Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition has launched, and the reception has been mixed. Some gamers are happy to have three classic titles brought into the current generation of gaming, while others believe the remaster is subpar. The bundle features GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas, all updated with modern control schemes and improved graphics. However, many gamers are less than impressed with the remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy. In addition to technical issues, some gamers are claiming that the games simply do not look and feel like the originals. Character models have changed, while several cheats and songs are missing.
Whether gamers love or hate the remasters, that is the version they are stuck with, considering Rockstar pulled previous versions of the GTA trilogy from digital stores. Consequently, it is beginning to seem like the original versions of these beloved classics will soon be lost. The curious case of the GTA trilogy raises many important questions about the video game archive, and how the medium will grapple with media preservation in the future. What is certain, however, is that the remastered GTA trilogy sets a bad precedent.
GTA Trilogy - Original Versus Remaster
Several changes have been made to the 3D Grand Theft Auto trilogy in the remaster. Some of these changes are good, and others are a little more controversial. The most notable changes are the visual ones: In the remasters, the games have a much more cartoonish art style. While this is not an inherently bad thing, it does give the games a somewhat different feel. GTA III’s grittiness seems to be diminished, while GTA: San Andreas feels more like an edgy adult cartoon than a compelling gangster story. Some GTA character models have also been changed in drastic ways, making previously beloved NPCs appear unfamiliar.
Changes go beyond visuals, of course. Soundtracks have changed too. This is especially felt in GTA: Vice City, which relies heavily on music to enhance its 80s Miami aesthetic. The absence of songs like Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” is especially felt. There are also a host of missing GTA cheats, some of them being iconic ones that have been an essential component of causing mayhem in the games.
While the remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy may bear resemblance to the original games, they are ultimately not the same games. Furthermore, the original releases of these games are no longer available for purchase. The result is that gamers are left with an unfaithful simulacrum of the GTA trilogy, while the true originals are left to be forgotten if each game remains delisted.
GTA Trilogy – Why Is This a Problem?
Archiving and media preservation is an issue in every medium: Books go out of publication, and it can become extremely difficult to ever find a copy of an obscure text again. The same thing can happen to movies, and this problem is compounded as the world moves on technologically and media is left to die on older platforms.
Video games face a unique set of problems. Not only do they have to face the ongoing march of time, but they also have to deal with platform exclusivity and the obsolescence of older platforms. Retro games on obscure platforms that were once popular can find themselves lost forever if they are not ported to modern consoles. Sometimes, there are larger problems at play, such as licensing issues and development studios being shut down that prevent older games from being ported to modern consoles.
With the remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy, Rockstar introduces a new problem altogether. Without any external forces at play, Rockstar is willingly choosing to delist its own games out of public access, meaning an important part of video game history (in its original form) is being lost. The GTA trilogy revolutionized gaming, helped popularize the open-world genre, and proved that video games are capable of telling compelling narratives. It would be a shame if future generations are unable to experience the games in their original state, flaws and all.
To have the games of the past inaccessible to gamers of the future is to rob them of a deeper appreciation of how far the medium has come, and how complex ideas present in modern video games were birthed from simpler yet ingenious concepts in the past. There is a wealth to be learned from these games, and they can still be enjoyed by future generations if given the chance.
GTA Trilogy – A Future Without a Past?
Rockstar’s actions highlight the important fact that video game preservation is not something that will happen naturally. If left to its own devices, publishers will willingly pull their games from stores, making them forever unavailable to the public. While this likely happens fairly frequently with smaller titles, the impact of this becomes particularly noticeable when it occurs with games like the Grand Theft Auto trilogy, a series of games that are widely seen as cornerstones of modern gaming. To lose the original titles is to lose an integral part of video game history.
It will take a concerted effort on the part of gamers, developers, and publishers to ensure that video game history is not lost, and that as much valuable media as possible is preserved. It is up to gamers to demand that titles, no matter how old or obscure, are not removed from public access. Furthermore, it is up to developers and publishers to have the awareness to ensure that titles are preserved and made publicly available in some capacity.
Already, there are a host of games that are almost impossible to find. Titles like True Crime: New York City and Driver: San Francisco have turned into rare relics, with no option to officially purchase both titles from a first-party seller. There are many forces that act against efforts to build a robust video game archive. This includes financial factors, awareness, and the sheer scale of the project. However, the construction of such an archive is an essential part of the legitimization of video games as an art medium, with a rich history, and a promising future.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Android and iOS ports are scheduled to release in early 2022.