//Is London Suitable as a Basis of Inspiration for GTA? Why is personal preference irrelevant?
Fundamentally the answer to the question of whether or not London is a suitable location to take as a basis of inspiration for GTA or not the answer is: yes it is.
Why?
Well the fact is this: London has been used as a basis of inspiration for gta, ergo London is suitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA; therefore there are no reasons to claim that London is unsuitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA.
This is pure logic, supportable by the fact of reality (that London has been used as a basis of inspiration for gta) and it is binding.
Beyond that it has everything else needed from a GTA location (large city, cars, crime gangs, shootings etc), which will be dealt with in the rest of this thread; that is irrelevant however, as the above principle is binding and proof positive of London’s suitability as a basis of inspiration for GTA.
Now that being the case I’d like to touch upon individual personal preference and explain why it has no bearing on London’s (or anywhere else for that matter) suitability as a prospective GTA location.
Now imbecile X might ask “but I don’t like it, does this not make it unsuitable?”
The answer to his question is: no.
Let me explain...
When I say: “London has been used as a basis of inspiration for gta, ergo London is suitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA; therefore there are no reasons to claim that London is unsuitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA.” I am making a statement of fact, no less; it is supported by reality, it is purest logic, it proves London’s suitability, it is universally binding.
When Imbecile X says: “I don’t like cheese.” he does no more than state his personal opinion; it is his own personal preference, no more, it is relevant only to him.
The fact that Imbecile X “doesn’t like cheese” does not mean that cheese is unfit for human consumption.
Neither does it negate the fact that someone else does “like” cheese.
Personal preference affects only the individual: yours does not over rule mine, neither does mine over rule yours (unless yours is based upon fallacies).
Personal preference has no bearing on these realities, neither does it have any bearing on the suitability of London as a basis of inspiration for GTA.
London has been used as a basis of inspiration for gta, ergo London is suitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA; therefore there are no reasons to claim that London is unsuitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA.
London is suitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA.
Now that we have that sorted out I will go on to first: deal with any invalid reason that individuals might suggest that London is unsuitable as a basis of inspiration for GTA or why they might misguidedly dislike the idea, and second: explain why I personally believe that London is the best place for GTAIV.
//Section One: Anti-London Arguments Countered. Part 1.
Now I have no problem with individuals preferring another location over London, nor even if they should dislike the idea. However if these people don not have valid reason for holding such views then I will attempt to educate their opinion with fact and logic. That is what this section is here for, it deals with any and all invalid, illogical or false ‘reason’ that anti-London idiots generally put forwards to substantiate their (utterly) fallacious claim that London is unsuitable as a basis for GTA.
This is the first of two such sections and it debases the following ‘arguments’: “Isn’t London small?”, “London isn’t a melting pot”, “Isn’t London crime free, Isn’t GTA a crime statistic simulator?”, "Aren’t there no gangs in London", "In London guns are illegal and in GTA laws count", "What about sky-scrapers?”
// London: BIG.
Bizzarely, some people think that London is small. This was one of the first 'reasons' I ever saw presented as to why London was unsuitable for GTA: that it is "small". Now that's weird because London is bigger than any city in the U.S, in terms of land mass, all of them.
This section sets the record straight and states the facts to show just how huge London really is.
Before I start I am not claiming that London is the ideal candidate for the next GTA city to be based around purely because it is an extremely large city, nor am I pretending that it has the worlds highest population. I also know that certain cities in the world (generally the third world) have larger populations than London, though it still possess a larger population than most and is pretty much the worlds largest city in terms of land mass.
All I am doing here is proving that London is more than big enough to base an interesting, diverse GTA city around.
Size is of course a factor when considering prospective GTA locations, generally the larger a city is the more diverse it is in terms of both architecture and in the ethnicity of it’s inhabitants, there are of course exceptions to that rule but London is not one of them. In Londons case it’s size is due to it’s age and it’s global lure; over the centuries it has grown outward and attracted more and more people from all corners of the world who flock there in search of what they believe to be a better life.
As I say Londons sheer size, as well as her age, has made her a city that is arguably the most diverse in the world in terms of architectural variety, with ancient structures that are millennia old along with progressive modern architecture and skyscrapers. Additionally all of these factors which are directly related to the cities size are also linked to it’s propensity for breeding crime; due to her size and what that size has led to London has always attracted ethnic migrants who come in search of a better life but often find themselves with nothing but broken dreams in an unforgiving foreign city, which can lead them to turn to crime. All of this will be dealt with in more detail shortly but it is linked to the factor of size and merits a mention here.
