With copies of the GTA Trilogy leaking all over YouTube and Twitch, series creator Rockstar has finally come out and revealed a few more details about its compilation. One of the big questions fans had pertained to the soundtracks, and we can now confirm that they’re identical to any post-2014 re-releases, meaning there are a number of songs missing from the PlayStation 2 originals.
Here’s what the publisher says: “With more than 200 songs across 29 pioneering radio stations the series has become known for, the GTA Trilogy’s iconic listings match the most recent release of the original versions (from 2014) – with no new changes.” The key piece of information is in parenthesis: “From 2014.”
This means that the soundtracks are identical to the PS2 re-releases that launched on the PS4 and were subsequently removed from the PS Store last month. As a result, there’ll be no Billie Jean on Flash FM or Rockit on Wildstyle. Rockstar does stress, however, that all of the songs will play at a higher bitrate than in the originals, and that the entire soundscape has been remastered in 5.1 surround sound.
Not only that but a new gameplay feature will allow you to change radio stations using a Grand Theft Auto 5-style selection wheel, as opposed to the fiddly toggle from the original titles. How are you taking this news? Bark at the moon like Ozzy Osbourne in the comments section below.
Comments 101
Well that’s awful. Explains why they were waiting until now to let people know.
@nessisonett cause it might put some ppl off pre ordering , money comes first unfortunately
If I remember VROCK was largely unaffected in the ps4 version so i should be alright lol
Think i'll stick to my PS2 copies.
Well I was already planning to get it on its first discount on the store but now that's been moved to a deep discount. I already have the original PS4 releases so I can experience the incomplete soundtracks in all it's glory 🤷
Preorder canceled. Can’t have my fond memories tarnished.
Starting Vice City without Billie Jean (it's the game that made me love Michael Jackson's songs btw, I didn't even know it was him and thought it was a girl singing lol) is an automatic 0/10 for me lol
Just more reasons I'm glad I bought the ones from 2014 before they pulled them from the store.
I've got Billie Jean on CD if anyone wants to borrow it?
@AFCC You didnt know Billie Jean was Michael Jackson o.O........thats almost as bad as saying you didnt know Yellow Submarine was the Beatles.
It honestly didnt come as a surprise that the sound tracks would get the short end of the stick.
They're not stupid are they!? Keep quiet 'til the games are out and then feel the annoyance of the people and say ''tough titties''
Expected sadly but at least nothing more has been removed i guess. Thankfully for me the radio stations i listen most weren't really impacted.
That's a shame. Glad I have originals.
@Ken_Kaniff Those versions soundtracks are exactly the same. From my understanding the only versions with a complete soundtrack are the PS2 discs.
It definitely sucks, but as long as Radio Los Santos and Radio X remain unaffected, I'll personally be alright.
This sucks but it's not the end of the world or anything like that since streaming music is a thing, plenty of Playlists available but gonna wait for a deep sale before buying this.
Not to be a moaner but with all the money they are raking in from GTA online, they could have relicensed the missing tracks if they had wanted to
Why is anyone shocked? Stuff, like music/videos/images, need to be licensed. I have the original and play it when I fancy it. Ill also play these re-releases, because I want to. You do you, but sometimes there is moaning for moaning sake on these forums.
@Burntbreadman not when I was like 8 or 9 when I got Vice City lol
This is a disaster. Hearing Billie Jean once an hour on a radio station was the only reason to play Vice City. Gutted, I thought I would enjoy these games and feel stupid for preordering now.
*obviously I was being sarcastic.
Outrage about this is ridiculous. With the nightmare that is licensed music, I no don’t know how anyone truly expected otherwise.
Vice City without the King of Pop...??? Nah!
Hearing Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin Somethin in-game was just crazy at the time. I even remember my older Sister being shocked that there were MJ songs in GTA. It was groundbreaking.
This though? This is rubbish. With all the money R* have and what they’re charging for this collection, they should have made more effort, sorry.
