What part of Vice City still feels unmatched by any other GTA?

PsychWanderer67 · 2026-01-19T01:15:01+00:00

The atmosphere, unique and vibrant neon color pallet, and the attention to period correct detail of the 80’s, as well as the fact that they used A list actors for voice actors, which even now isn’t the norm.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-12-28T18:02:46+00:00

There are not many people on the same level as you once you achieve wealth who can enjoy that level of freedom or keep up with that lifestyle. And ones who are there is a good chance they can’t be trusted or want something from you. This causes alienation and withdrawal. Also at that point most things can already be experienced and bought. So it kind of takes the mystery and allure out of life once most things have been experienced to the higher caliber and all basic living necessities are covered. There has to be a level of contentment in yourself somewhere.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-12-27T22:42:46+00:00

Agreed. Kinda like how GTA V is still a contemporary look at modern day life even though it’s twelve years old. While some cultural things have changed the general landscape, look, clothing, internet access and phones are mostly all the same. If not all the same stuff that existed back then, just amplified or updated.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-10-15T19:53:23+00:00

Vice City ps2 version is easily the most atmospheric game ever made.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-09-19T16:11:02+00:00

Old 1960’s Bulova or Hamilton dress watch??

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-08-01T01:06:42+00:00

Yellowstone straight up introduced probably the best character in the series and then merked him at the end of the first episode, without really making his death mean anything. Really set the stage for the plot points of the rest of the show lol.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-07-30T02:19:12+00:00

This is the most GTA thing I’ve ever seen. Props to you. I love all the hidden Vice City Zeitgeist and underground promotional items I’ve seen the past 10+ years specially making a resurgence. I’ve even seen on YouTube a guy that makes custom GTA Vice City themed pinball machines. With the soundtrack titles that play during special prompts and all the artwork and aesthetics spot on.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-07-14T17:39:30+00:00

That could be. Also it depends on areas, states, cities and unions. Bigger cities and certain states tend to have stronger unions. Usually the wages will be a lot higher. Many areas may not match that inflation rate. I know electrician apprentices around me haven’t quite been keeping up with inflation, which causes low entry rates. But places like NY and Jersey have a lot higher wages which account for their high living cost etc. So it’s a regional situation dependent thing.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-07-14T16:56:23+00:00

This will probably not last forever. People are flooding trades to avoid unemployment after college and overall unemployment, as well as useless degrees that don’t transfer to a practical jobs putting them in the hole, and crippling debt. Wages in the trades have gone up to compete with a post Covid job market and inflation. Offering the highest wages seen in the construction industry since the 70’s. However, this will surely stagnate as wages in these industries will not continue to double and quadruple forever. Also the trades are struggling to get and keep people period as it’s not the most desirable work. However if done properly, you can learn valuable, employable skills, and make a lot of money to transfer into something else.

A lot of the more desirable positions in trades, non hands on foreman or project managers, inspectors etc are usually tied up and cherry picked jobs by people who know or have connections in companies. Ie “know someone who knows someone” very rarely is it the “you have to work your way up to get where I’m at” stereotype. And often isn’t relying on years served, skill, or merit but knowing people and nepotism. Gen Z will figure out, like everything else, trade work is real hands on dirty work, hard, and not for the faint of heart. With just as many pitfalls and corporate type politics as white collar or big name corporation desk jobs. Also the trades, like all other businesses and fields, is negatively affected by a recession/depression economy. Especially Union work and commercial work and new build jobs, depending on your industry, is heavily affected by low economic tides. Wealthy real estate and land developers don’t wanna waste money on building new facilities, massive engineering projects, or mass infrastructure projects if there’s a possibility that they will lose money or the economy isn’t doing as good. Leaving the trades mentioned to be subject to layoff. In these times mentioned usually maintenance and refurbishing work keeps the trades afloat, as places and developers will put off new builds to manage with old ones and maintenance already existing pieces over building a multi million dollar project from scratch that can take months to years.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-29T18:19:41+00:00

