Electric Fang Tattoo

What Rockstar says

Electric Fang Tattoo is one of five shops Rockstar lists as "Special Destinations Only Open for Business with the Ultimate Edition". The PlayStation Store copy calls it "Stockyard's most iconic ink bar", with more than 50 signature tattoos for both Jason and Lucia, "all designed by the artist collective FAILE". Rockstar's screenshot "Electric Fang Tattoo 01" shows the parlor, and Rockstar Support lists the "Electric Fang Tattoo Parlor" in the Ultimate Edition Upgrade. Standard Edition owners can buy that upgrade at any time.

Who FAILE are

FAILE is a real art collective: a Brooklyn-based collaboration between Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller, whose name is an anagram of their first project, "A life", according to the duo's own CV. That makes Electric Fang one of the few places in a GTA game where a named outside artist designed the content you buy.

Stockyard and the street art angle

Stockyard is the neighbourhood both Electric Fang and Stock 305 call home. Rockstar's press copy for Stock 305 talks about "the murals, tags, and artwork that put the neighborhood on the map", which reads a lot like Miami's Wynwood arts district. Miami New Times saw Wynwood in Vice City's arts district as early as Trailer 1, which also shows a "Stockyard/Downtown" highway sign, and CBS News Miami lists Wynwood among the Miami places fans have spotted since. Rockstar has not named the model for Stockyard.

Can Standard Edition players get tattoos?

Unknown. The Ultimate Edition's "Vice City Style" bonus also includes tattoos, but Rockstar has not said whether other tattoo parlors exist for everyone. IGN's preview mentions hair salons and clothing stores across the map, not tattoo shops. DualShockers argued in June that locking whole buildings behind an edition is a step beyond locking cosmetics.

Our take: if tattoos matter to how you play Jason and Lucia, Electric Fang is the strongest single reason to consider the Ultimate Edition, because 50+ designs from a real art collective is a lot of style in one shop. If they don't, wait. The upgrade can be bought after launch, and by then players will know whether Leonida has ordinary tattoo parlors for Standard owners. We'd expect at least one ordinary parlor somewhere in Leonida, but that is our expectation, not a promise from Rockstar.

What to watch for at launch

• Whether Standard players can get tattoos anywhere else.
• What a Standard Edition player sees at Electric Fang's door.
• How many of the 50+ FAILE designs work for both Jason and Lucia.