz, Zoobz, Vinewood_Motors

The post Chatterbox: GTANet Interview with DJ Pooh appeared first on GTANet.com.

This week on 29th April, Grand Theft Auto IV celebrated its 14th anniversary! Crazy, isn’t it? It certainly doesn’t feel like 14 years… Telling us the story of Niko Bellic, an immigrant who moved to Liberty City to try and have a peaceful life away from all the troubles back home, along with his cousin Roman Bellic, only to be unexpectedly re-visited by the ghosts of his past and a disappointing “American Dream.” To this day, it’s still considered one of Rockstar’s best storylines to date.

This week, in the 14th anniversary of this Rockstar masterpiece, we’ll be showing off how the community is still showing off the sights, characters, and more of GTA IV’s Liberty City. Enjoy!

Post your photos on GTAForums or use the #GTAOnline / #RedDeadOnline / #RedDeadRedemption2 hashtags on Twitter and you might see your efforts highlighted in future GTANet Snap Saturdays!

The post Snap Saturday: Perhaps Here, Things Will Be Different appeared first on GTANet.com.

Unexpectedly, Mark Zuckerberg announced a collaboration with Rockstar Games to bring GTA San Andreas to virtual reality. The game is currently in development for the Oculus Quest 2 (soon to be known as the Meta Quest), the company’s VR headset. The project has apparently be a long time coming, according to the Oculus blog.

Yet to be confirmed is whether the game is actually the Classic San Andreas released in 2004, or the Definitive Edition that’s due for release in just under 2 weeks time – the timing of the announcement sits just right for the remaster, but the surrounding wording is not very clear. Oculus were unable to clarify this on their Twitter account, so perhaps this information will come from Rockstar themselves in due course. We’re also not sure of an intended release date, and whether the game will be exclusive to Oculus or if it’s set to come to Playstation VR as well.

While we’re a little short on details thus far, the announcement certainly took the community by surprise, so we’re excited to see how this one plays out.

Discuss with the community on GTAForums

Header from @uNiGTANet

The post GTA San Andreas Goes VR! appeared first on GTANet.com.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of GTA III (it’s tomorrow, in fact!), the community has been sweating in anticipation for the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition to be revealed. We’re still not sure when that might be exactly, but it should be very soon. As we try to bide our time until then, the media is also celebrating the original games’ releases by cranking up the nostalgia, and Features Writer Joe Donnelly of GamesRadar has kindly featured two communities that have been pillars of GTAForums over the years: the GTA Chain Game, and the Design Your Own Mission (DYOM) modding community.

>> Meet the GTA 3 players who’ve spent a decade playing pass-the-pad to 100% the game <<

>> Meet the GTA: San Andreas mission-making community who has built an MCU-style multiverse <<

Both of these articles feature a run down of each communities’ history, showing their dedication to the scene and highlights just how important they remain today as places for fans to come together and collaborate. There’s also interviews with key contributors including GTAKid667 (Chain Game Chief and GTAForums Moderator), thehambone, Target13 and RithRake24.

Have yourself a read and support the tweets below, and if you like what you see, you’re most welcome to join in and take part yourself. It’s lovely to see long-standing communities such as these recognised; I’m personally looking forward to seeing how they can continue to flourish once the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition arrives.

The post Community Spotlight: Chain Game & DYOM Featured by GamesRadar appeared first on GTANet.com.

If you’re a regular in GTA social media circles, chances are you’ve heard about the recent events in which Take-Two Interactive, wholly owners of Rockstar Games’ titles, are taking legal action against a group of programming enthusiasts responsible for reverse engineering GTA III and GTA Vice City. The work-in-progress projects, known as re3 and reVC, were first shared on code repository website GitHub at the beginning of the year. Praised by the wider modding community as well as the media, it allowed for modders to make adjustments and improvements to the games at source, as opposed to a “regular” mod, and enabled porting to devices previously unused by the franchise such as the Nintendo Switch and Wii U.