I think that’s the problem with R* though... they released an uber-successful game 8 years ago and now they don’t even have to try 🤷
@AFCC. One of the most ridiculous comments i ever heard.how old are you.wtf.michael Jackson doesn't sound like a girl at all.you need your ears check .🤔😳😀😄.i been listening to his music since the early 1980s.everyone knows he is a man.word up son
@fR_eeBritney. The ps4 version on psn was like that also.why you surprised.did you play the ps4 version on psn on ps2 classic.i play it and i already know it.word up son
To be fair, if a couple of missing songs are enough to put you off buying three big open world games, then you were probably not that into them to begin with.
@SoulChimera. It was like that on psn when vice city was available.did you actually play it.why is everyone surprise.word up son
@fR_eeBritney Yep, hearing MJ on the radio for the first time from Rosenberg's office was really memorable. I had the 3 & VC double pack on PS2, played the heck out of them, VC especially getting me hyped for SA. I remember I used to diss Rockstar's graphics in comparison to theGetaway but I realized they were more of a gameplay and programming company. Now, they're among the top dogs when it comes to graphics also haha.
Maybe they could replace him with R.Kelly or Lost Prophets?
People seriously saying they're not going to buy a game because of a couple songs not been in it, when these songs have been removed from all versions, apart from the original discs since 2014....
Grow up 🤣
Be interesting to see what else will be missing, and seriously all the money they've raked in from GTA5 and they won't fork out for the licencing for the remaster. Lucky them they managed to keep most info underwraps until one day before release
So songs removed (which was always the worry with licences expiring)... Have any songs been added?
@playstation1995 in the 80's I didn't exist and when I got Vice City I was like 8 lol
@playstation1995 I was being sarcastic. I preordered and I can’t wait to play them. It wouldn’t bother me if 50% of the songs were removed or replaced. And that’s coming from someone who had the original rips of the radio stations on his phone and listens to them regularly enough that my non gamer wife even knows the radio stations off by heart.
Insert the Dr Ian Malcolm "Well,there it is" gif since Rockstar loves gifs so much!! 🙄
I'm sure the apologists will say "they can't relicense everything!"...however with the kind of profits Take-two have raked in the last few years with GTA Online,they surely had the $$ if they had the will. Artists & record labels generally won't say no to decent recompense!🤔
If they've not put in ANY effort to improve the major music culling in the budget ranged mobile & ps2 classics versions & charging $100AU as a remaster they absolutely deserve getting hammered for it Especially with their lack of honesty about it prior to launch!🙄
Part of me would wish there'd be a backlash of a CDPR type level that Take-two would be pressured into paying up for the licenses & patch the missing tracks back in,but like Ninty,the masses will buy it regardless!😔
@playstation1995 Played it originally on PS2 with the complete soundtrack. Younger players probably won’t understand because licensed music is standard in open world games these days. But this for me would be like if they re-released The Good, The Bad and The Ugly on 4K Bluray but replaced Ennio Morricone’s magnificent score with Ed Sheeran songs - barf! Ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme but the music adds so much. It can raise a game/movie/tv show to another level. Like MJ’s songs did in Vice City. Not just MJ’s songs tbf but they leave a huge hole.
Well that's a little annoying, to be honest, and it says a lot about rockstar these days that they have waited until copies are in the wild and have had to come out and say that those songs won't be included, that's what a lot of people wanted to know weeks ago. I will still probably pick them up as they are solid games but think I might wait a while as in no massive rush and have plenty to get on with at the moment.
Well no sheet, no surprise! 🙄🙄😏😏
For many folks, replaying those games would be a nostalgic trip, revisiting the good times we had when playing them originally.
That's why the removal of musics matter that much. The memories are intertwined with the songs playing on the radio at the time.
I don't even remember if the games had fast travel because I wouldn't even use it, just tune in my favorite radio and drive across the maps.
@nessisonett you know the reason they were hiding this away lol
Imagine buying this without Vice City’s full soundtrack
I'm sure they could have gotten all the songs licensed. I have no idea how may songs were removed from the 2014 versions but either way this is not a big deal to me.
