Grave Gamer News & Views — rockstar games

Rockstar Announces Red Dead Redemption 2

After teasing us on their social media channels with vague imagery — a marketing ploy only Rockstar can get away with and still have the masses bubbling with excitement — a sequel to the studio’s acclaimed open-world gunslinger has officially been announced.

As the freshly launched website puts it, “Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic tale of life in America’s unforgiving heartland” from the team that brought you Grand Theft Auto V and the first Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar promises the game’s “vast and atmospheric world” will play host to a brand new online experience.

 Unfortunately, fans won’t be able to posse up until Fall 2017 when the game launches for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (no word on a PC release, kids). A reveal trailer for the game is set to drop online this Thursday.

There’s not much more to go on from here, partner. Rockstar is notorious for keeping details under tight wrap until they’re good and ready to reveal the info themselves. Is the game a prequel? Will the online take cues from the greatly expanded multiplayer play found in GTAV? Will we be hunting Sasquatch again? Is it weird it’s called Red Dead Redemption 2 even though it’s the third game in the series? Actually, I can answer that: yes! Stop trying to gun down Red Dead Revolver, man. You can still grab the Western that started it all as a PS2 Classic on PS4. RDR2 doesn’t come out for a year. You’ve got time.

(Article originally posted to When Nerds Attack)

Rockstar Dishes Out a Warning for Those Picking Up GTAV on Xbox 360

If you’re planning on scooping up Grand Theft Auto V this week – which you are, even if you don’t know it yet – Rockstar has a fair warning for Xbox 360 owners regarding some install irregularities.

Since Microsoft won’t be embracing the magical data well that is Blu-Ray until their next console, GTAV on the 360 is spread like open-world butter across two DVD’s; one a mandatory install disc encompassing nearly 8GB of information, the other a “Play” disc to be used after your install whenever you want to boot up Los Santos.

The trouble begins if users should also attempt to install that very same “Play” disc through the 360’s dashboard – an accomplishable act that you just shouldn’t accomplish unless you wish to be treated to some vicious pop-in (as evidence in this video) and other graphical screw up’s.

The grand notion behind running the game from both disc and HDD is that the game can operate on the DVD while also streaming from a pool of data, effectively tag-teaming the monolithic amount of content Rockstar has coded into GTAV. Running everything from the harddrive, however, just gums the whole works up. No reason to do it, folks. This has been your video game public service announcement of the day.

Grand Theft Auto V: New Screens, DLC Tease, and Potential PC Port

Sure, even with next-gen consoles looming over the horizon and popping up on every gaming site, every day – lookit; it’s happening right the hell now – the PS3 and Xbox 360 still have some life left before they complete their full cycles.

But we’re inarguably in the homestretch for this generation.  And what better end cap can you find than in Rockstar’s titanic sandbox of a game, Grand Theft Auto?  With an inch over a month to run out on the clock before its release, Rockstar Games has softened on their typical hard-lock on details surrounding GTAV.  First up, here’s some new screens to gawk at – twelve of ‘em.

Next is the confirmation that the game will receive post-launch DLC…And that’s all you get in regards to that.  No title, no synopsis, zip.  Hell, you haven’t even played minute one of the main game yet; don’t you sweat those deets, friends.  But do try to keep in mind the mystery content will be region locked, so Rockstar recommends you buy your native country’s designated version if you expect to enjoy further expansions to Los Santos.

Finally, seems as if good news is in store for those anxiously awaiting word of a PC release for Grand Theft Auto’s fifth symphony.  During one of them fangled earnings calls, a Nvidia honcho let loose that GTAV may see a PC release as soon as this Fall.  'Course, Rockstar had nothing to say on the matter, so commence the breath holding until further notice.  If it does arrive in the fall, it would make it the shortest amount of time a GTA title has traveled from home console to PC in the franchise’s history.  Modders, here’s hoping.

Grand Theft Auto V: New Gameplay and Screens Winning Me Over

Yesterday Rockstar pried open the seal on their upcoming mega-blockbuster, GTAV.

Now, I’ll be honest with you since I like the cut of your jib: I’ve fallen out of love with this crime-centric, do-anything-you-want open worlder in recent years.  I was there for GTA in its top-down days when vehicular manslaughter meant flattening tiny sprites.  And I was right there in its golden age when Rockstar brought the concept to the three-dimensional plane and, soon after, worldwide infamy.

But this generation GTAIV – and its DLC extensions – failed to win me over.  It could’ve been the open-world genre had become commonplace by then, with some direct rivals owning better ideas than Rockstar’s once untouchable franchise.  It could’ve been the disconnect between me and the surly war veteran I controlled, Niko Bellic, as he begrudgingly (if not reluctantly) submerged himself in a life of petty crime.

But GTAV…The initial story trailers have all kept the status quo – violent, comical characters engaging in capers that satirize pop culture and society.  Pretty standard fare for this series.  But then there’s this goddamn gameplay trailer which has me sold on the game ten times over.  The notion of switching between three separate characters on the fly is exciting on paper, but watching it implemented seamlessly into the flow of an action thick mission glued my eyes to the screen.  For a “Do Anything” series, there’s always been a forced rigidity as soon as you picked up a mission.  Effortless, real-time character swapping looks to body this complaint head-on.

My other perpetual bone to pick with these games, the combat, has also been banged out and shaped into a beastlier form, perhaps borrowing from the publisher’s experience on Max Payne 3 (kudos on the weapon wheel, Rockstar).  Throw in a gigantic Los Santos with more depth and opportunities for interaction than this franchise has ever seen, mix that up with a slew of customization for your trio and the vehicles they acquire (see: steal), and layer it all with Rockstar’s now unmistakeably signature style.  When September 17th rolls around, I doubt there’ll be any hesitation in the nerve bundles between my brain and wallet.

Grand Theft Auto V Delayed to September

Arguably 2013’s biggest, most monstrous blockbuster of the year, the greatly anticipated GTAV has been hit with a delay.  Originally supposed to be coming out right around the corner – sometime in the Spring – Rockstar North’s crown jewel has been pushed to September 17th (upshot here is we’re privy to an exact date now).

Hoping that no one vents their frustrations into a newfound life of petty crime and wanton car theft themselves, Rockstar released a statement apologizing for the four month push.  “GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require,” the statement read.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 additions of the game have been the only versions announced to date (no regards have been made about a PC port or, unlikelier, a Wii U port).