Matters were shortly complicated after they hit headlines, however, as the team were issued with a DMCA takedown notice of copyright infringement via GitHub and the repository was subsequently removed. Without knowing too much about the specifics personally, the idea of reverse engineering is apparently a grey area when it comes to matters of copyright, though this can depend on the regulations of the country in which the code is created and shared from. The team reportedly sought legal advice and then filed a counter-claim to GitHub with the understanding that reverse engineering is fair-use as it would require a legitimately purchased copy of the games to utilise the amended code. GitHub later sided with the modders on the matter, though I’m not aware of the finer details on how this came to be, with re3 and reVC being re-instated and shareable once more.

Some months later to last week, on 2^nd September, it was shared across Twitter that further action from Take-Two had been filed to court to determine final resolution to their initial takedown request of the projects. The lawsuit documents, which are available to the public, allege that the projects are subject to copyright infringement and DMCA violations, and Take-Two are seeking financial damages in a trial by jury.

These events, for many, are but another “nail in the coffin” when it comes to modding GTA, or other Take-Two-owned titles, as modders and mod-users ponder their position in what once was a very enthusiastic and dedicated community. Creators that received similar news through DMCA notices of their mods on popular hosting websites ModDB and GTA5Mods back in July are now extremely concerned that they too will be named in a lawsuit in due time, given the fact that their mods are still available on other outlets. The team responsible for the GTA:Underground mod have also notified the community that they are ceasing development out of their fears for being included.

Feedback across the discussion topic on GTAForums has been less than positive, as expected, with the community now at the point where they feel further clarification is needed from Take-Two on the limits of modding due to the actions taken this year against those that feel they are amongst the most hardcore and loyal players of the fanbase. Some modders have gone to the extent of feeling as though it’s time to “retire” from creating mods, and that they can no longer publicly support Take-Two-owned products at the expense of those named in the lawsuit due to the potential financial hardship they are facing.

From a realistic standpoint, those with a better idea of legal matters including virtual law YouTuber Richard Hoeg and game developer Modern Vintage Gamer, have made detailed videos stating that while the moral aspects of suing are questionable, Take-Two as a corporation are within their rights to claim copyright infringement in order to protect their products due to the ToS and EULA of the games themselves prohibiting reverse engineering. They take issue with the lawsuit claiming the projects promote piracy despite informing users they must own a real copy of the games, but they agree that the case will be very difficult to defend from the modder’s perspective due to strict US laws, where the lawsuit has been filed, and counter-claiming a DMCA from corporation of this size would have been ill-advised to begin with.

So where do we go from here? In general, we’re at a bit of an impasse as observers of these events, due to court proceedings already being set in motion. Ideas of boycotts, review bombs and crowdfunding are being thrown around, but my own advice to the community at this moment in time would be to steer clear of inserting ourselves into lawsuits, which are often expensive and complicated enough already, while the team focus on what is required of them. The best course of action is for them to secure legal representation before the case moves forward, in hope of achieving the least imposing outcome for themselves in what may be a clear-cut decision for the jury at trial. It’s entirely possible that an agreement of some sorts could be arranged as well, or a settlement out of court, similar to that of the Red Dead Redemption mod creator whom was sued in 2019, in order to bring closure to the situation as long as the team cease any further attempts at sharing the original projects in the future.

What could this mean for modding overall, is even more difficult to say. It’s not immediately clear whether the flexibility on what kinds of mods are supported will be tightened any further following the recent DMCA takedowns, given this case is specifically against reverse engineering. Spirits are at an all-time low amongst the modding community, who at large agree that while Take-Two “can” take this kind of action, it doesn’t mean that they “should”, since at the foundation of the majority of mods is love for the franchise, not malicious intent. Events have been exposed by several gaming media websites as it stands, though further comment or clarification from Take-Two is not likely given the pending case.

Actions do have consequences**, which is a thought I wish the team had more carefully considered at the beginning of this road, but now is not the time for “I told you so”, even if it feels like things should be different. It would be against my nature however to wish ill-will or financial difficulty on any of the team, so I’m sure the community will join me in wishing them all the best possible outcome in this unfortunate case.

**It has been suggested to me that these particular words are rude and/or appear to be gloating towards the modding community – I would just like to add that this in no way my intention for this article; this commentary wasn’t published to determine what is true or false about the lawsuit itself, but just to lay bare a simple timeline of events from an outsider’s perspective. I admire and support the modding community for their skills and dedication to creating fun projects for other players to enjoy, which has been an integral part of GTANet for two decades. It is simply a difference of opinion on how I would have personally approached this situation if I was involved myself from the beginning, but that does not mean I claim to speak for everyone – others are free to hold their own opinions on how or why things have escalated to this point based on the information shared here and elsewhere. Thank you.

