Rockstar Graphics Engineer is Working on the “Next Version of a Famous IP,” According to LinkedIn Profile

In his (or her) infinite sleuthing, Super Annuation has found that Doron Feinstein, Senior Graphics Engineer at Rockstar New England, posted this on their LinkedIn account:

Currently working on: Next version of a famous IP.

With Doron’s previous work including the now completed Grand Theft Auto V, this means that the “next version of a famous IP” could be anything from a Red Dead Redemption sequel, to a Bully sequel, some sort of DLC for GTA V, or maybe Rockstar decided to skip right over the first Agent and now they’re working on Agent 2.

Even though Rockstar games use members from all the different teams, the job openings over on Rockstar New England’s website do provide a few vague hints to what they’re working on:

• Graphics Programmer: “Help us extend the capabilities of our game engine and develop exciting visuals for Rockstar’s next big title.”
• Physics Programmer: “We’re after a talented coder ready to help push forward technology related to ragdolls, cloth, fragments, collision – amongst others – that make our worlds come alive.”
• Gameplay Programmer: “Experience in one or more of the following game programming areas:  AI, Animation, Audio, Camera, Gameplay, Physics, PS3 Programming, Systems.”
• AI Programmer: “Looking to hire an AI programmer to help us create deep, immersive worlds driven by AI systems that engage and interact with the player. We believe strong AI has an unmatched ability to pull the player into the game experience and are on the fore-front of using AI to create believable dynamic worlds.”
• Network Programmer: “Rockstar New England is currently looking for talented network programmers to help us develop exciting multiplayer experiences using our world class proprietary game engine. Having recently helped contribute to the success of Max Payne 3, we are uniquely positioned to contribute to many of the high profile titles in Rockstar’s exciting upcoming lineup.”

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Pokemon beats GTA to number one in Japan

X and Y sells 1.8 million, handily beating Rockstar’s opus with less than 400,000 units.

Pokemon X and Y comfortably beat Grand Theft Auto 5 to the number one spot in Japan last week, selling more than 1.8 million units in the process.

Japan will be one of the few major markets where Rockstar’s record-breaking hit won’t trounce the competition, and it sold fewer than 400,000 units in its first week on sale across all platforms – the lion’s share on PlayStation 3.

The somewhat inevitable success of Pokemon X and Y also boosted sales of the 3DS, with both models roughly doubling the previous week’s total – the original model sold 72,000 units, while the dominant 3DS XL sold 141,000.

However, the real success story on the hardware chart was the PlayStation Vita, which received a proportionally astounding boost thanks to the release of a new model. Sony’s resurgent handheld more than 60,000 units, an impressive 1600 per cent increase over the prior week’s 3,500 units.

The software top ten is below, with lifetime sales in parentheses:

• 1. [3DS] Pokemon X and Y (Nintendo, 10/12/13) – 1,866,570 (New)
• 2. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games, 10/10/13) – 360,115 (New)
• 3. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 (Capcom, 09/14/13) – 110,208 (2,652,824)
• 4. [PS3] Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (Namco Bandai, 10/10/13) – 77,228(New)
• 5. [PSV] DanganRonpa 1&2 Reload (Spike Chunsoft, 10/10/13) – 76,162 (New)
• 6. [PS3] Sakatsuku Pro Soccer Club wo Tsukurou (Sega, 10/10/13) – 73,696(New)
• 7. [PS3] Fairy Fencer F (Compile Heart, 10/10/13) – 40,666 (New)
• 8. [PSV] Sakatsuku Pro Soccer Club wo Tsukurou (Sega, 10/10/13) – 33,898(New)
• 9. [360] Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar Games, 10/10/13) – 26,612 (New)
• 10. [PS3] Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate (Tecmo Koei, 09/26/13) – 11,044 (116,054)

The hardware chart is below, with the prior week’s sales in parentheses:

• 1. 3DS LL – 141,245 (85,885)
• 2. 3DS – 72,325 (37,102)
• 3. PlayStation Vita – 60,166 (3,538)
• 4. PlayStation 3 – 12,395 (10,232)
• 5. PSP – 3,467 (4,093)
• 6. Wii U – 3,276 (4,001)
• 7. Wii – 703 (914)
• 8. Xbox 360 – 575 (354)

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Rapper sends cease and desist to Rockstar

Daz Dillinger upset at GTA soundtrack, “I can’t let them get away with it.”

