GamesMaster, on sale 1st September

We reported last month that UK magazine GamesMaster would feature a preview of Vice City Stories in their upcoming issue, and today we managed to learn of it's contents.

There are no new screenshots - and a majortiy of the details we already know - but there are a few interesting bits that are worth mentioning:

• One of the radio songs is by Blondie (zomg) but the final soundtrack has yet to be confirmed.
• Because VCS is set 2 years prior to VC, there are more poor areas in the city and some landmarks you know of are yet to be built. Places like Ocean Drive, Downtown and the Golf Course are still there - they just look a bit different.
• GM loves: it's double the size of Liberty City Stories with more vehicles, missions and music.
• GM hates: the controls are still likely to be more fiddley than playing on PS2.
• Some familiar faces will return, but most of the characters are new to the series.

This issue is only available to subscribers at the moment, but be sure to collect a copy on 1st September when it goes on sale for £3.49 - it's well worth the read.

Thanks to Ulitmate Taz (from NeoSeeker) for providing this information.

The six screenshots which appeared on CVG yesterday, have now been sent to GameDot, IGN and various other sites. You can now view the original [unwatermarked] copies in our screenshot gallery. We have also replaced one or two images in the artwork gallery with fullsize and higher-quality versions, so be sure to check that out also.

Can I please ask all PSM2 and/or GamesMaster (UK) magazine subscribers to email me (or PM me @ GTAForums) as soon as possible. Thanks, and stay tuned for all the latest news and info as it arrives.

GTAF member Medalion Man has recently posted a handful of Vice City Stories screenshots on our boards. Although they're not high-res like the screenshots adam mentioned a few days back, they are still of a better quality than the scanned-and-watermarked-to-hell ones that we've been dealing with over the past month or so.

In other news, according to the folks over at 1Up, it seems that Vice City Stories will not go the way of it's Liberty City predecessor. Although it may seem a bit premature, keep in mind that the forthcoming release of the PS3 means that the PS2 will be nudged out of the spotlight, much in the same way that the XBox was nudged aside when the 360 was released. In a nutshell, this means that VCS will remain a PSP exclusive.

Related links: New VCS screenshots, Topic regarding PSP exclusivity, 1Up Yours Podcast excerpt

Tired of looking at grainy, compressed, watermarked screenshot scans? Then you'll be pleased to hear that 4 digital screenshots of GTA:VCS have emerged online. Check them out:

Thanks to Jordan @ our partnersite PlanetGTA for these.

Thanks to Deano GTA-Master for this one:

There doesn't appear to be any new details, but there's a full-page advert towards the end which advertises next month's issue and shows some never-before-seen VCS artwork, so it's safe to say we can expect a preview and some new info/screenshots then. That issue goes on sale Thursday 28th September, so be sure to pickup a copy.

Link: GTAForums Thread

The VC-MP team are holding a public beta test all of this weekend for VC-MP v0.2! Goto ViceCityMultiplayer.com for details on how to install, and then connect to the following server:

· Server IP Address: 203.57.95.118
· Server Port: 5192

Vice City Multiplayer v0.2

Related Links: VC-MP IRC Chat; GTAForums

GamesTM are the latest magazine to preview Vice City Stories, with the only new information being that Phil Cassidy will feature (because he was seen in one of the load screens), Binoculars can be used at any time, there is a new rocket launcher, and there is a far greater selection of boats to choose from.

(Note: the Previews page has now been updated)

Related Links: GTAForums Topic; VCS:PSP

A recent article at Kikizo Games claims that Phillip Michael Thomas (of Miami Vice fame) will return as the voice behind Lance Vance. Kikizo cites games™ Magazine as the source of this information. The article, however, seems to have confused Lance Vance with Victor Vance, the latter of which is the actual protagonist for Vice City Stories. Quote:

“…the 57-year-old Thomas plays the lead role of Lance Vance, says a new report in GamesTM magazine. Thomas's Vance is an African American ex-Marine who is led to the shady side of the law by his brother, lured by the promise of easy money.”

