EasterEgg Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 (edited) Businessweek did a Q+A with Dan Hauser, which does not reveal any new information, but provides background on IV and the Gta series. I found it pretty interesting, for a short read. Here is the link: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/games...v_the_back.html Here is the article itself: In this week’s magazine, I write about the upcoming April 29 release of Grand Theft Auto IV in the shadow of Electronic Arts’ (ERTS) heated play for Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive (TTWO). When I met with Dan Houser, Rockstar’s co-founder, last month the news didn’t seem to have made much of an impact on the team polishing up the blockbuster go-anywhere, commit-any-crime gangster opera. Here are some additional tidbits I found interesting when I spoke to him. BW: Having made the transition to 3D a while back, how was the transition to high-definition? DH: As many television actresses are finding out with HDTV, you suddenly need a lot more botox. It requires a lot more detail. We’ve been working for three years, almost starting from scratch. The challenge is to tone down the real world because the real world is so ridiculous. BW: How much “bigger” is this game, if it’s possible to say? DH: It’s about 30% larger than San Andreas. There are between 700 and 800 speaking parts, with 70 named characters. It’s big. BW: As booming commercial success puts the industry on more peoples’ radars, games are becoming a more acceptable form of media or culture. People often point at that though games are now basically bigger than films, there’s no real games criticism or cultural intuitions to distinguish the high from the low, et cetera. What do you think? DH: One recent interviewer was asking me, “is it art?” And, you know, I don’t care. It’s nice to have the freedom, not to be academicized or institutionalized. No one does that with games, and that’s freeing. BW: In an industry with its share of nerds and geeks, why are Rockstar’s games cool? DH: What we do is basically curate a bunch of art forms. We take music, movies and drag them into a big pot. That freedom produces amazing results. Ultimately, we have no individual personal desire for fame. That stuff ruins you. Our freedom now is enormous, in a way its freedom from as many responsibilities and that allows you to do interesting things. BW: Much has been made of the influence of movies from The Godfather to Goodfellas on previous GTA titles. What’s so appealing about these films and how have they influenced the series? DH: Well, the brilliant thing about Goodfellas, for instance, is not just the crime or the action but that the movie shows the characters living, their everyday lives. In a sense all our games do that as well, let you play as these characters. In Bully it was as a kid, in GTA as a gangster, and the same in ManHunt. BW: So – easy question – did you succeed? DH: [Laughs] We’ve created a tight, beautiful piece of interactive experience. Edited April 15, 2008 by EasterEgg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niall_S Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 It's Dan Houser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaJones Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 ...Don Houser? Gah! Beat me to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamius Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Really enjoyed that interview. He really seems on the level. Thanks for posting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvinellenton Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Posted before in the news section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasterEgg Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 I just got a new computer, so I am still getting used to the keyboard, but yes, I did not spell his name correctly. I will fix that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasterEgg Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Ok, it is Dan Houser now. Does anyone have a reply concerning the actual article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvinellenton Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Ok, it is Dan Houser now. Does anyone have a reply concerning the actual article? POSTED BEFORE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 A+ and some cookies for digging this up, always welcome to read the R* interviews! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tystick357 Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 30% larger than SA? Does he just mean on an overall scope and not the map, because I recall hearing it was "smaller" than SA in size of the map, but higher vertically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slamman Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 One could say larger in scope, the world now has many more interiors along with the elements he described as actors doing voiced characters, peds, vehicles, any number of things that make the game larger over all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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