Previews, anyone?

As we get closer to the release of GTA: San Andreas, the unanimous hope is that new information will surface – we still haven’t heard much about San Fierro or Las Venturas. For this, our attention shifts to the newsstands – when magazines cover such huge game releases, their features tend to be quite impressive.

Unfortunately, it seems that we may have to wait a little while before getting our grubby little fingers on any brand-new info. Regardless, we’re still offering a double-dosage preview rundown for your reading pleasure.

Rockstar’s keepin’ it real in San Andreas…

OPM dishes out the rudimentary overview of San Andreas in their October issue – the gameplay, storyline, features, and so on. Albeit they do have a saving grace this time round – a mini interview with hip-hop personality DJ Pooh, focusing on his contribution to the development of San Andreas.

Seeing as how the guys at Rockstar North don’t exactly live a west-coast lifestyle, they called in someone who knew the ins and outs of urban California. DJ Pooh, whose track record includes co-writing the movie �Friday� along side Ice Cube, as well as producing albums for artists including LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg and Tupac, brought his experience as a hip-hop producer and screenwriter to the table.

Rockstar opts to go for authenticity rather than celebrity status when it comes to casting voice actors � this is a fact that Pooh reassures us of when he notes that he was given the freedom to go out and pull folks off the street.

Rockstar gave me the opportunity to pull cats out of the streets and give them opportunities. Cats that used to have nothing to do but gang-bang and s*** like that — these guys are now becoming music guys, they’re doing voiceovers. I’m proud to be a part of it, and it was a positive experience for everyone involved.


– DJ Pooh

Landscaping and cultivating the countryside of San Andreas

Power Unlimited returns from the grave with a quick overview of the great outdoors in their October issue, complete with a description of law enforcement alterations between city and redneck-infested towns � while the police department does it�s dirty work throughout the urban sprawl of Los Santos, you�ll have to deal with an obese sheriff in his mucky ol� 4×4 when you hit the countryside.

Although it�s not quite as big as IGN or Gamespot�s coverage, it�s understandable � Doom 3 has taken headlines in most cross-platform gaming magazines as of late.