Wait, what? Rockstar are shortchanging their customers? Nooooo wayyyy! *laughs in sarcasm.
A game for the gauche to defend its merit and the exceedingly obtuse to purchase 🤦🏻♂️
Another (minor) reason to avoid this release. The underwhelming videos have confirmed to me that remastered PS2 games are not what I bought my PS5 for.
I have great memories of these games... and I'd like to keep it that way.
@OMGitsLiamT If people love these songs and it made the game more special to them why is that a not a real issue?
@fR_eeBritney Thats what i mean music can really change how you can feel about a game.
So what was the deal with those 2014 re-releases then? Did they replace the absent songs with other licenced releases? Or did they write all-new material, a la GTA III?
I'm just curious, I missed the 2014 versions completely.
Wow this community is strange. You get mad at rockstar for not including music by a man that has a red flag over him for child abuse? Are you all listening to gary glitter while you write this?
Ah *****, here we go again.
This is the problem with games that have heavily licensed soundtracks. I imagine a year or two from now the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack will be a nightmare for SquareEnix as well and having to remove songs from that will hurt the experience a bit just like VC is taking a hit here. In many of the best games, music, licensed or not, is a huge part of what draws the player in.
That stinks, especially for gamers who had a fond connection between the game experience and the original soundtrack.
It doesn't really affect me so much, as I really only played GTA3, and I don't necessarily have any particular song in my memory of that game. It might be a buy for me — a change of pace game for everything else that I am engaged in. But I would need to know which version (PS5 or Series X) version has the upper hand...
@Loftimus If in the original Vice city release there were songs by Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and a duet by Ed gein & the Zodiac killer I would want those songs to be in there just the same. Good, bad or evil give me everything that was originally in the game 😐
@Uromastryx Rockstar is not responsible of anything related to licenses (or anything related to finances for that matter), that is the Job of Take Two Interactive. In fact, all the money GTA V (and GTA Online) makes goes to Take Two (and they decide what they spend on Rockstar), so if someone is to pay the Jackson Family (a lot of money as they are not as lenient of allowing Michael's music in the media as Michael was), that is Take Two
Most people consider Rockstar a completely independent studio (every time something GTA-related, is always Rockstar taking the blunt or the praise in the social media) that don't realize that, in reality, Rockstar is like Slave a that must obey it's Roman master (in this case being Take Two) and it's the master who provides for the Slave with everything that is monetary-related
Sorry if you don't like reference with Ancient Rome but Companies (not just in the Gaming industry but everywhere) in general behave like that (with few exceptions like Nintendo during Iwata)
Poor Rockstar, they probably couldn’t afford it.
Not a big deal if it's just a few songs. Certain artists' work is notoriously expensive or difficult to negotiate licensing agreements for.
Which isn't to say that not including certain licensed songs can't be devastating in some instances, but I don't feel like a few random Michael Jackson songs on a radio station not being there is going to make that big of a difference to the experience.
"awww... But I really liked that pedo's tunes"
Aww poor Rockstar just couldn't afford it! They just don't have the money for it! We should feel oh so bad for them...
couldn't they replace the songs or at worse include covers instead?
Dammit we should of bought more Shark Cards people 🤦🏻♂️
Meh, it’s a bit disappointing but it’s not going to stop my enjoyment of the games. Plus if your that bothered about it just play a music app like Spotify in the background while playing the game, in doing that you can play your precious Billie Jean as well as songs that weren’t even in the originals.
@Loftimus Some people can separate the art from the artist.
Besides, MJ was falsely accused as far as I’m concerned - based on my own extensive research from the information that is publicly available. Not just what some scandalous and heavily biased documentary wants you to believe.
He was a little odd (understandably given his childhood and whole life in the spotlight) and that makes him an easy target - but I personally don’t believe he did what he was accused of.
It was all about the money. There would be hundreds coming forward if he actually did anything. What are they all waiting for? Their careers to fade and resentment to set in?
Anyway, whatever. Nobody’s going to be changing anyone’s opinion here today so let’s move on.
