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‘GTA Online’ will shut down on PS3 and Xbox 360 on December 16th
'Max Payne 3' multiplayer is also going away on those consoles.
Rockstar Games weekend sale now live on Steam
Rockstar Games steps into the spotlight for a weekend-long Steam publisher sale, bringing price drops for L.A. Noire and the Grand Theft Auto series, among other deals. Starting today, Steam members can pick up the DLC-bundled Complete Edition of L.A. Noire for just $7.49. The four-game (plus DLC) Grand Theft Auto Complete Pack is up for grabs at $9.99, while the entire Max Payne series (including Max Payne 3's Rockstar Pass) is priced at $9.89. Other sale highlights include Midnight Club 2 for $3.29, Bully: Scholarship Edition for $4.95, and Manhunt for $3.29. Sale prices remain in effect through March 17. [Image: Rockstar]
PSA: Blood Dragon puts the Cyber into Xbox's Cyber Monday sale
There are no surprises in the Xbox Cyber Monday sale, with today's deals lining up as announced last week. That said, there are at least a couple of offers worth highlighting, including one for the most appropriate game this Cyber Monday: Far Cry 3 - Blood Dragon. The standalone follow-up to Far Cry 3 is at 75 percent off, meaning you can gorge on all its 80s cyber-cheddar for $3.74. That's the standout deal to us, but the excellent Dark Souls at just $5 is not far off it. Other nods go to Red Dead Redemption, The Witcher 2, and L.A. Noire, each of those going for $7.49, and to co-op beat-em-up Battleblock Theater, which is down to $4.94. For the full list of one-day-only cyber-discounts, head over to Xbox.com.
Newegg slashes prices on nearly all Rockstar games
Need a copy of Max Payne 2 or LA Noire on the cheap? Newegg's got you covered. A visit to the online tech retailer reveals the ongoing "Rockstar Catalog Sale," a promotion that reduces the price on almost everything Rockstar Games has created by up to 76 percent. As a result of this sale, you can now purchase Manhunt for $3, Bully: Scholarship Edition for $5.10 or Grand Theft Auto 4 for $6. Before you get too excited, there are caveats to keep in mind here. First, these are all PC games (with occasional Mac compatibility), and these sale prices only apply to direct downloads. Second, there's no word on when this sale might end. Scouring Newegg's site offers nothing, and our attempts to contact the retailer went unanswered. If you want to take advantage of these prices, we'd suggest you do so soon. The biggest caveat however, is that this sale only applies to "almost everything" Rockstar has ever created. The first two Grand Theft Auto games are missing, as are the first and third Midnight Club entries. Grand Theft Auto 5 also fails to appear, but that's to be expected given that no PC version of GTA 5 yet exists.
L.A. Noire, Whore of the Orient vets form Intuitive Game Studios
Two former Team Bondi employees established a new, independent studio in Sydney, Australia, called Intuitive Game Studios. Intuitive was founded by Alex Carlyle, design lead on Team Bondi's L.A. Noire, and Kelly Baigent, who worked on storyboarding for L.A. Noire and has a background in animation through Tui Studios. Carlyle was also design lead on Whore of the Orient with KMM, the studio that bought Team Bondi after L.A. Noire. KMM laid off Whore of the Orient staff and shuttered the game's division in April, multiple reports said. There's no word yet on what type of projects Intuitive will work on, but Carlyle said it will begin by hiring a small team as independent contractors, rather than building a full-time staff. The only hints we have so far as to Intuitive's direction is a shadowy Facebook profile picture and a single-page website.
Rockstar daily deals, cheap Brutal Legend highlight Steam weekend
Steam will play host to a series of daily Rockstar deals this weekend and first up in the spotlight is LA Noire. The Complete Edition, stock game and DLC bundle – which includes a couple extra outfits and cases – have all been discounted by 75%, down to $7.50, $5 and $2.99, respectively.The Rockstar Hits Collection is also on sale for $29.99. It's a Steam bundle that includes GTA IV and its Episodes from Liberty City expansion, Max Payne 3, and LA Noire. Pretty much every other Rockstar game on Steam right now is also on sale to varying degrees.Recent PC arrival Brutal Legend joins the salesapalooza by slashing its price in half, down to $10 for the weekend starting now; if you want to pick up the soundtrack with the game, that'll be $12.49. Creator Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions has stated he would "love" to revisit the game and add more stuff if the PC version does well.
Xbox spring sale on March 26 discounts Walking Dead, Skyrim DLC, Assassin's Creed 3
Starting on March 26, Microsoft will host the Xbox spring sale, which will see discounts across Games on Demand and DLC.Highlights include cheap downloads of The Walking Dead episodes ( first one's free) and discounts on Skyrim DLC. LA Noire and Max Payne 3 downloads and corresponding DLC will also be half-off. Meanwhile, Hitman: Absolution will be knocked down to $20, with Assassin's Creed 3 following to $40.Have a look at the full list of discounts on Major Nelson's blog before it kicks in next week.
