GTA gets trilogized, San Andreas special edition

With the Hot Coffee scandal slowly disappearing over the horizon, Rockstar Games is slowly coming out from behind its stack of legal documents. Earlier this month, the publisher released the M-rated version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the Xbox and PC. Next month, Rockstar is taking the controversial franchise portable with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PSP.

Today the publisher announced two more products in the GTA series: Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy for the Xbox and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition for the PlayStation 2. Both games will be released on October 8 and are rated M for Mature.

The Trilogy packages all the crime sprees of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas into one box set. This set one-ups the previous GTA collection released by Rockstar, the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack, which includes GTA3 and Vice City. Rockstar has not yet released any pricing information on the game.

PlayStation 2 owners will also get a dose of some revamped GTA action. A new M-rated version of San Andreas will be released as the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Special Edition. Rockstar has not yet announced a price point for the game.

In addition to losing the AO for Adults Only rating, the game will feature The Introduction, a featurette documenting events before the onset of GTA: San Andreas. The series of intertwining stories are told from the point of view of several of the game's characters, leading up to a drive-by shooting of Grove Street gang members.

Also on the Special Edition will be Sunday Driver, Rockstar's debut documentary film. The movie follows a low rider car club in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton. The movie was directed by Carol Strong, and it brings viewers into the world of The Majestics, a group that customizes cars in South Central. The film will also be released on UMD format for the PSP.