Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

There is a familiar pattern to media coverage whenever Rockstar publishes a game. There is talk about how the developer has used its newest game to iterate upon and redefine the open world genre. There are almost always articles on how various Hollywood films influenced Rockstar's development process. And there are at least one or two polemics that attack the developer for transgressing established norms about what can and cannot be done in video games. This last type of essay inevitably concludes that video games are bad, and lead to an increase in interpersonal violence as well as the downfall of civilisation.

What's interesting about this pattern of coverage is how often it overlooks Rockstar's own development and publishing habits, most notably the company's steady development and publication of games set in the past. Indeed, if we were to remove the typical narrative surrounding Rockstar games related to game mechanics, cinema and satire, we might instead see Rockstar as a publisher of historical games on par with Firaxis (Civilization), Paradox (Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis), or Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed). It's now commonplace to see articles, podcasts and videos criticising those publishers' appropriation of the past, but Rockstar remains remarkably unscathed even though the company has developed and published a series of games that, taken together, chronicle modern American history. These games include Red Dead Redemption 2 (set in 1899), Red Dead Redemption (1911), L.A. Noire (1947), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (1986) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (1992).

Whenever one attempts to analyse the history in historical fiction they'll always run into the hand-waving argument that "it's fiction, not history". This defense has been used by Red Dead Redemption 2 lead writer Dan Houser, who stated recently: "[the game] may be a work of historical fiction, but it's not a work of history.". Yet we know popular historical fiction often plays an outsized influence on the way the public remembers historical figures or important time periods. Consider, for instance, the impact of Shakespeare's plays on the reputations of Cleopatra and Richard III. Or the importance of Saving Private Ryan to public commemorations of D-Day. To take an example from my own life, I've probably had more conversations with students on the influence of Blackadder Goes Forth on our memory of the First World War than I've had on the actual history of the First World War (although that probably says something more about the quality of my teaching than anything else). The truth is better than fiction, but it's often the fiction we remember the best.

Read more…

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

One of the things I love most about old school games are their cheat codes. I have fond memories of spamming "motherlode" into the Sims to make it rain simoleons - while codes in other games gave you invincibility, new characters and even (somewhat infamously) unlockable blood and gore.

GTA San Andreas was no exception to the rule, and the game is stuffed full of classic cheat codes allowing players to mess around. When you wouldn't want to activate these, however, is right in the middle of a world-record pace speedrun, which is exactly what happened to LelReset.

During an attempt to break his own world record for GTA San Andreas any% (finishing the game with any level of completion), LelReset accidentally triggered a cheat code which brought a helicopter crashing down on his run. The code, called OHDUDE, spawns a hunter helicopter when used. Although the code is typically activated by typing the name, codes in GTA San Andreas can be triggered through pressing certain other WASD combinations, which is likely what happened to LelReset.

Read more…

Eurogamer

GTA is well known for its jokes and spoofs, but this week it would appear someone has beaten Rockstar at its own game by falsely advertising the next installment in the GTA series.

Over the past few days, GTA Online players have seen messages supposedly advertising GTA6 appear on the side of their screens. On the surface, the announcements appeared to be fairly legitimate: they used a font similar to the official Rockstar branding, and even included a link to Rockstar's website.

Unsurprisingly, this was enough to hoodwink many players, who were ecstatic at the news of a new GTA game and rushed to Twitter to express their excitement.

Read more…

Eurogamer


Mass Effect 3's free multiplayer DLC pack Resurgance will be released on the EU PlayStation Store today.


The offering includes two new maps and the opportunity to unlock six new character classes, including the first chances to play as the robotic geth and four-eyed batarian races.


Enjoyable Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City and mediocre 5/10 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 are now available to download for fairly cheap prices, as is Goldeneye 007: Reloaded - although you'll need to stump up £39.99 to nab that.


PlayStation Plus subscribers get PlayStation 1 survival horror Silent Hill free until 9th May, while everyone gets demos of bullet-time shooter Sniper Elite V2 and unnofficial Olympics cash-in Summer Stars 2012 to try.


You can even dress up your Final Fantasy 13-2 characters in new costumes, including Ezio Auditore's garb from Assassin's Creed: Revelations.


The full listing of new content lies below, courtesy of the EU PlayStation blog

PS3 Games

  • Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City - £14.99
  • Goldeneye 007: Reloaded - £39.99
  • Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - £8.79
  • Pure Chess - £4.99 (20% discount for Plus members)

PS3 Demos

  • Summer Stars 2012 Demo - Free
  • Sniper Elite V2 Demo - Free
Eurogamer


Grand Theft Auto 5 launches in October 2012, according to the online CV of a Rockstar North character animator.


As reported by Joystiq, both the employee's LinkedIn page and online résumé both list the date next to the GTA5 entry.


Rockstar has so far refused to comment, however, the CV has been taken offline and the LinkedIn page tweaked to remove any mention of the game.


Neither Rockstar nor publisher Take-Two has discussed a potential release window for the next game in the hugely popular open world crime series since it was unveiled late last year.


