<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
is	I-Application
an	O
action-adventure	O
video	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
DMA	O
Design	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
BMG	O
Interactive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
title	O
of	O
the	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
series	O
and	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
November	O
1997	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
in	O
December	O
1997	O
for	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
and	O
in	O
October	O
1999	O
for	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Color	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
began	O
development	O
as	O
a	O
game	O
titled	O
Race	O
'	O
n	O
 '	O
Chase	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
player	O
controlled	O
a	O
police	O
officer	O
pursuing	O
criminals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
created	O
a	O
great	O
deal	O
of	O
controversy	O
even	O
before	O
its	O
launch	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
violent	O
content	O
,	O
with	O
discussions	O
taking	O
place	O
in	O
the	O
British	O
House	O
of	O
Lords	O
about	O
banning	O
its	O
sale	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
was	O
met	O
with	O
mixed	O
reviews	O
upon	O
release	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
a	O
commercial	O
success	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
expansions	O
taking	O
place	O
in	O
1960s	O
England	O
,	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
:	I-Application
London	I-Application
1969	I-Application
and	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
:	I-Application
London	I-Application
1961	I-Application
,	O
were	O
launched	O
in	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
success	O
of	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
spawned	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
games	O
which	O
built	O
upon	O
the	O
original	O
's	O
gameplay	O
and	O
themes	O
;	O
the	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
series	O
has	O
since	O
become	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
and	O
best-selling	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
franchises	I-Application
of	O
all	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
sequel	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
2	I-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
October	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
is	I-Application
made	O
up	O
of	O
six	O
levels	O
split	O
between	O
three	O
main	O
cities	O
;	O
each	O
locale	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
real-life	O
city	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
alternative	O
name	O
:	O
Liberty	O
City	O
(	O
New	O
York	O
City	O
)	O
,	O
San	O
Andreas	O
(	O
San	O
Francisco	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Vice	O
City	O
(	O
Miami	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
begin	O
a	O
game	O
choosing	O
a	O
character	O
from	O
among	O
eight	O
—	O
four	O
in	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
version	O
—	O
and	O
naming	O
them	O
,	O
though	O
the	O
choice	O
is	O
purely	O
aesthetic	O
,	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
affect	O
the	O
overall	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PC	B-Device
versions	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
were	O
released	O
with	O
networked	O
multiplayer	O
gameplay	O
using	O
the	O
IPX	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
began	O
on	O
4	O
April	O
1995	O
at	O
DMA	O
Design	O
in	O
Dundee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
planned	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
Windows	O
95	O
,	O
PlayStation	B-Device
,	O
Sega	B-Device
Saturn	I-Device
and	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Operating_System
64	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
,	O
many	O
people	O
overseeing	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
progress	O
attempted	O
to	O
halt	O
the	O
development	O
,	O
which	O
led	O
the	O
crew	O
at	O
DMA	O
Design	O
to	O
have	O
to	O
convince	O
them	O
to	O
allow	O
them	O
to	O
continue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
specific	O
milestones	O
planned	O
for	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
,	O
none	O
of	O
which	O
were	O
met	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
design	O
document	O
,	O
the	O
introduction	O
to	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
is	I-Application
a	O
pre-drawn/rendered	O
animation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
used	O
to	O
make	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
was	O
said	O
to	O
produce	O
"	O
a	O
3D	O
array	O
which	O
can	O
 [ be ] 	O
used	O
by	O
both	O
the	O
perspective	O
and	O
the	O
isometric	O
engines	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
concept	O
of	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
was	O
"	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
fun	O
,	O
addictive	O
and	O
fast	O
multi-player	O
car	O
racing	O
and	O
crashing	O
game	O
which	O
uses	O
a	O
novel	O
graphics	O
method	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
David	O
Jones	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
producer	O
,	O
cited	O
Pac-Man	B-Application
as	O
an	O
influence	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
noted	O
that	O
the	O
player	O
runs	O
over	O
pedestrians	O
and	O
gets	O
chased	O
by	O
police	O
in	O
a	O
similar	O
manner	O
to	O
