It hasn't taken Rockstar long to fix some of those bugs in the iPhone and iPod touch versions of Chinatown Wars. Today they released version 1.0.1 which fixes numourous post-release bugs and also changes Independence FM to read songs from your playlist randomly, rather then by their position in the list as it was with the previous version. The following is a excerpt from the iTunes App Store page:

What's New in Version 1.0.1

Thank you for your support! In an effort to enhance this product, we are constantly reading your comments. Independence FM (Custom Playlist) now plays selections from your playlist randomly. This patch also features a selection of bug fixes we have discovered post release.

There have been a lot of comments on the bugs in the original version, and many people found the way Independence FM played songs by position to be rather annoying, so it's good to see Rockstar responding to these comments and making the necessary changes. Check for your update when you have the next chance, or if you don't already have the game be sure to purchase it by following the below links.

Buy it now: US | UK | AU

GameInformer has just posted the cover of their March issue which features L.A. Noire. While the cover doesn't give much of any information, a GameInformer staff member in the comments revealed this bit of information.

Just to reiterate, it's NOT a Ps3 exclusive anymore. It's multiplatform.

So there you have it folks, L.A. Noire is no longer exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and is most definitely coming to the Xbox 360. But what about PC people? I've dug up a old post by Superannuation which has a excerpt from the Linked.in profile of a lighting artist at TeamBondi. The excerpt contains the platforms of L.A. Noire and among the listed is PC. So could we be seeing L.A. Noire on the PC as well? Hopefully we'll get an answer soon.

Source: GameInformer
Source: Superannuation

Rockstar has brought out a whole bunch of new Red Dead Redemption goodies today including a new video (below), new boxart (above) and to top it all off, a new stellar looking website!

Official Site: Red Dead Redemption

EDIT: We have been able to obtain high res versions of the PS3 and 360 boxarts, just click the respecive boxarts.

Well it appears all the rumors of the Grand Theft Auto IV DLC being a limited exclusive to the Xbox 360 were true, on March 30th 2010, PlayStation 3 and PC owners of GTA IV will finally catch a break and be able to play the two action-packed episodes which have become just as popular as the original game itself. The Lost and Damned & The Ballard of Gay Tony will make it into the hands of both PlayStation 3 and PC owners in the form of 'Episodes from Liberty City'. Just like the Xbox 360, if you own GTAIV you also have the choice to download each episode individually. You can see the complete announcement from our friends at Rockstar below:

"The much anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City for the PC and for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system is coming this spring – on March 30, 2010. For the first time, PlayStation 3 and PC players will have the opportunity to experience the last two thrilling chapters of the Grand Theft Auto IV saga together on one disc.

The two action packed episodes, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will also be available for download via PlayStation®Network and Games for Windows®-LIVE on March 30, 2010.

In The Ballad of Gay Tony, players explore Liberty City’s high-end nightlife as Luis Lopez, struggling to balance the temptations of money and vice against loyalties to family and friends. The Lost and Damned is a dark trip through Liberty City’s seedy underbelly as outlaw biker, Johnny Klebitz, fights to keep his gang together as a rift in the gang’s leadership threatens to tear the brotherhood apart. Both episodes feature a slew of new vehicles and weapons, and each episode adds new activities including cage fighting, gang wars and BASE jumping."

Check out the broadcast for more information.

As promised, Rockstar has released the second video in the Red Dead Redemption gameplay series. The new video, entitled "Weapons and Death", shows off both Dead Eye and the beautiful 'euphoria physics engine'. Check it out below:

Just as Rockstar mentioned last month, voting has started this month for which suit GameStop will have as a pre-order bonus for Red Dead Redemption.

Each suit has an advantage to them. The Savvy Merchant can buy weapons at half the cost while the Deadly Assassin regenerates Dead Eye twice as fast. Lastly, the Expert Hunter receives double the amount of skins and hides from hunting. If you vote, you will be entered to win a $100 gift card to GameStop or a trip to the Grand Canyon. You'll be able to vote each day till the end to earn extra entrees into the sweepstakes.  What are you waiting for? Get voting!

Rockstar has also released some screenshots showing off the cover system.

Vote: GameStop

Rockstar has posted another entree in it's Asked & Answered series where they answer questions from the fans. Here are some snippets from the post.

