With so much information to digest over the last month or so, a video round up is always handy and often a good reminder of tidbits of information you may have forgotten. The guys over at CVG have been doing exactly that with their weekly GTA 5 o'clock series, and have this week treated us to a lengthy discussion mixed with ample speculation about some key aspects revealed in the previews, including a well-rounded interpretation of just how the graphics might turn out.

It's important to note that these guys have actually seen the press demo, manned by Rockstar, so it's always interesting to hear their take on the up-close and personal details about the game and their impressions of what may be to come.

Though likely seen before and not an exclusive list, some interesting tidbits include:

• Confirmed mini games include yoga, skydiving, scubadiving, golf, tennis, triathlons, bike racing, picking up hitchhikers, basejumping and ATM robberies
• You won't drop/lose your gun your character is wielding if you run out of bullets
• The money earned from heists will be millions of dollars
• Shipwrecks won't only contain hidden money, but also useful items
• Every vehicle is customisable; performance and aesthetics on the level of Midnight Club. Overtuning your car can make it useless and you can customise licence plates
• Buying into property gives you perks, for example investing in a taxi firm will mean never having to spend money on a cab again
• Infinitely the most ambitious game seen on current generation consoles
• Certain purchases need other purchases to unlock; you need to buy a helipad before you can buy a helicopter, and the same can go for marinas

Something interesting also noted is that, after receiving a tip from a viewer, one of the images in the Los Santos photoviewers released in November last year as a pre-order perk is "exactly" if not identical to how the demo shown to the press started out, with Franklin skydiving over the mountains.

On the topic of fun finds, GTAForums member LackedMushroom0 has found this little gem all the way back from the very first trailer. You may have looked at this screen 100s of times, but he appears to be the first to have spotted Michael and Franklin together in the background of this security-guard-pushing-drunk-over scene outside the Tequi La La nightclub. Good eye!

Rockstar have just updated the official GTA V website with specifics about the Special and Collector's Edition, along with a special Pre-Order bonus!

PRE-ORDER BONUS

Pre-ordering either of the editions, including the standard one, will grant you access to the fabled Blimp, which has been the subject of many a discussion, especially concerning whether or not it was actually driveable.

SPECIAL EDITION

The cheaper of the two extra content laden editions contains the following:

• Collectible steelbook with exclusive artwork
• Blueprint map
• Stunt Plane Trials
• Special Ability Boost
• Bonus outfits, tattoos and more
• Additional weapons

Click here for all the details!

COLLECTOR'S EDITION

This is the full package, containing everything a die hard GTA fan could want:

• Collectible steelbook with exclusive artwork
• Blueprint map
• Grand Theft Auto V New Era 9FIFTY Snapback Cap
• Grand Theft Auto V Security Deposit Bag with Logo Key
• Stunt Plane Trials
• Bonus outfits, tattoos and more
• Custom characters for Grand Theft Auto Online
• Special Ability Boost
• Unique vehicles and garage property
• Additional weapons

Click here for all the details!

Along with all this, the aforementioned Blueprint Map is depicted both in rolled-up form and as a partial cut out, leaving a good portion of the map visible. This prompted forum member gorgeprofondegta4 to reconstruct the map from the few snippets shown:

This really gives us a good look at a vast portion of the city, and parts of Blaine County. He also scaled it to the listed proportions of the map, showing that it's quite a bit larger than the visible areas, leaving lots of space for a few smaller towns, and much more countryside. Check out his post at the forums - splendid work!

The Hotknife returns!

New Vehicles and Weapons!

In addition to the Atomic Blimp, the return of the Stunt Plane was also confirmed, this time in the shape of an Extra EA-200, which is quite a popular model. Ordering the full Collector's Edition will also grant you a Hotknife, which looks bloody gorgeous, and the CarbonRS sports bike seen earlier in a screenshot on May 7th. Online, players will get access to a high-end electric car called the Khamelion.

Owning the Collector's Edition will further hook you up with three free exclusive weapons: The Bullpup Shotgun, Pistol .50 and a hammer. What else could you ever need?

Join in on the discussion at the forums!

It's been a couple of days since Rockstar announced the different editions of GTA V that will be available and just what we'll get with them. Already pre-ordered yours? Take a moment to vote in our poll on GTAForums.

The exclusive items that come with each edition have been met with excitement and anticipation, but there was also one carefully placed and completely unexpected detail that has been causing quite the stir: the map. Coming exclusively with the special and collector's editons, the blueprint style poster of the map will feature points of interest we can visit in-game as well as clues to get quick 'n easy cash. Although by no means have we seen the full map, many eyebrows have been raised about size of the city shown.

From the beginning GTA V has been described to have a map as big as GTA IV, GTA San Andreas and Red Dead Redemption "combined". Does this mean only only land mass or the entire visable area? Does it include interiors or the underwater environment? There have been statements alluding to the answers of these questions, but not explicit enough to confirm. It's still relatively unclear about how large the land mass (that being areas we can walk, drive and explore) will be in comparison to other GTA games.