This information is inconsistent with all of the coverage we’ve received thus far. Lance is not the lead character in Vice City Stories, his brother Victor is. Furthermore, from what we know, Vic has not yet left the Marines. According to the sources we’ve compiled over the past few weeks, the general assumption is that Victor is still part of the USMC.

Whether or not the inaccuracies stem from Kikizo or games™ is unknown, but the information itself should be treated as little more than rumours and hearsay at this point. It is rare for Rockstar to release information on casting this early, and combined with the inaccuracies in the article, it's easy to question the authenticity of the source.

The only bit of this article that is remotely believable, at this point, is the suggestion of Phillip Michael Thomas returning to provide the voice of Lance Vance.

Related links: Kikizo article, GTAForums topic

G'day, folks. Official Playstation2 Magazine (UK) is the second publication to feature information on Vice City Stories, less than a week after Australian GamePRO got the first hands-on look at the new Grand Theft Auto title. Most of the content is familiar ground, and echoes the details given by GamePRO - however, there are a handful of specifics that we're finding out about for the very first time.

Now for the rudimentary summary (including the bits we already know):

• Vice City Stories takes place in 1984, two years prior to the legacy of Tommy Vercetti.
• Many of the locations we’ve come to know and love from our first trip to Florida haven’t been completely built yet – or even started, for that matter.
• You can take to the air (helicopters!), seas (jet-skis!), and ground (completely new vehicles!) this time round.
• The main character of Vice City Stories is Lance Vance’s older, more badass brother, Victor Vance. He’s currently posted at Vice City, awaiting his departure to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
• Rockstar hints that the boys may have grown up in a low-income family. This is re-emphasized at the very beginning of Vice City Stories - you start the game off in an all-new locale; a trailer park.
• The article takes a shot in the dark and wonders if a looming closure of the trailer park (Avery Carrington, anyone?) may be responsible for the misadventures of the plucky Vance brothers.
• The third mission (Taking the Fall), as we know, features a local biker gang as the antagonists. Surprise surprise, it’s Mitch Baker’s band of hoodlums!
• Visuals have been grossly improved. Draw distance has increased, the resolution on signage has been upped, and the scenery is much more detailed.
• Issues regarding model clumping (seeing a whole whackload of peds gathered together on a street corner in some sort of twisted congregation of civilian look-alikes, for example) have also been addressed.
• Vice City Stories features its own fun fair/theme park/exhibition/whatever you want to call it. The important thing is that it has a huge ferris wheel – the Chunder Wheel - that you can ride in first person.

Related links: GTAForums thread, Vice City Stories forum

PS: As always, head on over to GTAForums and register yo’self up to participate in the ongoing discussion about Rockstar’s upcoming GTA title.

Salutations one and all. Tsuroki here, giving you the heads up on the trickle of content that is beginning to appear on the site regarding Vice City Stories, Rockstar's newest installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

As of right now, we have the characters, missions and features pages up n' running. The amount of content will be expanded and added to as more information and media becomes available.

In the meantime, though, you can keep tabs on the latest gossip and discussion regarding Vice City Stories on our forums. Our network community - GTAForums - is the largest Grand Theft Auto-oriented forum on the internet, and membership is absolutely free. So if you haven't registered, get your arse in gear and sign up.

Jordan over at PlanetGTA has made an interesting discovery which suggests that Ken Rosenberg will feature in GTA: Vice City Stories:

Ken's Office in Washington Beach

This is the sign which appears outside Ken's office in Washington Beach. Notice that it says "since: 1984", which means that Ken has been practicing law in Vice City since 1984 - the year when Vice City Stories takes place.

(View the full scans/screens/info etc. here)

Chris Stead (editor of GamePro Australia) has just informed users at GTAForums.com that his magazine will have all of the first details (plus shots) of GTA:VCS when it goes on sale tomorrow. Fortunately, JarJar was able to get his hands on an early copy.