Pac-Man	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gary	O
Penn	O
,	O
creative	O
director	O
of	O
DMA	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
cited	O
Elite	B-Application
as	O
a	O
major	O
influence	O
,	O
"	O
But	O
I	O
'd	O
been	O
working	O
on	O
Frontier	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
very	O
different	O
and	O
there	O
were	O
definitely	O
other	O
people	O
on	O
the	O
team	O
who	O
had	O
things	O
like	O
Syndicate	O
,	O
Mercenary	O
and	O
Elite	B-Application
very	O
much	O
in	O
their	O
minds	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
as	O
it	O
stands	O
now	O
is	O
basically	O
Elite	B-Application
in	O
a	O
city	O
,	O
but	O
without	O
quite	O
the	O
same	O
sense	O
of	O
taking	O
on	O
the	O
jobs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
And	O
then	O
that	O
evolved	O
into	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
was	O
developed	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
but	O
then	O
later	O
ported	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
(	O
using	O
SciTech	O
MGL	O
)	O
,	O
PlayStation	B-Device
(	O
developed	O
by	O
Visual	O
Sciences	O
using	O
their	O
"	O
ViSOS	O
"	O
framework	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Color	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Color	I-Device
version	O
was	O
technologically	O
unabridged	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
quite	O
a	O
technical	O
achievement	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
sheer	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
cities	O
,	O
converted	O
tile-for-tile	O
from	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
original	O
,	O
making	O
them	O
many	O
times	O
larger	O
than	O
most	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
Color	I-Device
game	O
worlds	O
were	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
handheld	O
's	O
limited	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PC	B-Device
version	O
comes	O
in	O
several	O
different	O
executables	O
for	O
DOS	O
and	O
MS-Windows	B-Application
,	O
which	O
use	O
a	O
single	O
set	O
of	O
data	O
files	O
(	O
except	O
for	O
the	O
8-bit	O
colour	O
DOS	O
version	O
which	O
uses	O
different	O
but	O
similar	O
graphics	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
previously	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
free	O
download	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Rockstar	O
Classics	O
(	O
alongside	O
Wild	B-Application
Metal	I-Application
and	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
2	I-Application
)	O
,	O
however	O
the	O
free	O
download	O
service	O
is	O
currently	O
unavailable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
was	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
on	O
the	O
Sega	B-Device
Saturn	I-Device
,	O
but	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
console	O
's	O
rapid	O
decline	O
in	O
popularity	O
before	O
development	O
was	O
finished	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
halted	O
and	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
never	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
's	O
successful	O
release	O
,	O
development	O
began	O
on	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
64	O
,	O
a	O
port	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Operating_System
64	I-Operating_System
,	O
rumoured	O
to	O
have	O
graphical	O
enhancements	O
and	O
new	O
missions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cover	O
art	O
for	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
is	I-Application
a	O
photograph	O
of	O
a	O
New	O
York	O
Police	O
Department	O
1980s	O
Plymouth	O
Gran	O
Fury	O
rushing	O
through	O
the	O
intersection	O
of	O
Fifth	O
Avenue	O
and	O
56th	O
Street	O
,	O
with	O
Trump	O
Tower	O
in	O
the	O
background	O
of	O
the	O
picture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
same	O
cover	O
art	O
was	O
also	O
an	O
alternative	O
cover	O
for	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
2	I-Application
in	O
selected	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
features	O
seven	O
radio	O
stations	O
and	O
a	O
police	O
band	O
track	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
November	O
1998	O
,	O
global	O
shipments	O
to	O
retailers	O
of	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
computer	O
and	O
PlayStation	B-Device
versions	O
had	O
surpassed	O
1	O
million	O
units	O
combined	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GameSpot	O
1998	O
review	O
for	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
said	O
that	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
graphics	O
may	O
look	O
"	O
a	O
little	O
plain	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
music	O
and	O
sound	O
effects	O
are	O
the	O
opposite	O
,	O
praising	O
the	O
radio	O
stations	O
and	O
the	O
sound	O
effects	O
used	O
to	O
open	O
and	O
close	O
vehicles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Next	O
Generation	O
reviewed	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
rating	O
it	O
four	O
stars	O
out	O
of	O
five	O
,	O
and	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
It	O
is	O
quite	O
easy	O
to	O
accuse	O
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
of	O
being	O
all	O
style	O
and	O
no	O
substance	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
charge	O
does	O
n't	O
stick	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grand	B-Application
Theft	I-Application
Auto	I-Application
has	O
been	O
recognised	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
greatest	O
video	O
games	O
by	O
several	O
publications	O
.	O
</s>
