Rockstar Games Social Club

I came across Rockstar Games Social Club during the course of my classwork today. I decided to just briefly look over it and assess its importance in social media.

Social Club logo | igrandtheftauto.com

Rockstar Games, makers of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead series, have announced that they are releasing Max Payne 3 later this year for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. In addition to releasing the game later this year, Rockstar will be utilizing social media and will attempt to create a community around Max Payne 3 with their revamped Social Club. The full article on this announcement can be found here. From what I understand, it seems that the Social Club is a forum for gamers to utilize when they play any Rockstar Games title. Users will be able to login with their Facebook or Twitter accounts, get up-to-date news as it is announced, and will be able to interact with other players, via the “add friend” feature, and even put together a “crew” for online multiplayer purposes. Additionally, users will have access to game guides, to help them through any tricky parts, and access to exclusive content, which will help enhance the consumer’s gaming experience. I think this is a great and innovative way to take the solidarity out of the gaming experience and encourage communication about a shared interest amongst consumers.  And for consumers that are not keen on multiplayer games, they can still interact with others while reaping the benefits of exclusive content and guides for themselves. Below is a screenshot of what the Social Club webpage looks like.

socialclub.rockstar.com

 By utilizing the Social Club, and essentially creating a very niched social media platform, Rockstar has effectively created a Facebook for gamers. By getting consumers signed up with this service, they can not only reach them directly about their current titles, but also provide a platform to market future projects to them. Moreover, Rockstar will be able to engage in conversations with their market directly, should they so choose, via this platform, which will help consumers feel more engaged and give them a greater sense of belonging in the community. This sense of belonging will encourage more frequent visits, which causes the cycle to begin again as more and more games are released.

Rockstar Games logo | giantbomb.com

While the Social Club is very heavily integrated into social media outlets, I feel Rockstar’s main website doesn’t really have any references to social media (no “Like” page for Facebook, no “follow us on Twitter” button). This is one area Rockstar could improve upon. By having a section dedicated to social media on their homepage (aside from their Social Club, which is their version of social media), they would be able to cultivate a connection with fans over social media giants like Facebook and Twitter. Rockstar does a great job delivering what fans have come to except and (in some cases) a few great surprises they haven’t expected, but the idea that Rockstar really wants to have a conversation with their fans, be it to ensure they’re still doing right by the consumer or just to check in and build the relationship with their customer, is not readily apparent on their main webpage.

What do you think about social media and gaming? What do you think of Rockstar's integration of social media into their services? What's your favorite Rockstar game?

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[Re-Play] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

When not playing Mass Effect 3 (due to lack of an HDTV), I have been once again exploring the world of San Andreas on my MacBook. Admittedly, I am not a big computer gamer, so if it exists on a console, I’ll probably play it there first. What better way to become familiar with an unfamiliar medium than to play a game I already completed on console years ago. After a few minutes of configuring controls and learning how things worked with a keyboard and mouse, I quickly got my groove back and was able to start progressing through the pseudo-Golden State.

Just another day in the neighborhood | www.teamxbox.com

A shake of a spray can and the RockStar Games “R” logo appeared. This is the peak of open-world gaming in the GTA3 era. In control of Carl Johnson (CJ), the player is taken through a whole mess of events that keep the player on their toes and even managed to surprise me the second time around (like reading a good novel, I’ve forgotten some of the details). In fact, the sheer amount of “stuff” to do seems to be so overwhelming this time around. Aside from the main story (which includes everything from car jacking to shoot outs with rival gangs and a whole plethora of other less-than-legal activities), you can moonlight as a police officer, save some lives in the Ambulance, volunteer as a firefighter, or become a professional pimp. Aside from these odd jobs, you might even be interested in spending time shopping in downtown Los Santos, sightseeing in San Fierro, or gambling your savings away in Las Venturas. Whatever your interest, there is a lot to see and do in this huge, huge game.

gta.wikia.com

The Idea: Create three massive open-world sandbox urban environments based on Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas and throw them all together. Fill in the in-between areas with rural country settings that help mix up game play and scenery. Add in the humor and delinquency that Grand Theft Auto titles are known for and you’ve got yourself a game. Sweeten the pot with the ability to swim (finally) and gang wars (which are really as fun as they sound).

Running after a car where the passenger is shooting at you? Good idea. | fileforum.betanews.com

The Look: The graphics don’t really redefine the word “amazing” but they are very good, especially given the time the game was released and the size of the world the player was exposed to. The level of customization in CJ was also extremely impressive given the size of the game (roughly 4 times larger than Vice City). While my CJ is pretty buff and likes to rock shades at all times of day, your CJ could be extremely overweight, wear only sweatshirts, and have a giant afro. Customization comes through the ability to change clothing, hair, tattoos, weight/muscle, and more, which gives players a ton of possibilities to play with.

The Sound: The soundtrack is awesome. Cruising around, watching the scenery while jamming to Ice Cube’s Today Was A Good Day is nothing short of amazing. Featuring over 11 radio stations with 20 DJs, there is certainly a lot to be heard. All of the voice acting was very convincing, as well. Gimme them duckets!

www.gtasanandreas.net

The Play: Controls are fairly smooth and represent the GTA universe well in this iteration. For some reason, a car turned completely on its side can be hit on the underbelly and completely turn right-side-up again (which let me complete the mission, so I’m not complaining), and of course running red lights and hitting pedestrians (note: not killing) don’t cause any police attention, but hey, that’s why we love GTA. As I noted previously, there is a crazy amount of things to see and do, and most of them work smoothly and without error. Only the lowrider mission (on the computer version) gave me any issue, as I didn’t know how to use the hydraulics at first.

The Entertainment: As I mentioned before, cruising… in a Banshee… listening to Ice Cube… Oh, but aside from that, the gang wars are still incredibly awesome. Once the missions become more complex and the “introductory” part of the game is over (for me, it felt like around the time AmmuNation’s started to become available), it becomes very, very fun. Having access to supplies and not depending on Emmett for a weapon (seriously, 16 shots in a pistol does not go far at all in Los Santos) makes for a much more enjoyable ride. And if you don’t like missions (or need a break) try the “spawn Rhino” cheat or the infinite bike jump cheat. Out running the military on 6 stars is also always a fun challenge.

Oh, ya know... just chillin' with my tank | lparchive.org

The Challenge: The game is fairly similar to what I remember. I don’t remember a lot of the details, though, so it makes the mission-to-mission story interesting and (seemingly) new. It’s hard doing some missions, though, knowing how things eventually play out… But as far as actual issues… Well, the obvious issue I have is that auto-targeting is somewhat different than I remember (if not altogether gone). Besides that, I don’t remember dying nearly as frequently in the PS2 version as I do in this one. And keep in mind; I suck less now than I did back in the day at video games, so… what’s the isssh-ya? These are minor complaints, all in all, though. I really think the game is going to get more and more challenging as I get out of Los Santos, but I’m up for it.

The Legacy: Introducing players to the first GTA game of this size was a major achievement for RockStar back in 2004.  This game is also extremely famous for causing some issues in the legal system regarding proper labeling – apparently there was an issue with some virtual nakedness and coffee!  This is also the first time we get to see San Andreas. For those of you who really enjoyed this game, get excited for a new interpretation of San Andreas later this year when Grand Theft Auto V is released!

static.guim.co.uk 

That about wraps it up. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got territory to watch and a reputation to uphold in my community. Off to Los Santos! While I’m gone, what’s your favorite part of GTA: San Andreas? What do you think about the whole hot coffee scandal that happened back during the game’s initial release?

http://gtawallpaperswidescreen.blogspot.com

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