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Tag: L.A. Noire

  • L.A. Noire Gag Reel Shows the Lighter Side of Detective Work

    L.A. Noire, Rockstar’s detective work simulation game, might not have set the world on fire, but it did impress critics and fans with its ambition. Instead of animating characters to match the dialogue, Rockstar used a special motion capture technique and real actors to produce more life-like reactions and facial expressions for its characters.

    Since this “Motionscan” technology records an actor’s face and dialogue in real-time, that means even the actors’ mistakes have been preserved for posterity. The Australian company behind the technique is named Depth Analysis, and it has posted a gag reel for the game to its home page.

    Though the reel contains the types of mistakes commonly seen in movie or TV gag reels, the fact that the animated characters aren’t quite life-like enough to be considered outside of the uncanny valley makes their very human reactions all the more interesting. Also, seeing a videogame character sneeze convincingly is bizarre.

  • Rockstar Games Collection Includes Red Dead, GTA Episodes

    Barring a surprise release of Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar Games doesn’t have a big blockbuster title to compete with the other big studios this holiday season. The company already launched Max Payne 3 at the start of summer to generally good reviews.

    So, to make sure it has something enticing on store shelves come black Friday, Rockstar is taking its old hits and repackaging them in a bundle. This week the studio announced that Rockstar Games Collection: Edition 1 will launch in North America on November 6 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

    The bundle includes L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition, and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. Episodes from Liberty City includes the downloadable content stories The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, but does not include the original Grand Theft Auto IV.

    “The Rockstar Games Collection includes four amazing and wildly diverse experiences,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “From the vast plains of the dying West to the chaos of Liberty City; and from a dark crime thriller to street racing in real-world Los Angeles, this collection contains some of our best work so far.”

    Houser is probably right. Though the package doesn’t include the original Grand Theft Auto IV, the game’s DLC was well-regarded, while Red Dead Redemption was named game of the year by many publications in 2010. And though L.A. Noire was criticized for its gameplay flaws, it was also lauded for the risks it took and the technology it used to tell a story in a unique way.

    If gamers havent played these classic Rockstar titles, now might be the time to grab them all at once, for $20 each.

    Rockstar Collection box art