This article will be updated should we learn any further or relevant information.

The post From Mods to Morals to Lawsuits: A Summary of Recent Events appeared first on GTANet.com.

Born in 1936 in Jamaica, he was one of the biggest names in the Reggae scene, being touted as a genre reinventer by many. Part of The Upsetters, Lee “Scratch” Perry had several hits in GTA games spanning from GTA: London 1969, to having another in K-JAH West from GTA San Andreas, to being the host of the Blue Ark radio station in GTA V.

In Grand Theft Auto, he featured as:

• The Upsetters – Return of Django (Bush Sounds, GTA: London 1969);
• The Upsetters – Dollar in the Teeth (Bush Sounds, GTA: London 1969);
• Max Romeo & The Upsetters – Chase the Devil (video above, K-JAH West, GTA San Andreas);
• Lee “Scratch” Perry – I am a Madman (Blue Ark, GTA V);
• Lee “Scratch” Perry – Disco Devil (Blue Ark, GTA V);
• The Upsetters – Grumblin’ Dub (Blue Ark, GTA V);
• Lee “Scratch” Perry – Money Come and Money Go (Blue Ark, GTA V);
• Lee “Scratch” Perry – Roast Fish & Cornbread (Blue Ark, GTA V).

We send our condolences to family and friends, and may he rest in peace, knowing that he will be remembered for all the contributions he’s done to the Reggae scene, in and out of Grand Theft Auto games.

You can check out more info on all his contributions in the Rolling Stone article.

The post Lee “Scratch” Perry Passes Away Aged 85 appeared first on GTANet.com.

The rumour mill has been spinning, and as a result, so has the nostalgia mill. They both are spinning so fast lately, that we thought it would probably be a nice idea to go back in time. Way back in 2001, 2002 and 2004, people were already taking screenshots of the early GTA games – the gloomy landscapes of GTA 3’s Liberty City, the sunny (but rather hurricane-y at the beginning) estates of Vice City, or the vast landscapes of San Andreas – with free camera mods on PC, just straight up direct-feed images on any platform, or using the camera introduced in GTA San Andreas that allowed you to save images on your PC, PS2 Memory Card or Xbox hard disk.

To this day, these games maintain their charm, and many people still go back to them to relive the many, many hours spent with them, me included! I honestly can’t count how many hours of GTA San Andreas I’ve played since 2004, on all platforms from PS2 to PC to Xbox, modded and unmodded. Likely thousands! Causing mayhem, replaying all the missions, modding sports cars, racing, trying to find the non-existing Bigfoot, among many other things.

We hope you enjoy this collection of new and old pictures of the classics that highlighted our childhoods, and even adulthoods!

In this case, snaps are handpicked from Twitter and GTAForums, including from old topics about the games that may still have their images up. A much, much more difficult choice than your usual Snap Saturday due to the age of some of the images! Enjoy!

The post Snap Saturday: The Trilogy Classics appeared first on GTANet.com.

It began around the 8^th July when it was reported on Twitter that mod-hosting database GTA5-Mods.com received a DMCA notice from Take-Two to remove two Grand Theft Auto V mods, Vice City Remastered and San Andreas Remastered, from their website. The purpose of these mods were to “remaster” the original VC and SA maps and update them using GTAV’s engine. At the time, the commotion out of this news mainly danced around the idea of this confirming the possibility of 3D-era remasters or remakes of Rockstar’s own potentially being announced.

Fast forward to this weekend, and a new sweep of DMCA notices were served to GTA5-Mods once again and now also to ModDB.com, affecting several more mods including GTA Underground, GTA Liberty City, Vice Cry, GTAV Bullworth and more. All of these mods involve updating or improving upon 3D-era assets or porting their maps to GTAV. Subsequently the community has reacted to this news with concern and a feeling that all kinds of mods are now at risk of being shelved in the future. Several gaming media outlets, including PC Gamer, Game Informer and Eurogamer amongst others have already reported on the developing story, and a topic on GTAForums.com has received over 40,000 views.

