I can hardly believe it myself, but it's been 3 years since I founded The GTA Place, which has now become a primary source for GTA modifications and is among the 10 most popular GTA web sites in the world (Source: Alexa.com).

A lot of changes have been made since the birth of the web site on November 29th, 2002, where I had a few very simple bare bones pages with little to no regard as to whether it became popular or not. Originally there was no intention for it to become as big as it has done today, it was just a little project for me to work on, essentially it was my introduction to web design and PHP scripting, which I now carry out on a freelance basis on my personal website. Changes undergone include a few layout changes as well as staff coming in and out of the team.

The forums have also undergone their fair share of alterations, primarily upgrades to the software itself, along with modifications and more recently my own gangs system (currently not active) which I've integrated into the forum. Like other forums we've also been the target of so called "spam attacks", to which had no dramatic affect whatsoever, we've pulled through however, and I'm now in a position where I can provide substantial evidence (including: full names, addresses, telephone numbers and IP addresses) the spammer's have failed to cover up. Our growing team of staff have always been at hand to clear things up though, a special thanks goes to Xenon of TTPN for his dedication to help the forums do well, as well as Righty (formerly Millermagic) for administrating while I wasn't around, Spaz for being the most loyal member we have, and also Adriaan for helping with things along the way... and of course a thanks goes out to all the current moderators of the forums for their continued efforts, plus all the loyal members who continue to actively post there and make the community a pleasant one.

The GTA scene is often inactive around this time of year though, with a lot of people coming to the end of the year's GTA game, in this case Liberty City Stories for the PSP. But the return of critically acclaimed modder Switch Designs as well as all the other great mod makers out there who continue to provide fun modifications for the games, adding to their replayability. And we mustn't forget the array of multiplayer mods due for release in the not too distant future, which will hopefully fulfil any boredom induced by playing the game on your own for too long.

Over the festive season I will be making a few noticeable changes to The GTA Place. A brand new layout is slowly being worked on also, with variations for each game's section. Updating old content and adding content we have missed (there's a big to-do-list somewhere) is another objective we have. So by January the site will be improved quite a bit.

I hope you have all appreciated the work we have put in, and rest assured we will be continuing to bring you all the latest GTA news, downloads, and whatever else there is pertaining to GTA.

Happy Birthday The GTA Place!