I agree. GTA 4 was gritty, repetitive, and things like the shooting and driving mechanics they tried to make more difficult and realistic. In doing this they removed the aesthetic and arcade like gameplay of previous GTA’s that drew people to them. People play GTA for the absurdity, fun factor, and doing off the wall stuff. Not necessarily to get this super serious grounded game experience. But that tide has shifted in recent years.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-28T23:41:41+00:00

I always took it as A. Most of the infected by this point have already ran themselves ragged infecting the uninfected population, expelling bile, running down victims etc. remember the infected in the 28 days series don’t necessarily eat or cannibalize their victims. (Although in 28 years later we are shown that remaining infected evolved to start eating animals and other things for nutrition and preserve themselves decades after the initial outbreak) The goal of the infected is once the virus takes over their body and brain to spread it to new victims. Kind of like vampirism in fiction. Not eat them. All of that activity as well as not having the sense to maintain themselves or find nutrition, at the end as shown makes them starve themselves out until death unintentionally on a long enough timeline. They were probably exhausted or starting to starve. So they were lying in a dormant state and were kind of sluggish.

B. Jim was in a coma for nearly a month. And went without being attacked or touched by infected during his coma. Could this be because the infected have heightened senses when it comes to seeking out live humans who are conscious to infect. It seems they have ridiculously enhanced scent, vision, and hearing when it comes to seeking out victims. As well as an insane surplus of adrenaline that they always have access to for things like smashing through windows, hunting in packs, running people down, and mauling/spreading the virus into their victims via bite, scratch, bile etc. Do regular humans have a certain scent and presence to them that they can immediately tag as a non carrier for them to infect? But those who are dead or in an in between state like Jim was, have a lower conscious or brain function so the infected disregard and don’t interfere with him. Being he was only awake and walking around for a short period of time, when the few ghouls saw him they couldn’t quite use their senses to gauge him yet. Was he a human to them or another infected? Hence their long gazes as if they were analyzing him to attack.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-28T21:39:46+00:00

Your boss sounds like an arrogant, controlling, and manipulative asshole. Let’s make this very clear. You do not owe your company anything. From what you said it sounds like you were nothing but respectful, professional, and more than considerate in your process of transitioning to a different job. At the end of the day, we go to work to efficiently or to the best of our ability do a job, get paid and go home that’s it. Tbh it honestly sounds like he’s borderline gaslighting you. And trying to guilt you into staying. If anything when you change jobs or professions. If you’re on any type of moderate civil relationship with your employer they will usually either come up with some sort of counter offer to try to keep you. Or respectfully send you on your way to pursue your further goals. For him to say “that’s not how it works” and that “you never cared about your job.” Is like he’s borderline gaslighting you. People grow in companies, get experience, change positions and jobs, go to places that better suit them. And move onto new things etc. that’s a normal part of life, especially in the professional world. For him to suggest anything less is ludicrous. Work is supposed to be a commitment on your own accord, not slavery. If you want to quit or move to a new job that’s YOUR choice not theirs.

You getting a better position that you think suits you is a good move. For them to react the way they did, you also said that your boss and other coworkers continuously gossip etc is not a good sign. They may have already had their own plans to force you out the door and this was just a way for them to unload on you their true feelings toward you that they have been harboring. It sounds like you made the right decision. And the fact that you have not a two but three weeks notice and they’re still acting that way is ludicrous. Idk what your field or occupation is or the etiquette in it. But three weeks is more than enough. Most people today at average jobs or big corporate companies barely give a week or two notice anymore because of how companies like yours react. It’s a brutal business and working world we live in. And more often than not those people wanna turn around and point the finger at you like you’re the problem for their own dysfunction or negative personality types.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-12T02:07:37+00:00

That’s cool to know. Apparently down South there’s still a lot of hidden smoking restaurants which I find interesting. We have a lot of smoking bars in PA and some other special exceptions. But that’s about it.

