Looks like the rumors might be true.

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/428/428823p1.html

Vice City to Xbox
Rockstar bringing Vice without the GTA tag.

July 15, 2003 - Sources report that Rockstar's mega-money maker Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will be coming to the Xbox, possibly as soon as this holiday season.
As many insiders know, the Grand Theft Auto series is supposed to be PlayStation 2 console exclusive, however sources reveal that Rockstar is circumventing the agreement by stripping the Xbox version of the title Grand Theft Auto, and simply repackaging the game as Vice City.

Back in May, Take Two's CEO Jeffrey Lapin spoke about a major Rockstar title in development for the Xbox during the company's quarterly conference call with analysts. "We said that there will be an Xbox SKU from Rockstar in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2004 [Nov. to Jan.]," Lapin said, "but we're not going to comment on what it is at this point." It now looks like Vice City is that game.

Vice City's gameplay will be identical to the PC version that recently shipped, and might also include additional features like custom soundtracks and downloadable content.

Check back to IGN for the latest on this breaking story.

-- IGN

sweet

Suh-Weeeeeeet

I'd be shocked if this happened. I'm sure Sony would sue for breach of contract. With the chunk of change the spent to get the series as an exclusive, they're not going to just sit back and watch it go their rival console just because Rockstar doesn't put "GTA" on the cover.

If this is true, either there has been some bad lawyering for Sony in drafting the exclusivity agreement or Rockstar is asking for a lawsuit. If it is not true, well, IMO XBOX owners are not missing much. While I loved GTA3, I bought Vice City, played it a few times, and haven't touched it since. It's not that good.

So true. I have about 6 hours logged the first week I bought it last year and have not played it since. Maybe i'm too old for those type games now. I'll complete it eventually.

yep, this is gonna happen!!!

IMO, It's still a good game but after playing GTA3 for it seemed like months, Vice City just didn't add enough. They should have worked on it for another year.

No way. I'll believe it when I see it on the shelves.

I'll only buy it if it comes with exclusive content and extras and the ability to add my own soundtrack Aw screw it - if I can make my own soundtrack, I'll buy it.

This will not happen. IGN has reported false rumors before people. Wishful thinking does not make something more true.

If this happened, Sony would get an injunction against it faster than you could say "Spike Lee" and Rockstar would be pissing off their main gravy train.

The new Xbox game for 2004 will be just that, a new game.

I agree,

I just don't see GTA coming to the Xbox, but I do think that Rockstar will bring a game like GTA to the Xbox and there's nothing that Sony can do about that.

It would be hilarious if they called it Grand Theft City.

Sony has some pretty bad lawyers if they let this slip through.

10851: vice city

I love how all the armchair lawyers know what the wording of the contract between Sony and Rockstar is. This industry has seen similar situations arise before... why, look; it's Street Fighter II Special Championship Edition on Sega Genesis.

Besides, does Sony want to tick off Rockstar? Seems to me that one has just as much leverage as the other, after GTA's staggering success.

I'm sure Rockstar would take their ball and head right over to MS' court. And everybody would know where the future of the series is available when the next generation of consoles hits the shelves.


Of course, I'm not holding my breath until it actually hits the shelves, either.

Now they need to make GTA LIVE capable!!!!! Then I'll forgive them for not making the graphics better.

I hear it was going to be called

Big Steal Car: Sin Village

Pretty crafty on their part

This isn't a pure IGN rumor. It's been in print magazines for the last few months, and was in another magazine (I received that issue at least 2 weeks ago) that speficially said that "Vice City" with no GTA attached to it would be released in 2004. At first, people knew there was going to be the GTA games, but it was in 2005 after the contract. With time, it became late 03/early 04, and only Vice City released. I've considered this a fact for a long time.

Josh Hinkle,
I think it's pretty obvious that if Sony could sue and win, Rockstar would have never started development on it.

Rockstar may have leverage but still, they need the PS2. Have you seen their sales? The PS2's extended base is much more than the XBOX's and GTA3 if not also VC have easily sold more than Halo, which as you know, just got the press release of hitting 3 million. Plus Rockstar is getting a HUGE exclusivity bonus for staying PS2 exclusive. Sony would never let Rockstar entirely, and Rockstar would never want to. This is just a loophole that lets Rockstar make more money.

There are people that haven't boughten this yet? With all the hype and at the rate it was selling I figured everyone and their parents had a copy of it.

the xbox nation article actually says "direct port of PC version of the game, sporting high-res graphics and custom soundtracks, as well as possible Xbox Live functionality."

Am I the only one that would prefer to see a new, Xbox unique game instead of a Vice City rehash?

I'll back you up on this one (see my earlier threads). It's not a made up story by IGN. Gamespot had a small blurb about a "major release" about 2 months ago. In the newest XBN magazine they have a section about it and it states pretty much the same thing as the IGN story.

Rockstar would not waste time and resources on somthing that would get held up in court. I'm sure they're lawyers have been over it thouroughly before they even started.

Sony still gets exclusivity on the next GTA game so it's no big loss to them. It's better for them to just sit back and watch the dough roll in on the next release rather than waste time suing and ruin a good relationship with Rockstar.

Nope, I'm there with you.

I think they should just forget about Vice City for a bit, and focus on the idea I put out there. A childhood neighborhood sim. They could call it "Grand Theft Juniors". You could steal bikes, and toilet paper houses and stuff. I would love to see that on X-Box!

It would be better than just a Vice City port anyway.