@Arkantos2990
No i completely understand that take-two is head division if you will and its their way only on the final call, but sure rockstar could make the case about a few things that are important and beloved by the older fans, personally it doesn't bother me other than the fact it was withheld knowing if they released that info it would definitely backlash and affect sales, so again I don't really have a problem I mean with all the other platforms for music Spotify etc, people could make their own playlist based on original OST and done.
Not surprised. Licenses expire and such.
Aaaaand I'm out
Lord knows they have to save where they can. Poor little independent studio 🙄
I thought this was pretty obvious going off the re-releases which I am currently playing right now, platinum GTA3 & playing Vice City. "The wild dogs cry out in the night. As they grow restless longing for some solitary company. I know I must do what's right. As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti. I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become. It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you." This is what's playing right now excellent songs. Definitely getting the remasters thay will be ten times better quality than the PS2 re-releases, I grew up with these games so they hold a special place. Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygen. Apart from a few songs it's very much what I remember.
@Flaming_Kaiser your comment doesn't make sense so I can't respond appropriately
@Uromastryx Or even better: If you want the authentic GTA III/ VC/ SA Radio Experiences. Simply get the Audio Files of the Stations from the OG (Disc-based) PC Release and put them on the phone
@fR_eeBritney I haven't seen that documentary. I was talking about the multiple pay offs before that. There is no seperating the artist from the art. Thats just your way of coping with liking what they did before you found out.
There has been no change since 2014 and yet people are going mad now? Fake outrage and its boring.
I wonder why on your cousins site Pure Xbox it’s all celebrating the DE and here everyday it’s a new complain. PlayStation for the Complainers ? Lol
@WallyWest Yea, thats why I was saying im glad I bought the cheaper versions that are practically the same besides the minor touch ups they did to these.
Honestly better that I expected! I'll take it!
@fR_eeBritney Now you are convicted by the media and the people didnt you know that? Now its guilty until proven innocent the cancel culture.
You would think the amount of money rockstar made from GTAV over the years. They would pay licensing to these songs. Shows they just half ass and cash grab the GTA name. There goes the nostalgic memories of playing these titles back in the glory days. The songs are a huge impact of the GTA experience without out it’s just meh to me now.
Well if you go with the PC version you can easily mod the missing tracks back in so you can have the full original experience, everyone else is out of luck unfortunately 😕
I mean it sucks but its not a dealbreaker. Some people I feel are being a little dramatic. Just run those missing songs through Spotify or something if you really need to but I didn't play these games solely for the soundtrack. It is what it is.
Man...Vice City iconic songs missing and they didn't bother to replace them...kinda hard for me to buy the collection since I love Vice City. I love GTA 3 also but San Andreas is whatever.
@fR_eeBritney are you saying people who abuse children have to do it in the hundreds? Could he not have abused a small number? This is poor logic as a reason for him not doing it. He could have just as easily paid people off in the same way.
Who knows if he was guilty or not but the guy didn't really help himself with his weird public displays of affection with these kids.
Sounds like they cut out all the music that sounds rubbish these days.
You would think record companies would be falling over themselves trying to get music on these games?!?! I am sure they will be missing out on loads of $$$??? Oh well.
Was going to add some classic 80s hair metal they missed in my steam version anyway, such as Round and Round by RATT and blues rock stuff like Scuttle Buttin' by Stevie Ray Vaughan anyway!
The missing songs are:
Vice City
“Pump Me Up” – Trouble Funk
“Rockit” – Herbie Hancock
“Looking for the Perfect Beat” – Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force
“Get It Girl” – 2 Live Crew
“The Smurf” – Tyrone Brunson
“Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” – Michael Jackson
“Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles
“Japanese Boy” – Aneka
“Steppin’ Out” – Joe Jackson
“One Thing Leads To Another” – The Fix
“Running With the Light” – Lionel Richie
“Cum On Feel The Noize” – Quiet Riot
“She Sells Sanctuary” – The Cult
“Bark at the Moon” – Ozzy Osbourne
“Fist Fury” – Love Fist
“Working for the Weekend” – Loverboy
“God Blessed Video” – Alcatrazz
“Wow” – Kate Bush
“Missing You” – John Waite
“Love Missile F1-11” – Sigue Sigue Sputnik
“Cars” – Gary Numan
“Poison Arrow” – ABC
“Obsession” – Animotion
“Añunga Ñunga” – Irakere
San Andreas:
“Runnin’ Down a Dream” – Tom Petty
“Woman to Woman” – Joe Crocker
“Yum Yum (Gimme Some) – Fatback Band
“You Dropped a Bomb on Me” – Gap Band
“Running Away” – Roy Ayers
“Loopzilla” – George Clinton
“I Don’t Give A F***” – 2Pac
“Express Yourself” – N.W.A.
