For those who have not tired of the insatiable coverage of last week's release of the triumphant GTA: San Andreas, there's a bit of background reading at Ferrago on the history of the series.
Although thorough, there is one minor trivia fact overlooked by the author. According to an off-the-cuff remark made in 1999 by Gary Penn, the nicest guy in gaming and the GTA series' Creative Manager when he was still at developer DMA (now Rockstar North), the first game design didn't have any missions until a few days before it was accepted for release by the publisher. Considering the series is lauded for its free-roaming experience and wide-open environments, would it have made any difference if there were no game-directed goals to lead you along the asphalt path?
