I bet the development cost for GTA4 would've been MUCH  lower if they'd just made the game cel-shaded (like Chinatown Wars) and it would've aged better (graphics-wise). The thing I don't get is, why did Rockstar completely abandon the graphics formula that had previously served them so well? San Andreas wasn't a visual masterpiece even by last gens standards and given the scale of the game it couldn't have been anyway. A least not on one disc. They focused almost entirely on the story and the gameplay, not the graphics. Rockstar really didn't need to make GTA4 look THAT good. As long as it ran smoothly (which it doesn't),had well detailed character models (no more puffy hands) and generally looked better than San Andreas (Crackdown or Saints Row 2), I would've been satisfied.

They should do full sequels to VC and SA using the GTA4 engine.  Like literally "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 2".  I bet it'd outsell GTA4 honestly... and hell, if North can't get it done, give them to San Diego/Vancouver/ Leeds.

Are you stupid or just looking for something to post?  Vice City and San Andreas are not expansions, they are games.  Just because it took Rockstar only a year or two to make the games doesn't make them expansions.  And in my opinion maybe the expansions to GTA 4 didn't sell well because GTA 4 sucked; it was such a step down from its predecessor, taking out everything that made GTA fun.  The point is Vice City and San Andreas are full blown games not some half-assed expansion that will take you less than 10 hours to complete.

no they are not expansions and they didn't have GTA3 preceedin like on LOST AND DAMNED and GAY TONY.

also the reason they don't just make GTA games with numbered title as doing more and more numbers most of the time degrades franchise's name and also that they wanted to shre more story before launching the next big level in GTA numbered title

I guess a little bit of both?

Just forget I called them expansions okay, because that was not the point of the thread at all. I even said in the OP that you can call them sequels if you want.

i like what they did with the DLC. we got it faster and cheaper and it was longer and better than some retail games that cost 60$

50 million USD advancement loan withouth interest which took risk of the investiment.

enough said

they both had better graphics and updated engines