The announcement that Grand Theft Auto V along with the GTA Online component would be available on PlayStation 5 was easily the most disappointing thing about Sony’s new console reveal. Given how many new games we were treated to — from Spider-Man: Miles Morales to Horizon Forbidden West — GTA V is a seven-year-old game that will span three console generations when it hits PS5. This is a clear indication of the linear direction Rockstar Games has chosen to go — a direction it never seemed the company would go in.
Rockstar Games Before
During the sixth console generation — PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox — Rockstar Games was a powerhouse publisher and developer. The company released acclaimed hits such as Bully, The Warriors, Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, and two Remedy-developed Max Payne titles. Rockstar’s claim to fame at the time, though, was easily the Grand Theft Auto trilogy: GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. While the three games shared similarities in terms of mechanics and graphics, each entry was a massive evolution of its predecessor. San Andreas, even by today’s standards, featured a large, rich world with lots of side activities to dig into.
GTA 3 set the tone for Rockstar Games during the sixth generation. It was a massive evolution of the original top-down GTA games, and because of how controversial GTA 3 was at the time, it cemented Rockstar as an outlaw studio. Whenever you saw the Rockstar Games logo pop up on a TV ad, it was exciting because you knew something special was coming. To a lot of folks, that “something special” was a new ultraviolent action game. And yes, that much was usually true, but ultraviolence aside, Rockstar made games that weren’t just good — they were incredible.
The sixth-gen GTA trilogy featured open worlds that felt alive, and the stories these games told were compelling. Bully put you in the role of an underdog who had to fight his way out of bad situations. Manhunt married stealth gameplay and horror brilliantly. The Warriors adapted and expanded upon one of the greatest cult classic films of all time. Midnight Club took a side activity in GTA and turned it into a full-fledged racing game, complete with its own open world. If you were a Rockstar Games fan during this time, you had a lot to be excited about.
While Rockstar Games slowed down considerably during the seventh generation of gaming consoles — PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii — the company still put out a solid collection of content. Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption are the two standouts, but the studio also released Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Max Payne 3, and the Team Bondi-developed L.A. Noire. Those games all received their share of acclaim, and they were proof that Rockstar was still that anti-hero developer that made quality controversial games, even if folks had become desensitized to ultraviolence by this point.
In addition to these standout titles, we also got Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which started its life on the DS before receiving subsequent ports to PSP and mobile devices. On top of that, Rockstar also further developed the worlds of GTA 4 and Red Dead Redemption with meaningful single-player expansions. The newer, much bigger worlds that Rockstar had created for GTA and Red Dead were being explored and expanded upon in new ways, and for fans of those games, it was an awesome experience.
Having built an expansive resume, Rockstar Games wasn’t just a counterculture company with bloody action-adventure games. No, the company was a legitimate top dog in the video game industry. And thanks to that resume, it’s no wonder so many fans were excited when Grand Theft Auto V was revealed…
Rockstar Games Now
In the past seven years, Rockstar has released two full games: Grand Theft Auto V in 2013 and Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018. That’s not to downplay Rockstar’s efforts, though — the fact of the matter is that video games have evolved, and with them, video game development has evolved, too. Open worlds are now bigger than ever — so much so that seeing and doing everything these games have to offer can be a massive undertaking. Mechanics have improved to be more fluid and intuitive. HUD design is super-minimalistic and doesn’t clutter the screen anymore. Games have grown.
It’s understandable that the worlds Rockstar has built in the past seven years have taken a long time to fully realize. Grand Theft Auto V featured a huge, modernized San Andreas based on California. The story stars three characters, each with their own arcs. That’s impressive, and it made for the biggest GTA yet. Likewise, the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is unreal, with so much to do, so many characters to interact with, and countless secrets tucked away.
RDR 2 created a divide among its players, with some praising its openness and deliberate pacing, and others put off by the slower nature of the game and overwhelming number of things to do. Even with this discourse, the common thread is that the majority of players have praised Rockstar Games for creating a game and world that are unlike anything else out there. Red Dead Redemption 2 is ambitious and gigantic, and whether you think it’s a good game or not, there’s no denying that endless amounts of work went into its creation.
