'Tis that time again folks and this week - IGN focus on the city of San Fierro.

• You can find all different kinds of people in San Fierro - homeless people, Starbucks Yuppies, and the aforementioned hippie-types.
• Garcia was described as "one of the most hostile areas there can be". It is believed to be the main location for international drug trade.
• In San Fierro, you'll find more locations for unique stunt jumps than any other area of the map.
• Every vehicle has been "built and rebuilt from the ground up". ie, each vehicle has completely different properties. For example, one vehicle may best be suited to long journies, while another could be best suited to driving in hilly areas.
• You can decide whether to have an open roof, closed roof, and you even have the ability to increase the bass of your car stereo!
• Wheel Angels specialises in doing mods for street racing, whilst a garage in Los Santos specialises in creating high-end low-riders.
• Taxi & Ambulance missions have returned. You can also tow cars in erm, 'car-towing missions', whether they want to be towed or not!
• Read more...

Related Links: San Fierro Preview, New Screenshots

• The Cobra Martial Arts Dojo offers a weight set, a treadmill, and a Japanese sensei. When talking to the teacher, a dialogue box appears, and you have the ability to say what types of skills you would like to learn. Although - in order to do this, you must first defeat him in unarmed combat!
• The sensei's primary strength appears to be teaching 'kicks'. (His moves included front kicks, roundhouses, and drop heels). The sensei demonstrates each move seperately, and talks you through what buttons to press, when's the best time to use them, and so on. You can replace these new skills with skills that you have already learned, and literally, create your own fighting combos.

• One mission involves teaming up with Kendall's boyfriend, Cesar, and stealing some cars from Otto's Autos at the Fierro Bay. Once the vehicles have been stolen, the two race through winding streets and busy traffic, inspired apparently, by the famous Steve McQueen movie, Bullit. The mission ends when the pair arrive at their new garage, simply known as 'The Hub'. Cesar introduces Nitro.
• The nitrous feature can be used to increase car speed, by a varied amount. Unfortunately, this feature is only available for certain vehicles (depending on that vehicles properties). You can add these Nitrous Oxide kits to your mod garage, and decide how much you want to use. The cost depends on how big the bottle is, and how many charges you want in them. Once it has been purchased, a 'canister graphic' will appear at the rear end of the vehicle, and the more nitro thats purchased, the bigger the visual becomes. The most powerful upgrade is known as the N20(incredibly fast). The nitrous is activated using the 'Circle' or R1 button. Once it has been activated, you can go at incredible speeds, and drive through destructable objects that aren't destructable had you been going at a normal speed. Each boost lasts about 10-15 seconds, and it takes approximately 60 seconds to re-charge. Once moving, the aforementioned blur effect and glowing blue-flame tailpipes are visible.

• Mod Garages are located all over the state. In garages known as Transfender and Wheel Angels, users will be able to upgrade their exhaust pipes, front and rear bumpers, roofs, wings, and wheels and also a brand new paint jobs. You as a player, have the ability to mix and match different options, to customize your vehicle.

• Another mission involved Carl working for Wuzi Mu (See our characters page), leader of the local triad group. Carl has to free some refugess from a tanker in Juniper Hollow. In this particular demonstration, the helicopter was shot down on the way to the tanker, and Carl was forced to swim. Carl can improve his swimming ability by doing it more often. In this mission, Carl can hide in darkened corners, and use 'silence' to his advantage - if you make a lot of noise, your enemies will spot you, and attack. When CJ is in the shadows, his location on the mini-map will turn 'blue'. A fixed part of the storyline causes CJ to get spotted by his enemies, and hell breaks loose. CJ comes face to face with 'Snake Head', who is carrying a katana. He also happens to be the one who kidnapped the refugees. He hands CJ a katana, and the two must battle.