Rockstar Games

GameographySource: Wired

http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/multimedia/2007/03/FF_160_rockstar/

GTA: San Andreas

• The "Hot Coffee" mod allowed players to access half-finished interactive sex minigame in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Later versions of the mod tweaked the content to include nude character skins.

The Midnight Club

• The Midnight Club racing franchise from Rockstar Games was aimed at gearheads and fans of the street racing and import scene. It appeared in October 2000, the year before the film The Fast and the Furious brought that subculture to mainstream attention.

Manhunt

• Rockstar Games released the action/horror game Manhunt in November 2003. The game casts players as the unwitting star of a snuff film, and made innovative use of sound: Players of the PS2 version could speak into a USB headset to distract or draw the attention of enemies. (Watch out: You can accidentally summon them if you yelp in fright.)

Red Dead Revolver

• Red Dead Revolver, a Wild West action title, was released by Rockstar in May 2004. Gameplay centered on shootouts and duels. The musical score, settings, camera compositions, and even a filter that gave the game a grainy “movie-fied” look, all combined to make players feel like they were stars in a classic Sergio Leone Western.

Warriors

• “Warriors … come out to play-eee-yay!” The lads at Rockstar Games were huge fans of Walter Hill’s classic 1979 cult film about New York street gangs. Their lovingly detailed game adaptation was released in October 2005. The members of the Warriors are struggling to get back to their home turf, but first they have to best rival gangs like the Baseball Furies, the Lizzies and the Saracens. Can you dig it?

Bully

• Rockstar released Bully in October 2006. The game was built on the same engine as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but this kid-friendly game was built around mischief, not murder. It shifted the action from Killafornia to the fictional Bullworth Academy, and the goal was to become BMOC.