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Two interesting articles about Rockstar.
Jast
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Registered User regular
The GTA thread is about the game, and these articles are more about Rockstar then anything else.
First One
Second One
Some text from the Wall Street Journal article.
From the Wired article.
Interesting to learn more about the inner workins of the company.
First One
Second One
Some text from the Wall Street Journal article.
The DNA of Rockstar traces to Mr. Houser, a British-born pop-culture aficionado. He remains close to his parents and to his brother Dan. Their father, Walter, is a lawyer who was part-owner of a well-known London nightclub, Ronnie Scott's, where young Sam met jazz legends. When trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie asked the boy what he wanted to be when he grew up, Mr. Houser says he replied, "a bank robber!"
In 1999, he established the Rockstar group at Take-Two. He modeled the unit, which he calls a "label," after DefJam records, the pioneering hip-hop record label that launched the careers of Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. He wanted the Rockstar brand to connote a certain coolness to consumers.
Both Houser brothers have strong tempers, people who have worked with them say. When game-industry publications give less-than-stellar ratings to Rockstar titles, say former employees, Sam has his staff to "go war" with offending publications to demand a better review or score.
The Housers became increasingly demanding. Gillian Telling, a former assistant to Dan, remembers being commanded to clean snow out of his home satellite dish. When she failed to bring in the right kind of bagel, she says he called her a “useless whore†and a “cunt.†Former employees say they routinely heard yelled insults and slammed telephones. “These people are insanely smart and really good at being mean,†says one. “They’re British.â€
But, others argue, the tirades were part of the Housers’ overarching obsession with quality. “That’s the only reason the games are so good,†says former Rockstar producer Marc Fernandez. “It was the most exhilarating, impassioned place — they were totally committed to perfection. Imagine a company where 100 people felt like they were in the Beatles.â€
....
As the success of San Andreas climaxed, so did the obsession with image control at the Rockstar loft. A former employee describes nights when top executives would sit at their computers, anxiously waiting for the reviews of their newest games to be posted online. An even slightly negative write-up would ignite “a shitstorm of … yelling and screaming.†The editor of one major videogame magazine describes the relationship with Rockstar as “a constant fight†because the company would jockey for
From the Wired article.
Interesting to learn more about the inner workins of the company.
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Not that I think rockstar is all that and a bag of chips, but a red hot temper isn't that unheard of.
Full story at 11.
Why does this not surprise me?
No, if that were the case, then DEREK SMART would have games getting perfect scores. Because DEREK SMART likes to get pissed as shit online when people criticise his games. DEREK SMART.
Yeah, that's actually what I found the most interesting in those two snippets. It sounds like Rockstar bullies their way into good reviews. That's pretty fucked up.
Glad we're noted for something.
Supervillany. Great.
I never new their dad co-owned Ronnie Scott's. That's pretty awesome.
Sean Bean really needs to be on the £ coin.
I would convert all my US bucks over if he was.
Not a good thing in my opinion.
I already know rockstar's history pretty front and back.
I dunno, Miyamoto seems like anything BUT hard to work with. I can't even imagine his face without him grinning to his ears. Will Wright seems consistently soft-mannered and nice.
I'll take the argument for people like Kojima, Molyneux or Tomonobu Itagaki though.
Time for me to shatter your world because the very person I had in mind when I typed that out was Miyamoto. He has one of the most intense tempers in gaming.
There are reports of him berating, and screaming at employees for hours on end.
Not to mention he's been an asshole in public before, most famously during his interview where he bashed Donkey Kong Country in front of the series director, saying that the game was proof that Americans are stupid and will play anything if it looks pretty, no matter how bad it was.
Miyamoto has been reported as difficult to please.
Especially from Retro, after he yelled at them for a few hours over Metroid Prime being awful and then cancelled their other 2 (original) games.
He won't cuss you out, scream at you, or otherwise lose his cool. He'll just flat out tell you 'this really sucks, do it again."
Yeah, Itagaki is cool.
He became what he is today by sticking with Techmo through thick and thin, and scraping his way from the absolute bottom to the top.
He's living proof that diligence, and company loyalty can overcome anything.
Iwata says Miyamoto is scary, merciless
There's no way you can say something that intriguing and not link to it.
In other words, don't fuck with him, he's a man with a vision.
I would pay so much money just to get to talk to him for an hour.
EDIT: The biggest influence in Itagaki's career has been Yu Suzuki, whom he has the utmost respect for.
It was an interview in Gameplayers, I believe.
Wiki has an abridged version of the interview on the page for Donkey Kong Country:
the actual interview was scathing. He basically ranted about America, and how bad Donkey Kong Country was. And the worst part - it was supposed to be a joint interview with him and Tim Stamper, the producer and director for DKC. Stamper was sitting right next to him the entire time, and didn't bat an eye. In true english gentlemen's tradition (he's the epitome of a UK developer) he kept quiet until Miyamoto had finished and simply said "I disagree."
Shiggy... oh Shiggy.
And he's a horrible, horrible biggot. How that guy could keep a team together to create the games he did is beyond me, but he has an intense hate for Americans, and consistantly threatened sega over US involvement in his affairs.
He even made a point to fire every american who worked on Sonic 2 when he began Sonic 3... they were instead demoted to sonic spinball, and formed STI. And every level cut from Sonic 2... American developed. Not a single level designed by the japanese were cut from Sonic 2, but all the levels which were cut were by Americans (whom are still pretty bitter about it).
And, of course, most famously he killed Sonic Xtreme because he found out that Americans were using his NiGHTS engine. Yuji Naka is an asshole.
He demands perfection, and will tear a project down and force it to get rebuilt from the ground up... but he does it in a supremely laid back environment. Bean-bag chairs, no drug tests...
If there's one common theme, however, is that these developers, no matter what kind of personality they have, they all are not afraid to tell someone how to do their shit right.
Heh, makes me wonder what really happens every time he "upends the tea table."
I'm not basing this on any anecdotal evidence, I'm just saying the guy looks like the kind of guy I'd love to have a beer with.
Behind those glasses is a monster, I'm sure.
Nobody ever has that kind of ability and stays a normal human being.
Yeah, and his wife would join too except she's not quite at the legal drinking age yet.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Aren't you thinking of Romero? He married a 15 year old Romanian girl or something.
Right. I get my Doom guys mixed up. This is the second time I've embarassed myself with something Doom related this month.
I dunno, working for the man who made Mario is probably a good incentive to put up with it. I mean, there's a reason the games don't suck balls.