The Hits And Misses Of Rockstar
Feature
One of the biggest development studios on the face of the Earth are Rockstar. Many of their games are engrained into gaming culture, while others are not so much. We delve into their past.
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
GTA IV was literally Rockstar’s biggest selling title in their history as the game has sold over $500M worldwide, while moving 3.6 million units on its first day. The game then went on to sell 6 million units worldwide in its first week of release, and as of September 2011 the game has sold over 22 million copies. Grand Theft Auto IV was the first GTA title that took story-telling seriously, with cut scenes becoming a staple within the game. You play as “Niko Bellic” an Eastern European immigrant come to America to live the “American Dream”, however…like all the other GTA characters, you get caught in dirty underbelly of the crime world. GTAIV was also the first Rockstar title to appear on seventh generation of consoles (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3). The game received two expansion packs The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Max Payne (2001)
Originally, Max Payne was not developed or published by Rockstar Games. When the game was first launched back in 2001 it had been developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers exclusively for the PC. It wasn’t until several months later that Rockstar Games acquired the publishing rights to create a port of the game for the PlayStation, Xbox, and GameBoy Advance. Rockstar Toronto handled the porting duties. Max Payne laid a foundation for Rockstar to take edgy gameplay with a dark feel and tell a story with it. MP also paved a way for Rockstar’s future titles as the third-person gameplay present was new to Rockstar at that particular time. Max Payne went on to sell 4.5 million copies worldwide since its launch. Max Payne’s financial success allowed Rockstar to dream big with a sequel, which ultimately fell flat. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne’s flop is a large reason why Max Payne 3 has taken its sweet time getting to our consoles.
Red Dead Redemption (2010)
When you think of Rockstar developed titles you think of the GTA franchise, you think of the gritty Max Payne shooting gameplay, you may even think of Manhunt. However, before 2010 you never associated the “Red Dead” title synonymous with “greatness” when having a conversation about Rockstar. Then Grand Theft Auto came to the wild, wild west. Rockstar San Diego’s critically acclaimed and best-selling title Red Dead Redemption opened everyone’s eyes to developer and publisher’s ability to create a story-telling masterpiece. You play as the once-outlaw John Marston, a rogue gone straight now forced by the government to hunt down his former gang members and save his wife and child.
No other Rockstar produced video game brought this level of storytelling to consoles before Redemption. Redemption’s critical success led to the game’s financial success with the game selling over 12.5 million copies worldwide. Several months after its initial release Rockstar released an expansion title Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare where Marston has to save the west from zombie plague. The game also brought a new style of shooting combat called the “Dead-Eye”, a targeting system allowing you to slow down real time and aim more accurate for a limited amount of time. The game had been in development for six years and cost over $100 million to develop, making it one of the most costly video games in history.
What’s on the horizon for Rockstar? Are they slowing down? Does the “R” have what it takes to stay current in today’s world of ever-changing video games? Have they gone to the well too many times with the upcoming Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto V? Only time will tell, but something tells me that Rockstar, if they use the template that they’ve created for success, will be drastically successful.