Now, it is worth noting here that a DMCA notice is a copyright infringement, similar to when you record and post video online containing licenced music that you have no right to share; it would get DMCA flagged as removed by the “owner” of that music. This is different to a cease-and-desist order that was previously sent to the OpenIV team, which essentially forces creators to stop all development and sharing or be served with legal action. Luckily the decision against OpenIV was reversed back in 2017 and prompted clarification on modding to be added to the Rockstar Support website. It was last updated in 2019 to add point (iv), which includes maps:

As it stands with this group of mods at the date of posting this article, “only” DMCA notices have been sent to the mod-hosting websites we’ve mentioned thus far. As far as we are aware, their project websites, sharing platforms such as Google Drive and even their linked files that are shared on our own Featured Mods area of GTAForums.com have not been affected nor any removals requested. The individual mod authors have also not been contacted by any legal teams of Take-Two personally, so they are understandably concerned and confused about what this may mean for the future of their mods.

Of course this could change at any moment over the coming weeks and we will inform the affected teams if our own platform is approached with a request – but it’s not really our place to say or answer for without a formal update from Take-Two at this current moment in time. It is thought by some of us who are monitoring the situation that this may be a “soft” takedown in order to prevent or control how easily these mods can be accessed by the wider community.  “Why now?” is what most are asking given some of these mods are almost as old as the franchise itself; is it because of a policy change that is once again attempting to limit or restrict the depths that modding can go to with Take-Two owned assets? Or is it because there actually is an announcement on the horizon of remastered or remade games, causing Take-Two to batten down the hatches on projects that may affect the sales or marketing of the re-emergence of some of the most important games in the industry’s history?

Regardless of what is happening, how things may unfold or change as the community keeps watch, GTANet’s position in the modding community has always been central since our inception – we have always supported and encouraged singleplayer modding, creating subforums and a hosting site of our own for the community to utilise, platforms that are still used to this day.

As a side note, what we will not support is the toxicity that spreads from these kinds of events from certain members of the community that wish to use other players, game developers and even us as a fansite as scapegoats for actions that we have no say or influence over.  It’s very unfortunate and disappointing to us that ongoing discussions have been marred by this, and unfortunately lead to the closure of the discussion topic on GTAForums.com. Over the last days we have had to witness threats of death and abuse, insults and questions over our integrity as a platform simply for not writing this article you’re reading at this very moment sooner than is expected. Anger is best filtered by constructive action rather than harmful words, and targeted harassment will not be tolerated by us regardless of outcome, so we hope the community can learn from this digression and turn it into something hopeful going forward.

In any case, given that modding is such a dedicated community within GTA and has even contributed to the careers of game developers around the world in some form or another, our final stance is that we are certain there is a cause here that could be explained by those responsible to do so, and all we can do is hope for some kind of resolve as feedback continues. The relationship between Take-Two and the modding community has not always been smooth, the curiosity and desire to investigate has caused a number of problems when it comes to the dark side of modding, such as leaks, cheating, hacking and exploitation of the online portions of GTA, which in themselves cause frustration. However, I think it would be safe for me to state with conviction that a majority of the community would be disappointed if the wider policy of singleplayer modding has changed within the company, and we would be saddened for those who are genuinely hurting over the time and effort they have put into freely creating projects for the rest of the community to share and enjoy. If I could, I would appeal to Take-Two to help us reassure the modding community that creativity and expression is not at stake at this time of distress, as much as I would implore the community themselves to practice patience and civility when banding together in protest for matters that are important to them.

This article will be updated with any new developments, should the need arise.

Updated: 2nd August 2021

Today, Take-Two held the first of their quarterly earnings conference calls for the current fiscal year. This mostly concerns financial reporting for shareholders and investors, and not the time or place for any news to break, however one analyst (Mike Hickey of The Benchmark Company) took it upon themselves to ask about the recent modding DMCA notices during an open Q&A at the end of the call. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, answered with the following:

“In terms of take downs, we’re pretty flexible, frankly. That said, if the economy is threatened, or if there is bad behaviour—and we know how to define that— then we would issue a takedown notice.”