Worthy of note is the fact that Take-Two currently has BioShock Infinite scheduled for an October launch. Would it want to release two of its biggest franchises in the same month?

Eurogamer


Multiplayer "crews" that you set up in Max Payne 3 will carry over to Grand Theft Auto 5, developer Rockstar has revealed.


Studio co-founder Dan Houser told IGN that the new Social Club functionality is part of its plan to innovate multiplayer across all its titles.


"Multiplayer is an ever-more important part of all our games moving forward," he said.


"And by creating crews through Social Club, the crews that you create in Max Payne 3 will be ready and available for you to play in Grand Theft Auto V from day one.


"It's all part of our larger approach to make multiplayer deeper and richer than what's currently available, much more easily accessible to the newcomer and rewarding for the hardcore.


"We made a promise not to talk too much about forthcoming games until a little further down the track but, yes, crews will feature in Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer," he added.


Max Payne 3 will let you form private crews with your friends, or join public crews. You can be a member of up to five at the same time, and completing tasks as a crew will gain you XP points.


Among the crew features promised are persistent Feuds, that see you scrapping with opposing gangs who've killed someone on your team.


There's still no word on when we'll see GTA5 on shelves, but Max Payne 3 lands on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from 18th May.

Eurogamer


Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has bought the same Brooklyn mansion once inhabited by legendary true crime author Truman Capote for a staggering $12.5 million.


As reported by New York Observer, the house, located at 70 Willow Street in New York's Brooklyn Heights district, was home to the In Cold Blood author for 10 years.


The sale is thought to be the largest ever in Brooklyn, beating the previous record by 1.5 million.


Houser's new 9000 square foot pad boasts 18 rooms over three floors, 11 fireplaces and a showpiece spiral staircase.


The British émigré relocated to New York back in 1998 to get Rockstar off the ground with his brother Sam, Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman. The developer is currently hard at work on Grand Theft Auto 5.

'Rockstar boss buys Truman Capote's New York mansion' Screenshot 1
Eurogamer


Mafia 2 developer 2K Czech is reportedly helping Rockstar out with development of Grand Theft Auto 5.


It's been working on the game for almost a year, a source told VG247, helping produce animations for cutscenes and general gameplay.


Apparently the two studios are sharing tech secrets - part of Take-Two's masterplan to turn Mafia into a monster franchise.


GTA5, unveiled with a trailer late last year, is without a release window.


Meanwhile, work on Mafia 3 is now underway after a year of pre-production "in which the game's concepts and tech were stripped back to basics and rebuilt".


Will Mafia 3 be a next generation game? VG247's source said 2K attended the Durango developer's summit in London last week - rumoured to be a Microsoft showcase for its next Xbox.

Eurogamer


Publisher Take-Two has filed trademarks for "GTA TV" and "Rockstar TV".


As spotted by RockstarSpy, the listings were filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month.


According to the accompanying blurb, the marks refer to the following:


"Computer game programs and software; animated motion picture films featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children's and documentary themes; pre-recorded video discs and other pre-recorded digital and electronic media in the field of live action programs, motion pictures, or animation featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children's and documentary themes."


Could it just be a strategic trademark hold, or does Take-Two have some kind of cross-media masterplan up its sleeve for Grand Theft Auto 5's impending arrival? At the time of writing, the publisher had declined to comment.

Eurogamer


Rockstar is currently mulling the future of last year's crime thriller L.A. Noire.


Will there be an L.A. Noire 2? Rockstar has said it will not "count out the possibility", despite controversial developer Team Bondi now no more.


"Don't count out the possibility of a new game in the L.A. Noire franchise in the future. We simply have not decided anything," a Rockstar spokesperson wrote, answering a reader Q&A on the company's official site.


"We're all very pleased with how that game turned out and are considering what the future may hold for L.A. Noire as a series."


Rockstar said it was in no hurry to create a follow-up however.


"We don't always rush to make sequels, but that does not mean we won't get to them eventually - see Max and Red Dead for evidence of that - we have so many games we want to make and the issue is always one of bandwidth and timing."


Brendan McNamara-headed Team Bondi was shut down by administrators last year after swirling accusations of employee mismanagement during a brutal "crunch" period on L.A. Noire.


In the near future, Rockstar already has its plate full launching upcoming shooter Max Payne 3. Then presumably next on the cards is the already-announced Grand Theft Auto 5, more details of which Rockstar plans to share soon.


"We know that there are a ton of questions you all have about the game, including release date and lots else," Rockstar said of GTA5.


"Right now, we are very hard at work on the game and are excited as well to show and tell you more as development progresses - expect that we'll be talking much more about GTAV starting at some point in a few months' time." E3 then.

...

Search news
Archive
2024
Jul   Jun   May   Apr   Mar   Feb  
Jan  
Archives By Year
2024   2023   2022   2021   2020  
2019   2018   2017   2016   2015  
2014   2013   2012   2011   2010  
2009   2008   2007   2006   2005  
2004   2003   2002