Slashdot Mirror

Thanks to several readers for pointing out the Take Two/Rockstar press release announcing a GTA3/GTA:Vice City 'double pack', due on November 4th for Xbox, and October 22nd for PlayStation 2, ending a myriad of rumors regarding when the massively popular title would appear on Microsoft's console. In related news, Take Two also announced positive financial results and the acquisition of struggling publisher TDK Mediactive for $22.7 million, largely for their "portfolio of mass-market titles based on popular licensed brands."

Thanks to UGO.com for their interview with Martin Edmondson about Atari's Driver 3, the PlayStation 2 driving sequel due in early 2004. He explains the point of the game: "Driver was always about the most realistic car chases possible on a computer or console and Driver 3 is very much true to that... So you can set up your car chases and then have all the cameras positioned as you choose... it should look like a car chase movie, and that's the whole point behind Driver." But the developers of the previous Driver titles and Stuntman shy away from certain comparisons: "The thing is, we're not trying to do Vice City. Driver actually started the whole city, car-chase environment, so it'd be a big mistake to say, 'Let's do [all the GTA features], instead.'"

Ryan Barrett writes "The Associated Press reports that retired WCW wrestler, actor, and voice actor Maxx Payne is suing a group of game developers and publishers over the game Max Payne. In Payne's words, "I left wrestling to come home to Utah and be with my family and I find myself in the biggest battle of my life - to save my identity." This raises an interesting question: in most cases like this, we Slashdotters are quick to speak out in Payne's defense. But when the big bad corporations are game developers, do we still take the little guy's side?" Is this suit exposing a genuine rip-off, or is it just a naming coincidence?

Ryan Barrett writes "The Associated Press reports that retired WCW wrestler, actor, and voice actor Maxx Payne is suing a group of game developers and publishers over the game Max Payne. In Payne's words, "I left wrestling to come home to Utah and be with my family and I find myself in the biggest battle of my life - to save my identity." This raises an interesting question: in most cases like this, we Slashdotters are quick to speak out in Payne's defense. But when the big bad corporations are game developers, do we still take the little guy's side?" Is this suit exposing a genuine rip-off, or is it just a naming coincidence?

Thanks to Shacknews for pointing to a Gamers.com report with the first solid details about Rockstar North's PS2 'survival horror' title, Manhunt. This allegedly disturbing and voyeuristic, long in development game is from the developers of Grand Theft Auto, and has been kept about as secret as it's possible to. But according to this new information in a UK magazine, it's "a wholly realistic survival horror game, in which the player assumes the role of an inmate on death row whose lethal injection is faked, and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a violent urban warfare game arranged for the amusement of its wealthy creator. Your goal is to escape the city... populated by roving armed gangs." Are Rockstar keeping this quiet to get the game onto shelves unbanned, or is the stealth marketing just a publicity ploy?

An anonymous reader writes "A Group of GTA Vice City game enthusiasts have created a complete integrated online modification install system capable of automatically installing any modification currently made for the game. Anyone can upload their modification to the database. Have they taken their love of a game a bit too far? I wonder what Rockstar, the makers of the game have to think about this?" Sadly, there's not much in the way of modding the PS2 version of GTA: VC, but now I'm considering plunking down the cash for the PC version.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the unofficial Grand Theft Auto:Vice City PHP Stats page. This clever utility takes your stats.txt file from the PC version of Vice City, and arranges it in a smart-looking webpage for all your fellow gangsters to see, even adding detail and interpretation to a bunch of the info. Here's an example stats page generated by the site.

Thanks to several readers for pointing out Take Two's financial results for Q2 2003, as the owner of the Rockstar, Gotham Games, and Gathering labels had a 58 percent increase in profit, largely due to Rockstar's massive Grand Theft Auto franchise and the new Midnight Club 2. The accompanying earnings conference call had a question about Duke Nukem Forever coming out in 2003, which the CEO answered: "for this holiday season.. no.. we're just hopeful that the team in Dallas will finish it." Also trailed was "a significant Xbox game" from Rockstar to release in Q1 2004 (GTA, anyone?), and that one of Gathering's (PC?) titles is using the Halo engine. Finally, there was another mention of Rockstar North's mysterious Manhunt - an even darker, more twisted game from the GTA developers?

