Grand Theft Auto III beta development timeline

Timeline of footage from the first video leaks of Grand Theft Auto 3/3D in July 2000 until the final Japanese CM for the Xbox in 2004.

Timestamp
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:05 July 21, 2000 (leaked wireframe #01)
00:00:09 October 9, 2000 (leaked wireframe #02)
00:00:17 February 01, 2001 (Trailer #01 - Press Disc/IGN)
00:00:50 May 17, 2001 (Trailer #02 - E3)
00:02:01 May 17, 2001 (E3 interview)
00:02:16 May 17, 2001 (Prima Guide E3 2001 VHS)
00:02:27 May 17, 2001 (E3 floor footage, PSXNATION)
00:04:18 May 17, 2001 (E3 floor footage, SCEE NL)
00:04:49 May 17, 2001 (E3 floor footage, CoreMag.)
00:05:35 May 17, 2001 (E3 floor footage, Gamereactor)
00:07:12 July 2001(?)(German promo footage, uncut)
00:09:22 July 2001(?)(German promo footage, tv cut)
00:09:53 August 2001(?)(PSWorld footage)
00:16:14 Early September 2001(?)(PlayZone footage)
00:21:21 September 20, 2001 (Trailer #03)
00:22:21 September 24, 2001 (IGN)
00:26:41 October 4, 2001 (IGN)
00:29:09 October 17, 2001 (IGN)
00:31:28 October 18, 2001 (IGN)
00:33:37 October 24, 2001 (Gamespot)
00:35:41 April 30, 2002 (TV spot - PC)
00:36:11 May 22, 2002 (E3 2002 - PC Version preview)
00:50:00 2003 (Japanese PS2 & PC ad)
00:50:45 November 6, 2003 (Double pack promo clips)
00:51:35 2004 (Xbox ad)
00:52:07 2004 (Japanese Xbox ad)

[adamtm]

I had a magazine, back from 2001, called Tudorka. The "Tudorka" was a magazine for kids, and in every copy has a video game recommendation. My magazine is from Summer of 2001, and it has a screenshot of GTA 3.

[HenryStudioCA]

That very first beta trailer goes so hard but is mildly disturbing. It makes it look like you're just playing as a serial killer/mass shooter/domestic terrorist and the usage of "Kaotic Harmony" by Derrick May is just beautiful (I also want to thank that trailer for introducing me to that song, and to Midnight Club 1 to introducing me to Derrick May)

[CollegeKidd]

Something about old video games is very admirable; 20 years ago developing was much harder especially with the lack of tools and tutorials, so it's really impressive to me how those game devs managed to make those things work out.

We should really start to appreciate the work process behind those games instead of giving the finished work all the attention; devs had spent all day and night hurting their backs and wrists to achieve an acceptable level of satisfaction.

[erikres]

14:58 The car is turquoise and well... did someone say "kifflom"? I knew Epsilon existed in III already but this clip is interesting!

[TC-yqog]

GTA 3 was the sergeant peppers of gaming, mind blowingly innovative

[Journey_to_who_knows]

4:30 still better than most ufo recordings

[HairyHarpy]

11:15 it’s interesting to see how back then, an ongoing narrative for Grand Theft Auto was seen as something breathtaking. And how we expect anything to come out with a story.

[mauricehamilton]

i remember the first time I played this game at a friend's house in the Bronx when i saw the chalk outline from the bodies when i ran people over and when I took the sentinal from Marco bistro and the alarm started going of and i took off and drove under the train track as the train was above me I'd never seen anything like that in a video game being from NYC it really hit different

[imanolk]

I remember playing gta 3 for the first time and thinking the graphics were amazingly real compared to ps1 games 😊😊 Good times.

[jytvreal]

And Thus, GTA 6's first reveal trailer is set to release

[immortalkombat]

Pls keep doing these all the way up till gta 5. The nostalgia is so good

[TottoGamer]

23:08 The police cars did not arrive in the final game retaining the light blue color, it only had to be released 28 days early to maintain that color.

[macdonald_duck]

It looks like a group of guys wanted to make a game like "in that music video by RHCP" and developed GTAIII
Cool

[dales]

Its crazy throughout gta 3s entire development time they never considered a function to jump out of a moving car...

[Punditk]

Please keep up the AMAZING work!!!! It is a trip down memory lane to see a lot of this old time capsule footage (a lot of which I actually haven't seen). It is doubly nostalgic in light of the upcoming first trailer for GTA 6. Thank you!!!
Edit: It is also beautiful to see how the game kept getting more and more polished over the course of the year, until it ultimately came to be what we've come to know and love. Just perfect!
Edit2: Also love your Vice City video for the same reasons.

[MatadorShifter]

Crazy how pastel and colorful some of the elements of the game were. It seems to me that the early timecycle was directly ported to Vice City Stories cause the skies look about the same.

[blep]

Thanks for this video! It's nice to see how GTA 3 looked like prior to its final form.

I don't know why but I feel like out of all the GTA betas, I think GTA3 is the most interesting one. Maybe because of its unfortunate timing with 9/11.

[SEDATEDSlothRecords]

I had the luck to play GTA 2 & 3 & VC at my uncles when I was 4-5 in 2003 or so an even played GTA 1 on PC (but I dont remember it) and then I got his PS1 and XBOX classic when I was 6. You can imagine what a big impact this whole saga and many other games had to me and many others. GTA 2 were so hard and still today when I tried it on a PS1 Ive bought recently it is incredibly hard to master. I used a lot of cheats especially that one to achieve the 3 districts in GTA2 when I was 6. The trailer in the begin with this BMW.. man memories

[ADreamPC]

I loved these in the 90s and 2000s. Was a big leap from 2D to 3D and we would always question what GTA would look like compared to Driver at the time of development. Still have these classics on my PC today.

[RealRobloxPro_Production]

This game was a huge step in the game industry