“Amos Moses” – Jerry Reed
“Louisana Woman, Mississippi Man” – Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
“Hellraiser” – Ozzy Osbourne
“Don’t Let it Go to Your Head” – Black Harmony
“Ring My Bell” – Blood Sisters
“King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” – Augustus Pablo
“Express Yourself” – Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
“Rock Creek Park” – The Blackbyrds
“Hot Pants – I’m Coming, I’m Coming, I’m Coming” – Bobby Byrd
“I Know You Got Soul” – Bobby Byrd
“Funky President” – James Brown
“The Payback” – James Brown
“Soul Power ’74” – Maceo & The Macks
“The Grunt” – The JB’s
Yeah, I'll stick to my PS2 copies.
Missing songs
Vice City
“Pump Me Up” - Trouble Funk
“Rockit” - Herbie Hancock
"Looking for the Perfect Beat" - Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force
“Get It Girl” - 2 Live Crew
“The Smurf” - Tyrone Brunson
“Billie Jean” - Michael Jackson
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” - Michael Jackson
“Video Killed the Radio Star” - The Buggles
“Japanese Boy” - Aneka
“Steppin’ Out” - Joe Jackson
“One Thing Leads To Another” - The Fix
“Running With the Light” - Lionel Richie
“Cum On Feel The Noize” - Quiet Riot
“She Sells Sanctuary” - The Cult
“Bark at the Moon” - Ozzy Osbourne
“Fist Fury” - Love Fist
“Working for the Weekend” - Loverboy
“God Blessed Video” - Alcatrazz
“Wow” - Kate Bush
“Missing You” - John Waite
“Love Missile F1-11” - Sigue Sigue Sputnik
“Cars” - Gary Numan
“Poison Arrow” - ABC
“Obsession” - Animotion
"Añunga Ñunga" - Irakere
San Andreas
“Runnin’ Down a Dream” - Tom Petty
“Woman to Woman” - Joe Crocker
“Yum Yum (Gimme Some) - Fatback Band
“You Dropped a Bomb on Me” - Gap Band
“Running Away” - Roy Ayers
“Loopzilla” - George Clinton
“I Don’t Give A F***” - 2Pac
“Express Yourself” - N.W.A.
“Amos Moses” - Jerry Reed
“Louisana Woman, Mississippi Man” - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
“Hellraiser” - Ozzy Osbourne
“Don’t Let it Go to Your Head” - Black Harmony
“Ring My Bell” - Blood Sisters
“King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” - Augustus Pablo
“Express Yourself” - Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
“Rock Creek Park” - The Blackbyrds
“Hot Pants - I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming” - Bobby Byrd
“I Know You Got Soul” - Bobby Byrd
“Funky President” - James Brown
“The Payback” - James Brown
“Soul Power ‘74” - Maceo & The Macks
“The Grunt” - The JB’s
https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/11/10/rockstar-reveals-more-grand-theft-auto-the-trilogy-features-and-full-music-roster?fbclid=IwAR0UbOYGyPT4MU_MmAi7QoGoQP1UTT3oXHU4lJTsnK2-vvdDTCJjXuxPJXo
@kingbreww I didn't realize it was so many 😳 my goodness all that shark card money and you couldn't invest a bit of it into having the complete soundtrack, looks like I'll be waiting for a ssgss extreme sale if even that.
