Rockstar says 'F**k all this stuff about casual gaming'

While Rockstar VP Dan Houser verbally respects what Nintendo is doing with the Wii, the GTA IV co-writer is seemingly frustrated by the hype of casual games over hardcore ones.

Rockstar VP Dan Houser

Rockstar VP Dan Houser

"F**k all this stuff about casual gaming," Houser said in an interview with New York Magazine published on Friday.

"The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic. [But] we're hopefully going to prove that there's also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies," he said.

Houser's comments come at a time when hardware makers, game publishers, and critics alike struggle with the industry shift to entice new gamers with easy-to-play games. The initiative, often over hyped, has so far polarized and alienated many long-time gamers.

"We're not going release a large number of games," Houser added. "They're going to have the production values of movies. They're gonna be about themes that interest us... instead of the weird, special video game-only themes that too many people make -- orcs and elves, or monsters, or space."

In addition to Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 and PS3, Rockstar has released enhanced ports of Table Tennis and Bully on Nintendo Wii.

THE VERDICT by Blake Snow Blake Snow's Avatar Nice to see Houser cut through the hype of casual games, which he seemingly appreciates and understands (as do I). And I think it's safe to say that both traditional games like GTA IV and party ones like those found on Wii can and will coexist, as indicated by the massive sales of each.

Comments [128]

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VivaLeResistance

ha...I guess when you make a game such as GTA you can say pretty much anything you want

TheGameFather

It's a seperation between the people who thinks Video games are trying to be movies, vs the people who think video games are games. Most people who don't have large amounts of free time, watch movies for a story and play games for some action and fun. .[p] Thats why the big shift is towards games that are fun to play rather than engaging to watch, theres just way more people willing to play a fun video game, than there are people willing to invest the kind of time it takes to play a game like GTA or Oblivion etc.

artsaber

mommam Posted at: 05/02/08 at 11:06 AM PST Any way, Xbox360 beat PS3 sells.Just about 2 millions different.
Keep in mind that there are about 6.4 million more 360s in households than there are PS3s.... so the PS3 has a higher attachment rate with GTA4. In other words, a higher percentage of PS3 owners bought GTA4 for their consoles than 360 owners. Although, the sales are great for Sony, Microsoft, and Rockstar. I played it on the 360 last night, it is a great game and I had a blast running people over online. The black border on the 360 version kinda annoyed me because I played the PS3 version first that does full widescreen mode.

Toneman

Of course... casual games are as popular as ever, but they could never replace so called "hardcore" titles. I just wish Nintendo realized this...

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