According to Wired, the publisher of the Art and Science of Rockstar Games books canceled the project...last year. In a statement to Wired, Steidl states that the books were canceled last year due to the author wanting to do a completely new project on Rockstar. The reason for the recent listing on Steidl's site? Apparently it was an error and should've been never listed. This all makes sense as the listing for the book mentioned that it was "Published to coincide with Rockstar Games tenth anniversary" despite the fact that the tenth anniversary has come and passed already. Another reason that the listing was odd is that it had listed a 2009 publish date even-though Steidl's website listing was just published this year. As of this writing Amazon UK and many other book publishers still list the book as coming August 10th of this year. It's unknown at this time why the listings are still there. One theory is that the listings are actually for the new book and that's why the price on Amazon UK is so low compared to the $450 USD suggested retail price from Steidl. We'll keep you posted if there are any changes.
Source: Wired
Rockstar has updated the official Red Dead Redemption DLC page with four new screenshots of the upcoming Legends & Killers Pack, the second DLC offering for the game so far. These shots show more of the Red Dead Revolver characters fighting it out in Redemption's Multiplayer, along with an interesting use of the Tomahawk.
The characters from Revolver sure do fit the atmosphere well, and their models appear to have been revamped to take advantage of Redemption's spectacular graphics - after all, Revolver was a long time ago in game design terms. It's mind-blowing looking at how graphically and atmospherically different Revolver and Redemption are, and by how much the graphics and rendering have improved in only 6 years.
Remember, the Legends & Killers Pack hits Xbox LIVE (for 800 Microsoft Points) and the PlayStation Network (for US$9.99) next month. No specific date has been announced yet, but we'll be sure to keep you informed.
According to NPD Group, Red Dead Redemption has sold roughly 2.5 million copies since its release in the US - making it the best-selling title of 2010 thus far. The game sold 1.5 million in May, and nearly 1 million in June, which is an impressive carry-over from its release month. Compared to other sales in June, the Xbox version of Redemption was the most sold game with 582.9K, with the PlayStation 3 version siting solid in 3rd place with 380.3K.
Top 10 Game Sales, June 2010 (US)
- Red Dead Redemption, Xbox 360, Take-Two 582.9K
- Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii, Nintendo 548.4K
- Red Dead Redemption, PS3, Take-Two 380.3K
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii, Nintendo 200.9K
- Just Dance, Wii, Ubisoft 174.8K
- Wii Fit Plus, Wii, Nintendo
- Toy Story 3, Nintendo DS, Disney Interactive
- UFC 2010: Undisputed, Xbox 360, THQ
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Wii, Warner Bros.
- UFC 2010: Undisputed, PS3, THQ
In the UK however, Red Dead Redemption is the second best-selling title for January-June 2010; being beaten by Just Dance for the Wii. It's important to note however, that Just Dance has been available for six months now, compared to the six weeks that Red Dead Redemption has been available. Redemption should be in first place following July sales, one would suspect.
Top 10 Game Sales, January-June 2010 (UK)
- Just Dance - 940.358
- Red Dead Redemption - 819,161
- Bad Company 2 - 590,580
- Modern Warfare 2 - 540,761
- Wii Fit Plus - 499,998
- Wii Sports Resort - 439,920
- 2010 FIFA World Cup - 396,858
- Aliens vs Predator - 359,968
- Final Fantasy XIII - 339,996
- FIFA 10 - 318,719
Furthermore, THQ has blamed Red Dead Redemption for their 2010 offering of UFC not selling as well as was expected. When speaking with MCV this week, THQ's UK marketing director, Jon Rooke, said that "sales [of UFC] were softer than where we would have liked them to be," adding that it was "largely down to Red Dead Redmeption. Rockstar have probably taken a fair amount of our market share. They shipped 5m units, taking a lot of consumer dollars,". However, Rooke said that he expects sale figures for UFC to pick-up in the coming months.
It's definitely impressive to see Red Dead Redemption is still selling in large numbers, and the fact that its success is affecting other game releases proves its popularity, showing that people are choosing it over anything else on offer. Hopefully it can hold onto its #1 position in the US (and soon, the UK) and become the best-selling game of 2010 overall.
Sources: DLR (US Sale Stats), VideoGamer (UK Sale Stats), CVG (THQ)
Red Dead Redemption's Multiplayer is a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and one certainly not to be missed, however several types of players have become rather prominent online recently: hackers, cheaters and bullies. The "players" in these categories have been ruining the online experience for others, especially those new to the game and new to the multiplayer side of Red Dead.