There's no one more analytical than a GTA fan, so since receiving this snippet of the map, the community has been busy at work attempting to calculate and measure just what we're looking at. The Los Santos Size topic on GTAForums has been growing by the day with countless comparisons to GTA IV's Liberty City.

One example is that of forum member deffpony, who has managed to compare scales out of screenshots, character heights and building models.

To get some insight into how he went about his measurements, deffpony told us:

"In order to determine an estimated comparison of Los Santos to Liberty City, I first obtained a 3D model of Algonquin. Knowing that the Rotterdam Tower is a 1:1 model of the Empire State Building it is safe to assume that the Los Santos Bank Tower is also a 1:1 model of its real life counterpart. Using a model of the LS tower alongside the proportioned LC model, I sized the Los Santos blueprint so that the tower sits in its appropriate location 3 dimensionally, thus creating a scaled comparison of Los Santos to Liberty City.
With the help of some screenshots I cross referenced character model heights between IV and V within the scaled comparison. The results were almost identical, adding further credibility to this scale.
The largest source of error would be if the Bank Tower, unlike the buildings in Liberty City, was not a 1:1 model. If this is the case the entire scale is a very rough estimate at best."

A big shout out to everyone else contributing to the cause; this is only one comparison of many that have been created, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more.

Now, it's important to note that everything regarding the map is complete speculation and based on fan interpretations and information-sharing. However, it would be unfair not to acknowledge to the sheer dedication that the community has put into the group effort of deciphering the size. If you feel a little disappointed with what you've been presented with, then don't worry, as the screenshots, trailers and press previews have shown us that GTA V is the most ambitious GTA game we're yet to even fully see. Call it bias, but we're feeling pretty positive here at GTANet that no matter what it seems like at the moment, the game is going to look and feel very big.

Last but not least, if you're still ummming and ahhhing about which edition to get, be sure to check out this weeks GTANet Podcast (episode 3) for a breakdown on what's included and how the contents fair to editions of previous GTAs and other games.

You may remember from last month that Rockstar were calling all brother-brothers, sister-sisters and brother-sisters to submit their photo for a chance to get their likeness crafted onto 'one of the five' Epsilon Program leaders in-game.

Epsilon has now started contacting those who submitted their face, and got this neat little message confirming their participation (see below).

The positively enlightening yet cryptic message shed no light on the ever-mysterious cult religion. However, along with it we have two new images of the featured character. Signed with his own signature, it's now pretty much confirmed that the leader is no other than Cris Fromage, who acted in the same position and spoke about Epsilon alongside Lazlow on West Coast Talk Radio in GTA San Andreas. While it was a no-brainer for some, it's certainly interesting that something like this is crossing over into the universe of GTA V.

Good luck to everyone that entered!

Keep up with Epsilonism Today at GTAForums

Feast your eyes on CVG's latest GTA 5 o'clock show installment, with this week featuring the first version of their own community map project.

Tracing back through all the screenshots and trailers released, the team have worked together with the community to pin together locations to the blueprint map preview released on the Special/Collectors edition poster.

Most notably, they've heavily sourced a lot of work from our very own Mapping Los Santos project on GTAForums.
In particular, they appear to have relied on member xrCore to create the surrounding Blaine County. Thanks to the guys at CVG for acknowledging their hard work.

And remember, we're almost certainly not looking at a final version of the map or even the correct shape, but it's still interesting all the same!

Post your thoughts on GTAForums

It emerged earlier this morning that the Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year edition is being shipped with a GTA V promo card alongside the manual.

It features a new screenshot of three characters about to break into the Vangilico jewellery store, much like the scene from the very first trailer, as well as a short blurb about the game.

Thanks toTheSmutPeddler for updating the community on GTAForums, as well as UprightEddy from Reddit for a clearer version!

Along with the PlayStation 3 bundle announcement yesterday at Sony's conference at E3, new screenshots were shown on stage. Today, they were released in high resolution. Check them out in all their beautiful quality in our screenshot gallery.

9 new screenshots in our gallery

And in case you missed the conference, Sony unveiled a PlayStation 3 bundle that includes a copy of GTAV and a 500GB PlayStation 3 console for $299. They also unveiled a separate headset, at a price of $179. Both will be available alongside the game's release on September 17th. More details on the PlayStation blog.

After several weeks of silence, Rockstar have delighted GTA fans once again by releasing a special GTA V Edition of Asked & Answered. This special addition of Ask & Answered answers many of the popular questions GTA fans have been asking such as how many disks the game will use, whether or not there will be a PC version, plus much more.

Of particular interest, when asked if GTA fans will see gameplay footage and when GTA fans will get the first details about multiplayer, Rockstar indicated that fans could expect to see them soon. Sounds like we could have some very exciting weeks ahead!

Share your thoughts over on GTAForums!

Rockstar have today released two new extended versions of previously seen artworks of Jimmy and Lamar. The artworks, which were first seen in previews released in May, show Jimmy and his sister Tracy arguing and Lamar breaking into car.

Visit the Rockstar Newswire to download these new artworks. Share your thoughts over on GTAForums!

