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Here's Some Stuff You Probably Didn't Know About 'Grand Theft Auto'

Here's Some Stuff You Probably Didn't Know About 'Grand Theft Auto'

What a game.

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay

Grand Theft Auto is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. It's no surprise really. How many hours have you spent on Grove Street? Or eating as much food as possible in Burger Shot? Or on Grand Theft Auto Online? Yeah. Exactly.

Just to put this all into perspective, the series has shipped more than 250 million units. That makes it the fourth-highest selling video game franchise of all time, only beaten to the top spot by Mario, Pokémon and, rather oddly, Tetris.

However, unlike the three game franchises above it, it's controversial. Very controversial. In fact, according to The Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008 and 2009, it's the most controversial video game series in history.

There's over 4,000 articles regarding the series, many of which accuse the game of glamorising violence,disrespecting women, and encouraging players to take part in real-life crimes.

This only made demand for the game shoot up.

It's been 20 years since the first GTA came out. Can you believe that? 20 years. In the original game, San Andreas was based on San Francisco and parts of Las Vegas. However, expansion packs later set the game in London.

There's probably quite a bit about the game that you don't know. So as a celebration, let's look as some interesting facts.

A Few Of The Characters Are Based On Rappers From Real Life

Remember OG Loc from San Andreas?


Credit: Rockstar Games

He's actually a parody of Ja Rule. And a pretty mocking one at that.


Credit: PA Images

For one thing, they're both called 'Jeffrey', they have similar mannerisms and Ja Rule was also accused of stealing rhymes and other style notes from frequent collaborator, DMX. Sound familiar? Yup, OG Loc stole lyrics from Madd Dogg.

This one's pretty easy to spot, but Ryder, from the same game looks awfully familiar too...


Credit: GTA Forums

Yup, that's legendary rapper Eazy-E from N.W.A. Music of his is also featured in the game. A pretty nice nod to him.

Loads Of Real Celebrities Have Been Involved

Do you remember that really weird bit in GTA: Vice City Stories with Phil Collins? Of course you do.

After completing a mission you can go back to Hyman Memorial Stadium at any time to see his performance of 'In The Air Tonight' for $6000 in-game cash.

Or you can watch it now for free...

Quite a few other celebrities have showed up over time. For example, Officer Frank Tenpenny, from San Andreas, was voiced by none other than Samuel L. Jackson.


Credit: Rockstar Games


Credit: PA Images

Danny McBride also stars in the games as Duane Earl, the host of Beyond Insemination on Blaine County Radio in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.


Credit: PA Images

He actually references his own cult TV show Eastbound and Down when he mentions he was his middle school's soccer coach while on air. For those of you who have seen the show, you'll know that this is the same story for McBride's character, Kenny 'motherfuckin' Powers.

Another radio station DJ, Tommy 'The Nightmare' Smith is voiced by none other than Axl Rose, Guns N' Roses frontman. He hosts the Los Santos based classic rock radio station K-DST.


Credit: PA Images

I could go on all day about other celebrity appearances in the games, like Ice T, Iggy Pop, Ray Liotta, but let's find out more interesting shit.

The Guy Who Voiced Michael Gained 25lbs Of Weight For The Role

Yup. Despite never actually being shown on screen, Ned Luke, who voiced Michael in GTA V, decided to gain 25lbs (nearly two stone) for his role. His reasoning was that he wanted to give an authentic impression of a guy who's past it and who hasn't been active for many years. Or maybe McDonald's Monopoly was on and this was his excuse, who knows.


Credit: Rockstar Games

Phone Calls On Radio Show WKTT Are Real And From Fans

In GTA IV, there's a radio show called We Know The Truth (WKTT) where people rant a lot. Remember? Well, a year before the game was released, Rockstar launched a fake website for the radio station and encouraged fans to call a phone number and rant about 'What's wrong with Liberty City, America, Liberals, or your health'.

GTA III Changed As A Result Of The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

You may remember that GTA III's release was delayed by a month. It should've come out on October 2, 2001, but eventually came out on October 22, 2001 for the PS2. But why? Well, they had to quickly make some last-minute changes as a result of the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.

Not only did they change the colour scheme of the police so that they no longer resembled NYPD officers or cars, but they also got rid of a mission which referenced terrorists.

They also changed the flight path of a plane that went close to some skyscrapers and removed some lines from the radio stations.

The Whole Game Concept Was An Accident

There's been some incredible GTA glitches in the past. However, the best one by far was what started the whole thing. I'll explain.

Back in 1995, DMA Designs (now Rockstar North) was developing a game called Race'n'Chase. A glitch was discovered where players could become a police officer or a criminal and chase each other in cars. It was more violent than they intended, with people being able to ram their opponents off the road, for example. Testing revealed that people fucking LOVED this aspect more than anything else.

They took this feedback, and reworked it so that the whole aggressive car chasing thing was more prominent and hey presto, here we are.

Grand Theft Auto is still one of the best franchises of all time. What's not to love? Yeah, it's controversial, but who cares?

Happy 20th birthday, GTA. Our childhoods wouldn't have been the same without you.

Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games

Topics: Grand Theft Auto