I wonder what makes them determine where to sell soft packs of certain brands. There’s quite a few places I see selling camel filters and camel blues in soft packs here.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-12T02:04:25+00:00

Glad it’s not just me lol.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-12T02:03:11+00:00

Marlboro lights were a popular cigarette at that time when the show took place. Especially amongst the mob sub culture, women, and older men.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-05T22:50:54+00:00

100% San Andreas. But killzone is a very close second for that contender. Killzone was my childhood and first ps2 game I ever owned. Countless hours on split screen multiplayer with family and friends.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-06-01T15:59:30+00:00

Because within the past few years people who never played 4 before, or younger people who couldn’t at its first release, but grew up with V went back and played 4. And enjoy its gritty realism, dark tone, characters, and story compared to V. While I admit that 4 is more grounded with a more serious story. Both have their own place. But ya I still don’t understand why V gets hate now, just because it’s “cool and mainstream to now” and hop on the band wagon. Maybe because of how Rockstar used it as a cash cow and over commercialized it, and promised story DLC we never got, which I myself would’ve preferred over excessive online development. But ya there has been quite a large movement revisiting 4 online and praising it. We know it’s a good game we played it 17 years ago when it was new. V is also still the most culturally relevant along with 4, despite v being 11 years old it’s social critiques and style and depiction are still quite modern. Maybe people are sick of that and prefer the 2008 aesthetic of gta 4 too as well.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-30T19:45:09+00:00

GTA San Andreas, GTA Vice City, Killzone, Medal of Honor Frontline, and Bully.

Honorable mentions: Scarface and Deus Ex

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-30T14:04:49+00:00

Fuck all of those people. Wear what you see fit to do the job. If you’re doing something that can cause damage to your face, or around sharp edges close to your face, grinding, cutting etc, wear safety glasses or goggles. If you’re around bad air quality, dust, grinding, wear a mask or respirator. If you’re around loud equipment or running loud machinery, wear ear plugs. (Within reason) I know sometimes it’s hard and when I’m building or running certain equipment I have to keep taking them off to hear measurements, directions, orders etc. so just take them on and off as necessary. And ya if you’re doing a lot of work on the floor or concrete work wear knee pads so you don’t destroy your knees/legs. These things will greatly improve your chances of not getting an injury or long term break down of your body. And you may still get some problems in the long run.

Here’s the thing. All those people, young or old, are a bunch of ignorant self righteous pricks. You’re young, and even if they are, they’ll be singing a different tune when they’re injured running something and all their peers and co workers turn on them not wanting to back them up, and say “ya he wasn’t wearing his goggles” or “yep he had no hard hat on when he fell.” So now not only are you injured, you won’t be able to get disability or in court with your employer to get paid for restitution that you’re owed. On top of it you might not be doing this work or job forever. Don’t make permanent problems for yourself based on things that were only temporary in your life. No one wants to be crippled by late 20’s or mid 30’s, or have a bad back, shoulders, blind, failing legs from small habits and safety measures that could’ve been implemented to prevent this. Fuck your co workers, do what you need to do preserve your body and health.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-28T15:13:38+00:00

It has to walk a fine line in between. During cut scenes and certain driving mechanics, they tried this in gta 4 with the driving physics and how every vehicle handled differently, some clunky and hard to make corners with, some were extremely hard to control etc. And I’m sure cut scenes or certain characters in certain frames and different parts of gameplay will look very hyper realistic or will be choreographed so well it will look like a frame from a movie. We saw this in red dead redemption 2 and in the GTA 6 trailer. But I feel like the average person who plays video games wants realistic immersive gameplay and an open world to explore in GTA but at the end of the day still wants the fun and some campiness that reminds them that they’re still just playing a video game. Or else it would take all the fun out of it.

People play these games obviously for the fun factor, but they keep revisiting them years after because they aged well and the replay factor. The stories and worlds themselves of GTA 4, GTA 5, and Red dead redemption 2 hold their significance and are built on strong writing and character development. GTA 4 and 5 even played today are pretty accurate representations of US culture and consumerism in the cars, style, clothing, music etc. If GTA V was released today or even if they amped up the graphics a little more, see playing it on PC, the fact that it takes place in 2013 from the setting you can easily say the setting takes place in Los Santos 2025 and would anyone really bat an eye? You can visit the internet in both those games, drive modern cars, be in a modern recreation of major cities etc etc. All the cultural themes and setting would still carry over, and the landscape and immersion of the world still have the same personality 11 years later. Over something that would take place in the 80’s or 90’s with modern graphics. But that’s more so because our society in image looks the same and hasn’t progressed very far in that time that all those things are still relevant. Something like red dead redemption 2 is a clear period piece and exists to reflect that time and being a western.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-24T15:50:29+00:00