Here is a detailed summary of the preview:

• The main character is Victor Vance, Lance's brother. In GTA: Vice City, Victor is killed by Diaz's goons at the very start of the game when a deal is ambushed. He is a 28 year-old US Marine.
• GTA: Vice City Stories is set in 1984, two years before GTA: Vice City took place.

GamePro (AU) is on-sale tomorrow

• Cutscene animations are said to be more life-like.
• There are many familiar landmarks which only appear half-built due to the timeframe.
• Vice City Stories will feature multiplayer similar to Liberty City Stories.
• There are new weather effects (hurricanes?)
• Vice City Stories features the ability to swim.
• All of the radio stations from GTA: Vice City will return, "loaded with a new set of killer tunes".
• Helicopters and jet-skis will both feature.
• GamePro also got the chance to preview several missions..
  • Mission 1: "Say Cheese" - Victor is after some etxra cash, and there is a job available over at the Film Studios on Prawn Island. They are filming a chocolate commercial and require a stuntman, so your task is to drive around the bay using a jet-ski while a helicopter above - with camermen on it - obtain all the footage they need. Afterwards you must jump onto a waiting motorbike, and continue the chase into the heart of the city.
  • Mission 2: "Jump Ship" - We learn that Brian Forbes, an associate of Vic and Lance, is an undercover cop. Lance kidnaps him and beats some useful information out of him. There's a drug deal taking place down at the docks, and Lance needs you to watch his back for him. The brothers goto a rooftop nearby, where you must pickup binoculars to spy on their activities. Lance screws it up, and the dealer escapes on a speedboat with the kidnapped Lance. Get in the sports car and give chase - the car physics have been improved significantly. The chase eventually leads to a large moored tanker, where a shootout takes place and you must rescue Lance.
  • Mission 3: "Taking the Fall" - This mission is similar to Phnom Penh '86 in (GTA: Vice City) except this time your role has been reversed - you're flying the chopper while Lance acts as the shootist. You must fly low in the chopper and hold it steady while Lance takes out a local biker gang. Eventually Lance finds himself down on the ground, surrounded by a group of bikers.
  • Mission 4: "Turn On, Tune In, Bug Out" - In this mission you must buy a rocket launcher and take out the recievers at the cop shops across town. Car sections, helicopter flights and heavy explosions are all a part of this mission.
• There didn't appear to be any evidence of car customisation, nor the ability to climb walls.
• Trip-skips are back, where taxis return you to your last mission post-death.
• Loading times during the exterior-interior transition are a lot quicker than in LCS, and loading times in general have improved.
• There is an activity called the "Chunder Wheel". Jumping on for a ride puts you in first-person perspective.
• There is an increased density of pedestrians, cars and objects (vegetation in particular) and a reduction in clumping (where groups of the same model type appear together)
• The draw distance has improved yet again..
• Vice City Stories features more interiors than Liberty City Stories..
• Car and environment damage have been improved.
• The cast-list has yet to be revealed by R*

Victor in GTA: Vice City

Who is Victor Vance?

Victor Vance made his first appearance in the GTA series at the beginning of GTA: Vice City. There was a deal going down by the docks, and the Vance brothers were one of the parties involved. The deal was ambushed however, and Victor failed to make it out alive.

In GTA: Vice City, it is implied that Lance does not always get on with his brother. Lance said that Victor would "patronize" him and "treat him like a little kid". Victor is head of the Vance Crime Family, which consists of only two members - him and his brother.

Jordan from our partnersite PlanetGrandTheftAuto has posted an article that gives a background on the Vance brothers, so be sure to check it out.

Jordan has also uploaded the GTA: Vice City intro movie, which contains the only scene in the game where Victor Vance is present. Click here to watch it.

Related Links: GTAForums Topic; GamePro Website