It isn't hard to notice that the latest GTA is mainly just a bigger game than its predecessors.  It also isn't hard to notice that this is what Rockstar has been doing all along with GTA, just trying to make the next one a little bigger and better than the last one.  The maps get bigger, more people on the streets, more accessible buildings, more missions...You get the picture. So when GTAV screens and videos appeared, I guess I wasn't that impressed since I sort or know what Rockstar is up to.  And I'm sure when GTAVI is released in 5 years for next-gen I won't be that impressed either since I could tell you right now what it's going to be like:  Bigger, more people on the streets, more things to do, maybe go to space and the deepest parts of the ocean.  Essentially just more stuff.  

Look!  More water to swim around in. 

This goes nowhere for me since I'm not a gamer who cares much for simulators, which is what GTA, in my mind, stands for.  A game that ultimately tries to become more lifelike with each entry.  And it's not just about mimicking realism, but more about simulating a "fantasy realism."  In other words, giving gamers a chance to pretend like they are some other person in a world based off of our world.  However this world has no rules.  They are free to do, and not do, what they want.  All of our brains desire a type of experience like this.  A place where we can mess around a bit, fulfill are latent motivations.  GTA certainly plays off of this.  Maybe not doing it consciously, but connecting all the dots of our subconscious nonetheless.  

Maybe we'll be able to play GTAIV in GTAV?

Maybe this is why GTA feels like less of video game than ever to me.  It is maybe the most popular video game for Westerners and sort of defines to the rest of the world (and our world) what video gamers like to play out here.  Which to me is disheartning, but also helps me realize why gamers typically get the short end of the stick.  It's hard to defend your hobby when the best selling games of your area involve more violence than any other medium could ever imagine.  Not only that, but trying to explain why GTA (or Wow) is great without sounding like your secretly just trying to live in an alternate reality.

Could you stop dropping the paint everywhere Charlie!?  Christ...

I guess my final thoughts on GTA is how diverse the gamer base is (Well, probably not sexually diverse considering that 95% of gamers who play GTA are most definetly men).  Jocks, Bro's, Retro Gamers, Kids, Dads, Businessmen probably all like GTA.  This is probably because of the different things someone can get out of GTA.  For instance, GTA can feel like playing an action movie, it can feel really RPGish with all the side-quests and customization, it can feel really competitive with its online modes, it can be a graphic spectacle for your new television, it can be the center for humor at a party, it can be really absorbing and steal your day away.  Am I suggesting that Rockstar is just trying to appeal to a wider audience?  No.  This is just the nature of a GTA game, which explains how Rockstar is sitting on such an obese cash cow.

I love milking this one.

Of course I hold my final reservations until I play it, though in my head I feel like I already have.  And that goes for GTA 6, 7 and 8.