Beaterator coming to iPhone this fall

Rockstar Games will bringing Beaterator to the iPhone and iPod touch this fall. Developed by Rockstar Leeds, the studio behind Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Beaterator is a portable music-making application that allows people of all musical backgrounds and ability to create world-class beats and songs. The game is being built with the help of hip-hop sensation Timberland.

Previously announced for the PlayStationPortable system, Beaterator promises thousands of loops and sounds made by both Timbaland and Rockstar, and gives users the power to make professional-level music using their favorite portable device.

You can learn more about Beaterator by checking out www.rockstargames.com/beaterator. I sense that DJ Ryan will be pleased by this news.

Rockstar confirms GTA Chinatown Wars for PSP

According to the official RockStar Games Twitter account, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be coming to PSP this fall. Several tweets reveal that the game will be released as a UMD and as a digital download via PlayStation Network. The PSP version of the game will be released October 20 in North America and Friday, October 23 in Europe.

No more info was revealed, but what do you expect from three tweets - War and Peace? More information when we have it.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars coming to PSP

Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, will be making its way to the PSP this fall. Developed by Rockstar Leeds, in conjunction with series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available at retail on UMD and digitally from the PlayStation Network in North America and Europe this fall.

No details on what the differences between this new version and the DS version are - beyond the lack of touch screen support. No doubt Rockstar hopes that the PSP game will do better than the DS version did earlier this year - despite winning over most critics.

Rockstar’s Agent formally announced

Rockstar Games formally announced Agent, a game that was mentioned in Sony’s E3 press conference this week. Unfortunately there’s the same amount of information in the announcement that there was in the press conference - almost nothing. Nothing like being coy with us, eh RockStar?

So here’s what we know: Agent sounds like a third-person, open-world, stealth action game involving spies. The game takes players on a “paranoid journey into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations during the height of the Cold War at the end of the 1970s,” according to Rock Star.
We also know that it is a PS3 exclusive that Sony is pretty excited about. And why wouldn’t they be? Grand Theft Auto moved mountains for Sony and most games with the name Rockstar on them tend to sell systems - unless it’s on another platform like GTA IV was. Ahem.

The release does offer a quote from Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser, though: “We have always enjoyed making action games, and with Agent we are making what we believe will be the ultimate action game. Agent is a game we have wanted to make for a long time. The team in Edinburgh is doing an amazing job combining intense action, atmosphere and story in a great period setting to create something that feels quite unique. We cannot wait for people to experience this game.”

No date and no further details at this time, but we’ll keep you posted.

Former Rockstars form 4MM Games

Two former Rockstar Games executives have formed a new video game venture called 4mm Games, which will focus on the digital distribution of games via the web and through select partnerships. The company founded by Jamie King and Gary Foreman, will set its sites on the iPhone first, with an eye towards other console platforms at a later time.

The duo is joined by former Image Metrics executive Nicholas Perrett, who serves as 4mm Games CEO; and former NBC and Warner Music executive Paul Coyne, who has joined the company as an executive vice president. Coyne was senior adviser to Def Jam Enterprises and senior adviser and senior VP for Warner Music Group, where he directed videogame strategies for the companies. Before that, he co-founded Abandon Interactive Entertainment.

The company is being funded by investment group CEA Autumn Games, though financial terms of that deal have yet to be disclosed. The deal apparently covers multiple years and titles.

Two titles are being developed by 4mm Games, with the first one rolling out sometime later this year. The company says that it won’t develop MMO titles, but may target the online casual market with a focus on women.

Source

GTA IV: The Lost and the Nude

Update: The ESRB responded to our request for clarification on a couple of issues related to the rating for The Lost and the Damned. When asked about whether or not the ratings board saw the full frontal male nudity in in the DLC prior to its release and if it thought it put the game beyond the threshold of a “Mature” rating, ESRB spokesperson Eliot Mizrachi offered the following response:

“This content was disclosed and found to be consistent with the game’s Mature rating; however, it did prompt the assignment of a content descriptor for ‘Nudity.’”

So, while some may find this content a bit of a surprise, at least the ESRB knew about it in advance and rated appropriately. I guess Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have learned a lesson from all the nonsense surrounding “Hot Coffee.”

Original Story: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned is out as we’ve already mentioned but people aren’t necessarily only talking about all the new characters, multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles found in this DLC. No, they are also talking about a cutscene in the game that involves full frontal male nudity. That’s right, one of the characters in the game shows you what he has to offer unabashedly and without shame. The sad part is that the dude he’s having a conversation with doesn’t blink as this nude man chats him up.

 While this cutscene is amusing on so many levels, it also raises a few questions: did the ESRB see this clip when it rated the game “M” for “Mature” (it does list nudity in the game’s descriptor)? Does an extended look at a man’s junk constitute an “AO” rating and how will the mainstream media portray this clip once it is out there? We’ll let you judge for yourselves - follow this link - but keep in mind that it is intended for mature audiences and is appropriately age gated.

Both the ESRB and Rockstar Games are unavailable for comment at this early hour but we hope to get a responsefrom both later today.

The Lost and the Damned Available Now

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned is now available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace. The Lost and Damned is the first piece of downloadable content for Rockstar’s popular sandbox game, offering a new main character named Johnny Klebitz, and a plot that intersects with the original storyline from Grand Theft Auto IV. That means you’ll get new missions that offer an entirely different perspective, new ways to explore Liberty City, new multiplayer modes, new weapons and vehicles; and some new original in-game music.

This DLC pack will cost you 1600 MS points and weighs in at a hefty 1.8 GB - as anyone on Twitter would tell you right now if you were stupid enough to be awake.

Microsoft also released some free Avatar costumes on Xbox Live Marketplace to commemorate the occasion. For the guy avatars there’s the Rocker Jacket, Pixie Boots, Grunge Pants, Metal Combats, Top Hat, Skull Ring, Leather Biker Gloves, Left Feather Earring, and Right Feather Earring. For the girl avatars there’s the Punk Tee, Black 60’s Boots, Leopard Print Leggings, Biker Jacket, Biker Gloves, Skull Wrist Band, Left Feather Earring, and Right Feather Earring. It’s all free so even if you don’t give a damn about the DLC, at least you can play dress-up.