Thanks to several readers for pointing out Take Two's financial results for Q2 2003, as the owner of the Rockstar, Gotham Games, and Gathering labels had a 58 percent increase in profit, largely due to Rockstar's massive Grand Theft Auto franchise and the new Midnight Club 2. The accompanying earnings conference call had a question about Duke Nukem Forever coming out in 2003, which the CEO answered: "for this holiday season.. no.. we're just hopeful that the team in Dallas will finish it." Also trailed was "a significant Xbox game" from Rockstar to release in Q1 2004 (GTA, anyone?), and that one of Gathering's (PC?) titles is using the Halo engine. Finally, there was another mention of Rockstar North's mysterious Manhunt - an even darker, more twisted game from the GTA developers?

Kringle writes "An April 28th theft of a Segway from a home in Kent, Washington appears to be the first of its kind. The Smoking Gun has a copy of the police report. The good news is that the thief didn't get the keys and is lugging around a big paperweight. No word yet from the Grand Theft Auto team about including a Segway in their next game release."

Snover writes "It's already incredibly difficult to actually get to the site due to its extreme popularity, and can only get worse after the inevitable slashdotting, but Rockstar Games has updated their original hit, Grand Theft Auto, to run on 'modern' computers and released it for free to the public. It'd be nice if more gaming companies did this! Unfortunately, it (of course) is Windows-only and utilises the propietary DirectX API, but hey, free game for anyone that's paid the Microsoft tax! (The download speed, once you actually manage to connect to the site, is quite excellent -- it's maxing out my 2Mbps connection.)" Ah, what a classic game.

Snover writes "It's already incredibly difficult to actually get to the site due to its extreme popularity, and can only get worse after the inevitable slashdotting, but Rockstar Games has updated their original hit, Grand Theft Auto, to run on 'modern' computers and released it for free to the public. It'd be nice if more gaming companies did this! Unfortunately, it (of course) is Windows-only and utilises the propietary DirectX API, but hey, free game for anyone that's paid the Microsoft tax! (The download speed, once you actually manage to connect to the site, is quite excellent -- it's maxing out my 2Mbps connection.)" Ah, what a classic game.

Snover writes "It's already incredibly difficult to actually get to the site due to its extreme popularity, and can only get worse after the inevitable slashdotting, but Rockstar Games has updated their original hit, Grand Theft Auto, to run on 'modern' computers and released it for free to the public. It'd be nice if more gaming companies did this! Unfortunately, it (of course) is Windows-only and utilises the propietary DirectX API, but hey, free game for anyone that's paid the Microsoft tax! (The download speed, once you actually manage to connect to the site, is quite excellent -- it's maxing out my 2Mbps connection.)" Ah, what a classic game.

Gus writes "Take Two Interactive Software reports that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has sold more than 8.5 million copies in the first three months since its late-October launch. The good news is Rockstar Games has 11 titles in the works. The bad news is the chances of the next GTA making it out this year are pretty slim." Also, there's still a couple people waiting on Duke Nukem Forever, and their patience is wearing thin.

Gus writes "Take Two Interactive Software reports that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has sold more than 8.5 million copies in the first three months since its late-October launch. The good news is Rockstar Games has 11 titles in the works. The bad news is the chances of the next GTA making it out this year are pretty slim." Also, there's still a couple people waiting on Duke Nukem Forever, and their patience is wearing thin.

broller writes "According to IGN.com, Rockstar Games announced today that GTA3:Vice City, the next version of Grand Theft Auto will be released in October. GTA3 was released "October 2001 and has rapidly become the fastest selling, highest grossing game for PlayStation(R)2." The PC version of GTA3 hit stores today."