Rockstar's New Yorkers are very passionite about cycling, and have presented the annual Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic for several years. This year, Rockstar is also presenting the Red Hook Criterium in Red Hook, Brooklyn - an unsanctioned, underground cycling series:

The Red Hook Crit, as it’s known, is a fixed gear bike race through the night streets of Red Hook, Brooklyn. Previously held twice a year, with Rockstar’s help the RHC is now expanding into a four-part championship series with races in select urban locations across the world. After the first round this Saturday, riders will again take to the BK streets for a new event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard this June. The series then moves to mainland Europe for the next stop in Barcelona in August before crowning its first ever World Champion in Milan in October.

Check out a little history on the series...

...including a warm-up video:

The 2013 series officially starts this Saturday night at 7:30 PM with men's and women's 5K runs, before the main event at 9:00 PM.

For more information, check out www.redhookcrit.com and Rockstar's Newswire.

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.

Major Nelson is reporting that we can expect sales on Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption DLC on Xbox LIVE next week - between the 22nd and 28th January.

Max Payne 3

• Season Pass - 1200 MSP (50% off)
• Local Justice Pack - 320 MSP (50% off)
• Hostage Negotiation Pack - 400 MSP (50% off)
• Painful Memories - 400 MSP (50% off)

Red Dead Redemption

• Undead Nightmare Collection - 800 MSP (50% off)
• Undead Nightmare Pack - 400 MSP (50% off)
• Legends & Killers Pack - 400 MSP (50% off)
• Liars & Cheats - 400 MSP (50% off)

If you're missing any DLC for either game, next week would be the ideal time to purchase.

Announced this morning, Rockstar Toronto will be expanding into a new, much larger facility through partnership with the Ontario government. Rockstar Vancouver will also be merged with Rockstar Toronto, with employees of the Vancouver studio given the option to moving to the new complex or take positions at other Rockstar studios around the world over the next six months.

"Expanding Rockstar Toronto and bringing our Canadian development talent together under one roof underscores our commitment to building world-class teams that can make the kind of groundbreaking entertainment experiences Rockstar Games is known for," said Jennifer Kolbe, Vice President of Publishing and Operations for Rockstar Games. “We believe a single Canadian team will make for a powerful creative force on future projects. We plan to add more than 50 new positions to our combined Canadian team, and are pleased to be entering into this strategic partnership with the Ontario government." 

Toronto is currently an in-house development team for Take-Two, developers of The Warriors adaption, with Vancouver being the minds behind Bully and Max Payne 3, with Toronto playing a large part in the development process of the latter. This merger and relocation brings together two medium sized development studios, making one very powerful studio, and shows that Rockstar has some rather hefty plans for their Canadian talent. I'd speculate that a much anticipated Bully sequal could be in the works, or at least in the pipeline.

Rockstar is also looking to expand Toronto further, expecting to grow the studios staff over time.

News Release from Take-Two: Rockstar Games Expands Toronto Development Studio

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.