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brianwood
Site Admin
Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 2532
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
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 Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:55 pm Post subject: GTA4 |
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So here I am with a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 for PS3. Some of you know that for a number of years I worked on staff at Rockstar Games, working mostly on GTA3 and GTA Vice City. I was responsible for everything but the game itself.. I did the logos, the title and loading screens, all the posters, ads, tshirts, in-store graphics, you name it. If you've seen something, anything, GTA in the last few years (preceding this new version) I made it. I also worked on Midnight Club, Max Payne, Manhunt, and a half dozen other titles. I did not do the illustration work for the covers, though.
So anyway, I'm looking at GAT4.. yep, they're still using my manual concepts, the "guidebook" format which I came up with. And all the fonts, the general look and feel of the game, yep, all still there. I swear, this is the best lesson I could have learned on the topic of Work For Hire - I killed myself, working nights and weekends for, at times, months on end for a franchise that has made over a billion dollars. That was the last time I work so hard for something I don't own.
I'll play the game eventually. I loved GTA3, but Vice City bored me, and I barely touched San Andreas.
bri
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“I wish I had eight pairs of hands, and another body to shoot the specimens.” - John James Audubon |
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dave golbitz
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 209
Location: Omaha, NE
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:44 am Post subject: |
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GTA4 is probably the game that's going to force me to get one of the next-gen systems, though I'm torn as to which I want, a 360 or a PS3. Right now I think the 360 has more exclusive games that I want to play, but the PS3 has Metal Gear and Final Fantasy ... Opinions?
Back to GTA4, it looks pretty amazing. I was completely blown away by GTA3 when it first came out. It was so revolutionary, so different from anything that was out at the time. Vice City and San Andreas were fun additions, but they didn't really add anything to that original open-world exuberance.
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brianwood
Site Admin
Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 2532
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:52 am Post subject: |
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| dave golbitz wrote: | GTA4 is probably the game that's going to force me to get one of the next-gen systems, though I'm torn as to which I want, a 360 or a PS3. Right now I think the 360 has more exclusive games that I want to play, but the PS3 has Metal Gear and Final Fantasy ... Opinions?
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I dunno. I hate the Xbox for a lot of reasons, but I recognize that, at the moment, it has the best choice of games. That said, I've been playing nothing but Call of Duty 4 for months.
bri
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“I wish I had eight pairs of hands, and another body to shoot the specimens.” - John James Audubon |
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seth hurley
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 167
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:03 am Post subject: |
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when Vice City came out, I had just jacked up my back something awful.
I was on the floor popping Vicodins and Flexirils with a 30 rack for a pillow. There were whole days when all I did was make that little guy deliver pizza on his moped. |
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J Kim
Joined: 11 Apr 2008
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| I would not like that. Working so hard, leave, and they're still using your stuff. Not much of a gamer myself, but so much of Rockstar Games' stuff is yours. I would like that, something to be proud of. Very cool though. |
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brianwood
Site Admin
Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 2532
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:07 am Post subject: |
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| J Kim wrote: | | I would not like that. Working so hard, leave, and they're still using your stuff. Not much of a gamer myself, but so much of Rockstar Games' stuff is yours. I would like that, something to be proud of. Very cool though. |
Well, all of it is actually THEIRS, which is the rub of work for hire.
b
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“I wish I had eight pairs of hands, and another body to shoot the specimens.” - John James Audubon |
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J Kim
Joined: 11 Apr 2008
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:18 am Post subject: |
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| brianwood wrote: | | J Kim wrote: | | I would not like that. Working so hard, leave, and they're still using your stuff. Not much of a gamer myself, but so much of Rockstar Games' stuff is yours. I would like that, something to be proud of. Very cool though. |
Well, all of it is actually THEIRS, which is the rub of work for hire.
b |
My bads, meant that so much of it is "from your work" |
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brianwood
Site Admin
Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 2532
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:26 am Post subject: |
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| J Kim wrote: |
My bads, meant that so much of it is "from your work" |
Yeah, I know what you mean. I dunno, I felt like I did a pretty good job of letting go of the work emotionally as I was doing it, and most of the time when I see all these ads and whatnot for the new games I just find it amusing. But it was a great real-world lesson in the value of investing your time and effort into original creations that you own. I remember coming into work the day after a game launch, wasted and jittery from stress and lack of sleep, and seeing the executives roll in at 2pm still fucked up from the coke binge they went on with their ship-on-time bonuses.