Rockstar have had a habbit recently of releasing videos displaying snippets of gameplay features for their various titles. They did it for Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3, and GTA V will be no exception!

Tomorrow - July 9, 2013 @ 10am EST (3pm GMT) - we'll get our very first proper look at actual gameplay.

Be sure to tune in to the official Rockstar Newswire and the Official Website, and join in on the discussion at GTAForums.com!

After first being announced yesterday, Rockstar have today released a 4 minute, 51 second video giving us our first sneak peak at the single player side of the game. We are aware many GTA fans do not want to watch the video, so we won't give away too many details. You'll just have to watch the video and find out for yourself.

Share your thoughts on the gameplay video over on GTAForums!

Only an hour after Rockstar first released the gameplay video giving us our first look at the single player side of the game, GameInformer have followed up by releasing two new exclusive Q&A's. The Q&A's focus specifically on Gun Combat and Customization. Along with the new info on gun combat and customization, GameInformer have also dropped seven new screenshots as well!

You can see all the new screenshots in our Gallery and share your thoughts on GTAForums!

For the second time today, we've been greeted with seven new screenshots. This time from the French website JeuxActu.

Share your thoughts on these screenshots over on GTAForums!

The guys over at CVG have come up trumps this week with a very special interview for their weekly GTA 5 o' Clock series. They spoken openly with Imran Sarwar, producer and lead mission designer at Rockstar North.

It's interesting to note that developers rarely give interviews like this, so it certainly is interesting to listen to them speak openly about the game they have been working on for so long.

Here's a quick summary of some of the main points discussed, many thanks to GTAForums member upyoustolemylungs

• "Over 1,000 car customization options" (Bulletproof tires, armor, etc.)
• Car will turn up in an impound if left in the street. Must pay a fine to retrieve it
• You can't directly "weaponize" your car, but there are a lot of little options. (Car leaking petrol and light em up, sticky bombs)
• Guns will be with you throughout the whole game
• Customized guns will broaden range of options during missions. (Stealthy vs. loud, Scope, etc.)
• Moved from static fights to free focus. Quickly switch your focus to other enemies. No longer need to lock on to enemies, although you can lock on if you wish
• "Hits are much more satisfying"
• Each character has different animation. Strength stat has a bearing on melee capability
• Expect really cool destruction/carnage/damage
• Combat AI much more advance with more knowledge of environment
• Enemies will behave different by who they are (SWAT is organized, gang members are more "gung ho")
• 3 protag will feel natural and will not feel like a balancing act, allowing the game to feel more natural. (if Franklin and Michael are in a car, you can drive as Michael, switch to Franklin, and Michael will continue driving)
• Shooting stat will affect steadiness of aim, amount of ammo you can carry, aim stability, etc. (You can go to the shooting range to increase stat. Also goes up if you kill an enemy. You are rewarded for better kills like head shots)
• Car horns can be customized

Join the discussion on GTAForums!

With the release of GTA V only a few months away, Rockstar appear to be stepping up their marketing campaign for the game. Just a day after the release of the first gameplay video which gave us our first sneak peak at the game, ads for GTA V have begun to appear on television networks and on YouTube showing snippets of the gameplay video.

Share your thoughts on the new ad on GTAForums!

Recently, Rockstar North President Leslie Benzies conducted an interview with the French Gaming website Jeuxactu. Now today, thanks to Offical Xbox Magazine, we have some English snippits of the interview!

We want to surprise people with very intense missions from the start. The pace of the game is much faster than any of its predecessors. From the beginning, we want to show off the new game mechanics while creating intense, action-packed gameplay, to capture the player's attention immediately.

Unlike previous GTA's where main characters such as CJ from San Andreas or Niko were newcomers to the city, Michael, Franklin, and Trevor are not.

They already have contacts, they are integrated with the world and lead a busy life - these characteristics should give players a sense of immediate and total immersion. That said, all three main characters won't be playable from the start. We want to give the player the opportunity to get to know the three characters individually, and explore the world as each of them, and it would not have been possible if all three had been available from the start.

Leading up to the release in just a few months, Rockstar has now marketed three new pieces of GTA V merchandise today that you can pick up right now from the Rockstar Warehouse. They have released an official GTA V box art poster, a Los Santos County Sheriff hat and a Los Santos Tee which is available in either black or white.

Be sure to check out the official topic on GTAForums!

Seems like everyone's forgotten about GTA IV. Watch his dramatic reaction to last week's GTA V gameplay video:

Related Link:GTAForums.com - Niko's Dramatic Reaction

If you've been on vacation like me, then you've no doubt missed out on a lot of quality discussion at GTAForums. And with over 25,000 new posts per week, it's a lot to catch up on. Fear not, however, as ThirstyHyena has kindly put together a compilation of the best posts from May-July. If you have 12 minutes to spare, check it out (NSFW):

Related Link:GTAForums Thread Simulator.

We have updated the Map page with a new map of Los Santos and Blaine County. The map was produced based on information gathered from screenshots and trailers.

Check it out!