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Making open-world games comes with many perks, though one unexpected one, as former Rockstar Games writer Lazlow Jones explains, is that you might already know your way around a city you've never visited.
Speaking to comedian, actor, and radio personality Dan Soder on his podcast, the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption veteran recalls a press trip to Miami to promote GTA 4 that was made all the easier not because Jones has visited the city before, but because he helped create GTA: Vice City.
"Me and this guy who worked at Rockstar are driving, and I go, 'This is starting to feel really familiar,'" he says. "I go, 'If we go around this corner, there's a strip club.' Went around the corner: strip club. I was like, 'Yo! I know how to get around town.'"
Working at Rockstar Games with Lazlow pic.twitter.com/JSudxn1hM4September 13, 2024
Now, you might think the achievement isn't that impressive – I imagine Miami has heaps of strip joints – but it's not the first time it's happened. As we previously reported, one professional footballer said playing GTA 5 made his move to Los Angeles easier because he already knew his way around. Uncanny.
While Jones isn't around to help shape it, GTA 6 takes us back to Vice City. Folks are looking forward to many parts of the upcoming open-world game, though another highlight we can add to our list is that if you find yourself in Miami in the future, you might be able to get around town just fine.
As for Jones, his new open-world game is apparently less mysterious if you listen to the studio's audio series: "A lot of the questions could be answered by listening."