“Now where the hell is Red Dead Redemption's info? The Movember winner, Gamestop pre-order outfits, 2nd gameplay series. Where the hell are they?” – batik89

Ha - love the enthusiasm!  All of the above will be revealed in the next week or two, we promise.  Look for the 2nd clip in the gameplay series (which will be an in-depth look at shooting - all the gunplay, weapons, dead-eye, natural motion physics and so on that make up this key aspect of the game) as well as a big hands-on preview round to hit towards the end of next week.  Meantime, there’ll be continuing Red Dead goodness posted right here in the coming days.  Keep your eyes peeled..

“Your latest word on L.A. Noire is that it is coming along "splendidly" and that we can expect more details very soon, but that was in September. I've been anticipating this game for ages now and I was wondering if you can provide any new information or when in fact you'll publicly provide more information. By the way, is it still on the PS3?” – received via Mouthoff

There will be something great to see soon - a proper in-depth look at the game and why it is so ground breaking and innovative, both in terms of the game's design and the amazing new technology to support it.  Expect to see a long-awaited reveal via a big cover story next month.

“Can you DM me cheats for GTA Chinatown for the iPhone?” – received via Twitter

We know a lot of you out there are rooting around the web in vain looking for those Chinatown Wars iPhone cheats.  So, by popular demand, we'll post a first batch of them right here, tomorrow.

Also asked was when Chinatown Wars is going to make it's way to other territories. Rockstar is sorting out some legal issues and they hope to have Chinatown Wars available worldwide soon.

Read the rest at Rockstar's newswire.

Rockstar has released a trailer showing off the iPhone version of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.

Well it seems that the wait is finally over; the iPhone and iPod touch version of GTA: Chinatown Wars has just hit the iTunes App Store. For a mere $9.99 and a 188 MB download, you can play the first full Grand Theft Auto game on a mobile phone or music player device. Check out the preview images below taken from the App Store page:

It'll be interesting to see how the controls work, and more importantly, whether the beloved iPhone and handle a fully fledged GTA game. Be sure to purchase your copy as soon as you can, and if you haven't already, why not grab Beaterator as well?

Buy it now: US | UK | AU

Major Nelson has recently posted the top 20 Games For Windows Live games of 2009. GTAIV took the top slot beating out some of the best sellers of late 2008-2009 such as Fallout 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. The 360 version of GTAIV didn't fare too bad either taking a respectable 6th place and getting beat only by the usual multiplayer suspects such as Call of Duty and Halo. Congratulations to Rockstar North and Rockstar Toronto!

Source: Major Nelson

I wanted to take some time to address what's been in the news recently about San Diego. I've been thinking about and working on this since the news first broke. The reason I didn't post about this story as soon as it broke was because I wanted to get all the facts. If you've been living under a rock for the past week, heres the low-down: spouses of current and former Rockstar San Diego employees posted a blog post about the working conditions of the studio. This is similar to an incident with EA back in 2004. According to their blog post, everything was good until March of 2009. From what I can gather from comments on the various news stories, after completing the South Central expansion, the Midnight Club team was "slowly dismantled". Some were laid off, some quit, and the others were merged into the Red Dead Redemption team. A source told Joystiq this:

"At first, the team was told there was going to be another. That lasted a few months until the team was told, 'Well, we're going to do another, but it will be all outsourced ... but there will be a core team of 5 - 15 people at RSSD working on it.' Then, after a while longer, it was just not going to happen at all."

While it is sad that Rockstar had to dismantle the Midnight Club team, it's not the only company letting people go. Right now the economy is in a bad state. Couple this with the high costs of operating a business in California and the fact that SD had three teams (MC, RDR, and Rage Tech teams), there may not have been a choice but to merge the two game teams into one. Does this mean the end to Midnight Club? Not exactly. If San Diego stays open after Redemption, it could very well be their next project. But back to the issue at hand, the treatment of the employees. The spouses tell that the studio has started doing 12 hour days and mandatory Saturdays. While this is unfortunate, this is sadly the norm within the industry when it comes to crunch time. Even a former developer of the studio before Rockstar aquired SD admitted this has been the norm there even before the Rockstar days. However, the spouses tell about new studio managers being appointed who have little game production experience and if that's true, it definitely cannot help the situation at the studio.

The big question is, do all the developers at San Diego feel the same? A current developer at SD who is going by the name of "Code Monkey" doesn't feel exactly the same way. While he does admit to a rather unplesent and unusual work environment for some, he still loves RSSD.