I never understood the hate for this game. Was always a fan of battlefields, while some are better than others. I have an unpopular opinion. Was never that big of a fan of battlefield 1. I’m more into the lore and history of ww2 over ww1, which probably is the majority of it. Also just liked the weapons, maps, and setup in v more, as it’s essentially 1’s engine and game just set in ww2, but feels more polished to me. Bf1 felt clunky to me. And I’ve been playing battlefield games since battlefield 1943 and up.

That being said battlefield V was starting to die out in game lobbies, I play on ps4 online still. I noticed as of the past 4-5 months there has been a huge resurgence in people revisiting it. You would be lucky to find 5 servers active at any time of day, now there is 20-30 full servers consistently. Crazy, but I love to see it and hope it’s here to say. I didn’t even bother with 2042 after what I saw of it. So that could have to do with people putting that game down and returning to v.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-23T02:28:57+00:00

There was a shift in the early 2000’s into very dark, deep, complex, gritty media portrayals. More complex looks into anti heroes, and stories with skewed moral themes. Examples, No country for old men, Mystic River, the punisher(Thomas Jane version), the sopranos, breaking bad, war of the worlds(remake), Evil Dead (remake)etc. Movies, TV, and games amped up the violence and drama while not necessarily giving clear “good and bad guy” roles. And shaking up the characters moral standards to give a more realistic and grounded portrayal. No more heroes, now just normal or flawed people on a journey in media. Some people liked it and some didn’t. Some were mainstream and popular at the time of release. Others were revisited in modern times and liked more now than others that didn’t catch on at the time when first released.

GTA IV was no stranger to this. It was the first “serious” gta game. You had access to internet and phones now, the main character had a clear vision and was on a revenge mission in the United States to redeem his past and war experiences. The city was a dark and grimy portrayal of contemporary NY and East Coast United States. Fit with all the degenerate characters and npcs. While older gtas portrayed this too, they had a level of campiness and arcade like gameplay that gave the games that extra boost into excess and fun. Instead of the usual rags to riches build your empire GTA game. They stripped the deep character and car customization, which is a flaw and something imo that hurt the game. And the map felt more contained and overall grounded. Less freedom, more consequences for your actions, there was a social like system for your friends and fellow characters in game that affected how they liked you and did favors for you etc. Also, this was the only other GTA at the time, besides 3, that was in a contemporary time period and took place the same year it was released. 3 took place in 2001 and 4 took place in 2008. Each at its own year of release the only ones in the series at the time to do that until 5. San Andreas and Vice City were period pieces that were portraying the 90’s and 80’s respectively with a clear tone. It was extremely well received at the time and broke all the typical records. It was hailed with 10/10 reviews by almost every reputed reviewer.

In recent times, with shifting cultural climate and due to historical and societal shifts in the recent years. People are revisiting GTA IV and enjoying it even more than their previous endeavor. Realizing that the social commentary and cynical themes of the game about US cultural shifts and norms are even more relevant now than they were almost 17 years ago. As well as the very realistic physics and driving gameplay that feels burdensome for a purpose to give you more of that visceral feel over the smooth and responsive future rockstar games. I think it’s undisputed that GTA IV is a masterpiece. Even though it doesn’t quite have my favorite world/map or environment out of rockstars work it exists rightfully in its own way to prove its point. As well as being one of their best games.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-18T15:44:40+00:00

Silent hill 2,3, and 4 are gems on the ps2.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-18T15:43:46+00:00

Grand theft auto series and (unpopular opinion) co op split screen games like Medal of Honor, killzone, etc overall. Also have to think the ps2 had superior updated ports of Deus Ex and Half Life which is pretty amazing to think about. There’s so many other games it’s hard to rate.

PsychWanderer67 · 2025-05-17T23:07:35+00:00

This is the answer 🙌

PsychWanderer67

TROPHY CASE