- Background of Rockstar
Rockstar games is a major American games developer based in Broadway in the Soho neighborhood of New York City the company is owned by Take-Two interactive the label was found in New York in 1998 by two English brothers Sam and Dan Houser and also Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman
- Rockstar is considered to be a global institution – list all of their studios and when they were acquired by Rockstar.
Rockstar Japan (2005-present)
Rockstar Leeds (2004-present)
Rockstar Lincoln (1999-present)
Rockstar London (2005-present)
Rockstar New England (2008-present)
Rockstar North (1999-present)
Rockstar San Diego (2003-present)
Rockstar Toronto (1999-present)
Rockstar Vancouver (2002-present)
Rockstar Vienna (2003-2006)
- What other titles are Rockstar famous for?
Grand Theft Auto series (1997-present)
Midnight Club series (2000-present)
Max Payne series (2001-present)
Manhunt series (2003-2007)
Red Dead series (2004-present)
Bully (2006 and 2008)
L.A. Noire (2011)
The Warriors (2005)
- What has been their most successful game?
Grand Theft Auto IV (22 million units) - What controversies have surrounded Rockstar in the past?
The two main culprits that are responsible for the controversy that Rockstar received are the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt series. Both manhunt games caused lots of controversy due to the sheer amount of violence that is portrayed in the game this led to the first game being banned in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. The second game was released in Australia incase it had the same fate as the first game it was also banned in Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The GTA series and controversy go hand in hand every time the game is released the first few games were controversial just for basic foul language and violence. The controversy started with grand theft auto III which was slated for its violence and its sexual references this led to Australia banning the game and releasing an edited one in its place the next game vice city was again controversial due its explicit content. But by far the most controversial game in the series was GTA San Andreas and this was because of the ‘hot coffee mod’ which was a mini game that was found within the games system by modders this mini game showed one of games characters performing a sexual act on his in game girlfriend this caused uproar with American politicians and led to the games recall and rerelease. The company kept out of trouble with its next to titles until the release of GTA IV this was controversial because it give the player the ability to drink and drive this was obviously frowned upon by many politicians which led to it being edited in Australia and New Zealand, also the first DLC released for the game the lost and dammed was controversial because it has a brief scene of male nudity which is uncommon in games. Another Rockstar game that was controversial was bully this was controversial because it showed violence in a school setting and also showed bisexual content this led to the game being banned in brazil and also the English companies curry’s and pc world refused to sell the game in their stores.
What has made them so successful?
There are many things that have made Rockstar so successful because of the sheer fun that their games give to people unlike most games it gives people the freedom to do what they please within the game world also their individuality shines through with their games they do things that most other game companies don’t do also they make a good stories with their which engages the gamers. But also the controversy makes them successful because if people see the fuss that people are making about their games that will make people want to buy them and see what all the fuss is about
- the development and importance of R.A.G.E
Rockstar advanced game engine or R.A.G.E was developed by the RAGE creation group at Rockstar San Diego along with contributions from other Rockstar studios in 2006. It evolved from the Angel game engine originally developed from the angel studios they’ve also combined this with some third party components such as euphoria which is a character animation engine and also bullet physics engine it was first used in 2006 in the game Rockstar games presents table tennis
- Discuss the importance of franchises to Rockstar.
Franchises are important to Rockstar because they mean something to the fans and they carry on the success of the previous games in the franchise and bring a large amount of money in
- Discuss how Rockstar is an example of vertical integration.
Rockstar are an example of a vertical integration because they make and distribute within their own studios e.g. Rockstar north and Rockstar San Diego came together to create red dead redemption
- Why is vertical integration important for developers?
Vertical integration is important for developers because if they keep the making and distributing within their company they will get all the profits from the game which means they can spend it on making more the oligopoly of the games industry and the implications for Rockstar.
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