Rap artist Daz Dillinger, also known as Dat Nigga Daz and Delmar Drew Arnaud, has sent a cease and desist letter to Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games to block the use of his songs in Grand Theft Auto V.

He told entertainment site TMZ taking the action was about “respecting an artist’s work. Rockstar didn’t do that here and I can’t let them get away with it.”

The rapper has instructed Orange County law firm Kushner Carlson, and in its letter to Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games it revealed requests to use the two tracks in question, C-Walk and Nothin’ But the Cavi Hit, were turned down after an “offensively low offer of $4,271.00 for both songs.”

He is seeking the recall and destruction of all unsold copies of the game, or a better offer for the song rights, and has set a deadline of 14 days.

Daz Dillinger is currently busy promoting his upcoming album Weed Money, but is best known for his work with the Dogg Pound.

 

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Video game hijacks entertainment industry

The popular Grand Theft Auto video game series has earned more than Avatar and Titanic- the two highest-grossing films of all time- combined.

A new title will soon top the list of most profitable entertainment franchises, and it never earned a single dollar at the box office. Grand Theft Auto, the immensely popular video game series, has already earned more than Avatar and Titanic– the two highest-grossing films of all time- combined.

Only the Harry Potter franchise, which grossed $7.7 billion, has earned more than the game that recently released its fifth installment in a series whose earnings already total more than $5.45 billion, according to Newsweek.

As the Potter series reached its conclusion in print and on screen, Grand Theft Auto will soon exceed the boy wizard series earnings. The controversial crime video game, in which players must steal cars and evade police, earned $800 million on the first day of its mid-September “GTA5” release alone. By day three it had already reached $1 billion in sales.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board assigned the game a “Mature” rating for “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol.”

The New York-based company that owns the franchise, Take-Two Interactive, reported in November of 2012 that its first four installments of the game combined to sell 125 million copies. This year’s game has sold 17,250,000 copies in its first month on the market, grossing $1.54 billion.

Avatar, by comparison, earned a total of $2.8 billion worldwide, while Titanic raked in $2.2 billion. The third-most profitable movie ever, The Avengers, made $1.5 billion. Earnings for the entire Lord of the Rings series totaled $2.9 billion.

Grand Theft Auto V was released five years after its predecessor, and game stores opened their doors for a midnight release to fans eagerly awaiting the latest installment. Take Two’s stock took a hit last winter when its subsidiary, Rockstar Games, announced the game’s original release date would be delayed, but the anticipation seems to have helped GTA’s unprecedented sales.

 

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Is GTA V Crashing Old Xbox 360s?

 A thread on the GTAForums site has reported problems with some Xbox 360 owners who’ve had Grand Theft Auto V freeze on them during Franklin’s first mission. The issue seems to be associated with Xbox 360s made or refurbished between 2006 and 2008.

“I’ve probably reinstalled the game about 10 times now,” wrote one user. “I’m thinking it might be my 20GB HDD? After I installed the game I probably [have] a couple hundred MB left. Could it possibly be a problem that I don’t have enough excess memory after the install?”

Another user wrote: “Same problem here. Xbox from 2006, original 20gb model, sent in for repairs in 2009 for RROD. bought a 250 gb hard drive for it, but otherwise it’s the same console I’ve had for years. I can’t play for more than 30 minutes without the game freezing on me, and I’ve tried every troubleshooting step I’ve seen here and on other websites.”

Rockstar reportedly responded to direct contact with some troubleshooting steps, but most said that they did not work. Some steps that did work for at least one user came from Xbox Live Support. Here they are:

1. Delete all GTAV game data.

2. Clear system cache three times.

3. Delete marketplace data from storage system items.

4. Unplug console for three minutes.

5. Install disc 1.

6. Power off, do not insert disc 2.

7. Restart.

8. Install disc 2.

9. Play.

Hopefully Rockstar will come up with an official statement and fix sooner than later.

Have you had freezing issues with GTA V?

 

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