Posted on

Rockstar sues the BBC for trademark infringement

Grand Theft Auto V is the center piece to a recent controversy between the parent company of Rockstar Games — Take Two Interactive, and the BBC who allegedly infringed on the developer’s creative property and trademarks.

The developer of the massively successful open-world shooter is claiming the British television company has unfairly used the Rockstar trademarks and that they are more than displeased with “BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games.” according to a report by Gamespot.

Rockstar claims they have had no official involvement in the project and that they’ve tried to address the issue but neither side is budging. “We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary.”

The BBC docu-drama that has been the catalyst for this series of events, titled Game Changer, intends to depict the real-life stories behind the GTA franchise. The film is mostly based on the book, Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto, with Daniel Radcliffe starring as Rockstar’s co-founder Sam Houser.

Despite the controversy BBC has elected to not comment on any legal matters at this time.

Posted on 1 Comment

Rockstar Editor and DLC on the way to GTA V on new-gen consoles

When Grand Theft Auto V released for PC back in April a few notable bonus features were included that made it stand out from the consoles even more than just the improved visuals. The Rockstar Editor was introduced to allow the creation of custom video clips from players. Now that feature is coming to Xbox One and PS4 — albeit in a limited fashion.

The Rockstar Editor, available for both the single player and GTA Online, will give video makers extensive access to characters, pedestrians, and animals to manipulate and direct short clips however they see fit. While Rockstar has said the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the Editor will be specifically tailored for the limited processing power they have in comparison to high-end PCs.

More notable features coming to the consoles is “The Lab” radio channel, but as for custom radio stations, they “just wouldn’t technically be possible” on consoles according to the developer.

Various DLC is also ensured for the near-future but as far as heists go, new ones seem unlikely to release any time soon.

“For those asking for more Heists, please understand that Grand Theft Auto Online Heists were a tremendous undertaking so it’s not the sort of thing where we can easily create and publish additional Heists like other Job modes and missions. We are, however, working on other cool updates for GTA Online that you can expect over the coming months.” – Rockstar Asked & Answered

Posted on

The best to come from the GTA V PC Editor

Rockstar’s PC release of Grand Theft Auto V had much more than just improved visuals and technical capabilities. The major new film-capture feature, Editor, has already gotten extensive use by fans with some high quality clips already being put together. Here’s some of the best to be made within these first few weeks.

 

Super Clown

A violent rampage, physics defying stunts, an eerie mood, and a creepy clown — what else could you need to make an awesome short clip in GTA V?

Trevor Philips in Jackass

On the other side of the coin some light-hearted chaos centered around the insane mind of Trevor Philips. All of the bone-breaking jumps are very believable for Trevor’s meth-fueled world.

The Epic Meth Lab Shootout

This is one of most well-made clips that takes a cinematic approach to a mission that is actually already in the game. The “Quentin Tarantino style” approach to the destruction of the O’Neil brothers’ operation looks fantastic with some nice special effects and kick-ass music.

Franklin – Time

With a dark-stormy backdrop and a narrative to fit it, Franklin – Time is able to actually convey a fairly deep story in just a four minute video. The director, Jack Hunt, does an extremely good construction of tracking shots with great lighting effects throughout the clip.

Posted on

GTA V: PC release opens to mixed opinions

actual_1428508854

The Grand Theft Auto V PC port released yesterday in astounding 60fps and a resolution that scales to 4k; more detail here. Apparently 73% of the Steam reviewers are satisfied, basking in the wake of a glorious video editor, meticulous setting adjusters, and even customized radio, but the other 27% aren’t doing so hot.

Crashes, bugs, and the sub rosa utterance of a rushed port portend a disjointed reception of Rockstar’s newest endeavors.

Despite these minor setbacks, Rockstar seems hellbent on using their insane revenue to give fans on all systems the sporadic fever dream of a world with relaxed rules, ultra-violence, and of course, packing your garage with stolen vehicles.

What a time to be alive.

Posted on 2 Comments

Rockstar introduces “editor” for Grand Theft Auto V

After almost two years since its initial release on Xbox 360 and PS3, Rockstar is still adding features to Grand Theft Auto V, and as they gear up for the new PC release the developer looks to add a major new gameplay component — a video editor.