Rockstar stated earlier today that they are aware of "rotten apples persist[ing] in the online world, [who are] trying to make the experience unpleasant for everyone else" and will be taking measures to counter this on-going issue. A title update, which is expected within the next month, will detect online cheaters and ban them from the multiplayer-side of the game for a period of time decided by Rockstar. Our guess is that the type of cheating / hacking being performed by the player in question will define the period of time in which they are excluded.
Included with the update will be some new features to help prevent constant bullying of players, Rockstar described it like this:
Those who are being bullied repeatedly in Free Roam will be given the option to flee by Transporting and respawning in a region of the map of their choosing. And those who are bullying repeatedly will face a new challenge: when a player gets a 6 kill streak in Free Roam, they will become "Most Wanted." This alerts other players of their status as a player-killer, and also sends NPC law response after them.
Kudos to Rockstar for being proactive in working to prevent this type of anti-social, and down right frustrating, behavior. It is refreshing to know that they're monitoring Red Dead's online world and ensuring we can all enjoy it without a few bad apples spoiling the fun.
UPDATE (July 27th 2010): The collection has, or was, cancelled by Steidl over a year ago. Apparently the listing on their website, which was taken down 2 days ago, was a mistake. It is unknown why the Amazon UK listing still exists, and why it actually appeared on Amazon UK at all, considering it was cancelled without an announcement, is still a mystery. See our latest news article for an overview of the cancellation.
UPDATE (July 25th 2010): Steidl is no longer listing the collection on their website; the page linked to at the bottom of this new post appears to have been removed and the collection doesn't appear in searches of their archives. Amazon UK is however still listing the collection, and at a discount of 38% - making it just £55.25 (or around $85 USD).
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Rockstar has teamed up with publisher Steidl to release a three book library full of "original illustrations, wireframes, production stills, product shots, ads, inspiration and candids of the companys games". That's not to mention the DVD featuring never-before seen video from Rockstar's archives. The cost for every Rockstar fan's dream? A full wallet breaking $450 USD suggested retail price. Amazon UK has a less shocking price at £75.65 or $115 USD but still out of the reach of many fans. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a quick source of income or I'm going to go insane.
This spectacular collection will be made available in August 2010 - a specific date is yet to be made public.
Rockstar has detailed their plans for four new DLC packs for Red Dead Redemption with the first one releasing in August. The first three packs will focus on multiplayer while the last one will focus on single player. For the Red Dead Revolver fans out there, the first pack will have characters from Revolver!
Legends and Killers Pack (Releasing beginning of August 2010)New active map locations, characters and more:
9 New Multiplayer map locations — more than doubling the amount of territories in the Multiplayer Competitive modes
8 New Multiplayer characters— play as characters from Red Dead Revolver
Introducing a new projectile weapon: the Tomahawk, with corresponding Challenges for single player and multiplayer
New Achievements/Trophies
Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE)
Liars and Cheats PackNew Competitive Modes, Multiplayer Mini-games in Free Roam, and more:
‘Attack and Defend’ Multiplayer Competitive Mode and Challenges
New Multiplayer Horse Races complete with mounted combat
Play as the heroes and villains of Red Dead Redemption as well as 8 additional multiplayer characters
Multiplayer versions of Liars Dice and Poker from the single-player game
Introducing a new weapon: the Explosive Rifle, with associated Challenges available in single-player and multiplayer
New Achievements/Trophies
Release date TBC
Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE)
Free Roam PackDelve deeper into the world of Red Dead Redemption with new Modes, Challenges and Gang Hideouts to discover:
Additional Free Roam Challenges
New action areas and defensive placements
Posse Scoring / Posse Leaderboards
New ‘anti-griefing’ measures in Free Roam
Release date and pricing TBC
Undead Nightmare PackGhost towns and cemeteries come alive in a West gone horribly wrong:
Brand new single player adventure, Challenges and quests
8 New Multiplayer Zombie characters
Additional animals unleashed in the world
New Dynamic events
More details to follow...
Release date TBC
Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE)
Rockstar will reveal more about each pack as they get closer to release.
Source: Rockstar Newswire
The free Outlaws to the End Co-Op Mission Pack for Red Dead Redemption is now available via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PlayStation Network Store. At only 12 megabytes, it is not only free, but it won't take long to download and get online with. The DLC also adds 10 additional Xbox Achievements / PlayStation Trophies, which brings Red Dead Redemption's overall Achievements / Trophy count to 58.
Been too immersed in playing Redemption to read any news regarding the free DLC? Check out the video below...
