[quote name='TurkFebruary']thats the exception to the rule. Look at recent trends: their biggest games of the last 5 years have been GTA4, Red Dead, LA Noire, Max Payne 3, none of which were released in the same year. And also, 11 years ago, GTA wasn't the phenomenon it is now so it wasn't really considered major. Plus, wasn't R* still a pretty new company at that point?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, GTA II (I think) was Rockstar's first game as Rockstar. I remember playing GTA and GTA II on my Windows 95 machine. As well, I think Max Payne 3 was Rockstar's first developed Max Payne. The other two were some Finnish company that had a Lucasarts-esque logo. But yeah, GTA III was what launched Rockstar, and for the most part, the genre. I loved that game, but it's funny because it's one I cannot go back and play today. Same with Vice City, or even San Andreas. Too many things in modern games make them feel archaic. 3D games just have a tendency to not age well, whereas I can play GTA I and II fine, or NES/SNES/Genesis, but not so much PSX or PS2 outside of RPGs.
I'll be interested to see if they're remastered for gameplay to feel more like IV, or just a straight dump of a PS2 disc. After playing Saints Row 3, I really have had trouble going to older sandbox games. I tried Just Cause 2 with the PS+ freebies, and just couldn't play it, I think I beat the first mission and that's it. Hopefully they remaster. Would love to hang out in Luis Guzmán's "Scarface" mansion with proper controls.