"As a R* employee for a certain amount of years, let me first say that I feel like a proud citizen of my clan, but I like many of my peers seek a reprieve from the issues that the wives have boldly brought to the media's attention. I suppose I've been one to personally let things slide a lot over the last few months as I work many long hours, many of which I feel have been somewhat forced upon me, because I love my job so much, and every second I spend in my chair in front of my screen is only a second that comes completely natural to me. I like to make games, and I like to solve game problems. That being said, I also have a very supportive significant other half, and we have no children to feed and spend time with. Also because I'm in fairly good health, I don't find myself complaining about quality of life so much as I may complain of other issues at the studio that directly affect me. But I also do have close friends at the studio who have had their health and lives deteriorated in some way, and whether or not the long hours have directly contributed to these ailments, it certainly hasn't helped. And just because I may feel just fine today doesn't mean I'll still feel fine tomorrow or months down the road when it all catches up to me. And I acknowledge the day we have a child of our own may be a day of reckoning. ...When it's all said and done, I love my studio, I love my game, and I love my team, and I wouldn't give this up for the world. I just would like to see things improve for all of us, including our management."

On the 11th, Rockstar sent this email to the folks over at SD:

"Dear Rockstar San Diego

No doubt you are all aware of the comments made on Gamasutra regarding some internal dynamics at the studio and some people's dissatisfaction with the environment. We take issues related to working conditions extremely seriously and will look to address any genuine concerns immediately.

It’s been a challenging few years, and a tough last few months as the game moves towards completion, but the final product of all that incredible effort is on the verge of finally being received by the public: the stellar game that is Red Dead Redemption, a game of which you all should be justifiably proud and which you should be excited to see come to market.

We do not agree with the allegations in the Gamasutra post (e.g. there has been no reduction in health benefits or ancillary benefits and perks (such as free dinners and massages etc), wage increases across the studio have kept track with cost of living increases, and anyone who feels they have been overlooked for a bonus for a game they worked on please contact HR to discuss as soon as possible). Nevertheless, we do know that the team is working very hard right now, and we care deeply about the physical health and mental well-being of every single person on our team. We are committed to working through any issues anyone at the studio may have, and to providing support wherever possible. Please, if you have concerns, discuss them with Sarah Shafer or with Rob Spampinato who heads up HR for the whole of Rockstar and who will be on-site in the studio for the next few days (Rob is sitting in the “new york” office). If you would prefer to speak to someone in confidence outside of Rockstar, please contact Chris Casazza, who oversees HR for Take Two.

Red Dead Redemption is rightly one of the most anticipated games of 2010, and we’re incredibly proud of the entire team for the truly outstanding work that’s gone into making this remarkable game as good as it is. Here’s hoping we can give this game the reception it deserves this April.

Sincerely,

Jenn"

Due to all this, people have cried for a boycott of the game. However, "Code Monkey" disagrees with a boycott.

"We want people to play our game. Forget about the money and any possible job security for a second. We made a great game, and we just want people to play it and see that."

In the end, hopefully everyone can get past the finger pointing and make this a learning experience for all parties in this incident and even other studios. We wish the folks at San Diego, current and former, good luck. Hopefully at the end of RDR, you guys will enjoy a long, well deserved break while we spend weeks of our lives throughly enjoying the fantastic game that will be Red Dead Redemption.

Sources:
Gamasutra
Joystiq

This story is still developing. We will continue to update as more information comes available. If you believe I have missed something or want to make a correction, please contact me.

Rockstar has just released four new screens from Red Dead Redemption, you can find them below:

Is it just me, or does this game keep looking better and better each time we see a new screenshot?

Be sure to check the official Red Dead Redemption website for more screens, some of which you may have missed.

From everyone here at RockstarWatch, we wish everyone a Happy New Year! We have some awesome things in-store for you in this new year so stay tuned!

First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope everyone is relaxing, spending time with friends and family, and just enjoying themselves.

Now, if you didn't recieve exactly what you wanted for Christmas or we're lucky enough to recieve an iPhone or iPod touch, then be sure to grab Rockstar's Beaterator for iPhone and iPod touch from the Apple App Store as it's currently on sale for US$2.99...but only for a LIMITED TIME!

Be sure to grab it if you haven't yet. I've been addictided to it for the last 2 weeks, and I can honestly say it's well worth it, specially given the very cheap price.

Steam is offering the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV for a mind blowing $7.49. If you have yet to pick up the PC version, I highly suggest you do so. Even if you have one of the console versions. Hurry though, the deal will only last through today!

Steam: Grand Theft Auto IV