On This Day: “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”

On this day 16 years ago, ”Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” was released for the PlayStation 2. San Andreas would become known as one of the greatest games of all time, is the best selling game of 2004 & the best selling PS2 game of all time, selling 27.5 million units as of 2011. Set during the Crack Era of the 90’s in the fictional state of San Andreas based on California & Nevada, San Andreas takes you on a journey as Carl “CJ” Johnson, former Grove Street Families gang member who returns to the West Coast from Liberty City after finding out his mother was murdered in a drive-by shooting. & is set on a mission of revenge. San Andreas is one of the most impactful games of all time for many reasons, it was the first GTA game with a Black protagonist, which many of us have longed for as fans of the franchise. To make it even better, he was gangster. From the missions, to the cheat codes, to the legendary soundtrack, to the innovate gameplay at the time, San Andreas has rightfully earned it’s position as one of the greats. The game is also infamous for it’s controversies throughout the years for it’s intense voilence, adult language & sexual content, namely it’s “Hot Coffee” in-game sex mod, which caused the game to be rerated from retailers & rerated as “Adult Only” rather than “M” for mature players. All of us remember spending long hours tagging up walls, taking over gang territories & flying jetpacks through the cities of Los Santos, San Fierro & Las Venturas. Rockstar blessed the in-game radio station with some icon music from legendary musicians like, Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre, N.W.A. & Ice Cube, Bel.Biv.Divoe & Ralph Tresvant & many more. San Andreas‘ star-studded cast & unforgettable characters also made the game amazing, CJ voiced by Yung Maylay, Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Tenpenny, Faizon Love as Sweet, Clifton Powell as Big Smoke, MC Eiht as Ryder, James Woods as Mike Toreno, Frank Vincent as Salvatore Leone & the list goes on. Even in 2020 it’s no debate that San Andreas is still one of the greatest games of all time across any genre or platform & has gained the support, accolades & reputation to back it up. 16 years later, gamers all over the world continue to live virtually in the world of San Andreas.

October 26th, 2004