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Dissecting Rockstar's formula: Joystiq previews Vice City Stories (PSP) & Bully (PS2)
joystiq ^ | Sep 28th 2006 | James Ransom-Wiley

Posted on 09/28/2006 3:34:05 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar

The headquarters of Rockstar Games, a thin 6-story building squeezed between Best Buy and Adidas, stands just north of where Broadway cuts through Houston Street flowing downward into a mecca of trend -- or shopping for trends -- known as SoHo. A few blocks away Sony has erected one of the world's largest PSP displays (seen here), which towers over the intersection of Lafayette and Houston. But it's not just neighboring downtown-Manhattan real estate that connects Rockstar and Sony.

"Rockstar + Sony" boils down to "Grand Theft Auto + PlayStation 2," or its derivative, "Grand Theft Auto + PSP." Few formulas have been as eagerly consumed by gamers and as critically accepted as this one; and none have been subjected to as much political scrutiny and subsequent demonization as Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, which has debuted on Sony's platforms since its modern inception (GTA III). Combined, the series has sold roughly 50 million units (including those sold on non-Sony platforms).

So popular and prolific is the GTA brand that it was almost unnecessary for Rockstar to announce that it would dole out another incarnation for PSP this fall. Even before Liberty City Stories launched last October, we'd already anticipated the conceptual sequel. This, despite our disappointment in the inherent staleness the franchise has developed since 2002's Vice City. A condition that Rockstar has surely noticed and perhaps seeks to remedy by revisiting its version of a volatile Miami circa the mid-1980s.

GTA: VCS

(Excerpt) Read more at joystiq.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: gaming; psp

1 posted on 09/28/2006 3:34:05 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Jet Jaguar

Yeah baby, I need my Grand Theft.


2 posted on 09/28/2006 3:51:11 PM PDT by struggle ((The struggle continues))
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To: Jet Jaguar

Joystiq? Barf. That site and Kotaku are both horrible.


3 posted on 09/28/2006 4:03:56 PM PDT by Terpfen (And in the second year, Nick Saban said "Let there be a franchise quarterback...")
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To: Terpfen

Thanks for the opinion. I am sorta new to PSP.

What sights would you recommend?


4 posted on 09/28/2006 4:08:57 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar ("Being nice will get us killed")
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To: Jet Jaguar

IGN and Gamespot are both good. NeoGAF's forums are good if you don't mind wading through fanboy bias to get nuggets of information--a lot of developers and game journalists post there, so there's worthwhile content underneath all of the "lol PS3 sux" stuff.


5 posted on 09/28/2006 4:16:54 PM PDT by Terpfen (And in the second year, Nick Saban said "Let there be a franchise quarterback...")
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To: Terpfen

Noted. Thanks.


6 posted on 09/28/2006 4:17:52 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar ("Being nice will get us killed")
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