Two interesting rumors have popped up today. Starting with the first rumor, Max Payne 3 is said to be in development by the very quiet Rockstar Toronto. Back in 2007, there was a rumor going around that the same team that had originally developed Manhunt 2, Rockstar Vienna, was developing the title but was canceled when the studio was closed. Rockstar Vancouver was said to be continuing developing of the title. However, this new rumor says Rockstar Toronto is developing the title. Perhaps it was a mix up of the studios? Seems logical being that they are both located in Canada and Rockstar Toronto received a name change after the Vancouver team became part of Rockstar.

Also adding to this, Rockstar Toronto has been very, very quiet since the release of The Warriors. They have worked on Manhunt 2 and Bully since then but they were just ports. It may be unknown who the developer is but one thing is almost for certain, Rockstar is working on Max Payne 3. On to the next tidbit of information, remember that exclusive PS3 IP Sony said that Rockstar was working on last year? Well today's rumor says that Rockstar North is developing the title.

Source: 1UP

The rumours were true. Rockstar Games have just announced that Grand Theft Auto IV will be hitting your computer screens on November 18th in America, and three days later in Europe.

"We are very excited to be releasing the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The whole team is dedicated to bringing an amazing gaming experience to the PC. The game looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can't wait for people to play it."

You all saw how big the modding community is for GTA:SA on the PC, so we can't wait to see what they have instore for GTA IV! It's currently unknown what exactly the system requirements will be, however, we are going to contact Rockstar to see if they have them finalized yet.

Source: Press Release

Well, who was expecting this?

Just announced at Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference is GTA: Chinatown Wars. Details are hard to find at the moment but we do know the game is coming to the Nintendo DS this winter. It is being developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North. You can view the press release below. I think it's time I invested in a Nintendo DS...

 Press Release:

Rockstar Games Announces Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS™

The newest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series for Nintendo's handheld system this winter

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with series creators Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available on the Nintendo DS™ in North America and Europe this winter.

"This is a game that will deliver a rich, fast-paced and intense 'Grand Theft Auto' experience that will be truly unique to Nintendo's handheld platform," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Rockstar Leeds, along with the team at Rockstar North, has built upon a decade of progressive design on Grand Theft Auto, and has created something fundamentally fresh and immersive."

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise.

For more information about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, visit: http://www.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars

Official Website: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

The Annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards takes place every July, bringing over 500 game developers from all around the world to celebrate success of themselves and others in the industry. The awards honor particularly European developers, and is now in its sixth year, the ceremony this year will be held at the Hilton Metropole, Brighton on Wednesday 30th July. Earlier this week the team behind the awards revealed a list of who is in the running for awards this year. Rockstar North, NaturalMotion and Image Metrics are all in the running for several awards from their work on Grand Theft Auto IV with Rockstar London nominated for the best new UK games studio.

Visual Arts
Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)
Crytek (Crysis)
London Studio (SingStar PS3 UI)
Frontier Developments (Lost Winds)
Criterion Games (Burnout Paradise)
Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword)

Audio Accomplishment
London Studio (SingStar PS3)
Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)
Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword)
Sumo Digital (Sega Superstars Tennis)
Codemasters Studios (Race Driver GRID)
Criterion Games (Burnout Paradise)

Tools Provider
Hansoft
Epic Games
Sony & SN Systems
Havok
NaturalMotion
IDV

Technical Innovation
Rockstar North/NaturalMotion/Image Metrics (Grand Theft Auto IV)
Ninja Theory/SCEE Cambridge (Heavenly Sword)
Ideaworks3D (Airplay)
SCEE R&D Team (PhyreEngine)
Geomerics (Enlighten)

Best New UK/European Studio
Finblade
Konami Paris
Oxygen Studios
Rockstar London
Doublesix

Business Development
Zoë Mode
Rebellion
Realtime Worlds
Team 17
NaturalMotion

Best In-house Developer
Rockstar North
Codemasters Studios
Criterion Games
Sports Interactive
London Studio
Bizarre Creations

You can read more on the Develop Awards on DevelopMag.com. Best of luck to Rockstar North, Rockstar London and the two Technology Innovation Companies -- NaturalMotion and Image Metrics.

