Grand Theft Auto V Floods the Internet-o-sphere with Good Reason This Week

Yeah Call of Duty: Black Ops II is coming out this week, but you might not know for all of the Grand Theft Auto V news and excitement that's about take over. The bonanza started with Game Informer --the greatest video game preview magazine of all time-- and will continue here on Egotastic!(!) and other places this week as we all await the next trailer for Grand Theft Auto V.

The new trailer drops Wednesday morning at 8AM PT right here and we'll immediately be looking to put pieces of the puzzle together. Combining what we see in that video with what we've learned in Game Informer's preview, previous screenshots, the announcement trailer, fake websites and other sources will give us the most complete picture of what to expect this coming Spring.

The great thing about Grand Theft Auto games is that there's no way you can ruin its surprises. We know there will be scores of cars and other vehicles. We know there will be all new weapons and new ways to use them. We know this will be the ultimate crime simulation video game and it will have the honor of closing the curtain on this current extremely successful generation of video game consoles. This what we know just by mentioning the words "grand" and "theft" and "auto." Yet, the story and game world both are so sprawling and detailed that there will always be plenty left to blow your mind. With that said here are the biggest points from Game Informer's massive preview:

• There are three main characters --Michael, Trevor and Franklin-- and all three are playable. The story missions will allow you to switch, at your discretion, between characters and approach things from their perspective/skill set.
• Each character will have unique hobbies that only they can do (remember the bar games, stand-up comedy and dating activities from Grand Theft Auto IV).
• Michael is the guy talking in the debut trailer. He's the one who moved to Los Santos to start over after a life as a very successful bank robber. He's got a wife/nemesis who likes to spend all of his money because she's bitter about their new life in a version of the witness protection program. His kids are also supporting characters.
• Trevor is described as the loose cannon of the crew. He's friends with Michael and lives in the outskirts of Los Santos -- a place Southern California residents will easily recognize. With his drug abuse and "F the world" recklessness, Trevor seems like he'll come off as GTA V's answer to Heath Ledger's Joker.
• Franklin is the youngest of the three and the car repo man. Of the three characters he's the one that seems the least developed as far as Rockstar's description goes. He stumbles across Michael and is eager to join up with the crew where his youth should be an asset.
• Grand Theft Auto V will have a clear emphasis on the concept of the heist. The fact that Michael is a skilled bank robber --enough so that he has the respect of the federal law enforcement agencies in the game-- is certainly no accident. Multistep, multi-tiered bank jobs will feature prominently in GTA V and conveniently dovetails with the idea of each character having different things to do. Game Informer's piece describes a scenario where Franklin is the sniper, Trevor is the pilot/wheelman and Michael is the Danny Ocean type character in the middle of the action on a particular snatch-and-grab story mission. You can play as any of them in that kind of sequence and each is intended to be its own unique, action packed experience.

There's much, much more on Grand Theft Auto V to come as we sift and sort and steal info from every place we can get it in the next week or so. Keep it here and you won't be left behind. We know you'll be back to check out the trailer Wednesday at 8AM PT, but between now and then, as well as after, there will be a steady trickle of info on the game. And as in life, sometimes a steady trickle is better than nothing at all.