Online multiplayer and its effect on Rockstar Games
Massive worlds aside, the biggest factor in the Rockstar Games we see now is online multiplayer. What initially seemed like a cool new component for the series exploded into an enormous world of its own — an enormous, profitable world. A lot of work has gone into developing the world of Grand Theft Auto Online, and after multiple free content updates for players, that world has been shaped into a thriving action-adventure ecosystem that exists independently from GTA V.
GTA Online went from being an additional multiplayer component to an ongoing online multiplayer experience that players have invested countless hours and actual real-world money into. It eventually became clear that GTA V wouldn’t get single-player DLC like its predecessor. Instead, any and all new content released has been for GTA Online, further building that world into the chaotic crime-themed action-adventure playground we see now.
Speaking to Game Informer in 2017, Rockstar Games Director of Design Imran Sarwar said, “We would love to do more single-player add-ons for games in the future. As a company we love single-player more than anything and believe in it absolutely — for storytelling and a sense of immersion in a world, multiplayer games don’t rival single-player games. With GTA V, the single-player game was absolutely massive and very, very complete. It was three games in one.”
In addition to creating a complete single-player experience, Sarwar also said resources went into porting GTA V to PS4 and Xbox One, as well as the creation of Red Dead 2. Then there was the multiplayer component, which probably required the biggest restructuring for the team. “The online component had a lot of potential, but to come close to realizing that potential also sucked up a lot of resources,” said Sarwar.
We may never know how much of the Rockstar Games team was repurposed for the creation of GTA Online but keeping the game ongoing has clearly had a major impact on the company. It’s evident in the fact that we haven’t seen any other properties outside of GTA and Red Dead. Speaking of which, Red Dead Redemption 2 may have one of the most ambitious worlds of any video game ever created, but resources have also gone seemingly full-time into developing Red Dead Online.
In terms of the experience, Red Dead Online is very different from GTA Online. It’s still rough in spots, and it continues to grow. It’s obvious that Rockstar is keen on achieving that growth and success for its Western-themed multiplayer component — so much so that it doesn’t look like there’s any single-player DLC on the horizon for Red Dead Redemption 2.
In an interview with VG247, Rockstar Games Online Producer Tarek Hamad explained that the company is focusing its efforts on Red Dead Online. “Our ambitions for our online games are just as high [as they are for our single-player games], and with Red Dead Online we are continuing to build and expand to match the world we created for Red Dead Redemption 2’s story, not just with the roles but other activities, new random events, characters to meet, new ways to engage with the world and further inhabit your character, as well as trying to improve the overall experience.”
If you’re holding out hope for more single-player content for Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s best to curb your expectations accordingly. “We’re 100 percent focused on online right now,” said Rockstar Games Lead Online Production Associate Katie Pica to VG247. “There’s just so much to do, and we’re just hoping to bring everything that a player can love about single-player into the online world.”
What about Grand Theft Auto 6?
Details have been kept under wraps regarding GTA 6, and with Rockstar’s reveal of GTA 5 and GTA Online heading to PS5, it’s now clear why. Sure, the company could have a studio working on the next entry of GTA, but it seems the bulk of its efforts are going toward continuing to expand GTA Online. The multiplayer component is essentially standalone now, and all signs point to Red Dead Online following suit.
More GTA V and GTA Online point to Rockstar’s new direction
As previously mentioned, games and game development have changed, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that a mega-publisher like Rockstar Games has only released two new games in seven years. This is concerning if you’re a fan of the company’s past work because it looks like there won’t be much growth in terms of new IPs or sequels to beloved franchises like Bully and Manhunt.
Polygon Senior Editor Patricia Hernandez put it best in GTA Online on PS5 shows us Rockstar’s real priority now. We’ve seen the writing on the wall for some time: Rockstar Games has put the majority of its efforts into creating a massive online experience. Grand Theft Auto Online is evidence of that. Red Dead Online will be next. Meanwhile, we’ll likely see fewer games produced by the company over long stretches of time.
Two games in seven years isn’t a whole lot. And with a company the size of Rockstar Games, it’s actually a bit jarring. But we all get it, right? Those resources went into GTA Online, and they’re trickling into Red Dead Online now. That’s fine, but it’s important that we know what to expect from Rockstar moving forward. Gone are the days of being excited about a new Rockstar title, because that simply doesn’t seem like a reality now. Instead, if you’re active on GTA Online, you can look forward to more content there.
