2002 is now as long ago as the 80s were when GTA: Vice City released, oh god

Want an existential crisis that’ll rival Barbie’s? Then consider this: 2002 is now as long ago as the 80s were when GTA: Vice City came out. Yes, you read that right, time is terrifying and we all need to immediately book a holiday.

Missing GTA: Vice City? Watch what a sequel could be like!

Should you be eager to thank the person who worked this horrifying fact out, look no further than Reddit.

User RogerRoger63358 posted this revelation over the weekend, and fans are already commenting on how time feels like it’s going much faster nowadays than what it did in the past. Which is one of the easiest ways to tell you’re over 30 and morphing into the new Boomers of the modern age.

If you haven’t heard of GTA: Vice City (we refuse to believe that), it’s one of the most beloved Grand Theft Auto games of all time. So much so, that fans have been longingly wondering what a sequel to Vice City would look like since March 2023, when a fan mod gifted us with a GTA: Vice City 2 trailer that will have you wistfully looking out of the window remembering the good ol’ days.

The likelihood of the fandom ever getting a direct sequel is unlikely, as whatever secrets Rockstar Games is hiding about the upcoming GTA game are certain to focus on the future and not the past. Still, that doesn’t stop gamers from daydreaming about what-ifs, before they spiral down a time-space continuum train of thought that the Doctor would be envious of.

But why does the news that the 2000s is as “old” as the 80s feel so unsettling? Arguably, it’s because we’re so used to thinking that 2010 was only a couple years ago rather than 13 years ago...!

What does this mean for GTA: Vice City? Very little, other than it’s going to weigh heavily on our minds for days to come, and not because it was, and still is, one of the best Rockstar Games to be released. Nonetheless, while the game remains iconic, the era it’s set is now pulling on our nostalgia strings in a whole new way.

While we wait… and wait… for GTA6 to get a grand reveal, we can at least comfort ourselves with the GTA 5 story expansion, thanks to some seriously dedicated fans. If the game feels too short for you, you can now use this mod to have conversations with NPCs like never before.

And if that isn’t enough, there’s always the inside scoop that the police in GTA 6 have been overhauled. We don’t just mean looks, we’re talking about cops that’ll recognise your vehicle, and will even allow you to surrender if you get caught.