This may not actually address the recent events specifically, as no particular mods or modding types were mentioned in the answer; it’s more of a re-iteration of the modding policy we’re already aware of, though reduces things down to the company being open to modding unless it directly conflicts with business or there is abuse. This unfortunately doesn’t clear up or clarify anything for us just yet, but we thought it would be worth taking note of in this article anyway, as statements such as these are not always easy to come by and it may be the last we hear about this situation in an official capacity.

The discussion currently continues in a new topic on GTAForums.

The post The People vs Take-Two: Redux appeared first on GTANet.com.

Grand Theft Podcast is an all new talk show that takes a “rose tinted look back over the games so far” from the perspective of two Scottish hosts you somehow feel instantly familiar with as soon as they mention the words Grand Theft Auto.

In Grand Theft Podcast, we’re introduced to Gareth and Gary; they’re independent from any fansites and aren’t trying to break any news, so you’re already guaranteed a distinct lack of bullsh*ttery on that front! Grand Theft Podcast is professionally and cleanly edited, flows well and carries an old school vibe that is easy to listen to. They mainly focus on what they lovingly call “the Holy trilogy” of the 3D-era, all the experiences that came with playing GTA games when they first released versus playing now all these years later, along with general discourse regarding the modern HD era, rumours about the future and the Rockstar Games brand.

For some reason I can’t put my finger on, Grand Theft Podcast reminds me a bit of GTA V O’clock, the video series curated by CVG/GamesRadar back in the early days of 2013. During that magical time where both pre-release hype and the lack of official information filled the atmosphere, presenters Dan Dawkins and James Jarvis gave us something nostalgic yet exciting to engage with each week, and eventually rounded off with an exclusive preview of the game itself from Rockstar.

So, if you fancy blessing your ears with this new podcast, tune in to Grand Theft Podcast on a weekly basis via Apple, Acast, Deezer or Stitcher. Episodes are normally around an hour or more in length so there’s plenty to chew on. Gareth and Gary have released 5 episodes so far, and we’ve linked their landing pages below. You can also have chinwag with them yourself and email in questions for topics of discussion through their Twitter and Instagram pages.

Twitter: @GrandTheftPod
Instagram: @GrandTheftPodcast

Apple Podcasts
Acast
Deezer
Stitcher

The post Community Spotlight: Grand Theft Podcast appeared first on GTANet.com.

Before that however, Rockstar Games has announced that new content is coming for both Red Dead Online and GTA Online in the upcoming weeks!

GTA Online

For this title, Rockstar has announced some fan-requested additions, along with quality of life fixes, a host of new items, new races and maps for those who are into the Deadline, Cunning Stunts and Survival game modes.

A tuning-focused updated has also been teased, as Rockstar says that “car culture is back on the streets in a big way, with new opportunities for fans of performance and customization upgrades to get together with like-minded gearheads to test and show off their rides free from interference from authorities and other troublemakers. The renewed interest is bringing a new underground car meet into the area, along with new additions to the local racing scene — and demand for stolen vehicles has never been higher.”

The first host of updates for GTA Online is coming on May 27th, including eight new Stunt Races. After, Deadline will get seven new arenas and Survival will also expand to new locations around Los Santos and Blaine County.

Red Dead Online

For Red Dead Online, Rockstar are releasing eight new Races, covering locations around the five states of the game. New Standard Races will be introduced, along with new Open Races, i.e. you determine the best way to take and collect those checkpoints, a la Midnight Club.

New Target and Open Target Races are also coming, available to everyone on May 25th.

Later in the Summer, just like GTA Online, Rockstar will be adding a host of new missions to Red Dead Online – you will be working for Angelo Bronte’s (who you may recognise from Story Mode), trusted lieutenant – Guido Martinelli.

Some more things…

The Internet and GTAForums have been buzzing with theories about what’s happening for the anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III, the game truly shot GTA to fame. The truth is, Rockstar has officially announced some very nifty surprises in honour of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto 3. Make of that, what you will.

The Expanded & Enhanced versions of GTA V and GTA Online will be arriving on the next generation consoles on November 11th as referred to before. There is no word of a PC release yet, but we expect that to happen a few months after release.

GTA Online will also be becoming standalone, just like Red Dead Online, and while it will be available for everyone on all platforms, it will be exclusively free on the Playstation 5 for a limited period of time at release!

Stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire and discuss it all on GTAForums, for all the latest news and speculation!

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