Episode 84: Grand Theft Auto (Part One)

What’s good, homies? We’re back with another episode of BIRD PROTOCOL and this week we’re finally tackling one of the best-selling and most acclaimed video game series of all time. You’ve probably played at least one of these games, if not more, and you definitely heard of them before. There is so much to talk about that we’re breaking the series down over two episodes. So, get ready to head to San Andreas, Vice City, or Liberty City with your favourite bird boys. That’s right… it’s the Grand Theft Auto pod. This episode is the wordier, more fact and research-based episode that spans the “2D Era” and “3D Era” of the franchise. We cover GTA, GTA 2, GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas… most of which we haven’t played in a while so there is a lot of gameplay, franchise history, critical responses, and information to cover. In this episode, we look at the series' humble beginnings to becoming "one of the best UK exports", the constant improvements made to the series with each release, the critical acclaim these games have received, some of the controversies that have popped up around the series, the amazing voice acting work (including performances from Ray Liotta, Samuel L. Jackson, William Fichtner, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Chris Penn, Charlie Murphy, Burt Reynolds, Tom Sizemore, and more), the ambience in the later games, how good Rockstar is at re-structuring and improving systems from previous games, the jump from 2D to 3D, the history of UK based Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), and more. We also share some memories of playing these games, muse on how GTA has always been present in our lives and set up the next episode which will cover GTA IV, GTA V, and the future of the franchise. We also highlight how deep the GTA world-building is and how amazing music and talk radio are used to create an immersive world. We chat about our favourite features of the games and discuss the financial success Rockstar has had time and time again. There is a lot to cover in two hours so bear with us… Next week? We’re back with part two of our GTA series before our holiday pick and this year’s Bird Report to end the year. CHECK OUT THE NEW ANXIETY WEEKEND ALBUM “ON INFINITE REPEAT”: https://soundcloud.com/cemetery_sound/sets/anxiety-weekend-on-infinite-repeat?si=59e3334c1d1f447a9e1af6038d72ebd3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing AND THE NEW SINGLE “NEVER LOVED”: https://soundcloud.com/cemetery_sound/anxiety-weekend-never-loved?si=40e780743540425ea4130867bd77ef42&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing CHECK OUT OTIS’ NEW ALBUM “CAVERNOUS”: https://soundcloud.com/ottermanmedia/sets/cavernous?si=59e3334c1d1f447a9e1af6038d72ebd3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing INITIATE BIRD PROTOCOL! Follow us on Instagram! Instagram: @palmreadr @otismorrisdude