MMO Burnout: Second time's the charm for L.A. Noire
I don't know about you, but I really wanted to like L.A. Noire at release. I mean, come on. It was Rockstar. It was also a gigantic open playfield based on the 1947 incarnation of a real-life town that's spilling over with sordid, sultry characters all looking to make their mark on post-World War II America. Alas, something about the title just didn't jell with me at launch. In fact, I didn't even finish the original campaign on my Xbox 360, which is rare when it comes to personal gaming habits. Equally rare is the occasion when I repurchase a game that I didn't really like on a different platform, but that's what I did thanks to yet another ridiculous Steam sale this past December. My second tour of duty as hard-boiled detective Cole Phelps has been decidedly more enjoyable than my first, and while L.A. Noire is still a flawed video game in some respects, it makes for an engaging vacation from massively multiplayer convention while riffing on some of the genre's new-school charms.
L.A. Noire gag reel presents the uncanny valley of bloopers
Depth Anaylsis, the company behind the MotionScan tech used in L.A. Noire, published this gag reel featuring blooper cast recordings, but all animated in-game. Unless you regularly tune in to Takeshi's Castle, this is one of the oddest, coolest things you'll watch this week.
Take-Two denies threatening to sue producers of 'LA Noir' TV show
Usually, when TV and video games cross paths, it's either for the sake of a licensed game based on a popular TV show, or occasionally the much more elusive specter of a game becoming a TV show. Here's a new one: A game company suing a TV show's creators for using the name of one of its properties. Take-Two is doing just that, according to Frank Darabont, known for his work on The Shawshank Redemption and The Walking Dead TV series. Darabont recently told io9 that Take-Two threatened to sue him, the TNT network and "every company that actually ever worked in Hollywood" over the name of his new show, L.A. Noir.You might not have recognized it without the extra E, but that's remarkably similar to L.A. Noire, Rockstar's dark crime thriller and one of Take-Two's most successful games of 2011. Darabont's show is based on a book titled L.A. Noir, which was actually published in 2009, prior to the video game. Even so, Darabont says Take-Two has "billions of dollars" to finance a lawsuit, so the show will be renamed Lost Angels. His valuation of Take-Two seems awfully high – the company had just over a billion in assets as of last September – though it's understandable that the people behind the project would want to avoid litigation.Take-Two denies Darabont's claims, with a spokesperson telling Joystiq, "It's unfortunate that Mr. Darabont finds it necessary to gain publicity by making inaccurate statements – Take-Two never contacted Mr. Darabont nor threatened to sue any party." The publisher did reach out to TNT in order to "express concern over confusion between the properties." According to the spokesperson, TNT "had decided to change the title of the show independent of Take-Two's concerns."
Steam Holiday Sale, day 9: Assassin's Creed, Prototype, Left 4 Dead franchises and more
The majority of mainstream shopping holidays have now reached a complete stop, but the sales live on – especially in the case of Valve's annual Steam Holiday Sale, which today enters its ninth day of dealing out discounted digital sundries.PC gamers can save 25 to 75 percent on every game in the Assassin's Creed series, 75/50 percent off Prototype and Prototype 2 respectively, get Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 for a cold dead $7.49, Limbo for a spooky $2.49, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion for an astronomically low $13.59 and Just Cause 2 for a justified $3.74.Yesterday's deals also remain active for another 20 hours or so, including LA Noire for $4.99, FTL for $4.99 and 33 percent off XCOM: Enemy Unknown. As always, flash sales and community choice sales change throughout the day.
Games on Demand sale: Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire, Midnight Club: LA
We're huge fans of the convenience of digital distribution – why trek out to the store like some caveman to buy a plastic disc when we could simply download a game through the innernette? Rockstar is trying to make a case for downloading by discounting four of its top games through Xbox Live's Games on Demand service.For today only, you can download LA Noire, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3 and Midnight Club: LA for 33% off each – that comes out to $20 for LA Noire and Red Dead Redemption, $40 for Max Payne 3 and $10 for Midnight Club: LA. All of the games save for Max Payne 3 are going for more than their Games on Demand sale price on Amazon right now.Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention three of these games are included in Rockstar Games Collection 1. The only game not included is Max Payne 3, but that's fine because Max just loves being the black sheep of the family.
Rumor: Whore of the Orient action adventure aiming for 2015
KMM Interactive, the studio that picked up Brendan McNamara and the remnants of L.A. Noire's Team Bondi, posted openings that suggest the group's next game, Whore of the Orient, is scheduled to be complete in 2015.Spotted by Superannuation, job openings describe the game as a "narrative action adventure" that is "similar in style to LA Noire," and uses the same MotionScan tech that gave Cole his grisly demeanor.The job descriptions set a target for full production from early 2013 to mid 2015. Whore of the Orient is a next-gen console and PC game published by Warner Bros. Interactive, and McNamara first pitched it as "one of the great untold stories of the twentieth century."According to a website that went live for a spell in August, the game is set in 1936 Shanghai, China, and stars the International Police Force, a western group "hopelessly trying to keep the lid on and keep the peace." The website taglined the game as, "Whore of the Orient. Paris of the East."L.A. Noire spent seven years in development, so just two for a game "similar in style" and using the same technology, from much of the same team, seems ambitious. But hey, that's what energy drinks are for.
