According to various reports and screengrabs, the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel, GTA2, have been rated for PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita by ESRB.
This continues Rockstar's trend of releasing, what they consider their classic games, on the PlayStation Network. They last promised more "titles coming soon to the PS2 Classics collection" back at the end of March when Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, and the first two Midnight Club games made their way to PSN.
The original Grand Theft Autos are pre-PS2, with the original landing on PC in October 1997, followed by a PlayStation 1 release in December of the same year. Both are currently available for free via the Rockstars Classics page on their official site. It does bring in to question why these games have cropped up as re-ratings for PSN, considering the wording of their previous promise.
As at the time of posting, the listings on ESRB's website can no longer be found, so whether they've been removed due to error or request are, as yet, unknown.
As the first week of March comes to an end, it's time for a short round-up of news which has been circulating the web already this month. We've moved into the final 200 days block before the release of Grand Theft Auto V, and several interesting articles this past week regarding Rockstar and Take-Two have appeared, all of which tie in together quite well - hence the reasoning behind having one article dedicated to all of them.
Firstly, Take-Two's COO Karl Slatoff went on record this week stating that Grand Theft Auto will never be an annual - or more accurately, biennial (every two years) - release as it would "degrade series value":
"Often times people ask us 'Why don't you come out with Grand Theft Auto every two years?' To us, that doesn't make sense, because Grand Theft Auto, every single time it comes out, is a brand new experience. You can't possibly do that in two years. And if we did that, our product would fatigue and the franchise would degrade from a value perspective."
Rockstars' such as Leslie Benzies have echoed this previously, and I fully back them. This is not a series which sticks to one experience and concept, you only have to look at the huge leap, in every conceivable way, from San Andreas to GTA IV. This is not Call of Duty or The Sims - this is Grand Theft Auto; not only is the shear size of the game and feature set gigantic when compared to other games, but the sort of technology advancement and gameplay progression between each game is unparalleled.
Secondly, PAX East is exactly two weeks away, and considering Rockstar's track record of attending PAX East and offering exclusive hands-on previews - Red Dead Redemption (2010), L.A. Noire (2011), and Max Payne 3 (2012) - could we expect a similar case with Grand Theft Auto V? Lifestyle site Society & Religion has posted it's take on what marketing they believe is still to be completed prior to the games' release this September:
- Two more trailers Official website updates
- A second, more in-depth preview
- Exclusive online previews that go in-depth on various features
- Television advertising
All quite valid, and given Rockstar's track record with PAX as a whole, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a lucky few were given a preview of the upcoming game at the least. A trailer? Even better. If you're lucky to be attending, ensure to take it all in!
Thirdly, continuing on from Mr Slatoff's comments on Grand Theft Auto's release schedule, he also expressed Take-Two's interest in continuing to bring its "core gaming franchises to smartphones and tablets".
"As long as technology continues to evolve, we fully intend to bring our most most highly immersive new products to smartphones and tablets, assuming the platform can handle it."
The success of Rockstar's porting of GTA III, GTA Vice City and Max Payne over to Android and iOS devices has shown that this is welcomed from loyal fans and new fans alike. Considering you can grab yourself a copy of one of these classics for the same as a new version of Angry Birds, I think it's obvious that these are going to continue to sell extremely well. It's a brilliant concept, the games we know and love are reborn and exposed to new fans through news means. I can't speak for Take-Two's complete backlog, but Rockstar's alone is crawling with games which would be perfect on a mobile device.
Lastly, and possibly most exciting of all the news this past week, Mr Slatoff also had something to say about the future of Take-Two:
"Looking beyond 2013, with Grand Theft Auto V launching on September 17th, fiscal 2014 should be one of the best years ever for the company with substantial revenue and earnings growth. [..] And we also have an extensive pipeline of unannounced titles in development which you are going to hear about in the future months.”
With Grand Theft Auto V on the horizon, it's easy to forget that there is still plenty of development going on at Rockstar on another projects. What is happening with Agent? We haven't heard about it since mid-year 2011 when there were doubts over it remaining PS3-exclusive, which it would be safe to say could be true at this point, with PS4 being announced. Plus, Dan Houser expressed interest in a sequel to Bully following Max Payne 3. Considering Rockstar Vancouver, who developed both Bully and Max Payne 3, recently merged with Rockstar Toronto, as I said at the time: I feel this could mean the sequel is at least in the pipeline, if not already in development. There is also Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire which have been huge hits for Rockstar and have fans crying out for future sequels. At this point, anything is possible; and as we settle into a year filled to the brim with Grand Theft Auto V, there is no doubt that Rockstar will also be preparing for some future surprises.
Grand Theft Auto. It's the series that set, and continues to set, the standard for the entertainment value a single game can offer. It's a blockbuster franshise that breaks records and influences countless clones - but none have really succeeded in capturing much of the genre. Why?
Edge Magazine has written a nice piece on how the series' came to be, and it offers some significant incite into the early days at DMA Design - from the hurdles to the minor changes that all led to what Grand Theft Auto became, and continues to be.
Edge's take, which I'd be inclined to agree with, is: the secret to [Grand Theft Auto's] success may lie in the process, not the product. Nothing could be more true. You can copy as much as you like, but if you fail to understand the process and the mantra behind the game, the company, you fail to grasp what it is all truly about.
Check out the article, it's a great read: The Making Of: Grand Theft Auto.
