This week Develop caught up with Gordon Hall, the founder of Rockstar Leeds. The topic of Manhunt 2's ban was brang up many times, and Mr. Hall had this to say about the game:
I like the game for what it is – and I was a big fan of Manhunt before we joined Rockstar, and I was actually a bigger fan of it more than I was of GTA – I like where it placed you in the world and the questions it asked of the world. Manhunt 2 is no different to the first in terms of content, it’s just that times seem to have changed and they’ve changed against this type of game. But if you look at a film like Man Bites Dog, it makes Manhunt look tame in comparison, but that film can be bought by anyone aged 18.
Later on Develop asked "Was there a feeling amongst the Rockstar studios that the company was being singled out?" Mr. Hall answered with:
I don’t think Rockstar specifically has been picked on, but I do think that the wider issue attacks our entire industry. We need to teach people that games are an art form – they are more artistic than film.
I think the games industry should rally behind us, because there will come a time when we’ll all have an idea that’s a little edgy, and we need to have the freedoms to express it.
We are an adult entertainment industry – we may have started out with child-like technology making games solely for a younger audience, but it’s just not like that anymore. It might take legislature a little while to catch up, but if the industry sticks together hopefully we can change people’s attitudes quicker.
I hope people do listen to the wise words of Mr. Hall and rally behind Rockstar, if not know then whats next? Banning of games just because they contains blood? Games are games, movies are movies, the two do not meet up anywhere. Games are nothing more then Photoshopped images, pixels and 3DSMax models, they shouldn't be treated like some kind of weapon, they should be treated as an art, just like movies are. Unless somebody can find a good reason why movies can be called art and games not...
In a recent interview with the head of Rockstar Leeds, Gordan Hall, reveals that they are currently looking into making some original IPs unlike their current list of original remakes. Gordan even specifies which consoles, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, but they mention that thay have not forgotten about handeld gaming too! [High hopes for another GTA on the PSP]
“We’ve going to be branching out further into next-gen - we’ve done original work on an existing franchise, but now we want to work on new IPs, and are looking at what we can do on the Xbox 360 and PS3″ It should also be noted that they have not forgotten about handeld gaming.
It should also be noted that they have not forgotten about handeld gaming, nope… not at all:
“It's not over for handeld for us - theres more coming there [GTA: San Andreas Stories... possible?] - but our new focus will be on the new formats
Read the full interview at DevelopMag.com.
Don't be dragged in to beliving the latest rumor out of the fan sites ring for PlayStation 3 regarding the [apparently] possible purchase of Rockstar Games by Sony Computer Entertainment, the fan site that started the rumor says they discovered the news while eating dinner with the developers in California. Confused? You and me both, seems the fan site that started the rumor was also, editing their article several hours after publishing as they realized they infact eating in Westwood, and not Hollywood. The fan site states:
"Various sources in the press and development team state that Sony is looking to take Rockstar 'under their wings'. While we learned that any agreement Sony and Take Two entered into would not affect the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV, such an agreement would presumably affect any future releases from Rockstar, including the new franchise Sony has been discussing and L.A. Noire."
Can't honestly see Take-Two selling off their most popular and successful asset anytime soon myself. ComputerAndVideoGames (CVG) contacted Rockstar earlier today and they had this to say: "we don't comment on rumour or speculation". If we see some actual proof then maybe we would re-think our stance, but so far it seems more like a vain attempt at website hits.
Much thanks to CVG for the information on Rockstar's response.
Word on the street is Rockstar may be heading into a Sony exclusive deal for all games created and released after the release of upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. In a podcast (about fifty minutes into it) by Cheat Code Central recently they stated that all upcoming Rockstar games will be a PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable exclusive.
It's only a rumor so far, however as we know Rockstar were in talks with Sony last week, and out of that Sony managed to get the next Rockstar franchise a PlayStation 3 exclusive, so it is possible that more was discussed at the talk. On top of this, it is also rumored that the future Grand Theft Auto games (that is, after Grand Theft Auto IV) will also be Sony exclusives.