The guidebook manuals, though... I feel a weird (but pointless) sense of ownership over those. The Vice City one was a work of genius, I felt. The San Andreas one went way in another direction, but the manual for IV is back to the old style.
b
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“I wish I had eight pairs of hands, and another body to shoot the specimens.” - John James Audubon |
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seankennedy
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 76
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lwc_2001
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 831
Location: Columbus, OH
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:21 am Post subject: |
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| dave golbitz wrote: | GTA4 is probably the game that's going to force me to get one of the next-gen systems, though I'm torn as to which I want, a 360 or a PS3. Right now I think the 360 has more exclusive games that I want to play, but the PS3 has Metal Gear and Final Fantasy ... Opinions?
Back to GTA4, it looks pretty amazing. I was completely blown away by GTA3 when it first came out. It was so revolutionary, so different from anything that was out at the time. Vice City and San Andreas were fun additions, but they didn't really add anything to that original open-world exuberance. |
I remember geeking out and wearing out the PC demo of Grand Theft Auto... yeah that crude top-down crazy gamer nirvana. Wasn't a huge fan of GTA2, but then I also peed when I saw the first screens of this "3D grand theft auto." I've pretty much been addicted ever since.
I'm actually buying a PS3 to play this game. My reasons for this decision (not in any real order):
1) Bluray
2) Everyone at work has a PS3
3) X360 seems to be unreliable, and the red rings continue with new hardware 3 years after launch. Which means 1 of two 2 things (or both)... The architecture of the 360 is unstable or Micro$oft doesn't give a shit.
4) Free online
5) Hate Xbox controller, and very much use to the Playstation setup
6) Price is comparable, slightly more, but better hardware.
Kind of interesting in a way that I've loved the GTA "total package" since number 3, it was hip, on the edge but entertaining. Rockstar seemed to be the perfect name for a label releasing this game. I find it interesting that I was enjoying the work of Brian Wood 6 years before I picked up DEMO.
Brian, even if your Rockstar venture hasn't been rewarding finically in the most obvious regard. You've seemed to learn a valuable lesson for the long run, and everyone on this board and off are grateful you switched to your creator owned projects.
As always, great job, best of luck in the future and I'll patiently await your next release. |
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dave golbitz
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 209
Location: Omaha, NE
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| lwc_2001 wrote: |
I remember geeking out and wearing out the PC demo of Grand Theft Auto... yeah that crude top-down crazy gamer nirvana. Wasn't a huge fan of GTA2, but then I also peed when I saw the first screens of this "3D grand theft auto." I've pretty much been addicted ever since. |
I was a fan of the old school top-down GTA games, but yes, they were a pain in the ass to control. 3D was definitely the way to go. I did really enjoy the add-on for GTA2, though, the London version. I've been hoping Rockstar would go back across the pond for a 3D version. With all the success of Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn's British gangster flicks (Lock, Stock; Snatch; Layer Cake), I would've thought it'd be a no-brainer.
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"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." |
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lwc_2001
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 831
Location: Columbus, OH
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| It's sounds silly... but I hated the controllers on the PS1 GTA games. Mainly because you had to hold down the X button to move. Not sure why, but I was just the direction keys on the PC. That and they managed to look worse than the PC game. |
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Solario
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
Posts: 443
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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I love GTA in all its incarnations and this will be no different. As soon as I find the damn game. Weird that my first exposure to your work was actually those games and not your comics.
The designs for it rocks. It's why you can still play the various games in spite of the dated graphics. |
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Kross
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 10
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
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| Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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I'm a big gamer, but I've just never been able to get into GTA (though I did love the design around it, which is what got me to try it out in the first place). I know "open-ended" gameplay is really trendy right now, but I always just end up getting distracted and burned out on a game like that without ever finishing it.
That being said, No More Heroes on the Wii is kind of open-ended, and I love the hell out of that game. |
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mister e
Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Posts: 22
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