♪ (mellow synthpop music) ♪

- (voice-over) With Grand Theft Auto V,

Rockstar have tried to re-imagine the open-world game

in a number of ways.

The sprawling... - Oh, that's a video game?

- (voice-over) ...modern Southern California.

- I could get into Grand Theft Auto.

- (voice-over) ...the game features not one

but three would-be heroes. - It looks so real.

- (voice-over) Michael, a once successful bank robber

and now less successful family man.

- (son) You know, you're a real [bleep].

- (laughing) - (voice-over) Franklin...

- "Hey, shut up! Whack!"

- (voice-over) And then there's Trevor. - Oh my goodness.

He's flushing something down the toilet.

- Ooh.

- Ew! (Trevor yells)

- (voice-over) Introducing three lead characters

transforms both the narrative into one interwoven story.

- I think I just figured out, this is a game, isn't it?

- (Michael) Yeah, I could use a little backup here.

- (voice-over) And from one high-octane moment to another.

- (Franklin) I got you. (gunshot)

- He's smokin' him!

(gunshot) - Pretty graphic!

- (voice-over) This helps to give missions new levels

of diversity and intensity. - Wow, it's so real looking.

- (voice-over) It's packed with a vast array of things

to see and do. Cars to customize.

- Cool. - (voice-over) Planes to fly.

Clothes to buy.

- Hard to watch. Too many things going on at once.

- (voice-over) Nirvanas to pursue. - It's not just violence.

- A whole panorama of activity. (in game: commotion)

- (voice-over) Everything from driving and shooting...

(gunshots)

...to tennis and bike riding... - (snickers)

- (voice-over) ...feels fun and responsive.

- Ooh. So edgy, the tennis part.

- (voice-over) ...a series of increasingly audacious heists.

You decide what to spend your money on.

Anything from sensible investments, like tattoos and fast cars...

- How is a tattoo a sensible investment?

- (laughing) - (voice-over) ...to risky ventures

like stocks and Los Santos real estate. - This is great.

- (amazed) Wow.

That's amazing!

That's not just shoot 'em and kill 'em

and how much gore you can get on the screen.

- With a game like this,

your kid'll never have to get off the coach.

- Did you make this?

(movie reel clicks)

- (Finebros) So have you ever heard

of the the Grand Theft Auto video game series before?

- No.

- I don't think so.

- No.

- No, I hadn't.

- Oh yeah.

- Yes.

It's just like one of the biggest video games--

if they still call them video games-- ever.

- Yeah, I've watched it a little bit. It's pretty wild.

- (Finebros) Where have you watched it? - You guys!

- (Finebros) From what you saw,

what does the point of the game seem to be?

- I think there's lots of points.

- They don't know what the point is.

- Mayhem.

- I guess the point is to be the best thief.

- To be a successful criminal, I think.

- Well, the three heroes are trying to solve crimes.

- (Finebros) You play as the criminal. - No heroes?

- (Finebros) And the point of the game

is to be a successful criminal.

- Oh, that should be sort of fun.

I've never been one before, but it'd be my first chance.

(chuckles) (sinister chuckle)

♪ (dramatic music) ♪

- (Finebros) So here is another clip of the three characters

to get to know them a little more. - Okay.

- Okay.

- (blandly) Oh great, I can't wait. My buddies.

♪ (Queen, "Radio Ga Ga") ♪ - (daughter) Dad!

Jimmy called me a bitch!

- Oh, that's Queen.

- (Michael) ...love my family, you know, live the dream.

Gimme that. - (daughter grunts)

I hate you! - Oh. He's an abuser also.

- Oh, I remember when my son told me

he hated me for the first time.

- (Michael) ...I really want the other stuff too.

- You need psychological counseling, sir.

- (Michael) I'm rich, I'm miserable. - (chuckles)

- (Michael) I'm pretty average for this town.

- (therapist) I think you need a new therapist.

- Huh, you need a new therapist? You need a new life.

♪ (Jay Rock, "Hood Gone Love It") ♪

- Oh, dang.

- (sighing) Oh, god. Booty, booty, booty, booty.

Shooty, shooty, shooty.

- Oh, a pole dancer.

- (gang member) Gangsta [bleep]. (gunshot)

- They got role models for everybody.

- Whoa, way too much.

- (gang member) Enjoy them hoes, homie!

- (Franklin) Yeah, whatever.

♪ (Waylon Jennings, "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way") ♪

- (amused) And you got a redneck. It just doesn't get any better.

- (Trevor) I'm new in town. I'm making friends, all right?

(fierce yell)

- They have a strange way of making friends.

- (Trevor mutters) Nice new [bleep], by the way.

- (laughs heartily) - (Trevor) Abandonment issues.

- (man) Uh, n-n-no, I really don't--

- (Trevor) Do you want me to get my dick out again?

- (disgusted) Oh!

- It's fascinating. They've taken movies one step beyond.

- They went cheap on the plots.

I mean, can we get out of the gangster mood

or the hooker mood?

Let's make something of ourselves

without having to kill all those people.

- (Finebros) So of the three characters,

which one would you want to play as? - None.

They're just all... doofuses.

- I don't like any of 'em. (chuckles)

- Franklin might be kinda fun.

- Franklin has access to the nicer butts.

I've always been an ass man, I don't know what to tell ya.

(laughter)

- (Finebros) A lot of people have blamed Grand Theft Auto

for violent crimes in real life.

- Yeah, and so was Judas Priest in Idaho, and they were sued.

And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

- (Finebros) Do you buy into that? - Oh, yes, very much so,

'cause kids are so impressionable.

- Take a look at the crime rate.

People kill people in Chicago like it's a sport.

Like it's a video game! (imitates automatic firing)

- I mean, it's a good outlet for kids, I think.

It's probably healthier for them to do this

than it is to deal drugs on the side in high school and college.

- If the person is psychologically normal,

I don't think it would influence that person.

Um, he would realize that, you know, it's fiction.

- That whole thing like, "My kid watched this video,

subsequently became emo,

and went out and shot up his classroom stuff" is like,

uh, I think that's supposed to be called parenting?

- You know, it's kind of sad, because it gives people an idea,

you can get away with that,

and you can live a regular life and be a criminal.

I gotta tell ya, I spent 20 years as a cop;

I never saw one decent criminal that had a decent life.

- (Finebros) Does it concern you at all

there's a video game out there

that's all about criminal activity? - Yes.

How do you become anything in life

if you fill your head with such dark, ugly, black things of life?

- Whatever you do, you take a little bit home of it with ya.

- When I was a kid,

we shot each other all the time playing army,

playing cowboys and Indians.

But none of my friends went out and shot anybody in real life.

- Oh no. No, no, I've always had a secret desire...

for the darker side. (chuckles)

(sinister chuckle) ♪ (dramatic music) ♪

- (Finebros) Outside of the violence, what are your thoughts

about how a video game can have this open world

that anything you can think that you would do in real life,

you could also do in the game?

- That's-- so now we don't have to have real life?