If this is true, which is may or may not be, they must have made a very interesting deal. There is no doubting that any of the current corportation's that manufacture gaming consoles (ie. Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo) would pay big bucks to get a gaming company such as Rockstar exclusive to their system. However, I point this to you, is there much of a reason for such a company to accept? There is more money to be made releasing on more then on console. Or so we think... Guess we will have to wait to see whether there is any truth to this at all. It is plausible, Rockstar have always been very close to Sony in respect to exclusives, and from what we have seen so far they are sticking to that bond in some of the upcoming games (like L.A. Noire), not to mention the new franshise.
Michael Shorrock, Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA today announced on the PlayStation.Blog that a new upcoming franchise Rockstar Games will be coming exclusively to the Sony PlayStation 3 system. This franchise is NOT L.A. Noire or a sequel to a current game title, it will be something all new. The last time Rockstar and Sony joined forces for a franchise release exclusive we saw the birth of a new gaming genre that over-took the world in both entertainment and sales. That franchise is the very successful Grand Theft Auto series.
Both companies have agreed to stay tight-lipped about the franchise for the moment, but expect some more information in the next 2 months. Seeing as how there was no data on the new franchise on Take2's middle-year report, we would expect it may be seeing a late 2008, or possible early 2009 release.
Got an idea of what we may be seeing as the next hit-Rockstar franchise? Share it with the entire Rockstar Games fan base on our forums.
Check PlayStation.Blog for the complete statement by Michael Shorrock.
Develop Magazine's Industry Excellence Awards did excellent this year, bringing together 500 industry executives; 17 of them receiving an award individually or as a company. One of these were Rockstar Games Portable Gaming Studio; Rockstar Leeds. Which walked away with the award for Handheld Studio. So well done to all Rockstar Leeds employees and congrats on a job well done.
Full list of winners available on QJ.net
 |
Today as we know Take-Two Interactive held their Conference at this year's E3. However it wasn't until the end of the conference that Rockstar Games appeared and showed off some new footage of Grand Theft Auto IV. The two trailers currently released of the game were also played, these were played prior to showing the new footage. The trailers were not at all edited nor changed.
Devin Winterbottom, who was managing the conference, said that Grand Theft Auto IV's code, music, voiceovers and other portions of the game are still being worked on and are not final.
The beginning scene gave us a view of Niko who was at “Star Junction” (Liberty City's version of New York's Times Square. The flashing news tickers on buildings, as well as other animations were stated as looking amazingly realistic. The following scene had Niko jacking a car (apparently a Bentley), eh then cruses a modern version of Liberty City. Niko soon then pulls up at a parking lot on the waterway near the Algonquin Bridge (Brooklyn Bridge). Niko then takes out his mobile phone and calls someone.
As Mr. Winterbottom stated voiceovers are not complete yet, so no dialogue was used during the phone call. We have only heard of one bug so far, where distant buildings popped up suddenly.
Thanks to GameDaily for their information on the conference, and GameSpot for the image of the photography warning.
Good news Manhunt fans, finally we have an update on what will become of Manhunt 2. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelman has said the company took it's social responsibility very seriously.
"We also have hundreds of extraordinarily talented people who have worked on this title for three years, and supporting their creative vision and bringing it to consumers as unvarnished and unchanged as possible is crucial to us"
He added that Rockstar Games sees itself as a producer of Mature (M rated) games. Take-Two will be standing by the game even if it has to keep it's dreaded Adults Only (AO) rating.
"We don't see ourselves in the Adults Only business, having said that, if we find ourselves in the Adults Only business, it would be because we have a title that we consider art and entertainment, that we consider if appropriately labeled AO, and that we would like to bring to market."
Mr. Zelnick also said he was critical of the American Rating system, where games rated for Adults Only are deemed inappropriate, wrong and useless as Sony and Nintendo both refuse to release AO games and most AO games are not stocked by game sellers:
"What is the purpose of a rating if it means effectively that a title cannot be released?...Having a rating that we don't think is appropriate is one issue, obviously, and a separate issue would be if we feel the rating is appropriate and we can't bring it to market…that seems somewhat nonsensical."
We sure hope this works out soon, once again we'd like to show our support for Take-Two, Rockstar Games and the Manhunt 2 game itself. It is good to see the company standing up for their rights and their belief's. Thousands of hard-working developers have put 3 years into this game, this outcome is a major slap in the face, and quiet frankly very disrespectful.
