Referring to GTA Versions
The titles of some games in the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series are very long. The online community, the games publishers and the press frequently shorten the titles by using initials. However, there is no standard manner in which to shorten the titles and so it can be difficult to be sure exactly which title is being referred to. This causes a real problem due to the GTA having so many editions on so many platforms, with some editions having several versions on the same platform.
To try and overcome this, some authors have developed a standard format of referring to games in the GTA series, with full and shortened titles. This format is not authoritative and is likely to be incomplete. GTAModding welcomes responsible additions and amendments to it.
Contents
Referring to the Entire Series
The first game in the series was simply called "Grand Theft Auto" without any number or other identifying marks. This usage is ambiguous as it could mean the first edition or be a reference to the entire series. To resolve this problem, some authors do the following:-
- When referring to the entire series, use "Grand Theft Auto" or "GTA".
- When referring specifically to the first edition, use "Grand Theft Auto 1" or GTA 1".
Shorter Game Titles
The simplest way to shorten the titles is to use the first letter of each word the title is made from. One edition uses a number (Grand Theft Auto 2) while another uses Roman Numerals (Grand Theft Auto III). Numbers are preferable to numerals in this context as the purpose is to create a shorter version.
Common Format
Below is a standard which has been developed by various authors to shorten references to any games in the GTA series.
Titles are grouped by edition and not by the date they were released. This is to keep the different versions of each edition next to each other. Where an edition has several versions, using the edition name alone indicates that all versions are being referred to. Authors can use the exact title when referring to specific versions.
| Complete Game Title | Shortened Game Title |
|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto (entire series) | GTA |
 Grand Theft Auto (first edition and "London" versions)
|
GTA 1 |
| Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 | GTA L 1969 |
| Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 | GTA L 1961 |
 Grand Theft Auto 2 (all versions)
|
GTA 2 |
| Grand Theft Auto 2 version 9.6 | GTA 2 v9.6 |
| Grand Theft Auto 2 version 9.6 Free Edition from R* Classics | GTA 2 v9.6f |
| Grand Theft Auto 2 version 10.3 | GTA 2 v10.3 |
| Grand Theft Auto 2 version 10.5 | GTA 2 v10.5 |
 Grand Theft Auto III (all versions)
|
GTA 3 or GTA III |
| Grand Theft Auto III version 1.0 | GTA 3 v1.0 |
| Grand Theft Auto III version 1.1 | GTA 3 v1.1 |
| Grand Theft Auto Advance | GTA A |
 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (all versions)
|
GTA VC |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City version 1.0 | GTA VC v1.0 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City version 1.1 | GTA VC v1.1 |
 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (all versions)
|
GTA SA |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas version 1.0 | GTA SA v1.0 |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas version 1.01 | GTA SA v1.01 |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas version 2.0 | GTA SA v2.0 |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas version 3.0 | GTA SA v3.0 (Steam version) |
 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
|
GTA LCS |
 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
|
GTA VCS |
 Grand Theft Auto IV (all versions)
|
GTA 4 or GTA IV |
| Grand Theft Auto IV version 1.0.0 | GTA 4 v1.0.0 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV version 1.0.1 | GTA 4 v1.0.1 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV version 1.0.2 | GTA 4 v1.0.2 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV version 1.0.3 | GTA 4 v1.0.3 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV version 1.0.4 | GTA 4 v1.0.4 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (downloadable content) | GTA 4 L&D or TLAD |
| Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (downloadable content) | TBOGT or BOGT |
| Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City | EFLC |
| Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars | GTA CW |
Punctuation
Some authors choose to keep the colon (:) present in some titles. This usage makes the shortened title more similar to the full term but it has some drawbacks. The differences between author styles mean there is no standard for deciding when a colon is kept, causing inconsistencies between documents. This makes it harder for a reader to be sure if one document is referring to the same version as another document or not. By removing colon from all titles, such problems do not arise.
A common practice is for dates to be separated from other details by a space. This avoids the problem of shortened titles becoming unintelligible sequences of letters and numbers. Version numbers and details are separated from other letters by a space for the same reason.
Version Details
When popular products use a version number in their name, the number is included as though it were part of the title and not really a version number. A good example is "Internet Explorer 6" and its shortened format of "IE6". In products where the version number is not part of the product name, the version number is separated from other letters by a space. However, since GTA games are also identified by roman numerals, the major version is commonly separated by a space to avoid confusion. The detailed version number is often prefixed with a lowercase "v" to indicate more clearly the purpose of this number.
Some editions of GTA are identified with a number, so the purpose of any version numbers must be made explicit to avoid confusion. To achieve this, version details are normally seperated with a space and prefixed with a lowercase "v" for the shortened titles. In the full titles, the word "Version" is normally used instead of the lowercase "v".
Shorter Platform Titles
Games in the GTA series have been released for many different computer platforms. These platforms have included handheld devices like the Gameboy Color, modern consoles like the Playstation 2 and for the Personal Computer (PC). In a similar way to titles of GTA games, these platform names can be shortened to their initials to make references shorter.
Common Format
In some cases, the manufacturers of a platform have created an official shortened term. This is often used as the trademark for that product. The following table of shortened platform titles has been gathered from common usage in advertising, interviews and press releases from manufacturers and is thought to be authoritative.
The editions of GTA which have appeared on each platform are included in this table. These have been checked with publisher websites and are also thought to be authoritative.
| Complete Platform Title | Shortened Platform Title | GTA Editions on this Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Dreamcast | DC | GTA 2 |
| Gameboy Advance | GBA | GTA A |
| Gameboy Colour | GBC | GTA 1, GTA 2 |
| Nintendo DS | DS | GTA CW |
| Personal Computer | PC | GTA 1, GTA L 1969, GTA L 1961, GTA 2, GTA 3, GTA VC, GTA SA, GTA 4 |
| Playstation/PS-One | PS1 | GTA 1, GTA L 1969, GTA 2 |
| Playstation 2/PS-Two | PS2 | GTA 3, GTA VC, GTA SA, GTA LCS, GTA VCS |
| Playstation 3 | PS3 | GTA 4 |
| Playstion Portable | PSP | GTA LCS, GTA VCS, GTA CW |
| Xbox | Xbox | GTA 3, GTA VC, GTA SA |
| Xbox 360 | Xbox360 | GTA 4, TLAD, TBOGT, EFLC |
