THEZEPHEROUS ARCHIVE

On This Day Video Games

Grand Theft Auto III. Liberty City at twenty-five.

A documented Archive copy, familiar crime-film voices and the later Claude figure that carried the game onto a shelf.

The original feature 35 seconds. The story is also available in the slides and text below.

The Feature Film

Grand Theft Auto III. Liberty City at twenty-five.

Twenty-five years in Liberty City.

October 22 marks 25 years since Grand Theft Auto III launched on PlayStation 2 in North America in 2001.

The Photo Essay

5 slides from the feature.

The story behind the images.

The first fully 3D GTA gave players a city to explore on foot and behind the wheel. Its voices included Michael Madsen as Toni Cipriani, Frank Vincent as Salvatore Leone and Joe Pantoliano as Luigi.

Our physical piece of that history: a US Black Label PS2 copy graded VGA 80 NM, photographed here in the Archive.

Seeking for the Archive: the 2011 1/6-scale Claude figure, including its alternate prison outfit. This was a tenth-anniversary collectible; the pictured figure is a reference, not something we’re claiming to own.

Wanted for the Archive

Claude, a decade later.

The 2011 1/6-scale tenth-anniversary Claude figure, with its alternate prison outfit and original accompanying pieces.

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