There’s a quote from former Rockstar Games Vice President Dan Houser that really resonates right now. In an interview with Famitsu in 2011, Houser explained why Rockstar didn’t make first-person shooters. “It’s in our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing,” said Houser. While that may still be true with regard to the FPS genre, it’s clear now more than ever that the DNA of Rockstar Games has changed. GTA Online and Red Dead Online may be different than Call of Duty, Fortnite, and other ongoing multiplayer games, but they share the same online mission statement.
If you’re a huge fan of either of Rockstar’s online multiplayer worlds, there’s clearly a lot to look forward to. That said, if you long for the days of multiple badass action games from Rockstar over a short period of time, it’s best to accept that those days are over. Rockstar Games as an anti-hero, counterculture, outlaw company no longer exists. And that’s fine because the company has earned its success over the years. We just have to accept the fact that even rebellious outlaws eventually fall in line.
This article originally appeared on Gamerterra.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Only Boomers & Gen-X will remember these Saturday morning shows
Once upon a time, Saturday mornings were for more than just sleeping in. The ’70s were filled with classic programs like Wonder Woman, The Brady Bunch and M*A*S*H that aired during prime time, but what about those Saturday morning shows?
Saturday morning cartoons were a rite of passage for children starting in the mid-1960s up until their unofficial end in the 1990s. During the 1970s, some of the best cartoons aired during this time slot and they remain as some of the most beloved and often watched shows today.
Before streaming platforms made it irrelevant to know what time your favorite show was airing, people dedicated time out of their weekend plans to settle around the TV and watch their favorite shows. Do you remember tuning into these classic Saturday morning shows in the 1970s?
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The Tom and Jerry Show aired in 1975 as part of The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show. The show, which was created by Hanna-Barbera Productions, began as a theatrical cartoon series that ran before movies in theaters.
ABC’s ban on violence meant the series lacked the slapstick violence that people had become used to in the theatrical shorts. It only ran for 16 episodes in its first iteration but remains one of the most beloved cartoons from the era.
MGM Television / IMDB
In the 1960s, The Action for Children’s Television began boycotting the gratuitous violence that they perceived to be in the cartoons of the era. Because of this, Hanna-Barbera quickly developed a new series that lacked the “excessive violence” that led to a number of cancellations in 1969. This led to the birth of Mystery, INC.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! first premiered on CBS in 1969 and the series ran until 1976 on the network. That year, the series was moved to ABC where it ran until 1991. The franchise spawned a number of subsequent revivals, spin-offs, crossover episodes, and live-action and animated movies.
Hanna Barbera Productions / IMBD
The “Golden Age of Cartoons” didn’t just stop when the 1960s ended; they lived on in syndication on Saturday morning. One of these common reruns that could be found on TV was The Sylvester & Tweety Show, which aired every Saturday morning on CBS. Sylvester has been around since 1939, while Tweety first arrived on screen in 1941. Their legacy continues today with The Looney Tunes.
Warner Bros. Entertainment / Amazon
The Bugs Bunny Show is another series that made the jump between networks in the middle of its run. It originally aired on ABC in 1960 and remained there until 1973 when it switched to CBS.
In its early days, it was actually a prime-time cartoon that aired on Tuesday nights, but in 1962 it began running Saturday mornings, where it remained until the ’80s. The original 52 episodes of the series aired in black-and-white.
ABC / IMDB
Woody Woodpecker is yet another member of The Looney Tunes. Woody first appeared in “Knock Knock” in 1940 and went through several iterations before he became the Wood we’re all familiar with. His own series, The Woody Woodpecker Show, aired during the Saturday morning cartoon lineup.
Interestingly enough, Woody has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Universal Television/ABC / IMDB
The Pink Panther Show aired on Saturday mornings on two different networks during the ’70s: – NBC from 1969 to 1978, and ABC from 1978 to 1980. When it moved to ABC, it was re-titled as The All New Pink Panther Show and Pink Panther Encore, where it lasted only two seasons after nine years on NBC.
NBC / IMDB
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle was an animated adaptation of the classic novel by the same name and it was the first animated version of the story, predating Disney’s Tarzan film by two decades. Robert Ridgely voiced Tarzan, who was a far more well-spoken version of the character. In this cartoon, Tarzan’s sidekick was a monkey named N’kima.