Beyond all of that it goes without saying that we all want an expansive playground in the next GTA...
The claim that London is "too small and boring for GTA"is a complete fallacy.
London is and always has been one of the biggest , most important and well known cities on this planet; it is a Global City. The Getaways London is but a small, incomplete section of the city. I know, I live here.
City Size Comparisons :City Population Land Area (Square Miles)
London 7,593,300 620 sq mi
U.S Cities
New York (LC) 8,091,700 303 sq mi
Los Angeles (LS) 3,485,398 469 sq mi
Chicago 2,783,726 227 sq mi
Philadelphia 1,479,339 135 sq mi
Detroit 911,402 139 sq mi
San Francisco (SF) 751,682 47 sq mi
Boston 581,616 48 sq mi
Seattle 569,101 84 sq mi
Washington D.C 563,384 61 sq mi
Las Vegas (LV) 517,017 113 sq mi
New Orleans 469,032 181 sq mi
Miami (VC) 376,815 36 sq mi
Buffalo 350,000
Global Cities
Moscow 9,000,000
Tokyo 8,294,200
Hong Kong 6,843,000
Rio De Janeiro 5,547,033
Sydney 3,713,500
Toronto 2,400,000
(Yellow=London, Green=Already used in GTA)
Figures from infoplease.com
Here I must make a point of stating that the population figures above a for the city limits as are the land mass figures, this is because those figures are directly representative of the city proper. Urban Agglomerate/Metropolitan figures take into account surrounding areas and cities and are thus missrepresentative of a cities true size. GTA games are more focused upon the city than the suburbs.
All this is of course besides the point as GTA is not a population statistic simulator and sheer population size is not one of the most important factors in ascertaining the potential of a Location to inspire the next GTA.
More important than population is Londons sheer size in Land mass, it makes London the diverse city it is and gives R* a lot to work with when building a large playground for the player.
As I say there are many more important factors to consider regarding prospective GTA locations than sheer size.remember I am not pretending that London has the largest population I am merely making the point that it is more than big enough to base a GTA location around as at 620square miles and a population of nearly 8 million it is one of the very largest cities in the world in any terms.
London is and always has been one of the worlds very largest cities. If London is not a large enough city to base a GTA location around then nowhere in the world is. FACT.
// Multi-Cultural London: The World In One City.
Looking at the existing GTA games it would seem that ethnic diversity is a key requirement for a prospective GTA location as it determines the variety of a cities gangs scene. For some reason some people seek to fallaciously claim that “only U.S cities are ethnic/cultural melting pots” or that “London has no ethnic diversity”. This is odd because London is one of the most ethnically diverse cities on the planet.
This section sets the record straight and states the facts to show just how ethnically diverse a multi-cultured melting pot London is.
London is one of the most ethnically diverse and richly multi-cultural cities in the world, as the following statistics bear out:
London Population Ethnic Breakdown
London Total Population: 7,593,300Ethnicity Population
White British 4,288,193
Total Ethnic Minorities 3,305,107
White Irish 220,000
Other white: non-British (Russian, Eastern Europeans etc) 595,000
Black African 378,686
Black Caribbean 343,543
Black other 60,245
Indian 436,780
Pakistani 142,724
Bangladeshi 154,199
Chinese 80,327
Other Asian(Japanese, Korean etc) 133,400
All Others(South Americans, Australian, American etc) 113,319
(Source)
Meaning that almost half of Londons population is made up of ethnic minorities at 3,305,107. A population that is bigger than the total population of all but two U.S cities: NY and L.A
Furthermore: over 300 languages are spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.
Just from personal experience I know we have;
Indians/Pakistanis/Bangladeshis
Africans
Jamaican and people of Caribbean origin
Chinese/Koreans/Japanese
Turkish/Greek
Italian/Spanish/Portuguese
Eastern Europeans ie Ukrainians/Russians/Poles
Balkan europeans ie Kosovans/Albanians
South Americans i.e Brazilians/Colombians
Yiddish (Jews) communities
Aussies
and not forgetting plenty of Irish, all living in London. That’s simply an ad hoc list from personal knowledge, if there is a nationality in the world it most likely has ex-patriots living in London today.
London simply IS one of the most ethnically diverse, multi-cultural centres on the planet.
London is full of rich cultural enclaves like Brick Lane, Chinatown and Little Venice, areas of London like Brent and Newham are already minority Boroughs. Much of the city is heading towards becoming predominantly minority areas, in areas such as the East End, from Whitechapel to Ilford you are more likely to meet someone from an ethnic minority than an Englishman.