I agree that GTA is pretty similar to Pokemon. Both are incredibly popular, long running franchises with large "hardcore" fan bases, but also an enormous appeal to people who don't normally play games. Sure you shoot people in one, and collect cute critters in the other, but the similarities in demographics are immense.
The "goodie search" is a feature both games games share, but I don't think it's a major factor here. The similarities go deeper than that, and a lot of games share that stuff.
You know, Pachter really tears me up inside. I get a huge inner spike of nerd rage every time I read one of his silly predictions and feel like hitting him with something, but whenever I hear him talk, he turns out to be a pretty nice guy. Reminds me of my dad actually. He's an old guy who doesn't understand games very well, but gets paid to do so. I find it kinda sad more than anything else.
