Grand Theft Auto 5 Trevor Choking Old Man

[Update: The "official" GTA V trailer released!]

September 17th is the day Grand Theft Auto 5 drops and that day is coming up quick. Gamers should have no doubt that the game itself, "the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar Games has yet created" (Rockstar's own words), has made a pretty good case for itself. This August, Rockstar has been spitting out information more rapid-fire than a Gatling gun, and in just that time we've seen the list of trophies and achievements, the unveiling of Grand Theft Auto Online, several batches of in-game screenshots, and the entire list of songs that will be featured on Los Santos' radio stations. Another leak revealed that the download size of the game will be a hefty 18GB.

The real question now is not whether GTA V should be purchased, but where? The release of this game is going to be a tremendous moment for all involved and a harbinger of the end of the current console generation, and major retailers online and on the street exclusive are offering unique pre-order bonuses aimed to lure buyers in over competitors. Featured below is a comprehensive list of swag, tangible and digital, buyers can gain from certain pre-order offers. But first, before the exclusives, let's take a look at the Special Edition and the Collector's Editions of the game, which were recently expanded upon on Rockstar's website.

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Special Edition ($79.99)

Available for pre-order at The Rockstar Warehouse, Gamestop, Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Toys "R" Us, K-Mart and available after release at Target and most other major retailers.

  • Collectible SteelBook with Exclusive Artwork: This special SteelBook features double-sided, never-before-seen artwork of Michael, Trevor and Franklin. Custom color and metallic treatments bring out the detail of the artwork created exclusively for this SteelBook.
  • Blueprint Map: This exclusive, additional 21.5” x 26.75” map displays a blueprint view of Los Santos and Blaine County. Cryptic markings indicate locations for fast cash and other points of interest for the up-and-coming entrepreneur.
  • Special Ability Boost: Michael, Franklin and Trevor each have a unique special ability. With this boost, the special ability bar will generate 25% faster.
  • Stunt Plane Trials: Single player Stunt Plane Trials let you take on additional aerial challenges spread throughout Los Santos and Blaine County.
  • Bonus Outfits, Tattoos and More: Michael, Franklin and Trevor get bonus outfits in their wardrobes, character specific tattoos at tattoo parlors, and special deals from shopkeepers across Los Santos and Blaine County.
  • Additional Weapons: When visiting Ammunation stores in single player, merchants will have special weapons in their inventory available for free: the Pistol .50, Bullpup Shotgun and melee Hammer.

Curiously, and this is unfortunate for PlayStation acolytes, the pre-order of the PS3 version of the Special Edition is unavailable in The Rockstar Warehouse, GameStop, Walmart, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us and Amazon. K-Mart, strangely, has the PS3 version in stock. Though if for some reason you dislike K-Mart, you can always try DeepDiscount or BrainScramblers.

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Collector's edition ($149.99)

Available only at The Rockstar Warehouse and GameStop.

  • Everything included in the Special Edition
  • Grand Theft Auto V Security Deposit Bag with Logo Key: Inspired by the heists in Grand Theft Auto V, this custom 10.75” x 8.5” money bag features a pop-up style lock and laser cut logo key to secure important items. The reverse side features a pressed Rockstar Games logo on the security mount with a framed ID window.
  • Grand Theft Auto V New Era 9FIFTY Snapback Cap: This exclusive New Era 9FIFTYâ„¢ cap features an embroidered Los Santos logo on the front, a stitched, black Rockstar Games logo on the wearer’s left side, a Grand Theft Auto ‘V’ logo applique on the opposite side, and snapback closure for an adjustable fit.
  • Custom Characters for Grand Theft Auto Online: Get classic Grand Theft Auto characters to use within the Grand Theft Auto Online Character Creation System.
  • Unique Vehicles and Garage Property: Players will instantly receive a garage to store custom vehicles. In single player, the garage will be stocked with the 1930’s style Hotknife hotrod and the CarbonRS sports bike. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players will get the high-end Khamelion electric car.
  • The Grand Theft Auto V Collector’s Edition comes packaged in a premium outer box featuring a foil embossed Grand Theft Auto V logo on the top, finished with a matte, scuff-resistant film lamination, housing all of the contents.

The Collector's Edition is certainly not as readily available as the Special Edition and has quite a spike in price, but Rockstar is still aiming to make it worth your while. Buyers will be able to play Nico Bellic's son if they pick up this edition.

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Standard edition ($59.99)

The standard edition of the game can be pre-ordered at most major retailers, but a few have exclusive items that come with the purchase for no additional fee. For all others, we'll just get this out of the way - to everybody who knows about the flyable blimp, you should be pleased to know that essentially no matter where you pre-order the game from, you'll get the blimp.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Limited Special Edition Price

The few exclusive offers are as follows -

Grand Theft Auto 5 KIFFLOM tee

In an effort to get players to buy directly from the source itself, Rockstar's standard priced copy of the game comes with a minimalist blue t-shirt with a Kifflom logo on the front and the phrase "THE TRACT IS NOT YET WRITTEN" on the back for no additional charge. While this may seem like an obvious choice, purchasing and wearing the shirt might eventually become something to regret if the mission with the purported room full of naked members of the Epsilon Program ends up being as weird as it sounds. But in full disclosure, the writer of this article is buying the edition with the shirt so as to be closer to Kraff.

  • Double-sided poster and entry into prize-draw (exclusive from EBgames)

Grand Theft Auto double sided poster

The poster is a guaranteed, but the prize-draw is quite a gamble. Still, 6 lucky gamers will receive a 250GB PS3 and a PS3 Grand Theft Auto V Pulse Elite Headset bundle for merely buying the game, so to some it might be worth a spin.

  • Grand Theft Auto V logo keychain and $4.99 VUDU credits (exclusive from Walmart)

Grand Theft Auto 5 keychain

Tangible items you can score from pre-ordering GTAV have been rather light, making this the only other real bonus you can hold in your hand besides the Kifflom tee and the poster. While early pre-orderers once could have gotten a viewfinder keychain with unreleased screencaps, that offer has since expired and the Walmart keychain is the only keychain still left standing. As for the VUDU credits, that's good for at least one movie rental, guaranteed.

  • PlayStation theme and 75% off any Rockstar title (exclusive from PSN)

Anybody who were to pre-order GTAV on the PSN right now at this moment would be able to utilize a rather notable deal where they can download any single Rockstar game also on the PSN for only 25% of the original price. A bit of a loophole to also keep in mind is that if this offer were to be used on the Rockstar Games Collection that is available, you could feasibly buy Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, L.A. Noire, and Midnight Club: Los Angeles for just a cool $15. As far as bonuses go, it could be argued that this is the most thrifty option.

That $20 credit is essentially a 20 dollar bill, so, like the PSN offer, this too is rather fiscally thrifty.

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Rockstar is also teasing the release of the official trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5 this Thursday, August 29th. Stay tuned into Game Rant to watch it!

Grand Theft Auto 5 Official Trailer

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Grand Theft Auto 5 is quickly approaching its release date of September 17th, 2013 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Follow Reubnick on Twitter @Reubnick

Sources: Rockstar Games, ESRB.com, Joystiq.com,