I agree with you about SR2 being the fun/comedy version of GTA. The fun factor and player customization beats GTA hands down. GTA on the other hand does have the edge on graphic presentation. But for me it is the gameplay and not particularly the graphics that make the game fun to play. While graphic polish is awesome at first that wears off very quickly.

I really like the story and characters in SR2 as well. The character scripting is really excellent. The co-op and multiplayer modes make it fun too. It's well worth having a look at if you get the chance.

I guess SR2 took around 3 years with most of the team being based in Illinois and a small group where I worked in California. Probably a total of up to 100 people. The overall cost of development would probably be between $20-30 million which is typical of a AAA game title nowadays on multiple platforms ( such as Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 ).
Also a game must be translated ( all speech and text ) for Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese versions which also takes some time and work. Testing a sandbox game also requires a lot of testing which really adds to the cost.

If you get to play the Sony PS3 version you can look me up in the credits lol ( Our group didn't work on the Xbox 360 version ).

( And here's a tip - in the higher Mayhem missions where you are simply trying to achieve a $ amount in senseless destruction nothing beats walking into a casino with a rocket launcher and plenty of ammo ).


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 11-10-2008).]