GTA San Andreas vs Google Maps

I have a small suspicion Rockstar North, the makers of the bestseller game GTA San Andreas, had access to the Google Keystone satellite imagery. The game environment is based on real cities like San Francisco (San Andreas), Los Angeles (Los Santos) and Las Vegas (Las Venturas). But up until now I never realised the locations and monuments had been reproduced so realistic. When I stumbled upon the Las Vegas (Nevada) Strip - the lane packed with the most neon packed casinos in the world - I had a feeling I had already been there for real because it also appears in the game. Sadly enough, I couldn't get a screenshot from above of the Sfinx in the game but you get an idea with the image below.



Another monument the game designers reproduced was the Hooverdam. Maybe you have already heard of it, it's one of the largest dams in North America, providing power to half of Las Vegas. Below you can see what it looks like in the game.



Lots of other Architectural sites also feature in the game, but these were about the most well known examples, at least in Las Vegas. Maybe I'll go and look for other examples in Los Angeles or San Francisco soon, but you'll read that in another post. If you also have the game, I would recommend that you pay a visit to the satellite version of Las Vegas, I'm sure you'll get the same wait-a-minute-i-ve-been-here-before feeling as I did. As a conclusion I would like to say I think it's good that game developers put these kind of monuments in games. It can only help to improve the realism of the game. But most of all, as a gamer, you get the opportunity to get the feeling you went to Vegas, altough you have never been there in real life. Come to think of it, I get a feeling I want to go there for real...