The Rockstar Editor will be available for both the single player and GTA Online and will give video makers extensive access to characters, pedestrians, and animals to utilize in the “Director Mode.” This sub-category of the editor can let players stage their own specific movie sequence with customizable video and audio options.

GTA V Rockstar Editor
Piece together your clips after you’ve finished shooting.

The entire process operates in a similar manner as iMovie or Adobe Premiere — but a bit more simplified. After recording your clips you can create “whatever you can dream up.” Whether that be full fledged movies, montages, or a short-story type film; players will have a wide array of options when using the editor with various filters, detailed image manipulation options, a great selection of camera angles, and quick jumps to any location on the map.

Even time of day, weather, and pedestrian/vehicle density will be controlled by the players to help create the ultimate video game movie making experience.

The feature will be immediately available as GTA V releases officially on PC April 14 for $59.99.

Posted on

Rockstar’s GTA V heists update results in graphical downgrade

After a long wait for Rockstar’s heists game mode to make its first appearance in the Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer it seems some technical errors were still prominent in the most recent update. Xbox One and PS4 players seem to have reverted back to some of the outdated Xbox 360 and PS3 graphical effects, and other older gameplay mechanics.

Though it has worried some fans that the worsened visuals were intentionally implemented by Rockstar, the developer has clarified that this is a temporary glitch that will be fixed as soon as possible.

List of issues since the version moved from 1.00 to 1.08 (Heists update).

– Parallax occlusion mapping omitted in recent patch leaving depth within textures looking flat.

– Popping effects are worsened with objects suddenly appearing more fequently

– Anisotropic filtering making textures look worse as viewing angles of specific entities change

– Vehicle collisions are also notably different as well with cars not being majorly dented as they normally would. Scratches, blasted windows, and car parts such as doors or bumpers fall off as they are expected to, but deformities in the car’s structure are no longer in the new patch.

Rockstar has assured a new patch is on the way, but the developer’s current support team and suggestions are leaving gamers with mixed answers. Many are being suggested by Rockstar support to reinstall the most recent update to correct the issue. However, this “fix” seems to not correct the issue for most people and most will have to wait for Rockstar’s next patch to resurrect the full graphical fidelity of GTA V on the current generation consoles.

Check out the video below to see the difference between the old and new visuals/gameplay:

Posted on

Over a year past GTA V’s initial release, heists are coming to GTA Online

For almost the entirety of this past year Rockstar has promised time and time again that heists, the incredible single player mission types would be added to Grand Theft Auto V’s online play.

Today, those promises are fulfilled as the developer has revealed the multiplayer update will be available for free on all platforms in early 2015.

A short trailer shows just what we’re in for in the four-player co-op mode. New gameplay, vehicles, weapons, and more are promised as players work to coordinate these extensive missions.

http://youtu.be/UDd3pTE8UsQ

Posted on

GTA V on PS4 comfirmed to be 1080p per the latest Official Playstation Magazine (Update – The Xbox Will too)

The beautiful vistas of Los Santos look even better this time around at 1080p.
The beautiful vistas of Los Santos look even better this time around at 1080p.

GTA V’s upgrades in the upcoming next-gen release goes beyond just in-game additions and improvements — a significant visual upgrade will be included as well.

Grand Theft Auto V is coming to Xbox One and Playstation 4 in just a few more weeks, and the newest copy of the Official Playstation Magazine states the game will have a “glimmering 1080p presentation.”

With so many additions — new jobs, more songs, animals in GTA Online, character transfer upgrades, improved driving experience, and new easter eggs that make the title worth a buy (or a second buy), the reveals regarding the game seems to just get better and better.

No details regarding the Xbox One’s resolution or frame rate — nor the PS4’s frame rate, but 30 FPS will likely be the case for both titles. The Xbox One’s resolution may trail slightly behind the PS4 as well, but Rockstar is an incredible developer who might be able to squeeze the Xbox for all it’s worth and match the PS4 resolution… but Xbox fans shouldn’t hold their breath.

GTA V will be available November 18th for both the Xbox One and PS4 and will come to PC in early 2015.

Update: Rockstar’s official report shows that both the Xbox One and PS4 will run at 1080p 30 FPS.