Just under a month ago, I published an article on a podcast which I felt very passionate about: InRockstarSpect. The podcast looked at the films which inspired, and no doubt continue to inspire, Rockstar Games throughout their development of critically acclaimed games, and fond gaming moments and memories we all share. The podcast wrapped up this past week, be sure to check out any you missed:
Thanks to all the brilliant people behind the podcast for the compressive in-sites, interesting opinions and, of course, taking the time to focus on Rockstar and their games.
I remember my first time playing a Rockstar game. It was Grand Theft Auto III, of course; the game which introduced most of us to the company and their unique, but seriously addictive, story telling mixed with mayhem. I've never been a hardcore gamer, in fact I only like a particular collection of games - all of which just happen to be developed by the very company RockstarWatch has been dedicated to for the past six years.
There is a reason Rockstars' games are the only ones I have an interest in: their games have soul. They aren't just about the graphics, the gameplay, the characters, or the story - their about the whole package. Rockstar tells a story, and they tell it well, and they mix it with unique, memorable, characters along with gameplay that doesn't get old. Plus, the graphics... how many games have the level of detail or the quality of Grand Theft Auto IV? People upgraded their televisions just to play the game, and most modern PC's still can't handle it with the graphics settings maxed out.
Rockstar doesn't just manufacture a game, they don't just crank out another generic mix of pixels; they are selling experiences... and I've been buying up since 2001.
Side-note: Recently brought to my attention via Twitter, End-Gamers published an article on Why Rockstar Games’ Games Rule. Check it out, along with this podcast, and let me know what you love most about Rockstar @RockstarWatch.
This weeks episode of The Big Bang Theory had quite a large suprise in-store for Rockstar fans - not just the mention of Red Dead Redemption, but actual gameplay. The 2 minute scene involves Sheldon clearing his head by walking around Armadilo and taking some 'digital alcohol' to drink his troubles away.
Grand Theft Auto even gets a mention in a one-liner that has to be one of, if not the first, cross-Rockstar games jokes I've ever heard. Even if you're not a fan of the show, it's worth a look, I guarantee you'll get a laugh out of it:
Two Rockstar series mentioned in the same episode of a show, a two-for-one deal, I do believe that's a record. Perhaps the best part of all of this is that Red Dead Redemption will be 2 years old this May, and after 2 years the game is still mainstream and popular enough to be mentioned on primetime. Congrats Rockstar!
Today, I decided for the first time in a long time, I would load up the first Grand Theft Auto and play a bit of it. I loaded it up and I played for about an hour before I had to work on something. I came back about two hours later and the game refused to load, crashing me back out to the desktop. I did some searching and I found the culprit. It seems Grand Theft Auto makes a change to a file every time it launches. From what I can tell, the game will continue to work fine on x86 machines, however, on x64 the game just crashes with this change. I have created a small little program that changes this file back to a working version for x64 machines and then launches the game. It works with both the free Rockstar version and the Steam version of the game.
The distributor for Rockstar Games in the UAE has come out and confirmed that the UAE's National Media Council (NMC), in other words, the UAE equivalent of OFLC or ESRB, has banned the game due...
...to the game's controversial content, which features strong violence and drug use and is therefore not in keeping with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.
Although if your dying to get the game, and you're a traveler to the region, then you can still pick it up in any Duty Free stores. This is as these stores are not under the NMC which governs the inner UAE.
Take-Two Interactive, who owns Rockstar Games, is in talks with Former EA President of Asian Online Gaming, Hubert Larenaudie, to become President of Take-Two Asia. Take-Two already has a strong holding in the Japanese market (Rockstar Japan anyone?), but they want to expand into the Asian market and create a "meaningful online game operation" while they are at it, with Hubert Larenaudie spearheading the campaign.
Hubert Larenaudie, who has worked with Vivendi Universal, to make World of Warcraft have the presence in Asia that it has now, and of course EA. He'll be working below Gary Dale at Take-Two's newly created office in Singapore.
"Hubert Larenaudie is an experienced senior executive who has successfully built or expanded Asia Pacific operations for prominent interactive entertainment and consumer goods companies," said Gary Dale. "His in-depth knowledge of the region; his skill in creating the right product development, distribution and marketing strategy for each local market; and his track record of driving growth will help Take-Two realize the tremendous opportunities in APAC."
Mr. Larenaudie added, "Many of Take-Two's franchises, such as Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Sid Meier's Civilization, and BioShock are international hits, and already have attracted large and enthusiastic fan bases in markets such as Japan, South Korea and China. With the Company's portfolio of leading brands, growing sports business, extraordinary creative talent and global appeal, I see exciting potential to build a significant Asia Pacific business for Take-Two, with a particular emphasis on the online game segment of the market."
The main points for Take-Two is:
- expanding distribution in the Asia Pacific (APAC) for the Company's interactive entertainment products.
- developing a strong presence in Japan.
- and establishing a meaningful online game operation, especially in China and Korea.
What does this mean for Take-Two? Are they bringing out the GTA MMO? Maybe even creating their own WoW clone?
Source: Kotaku
TimeSplittA has posted news on the Official UK Playstation Forums that Grand Theft Auto I and Grand Theft Auto II are coming to the Playstation Network. He got this information via the Official Playstation Magazine. Backing up TimeSplittA's claim, Buubar posted a scan of the page. It will be intresting to see how much the two will cost since the PC versions of the game have already been released for free via Rockstar Classics.
Thanks to TimeSplittA and Buubar over at the Official UK Playstation Forums.