@Snick27 Thank you, and to all the people saying it isn’t a big deal 🖕
@DeeeezNuuuts I actually take my comment back....looked at the official tracklist and they've took some of my favourite songs out, pretty gutted 😩 but still going to love playing through these classics again
@Juanalf or at least replace them with songs of equal quality, give us SOMETHING. Since they are charging the price of a new game and all. Rockstar and CDPR really went from loved to despised. And rightfully so
@Gremio108 Though I own the delisted "ps2 classics" versions of Vice City & SA,(which in turn were based on the so-so mobile ports by the same Grove Street Studio),one could argue "you got what you paid for",at the time as budget ports. But no,they never replaced the songs,they were patched or muted(eg in a cinematic scene) .
But given the way Take-two/Rockstar have pitched this as a "definitive edition remaster" & more so charging $100 (in my territory), when in reality they've farmed it out again to the same devs,made the graphics a bit sharper off the mobile versions & put ZERO effort into coughing up the $$ to restore the missing soundtracks as others have listed,exposes the cheap money grab effort they've put into this. PS2 owners who knew what the definitive songs were are hardly getting that here!🙄
Can recall zooming around not just to MJ's songs at the start of Vice but cruising to Video Killed the Radio Star & a few others listed by some kind folks here. Its good to remind people how stingy Take-two have become!
Yes one can wait & pick it up on sale...though even picking it up for $40-50 down the line for what was the delisted budget ports with a few graphical sprinkles still feels like a cash grab effort to what's supposedly marketed as a "definitive remaster"!
There’s a simple solution to this and that’s to play the missing songs through something like Spotify, sorted. It really makes me laugh people making a big fuss about the licensed songs being removed from the originals, as if they are the reason people play GTA. Behave 😂
Sad that there's so much missing. Some favs from the soundtrack on there. And wasn't Video Killed the Radio Star one of the star songs from their ads back in the day (along with Ran So Far Away)?
Still going to pick it up but maybe only when there's a sale.
Wait I clearly remember (played it this year) constantly listening to Video Killed the Radio Star in the PS4 version that was removed from the store, so did they remove tracks from even that release?
@Alpha_Pulse..... So are you saying you play GTA games on mute..............
Sound is the most important thing in GTA game itnis intertwined to the detail and attention to setail of the game...............
The game is nit the same without sound, whethet its the general sound effects e.g. environment sound, NPc sound, location sound etc and most importantly the radio soundtrack........
So do you really play GTA on mute? , cause if you don't then this also matters you and affects you otherwise you are lieing just like everyone who says it doesn't matter......
Its like playing Gran Torismo or any racing game were a porsche or ferrari or lamborghini sound like a beetle...... It make s a lot of difference.
I'm okay for Billie Jean I think. As long as it's still got Hall & Oates, the Miami Vice theme, and I Ran by A Flock of Seagulls we're golden.
@Saucymonk You're either young or have no taste in music because there are some amazing songs that have been cut from these games. I suggest you give them a listen and broaden your musical horizons.
Is Video Killed the Radio Star still in, I saw an article elsewhere saying it's cut from Vice City?
Regardless of how strong you feel about any of the tracks. The release should not be called "The Definitive Edition" The games are not "complete".
@playstation1995 ...WAS a man
@Robocod Cheers for the reply, interesting stuff. I wonder if there will be some other solution patched into these remakesters (as I like to call them)?
It won't really affect my decision either way; my plan is still to get this after Christmas, when it's a bit cheaper
@GREGORIAN wow I don't even know how to respond to this.
I think I might have missed the part where Rockstar released this game without any sound effects? Did they remove all the music too? How am I lying if I day the soundtrack isn't as important as the gameplay.
I shouldn't even dignify this with a response because it is massively off course from what I said in the first place. What are you even talking about????
It's probably not that easy to get the songs, there's no set rate as far as I know. They probably have to negotiate a deal with each individual song (or at least a set of songs that belong to one owner). The owners could be asking ridiculous fees.
RIP to the missing songs, even more reason for me to not pay full price now...
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