'Rockstar Games Collection' bundles Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire, more on Nov. 6
Rockstar has officially announced its "Rockstar Games Collection," a package of four random Rockstar releases from the last couple of years: Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (itself a collection), LA Noire, and Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition.The bundle will be released November 6 on PS3 and Xbox in North America for $59.99. That's a good deal if you're interested in all of these games and have played none of them.
Steam Summer Sale, Day 7: Super Meat Boy, LA Noire, Total War, Indie Bundle 7 and more
We're gonna let the "Ouch, my wallet!" jokes simmer for a couple days (or until we can think of a good one, whichever comes first) and instead we'll just give you all the straight poop on today's Steam Summer Sale offerings.Amongst today's Most Discounted Things™ is the Carpe Fulgur series, which includes Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters, Fortune Summoners and Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale. Today's offering also boasts a heavily discounted Total War mega pack, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion and Super Meat Boy. In addition, there's a new Indie Bundle that features Q.U.B.E. and Dungeons of Dredmor, among other titles.Oh! Here's one: What's the difference between a second mortgage and the Steam Summer Sale? With a second mortgage, at least you get to keep the house!... No? Okay, maybe next time.
Amazon 'Spring Sale' on PC has LA Noire for $5, Crysis 2 for $7.50
Amazon's 'Spring Sale' kicked off today on select downloadable PC games. If you don't play them now, you can save them for a rainy day. The standout of the pack is Rockstar's detective adventure L.A. Noire for $5, a price that almost makes up for the confusion over those "truth, doubt or lie" interrogation techniques.Also worth grabbing is the Dragon Age Pack, a bundle that includes Origins Ultimate and Dragon Age 2, for $10. The recently released and well-received shooter, The Darkness 2, can be yours for $12.50.There are also a couple Hamiltons off Mass Effect 3, Syndicate and Kingdoms of Amalur. Check out the list of discounted core game (in addition to 300 casual items) after the break.
Hands-on with LA Noire on a tablet with OnLive
Getting a technically complex game like LA Noire running on a tablet is an impressive feat, and one that OnLive has every right to crow about. That Rockstar took the time to implement touch controls so that LA Noire could be played natively is equally laudable. That said, the touch support isn't nearly as well-implemented as it might have been and is, in fact, downright clunky.In short, it's LA Noire on a tablet with virtual controls, which plays out exactly how you think it does.
OnLive and Rockstar release touch-controlled version of LA Noire
Way back in December, when OnLive first announced it would release a set of tablet apps for its cloud gaming service, we heard that Rockstar Games was also working on touch controls for LA Noire, making the console and PC game behave more like a native touchscreen app. And tonight, OnLive says those controls are finally available. If you load up LA Noire in an OnLive mobile app, you can play it by directly swiping across the screen rather than using virtual buttons or OnLive's wireless controller.You'll need a free OnLive account to sign on to the service, and you'll need to buy LA Noire on the service if you want to play the whole thing (though just like all of the other games on OnLive, there is a free trial available to play with as well, no installation required).And for now, you'll still need an Android tablet. OnLive has said it's working on an iOS version, but even though the company has released an iOS app for its Windows PC cloud service, the game client is "still in approval process with Apple," the company told Joystiq. It's been in that situation ever since it was announced, which suggests perhaps Apple isn't so happy with the app, though OnLive couldn't confirm anything along those lines. At any rate, if you have the app on Android and want to try touching LA Noire a little more directly, give it a shot.
Steam has midweek madness in the beginning of the week, sales abound
Steam's midweek madness sale has Orcs Must Die! and a bunch of L.A. Noire goodies on sale through March 15. Orcs Must Die! is 75 percent off, for $3.75. L.A. Noire, L.A. Noire Complete Edition and the Brady Guide are all half off: Snag the standard title for $15, Complete Edition for $20 and the Brady Guide for $10. The Complete Edition and Brady Guide combo is also 50 percent off, for $25.If that's not enough, today's Daily Deal is Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, on sale for 75 percent off, or $5.
DirectX 11 support added to L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition on PC
You went out and set up your fancy rig, with all of its shaders and its pixel core density modifiers -- you want to play games that will take full advantage of your hardware. We hear you.So has Rockstar. DirectX 11 support headlines the latest title update for L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, which should hopefully help you better decide the fates of the game's virtual persons of interest. You'll be able to switch between DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 renderers on the fly through the game launcher.
