Grand Theft Auto 5 out in December, Amazon listing hints

GTA 5, the newest instalment of Rockstar's crime-filled stick-em-up simulator could be hijacking your console this side of Christmas, a listing on online everything-seller Amazon reportedly hints.

T3 writes that Amazon stuck a December release date on its Grand Theft Auto 5 pre-order page. Any reference to that release date has since been stricken from the record, however, which could suggest that Amazon has asked to remove the details, or that the December listing was an error on Amazon's part. I've contacted Amazon, and I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

A 2012 release for GTA 5 would make sense -- a £40 game is a pretty ideal Christmas gift, and if publisher Take-Two gets its game on sale in time for the Crimbo rush, it could fill its coffers with enough gamers' cash to buy everyone in the company a fancy pair of New Year's shoes.

Rival title BioShock Infinite -- originally due out in October this year -- has recently been pushed back until 2013, as has the Tomb Raider reboot. Avoiding a clash with high profile titles like those would also make a 2012 launch more appealing for the folks behind GTA 5.

That said, other heavyweights including Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Assassin's Creed 3 are expected to arrive later this year, and a 2012 launch assumes that GTA 5 could be finished in time -- it's not unusual for major titles to be significantly delayed while developers urgently add a layer of extra shine.

Whenever it hits the shelves, GTA 5 is likely to be a success, and I'm sure many of you out there can't wait to get back in the saddle for another car-thieving adventure that's as knowingly satirical and snarkily intelligent as it's possible to be while driving a fire engine off a cliff. Into a plane.

Are you excited about GTA 5? Or does another thumb-wrecking game on the horizon have your pulse racing? Let me know in the comments below or on our Facebook wall, and enjoy the trailer embedded below.