Background of Rockstar
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video games Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | 1998[1] |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
| Key people | Sam Houser (President) Dan Houser |
| Products | Grand Theft Auto Midnight Club Manhunt Red Dead Max Payne Bully L.A. Noire The Warriors |
| Owner(s) | Take-Two Interactive |
| Parent | Take-Two Interactive |
| Website | www.rockstargames.com |
| Logo | Name | Years as Rockstar division | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rockstar Japan | 2005-present | |
 | Rockstar Leeds | 2004–present | Previously known as Mobius Entertainment and based in Lower Wortley, Leeds. They created Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories for the PlayStation Portable, Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance and recently finished developing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and the music game Beaterator. The studio's most recent work is the Microsoft Windows version of L.A. Noire. |
 | Rockstar Lincoln | 1999–present | Quality assurance and localization studio based in Lincoln, United Kingdom, previously known as Tarantula Studios. |
 | Rockstar London | 2005–present | Formed in November 2005. Took over development of Manhunt 2 after Rockstar Vienna closed and recently developed the portable adaptation of Midnight Club: Los Angeles. |
 | Rockstar New England | 2008–present | Acquired on April 4, 2008, this studio is based in Andover, Massachusetts and was previously known as Mad Doc Software. They developed the Xbox 360 and PC ports of Bully.[5] |
 | Rockstar North | 1999–present | Founded in 1988, Rockstar North is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was previously known as DMA Design. They are famous for the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt franchises, as well as the original Lemmings games. |
 | Rockstar San Diego | 2003–present | Previously known as Angel Studios, they developed the RAGE engine, Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption, the Smuggler's Run series, the first two Midtown Madness games and the Midnight Club series. |
 | Rockstar Toronto | 1999–present | Take Two's in-house development team, previously known as Rockstar Canada. Their most well-known work is their adaptation of the cult classic film The Warriors and the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. |
 | Rockstar Vancouver | 2002–present | Previously known as Barking Dog Studios, they created the PlayStation 2 title Bully and are currently developing the third game in the Max Payne series, Max Payne 3. |
 | Rockstar Vienna | 2003–2006 | Previously known as Neo Software; closed on May 11, 2006.[6] They ported the Max Payne series to consoles, and created most of Manhunt 2 before being closed down. |
Controversies
| Hot Coffee mod | |
Patrick Wildenborg | |
Series | |
Release date(s) | |
ESRB: AO PEGI 18+ OFLC RC | |
Download | |
Controversies
The Hot Coffee is a normally inaccessible minigame in the 2004 videogame GTA San Andreas, developed by Rockstar North. Public awareness of the existence arrived with the release of the Hot Coffee mod, created for the version released in 2005 for Microsoft Windows. This mod enables access to the minigame.
The minigame portrays sexual intercourse between the main character, and his in-game girlfriend. The name of the mod is derived from the girlfriend's offer for the main character to come into her home for "coffee"—a euphemism for sex.
Although the Hot Coffee minigame was completely disabled and its existence was only highlighted after the mod's release for the PC version in 2005, the assets for the minigame were also discovered in both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, and people found ways to enable the minigame via console video game hacking tools. By the middle of July 2005, the minigame's discovery attracted considerable CONTROVERSY from lawmakers and politicians, prompting the game to be re-rated as an adult game, and pulled from some shelves. An updated version of San Andreas has since been released with the minigame removed completely, allowing the game to regain its original rating. A patch for the original version of the game, which disables the minigame and crashes the game if one attempts to access it, has also been released. Despite this, a more advanced hack still gives access to this minigame, even on the updated version.
The development and importance of R.A.G.E
Rockstar Games have developed their own game engine called the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) to facilitate game development on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and Wii systems.
Havok
Havok Physics is a physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. It is designed primarily for video games, and allows for real-time collision and dynamics of rigid bodies in three dimensions. It provides multiple types of dynamic constraints between rigid bodies, and has a highly optimized collision detection library. By using dynamical simulation, Havok allows for more realistic virtual worlds in games. The company has also released the product Havok Animation, which provides efficient playback and compression of character animations in games, and features such as inverse kinematics.
What has been their most successful game? Grand Theft Auto IV.
What has made them so successful? GTA has made a huge contribution to the success of Rockstar. It has become a highly popular institution due to the importance of franchises as this is where their income is from. The profits can then be used to make spin-offs from the franchise and/or attempt to create completely new franchises.
Rockstar have bought the companies they work with and own them so they are an example of vertical integration. Vertical integration is important as it offers security, priority and more control.
