Same here. My favorite game series by far. GTAIII blew me away the first time I played it more than any other game I've ever played. It's going to be a really long time before that experience is matched. After that I remember buying every magazine with Vice City info and pouring over rumors and such (and the same for SA.) Joined GTAGaming and have been on those forums for nearly 10 years.
I don't really understand all the hate that GTAIV gets. It was still incredible in its own way, even if a lot of things were done differently. The reviewers certainly understood that, but Gaf seems to hate on it because of the departure it took. At the end of the day though, the story and detail of the world was incredible, and the controls were way more refined compared to previous games. If you judge the game on its own and not make comparisons it's a lot easier to appreciate what IV has rather than what it lacks compared to SA.