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.

It's a very rare honor to have the chance to talk to this man, Sam Houser, the brains behind 'Grand Theft Auto' and many other very successful gaming series' developed by Rockstar Games. Grand Theft Auto IV is obviously his latest and undoubtably his most popular creation yet. Recently he has been talking to the media about himself and his games, something he very rarely does. The Houser Brothers, Sam and Dan, don't like having the spotlight put onto them, they rather people discuss their games rather then them themselves; very nobal really.

The Wall Street Journal has been lucky enough to speak with Sam Houser about Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar, the EA vs. Take-Two takeover and himself as a whole. The article is a must read for anybody who enjoy's hearing about the behind-the-scenes happenings of Rockstar Games, you can see the full article here. Below are some snippets we felt you might link to read, however we do insist you read the full article, it's well worth the read...

On Sam Houser:

Mr. Houser, 36 years old, sports a scruffy beard that stretches to the top of his chest. In a rare interview, he joked that associates have described him as a "lunatic" -- a reference to his creative intensity. Last year his studio hired a spiritual healer to exorcise bad vibes after the deaths of two fellow employees. He makes a habit of walking the streets of New York to study a hidden underworld of ex-cons, vagrants and other Diane Arbus-worthy subjects. Some of them have inspired characters in his games.

He's also a man of contradictions. "I'm about the most conservative guy you'll ever meet," says Mr. Houser, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two young children. "I have a panic attack if I get a parking ticket."

On Rockstar:

The "talent" at Rockstar, as they're called internally, make star-caliber money and might find EA's more traditional pay structure jarring. In 2005, a particularly strong year, Take-Two paid royalties of $84 million, according to company filings. The bulk of funds, say people familiar with the matter, went to Mr. Houser and other Rockstar executives. If EA succeeds in acquiring Take-Two, some analysts believe EA's star developers might demand a bigger share of game proceeds.

Another possible kink: Rockstar's history of autonomy. If EA ends up with Take-Two, Mr. Houser says it's unlikely that he would go so far as to seek EA's approval for game content. Still, he calls Mr. Riccitiello "the real deal" and sees some appeal in an EA alliance, which he says would make Rockstar a "much smaller fish in much bigger pond."

"I'm not someone who has any kind of problem with that," says Mr. Houser, who says EA turned him down for a job in the late 1990s. [Ironic really isn't it? They turned him down for a job a mer 15 years ago (if not less...) now they would kill to have his million dollar studios under there belt.]

The journal also showed some visual data of Grand Theft Auto, one is of the profit from games, the other is from the sale of games:

Left: As we see here Grand Theft Auto pushes the profit through the roof each time one is released, take 2004 for example, this was the year San Andreas was released, the profit was $1 billion dollars approx. Followed only by 2005 which had the PC version of San Andreas released, which made Take-Two and Rockstar $1.2 billion, so the PC version of games must be very popular when it comes to PC. Could be a hint as to why we may have a PC release of GTA IV? Let's hope so!

Below: It's clear that GTA IV is doing fantastically all ready, in the first week it sold 6 million copies, GTA VCS sold 4.5 million in it's entire time, with GTA LCS selling only 2 million more than IV in it's entire time. So from this we can see that the Grand Theft Auto series has a huge affect on the profit of Take-Two and Rockstar.

For more, we highly recommend reading the article at The Wall Street Journal article.

We are inclined to agree with Dan Houser, Vice President of Rockstar Games and co-writer of a little game called GTA IV. Mr Houser stated in New York Magazine:

Yeah, f*ck all this stuff about casual gaming. I think people still want games that are groundbreaking...We're hopefully going to prove that there's also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies.

Talk about speaking the truth. No offence to any casual only gamers out there but going that road gives me goose bumps. Yes, I own a Wii, but it is collecting dust in my cupboard. It doesn’t appeal to me at all, I would have rather gotten a 360 to stand beside my PS3 but my parents thought otherwise.

I’m not saying that casual gaming should disappear altogether, but just keep it too a minimum. Now, back to killing hookers in GTA IV.

Thanks to EuroGamer!