>that is interesting. i'm pretty sure it can be boiled down to
>the fact that rockstar is given tons of money and time to
>create believable worlds and that they are experts at doing
>it, having done it for so long. i can't really say for
>certain why rockstar has the magic touch but i do know that
>part of it is their obsessive attention to detail.

I noticed this early on after GTA3 came out. I can't remember if it was during VIce City or San Andreas that True Crime: Streets Of LA was out. I remember playing it and liking a few things, the city was bigger than anything i'd seen in GTA up to that point but it was dull. I wouldn't get to know the individual neighborhoods. that was my biggest fear when GTAIV came out, that it would be so massive it would lose that feeling on knowing the layout like the back of my hand. It took longer for me to get used to GTAIV, but it still happened, unlike other sandbox games where i don't think they put as much detail into their individual neighborhoods.