From 1977 to 1978, CBS aired The New Adventures of Batman and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle during the same hour, creating “The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour.”
CBS / IMDB
Jana was essentially the female version of Tarzan and had been abandoned in the rain forests of South America after a boating accident where she was separated from her father as a child. Like Tarzan, her sidekicks in the series are animals, including Ghost the white jaguar, Croco the crocodile and Tico the water opossum. Jana’s weapon of choice bore a striking resemblance to the chakram that would later be used in Xena: Warrior Princess. Jana of the Jungle was part of “The Godzilla Power Hour” on NBC from 1978 to 1979.
There were a lot of popular live-action series that ran during the week and during the 1970s, networks had the ingenious idea to blend together their live-action series and their weekend cartoons, which resulted in the advent of “Filmation” and animated spin-offs. Most of these series were created by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Hanna Barbera Productions/NBC / IMBD
Star Trek: The Animated Series was an animated spin-off based on Gene Roddenberry’s that was launched after Star Trek’s cancellation in 1969. The production was able to bring in most of the original cast to voice their characters, except for Walter Koenig who played Chekov. Initially, Nimoy refused to voice Spock unless they brought on Nichelle Nichols and George Takei to voice Uhura and Sulu, respectively.
The series served as the fourth season of Star Trek before the storylines were revisited in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Paramount Home Entertainment / IMDB
Lassie’s Rescue Rangers aired from 1973 to 1975 on ABC, and its hour-long pilot “Lassie and the Spirit of Thunder Mountain” is a part of the “ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.”
In the series, the beloved collie Lassie lives near Thunder Mountain with Ranger Ben Turner and his family. Ranger Turner works at Thunder Mountain National Park where Lassie is the leader of the Rescue Rangers, a group of wild animals that work alongside the Turners to help protect the park and its visitors.
ABC / IMDB
Pierre Boulle’s novel Planet of the Apes was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon series for 20th Century Fox Television. It ran for only a season from 1975 to 1976. It aired during the same era that Boulle’s novel was adapted into a comic book series by Marvel Comics from 1974 to 1977.
Return to the Planet of the Apes differed from its live-action adaptations, featuring a completely advanced society with automobiles, films and technological advancements, which bore more of a resemblance to Boulle’s original novels, where the apes were far more advanced.
20th Century Fox / IMDB
At the start of the fourth season of The Brady Bunch showrunner Sherwood Schwartz reached out to Filmation to create an animated spin-off for the series. The Brady Kids only ran for two seasons on ABC and was fraught with drama, including a near-lawsuit when the children declined to return to voice more episodes during the second season.
Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick, who voice Greg and Marcia Brady, did not return for the second season of The Brady Kids and were replaced by the children of one of the producers.
ABC / IMDB
It should come as no surprise that The Partridge Family had an animated spin-off of their own. The science fiction mash-up Partridge Family 2200 A.D. was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and aired Saturday mornings on CBS.
Danny Bonaduce, Suzanne Crough and Brian Forster voiced their own characters, while Susan Dey, David Cassidy, Shirley Jones and Dave Madden’s characters were replaced by other voice actors.
The series centered around the Patridge Family living in space, just like the Jetsons. It was never explained how or why the family was living in 2200 A.D. Up until this point, the Partridge Family had been recurring characters on Goober and the Ghost Chasers, though the series were unconnected.
Hanna Barbera Productions/CBS / IMDB
The New Adventures of Gilligan was an animated spin-off based on CBS’s hit series Gilligan’s Island. Most of the original cast returned to voice their characters, except for Tina Louise and Dawn Wells. The story basically followed that of the original series, with some key differences, including Stubby, the anthropomorphic monkey.
The cartoon ran for two seasons from 1974 to 1975, and even received a sequel, Gilligan’s Planet, in the 1980s. The New Adventures of Gilligan did not receive the rights to The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle, so it lacked the iconic theme song from the live-action.
ABC / IMDB
In the ’70s, live-action series were not just reserved for prime-time entertainment and Saturdays weren’t just for cartoons. You may think there are a lot of DC Comics on television today, but back in the 1970s, there were three DC Comics series listed in TV Guides everywhere, two of which aired on Saturday mornings.
Shazam! was a half-hour, live-action series that aired Saturday mornings on CBS. The series centered around the superhero Shazam (aka Captain Marvel), played by Jackson Bostwick and later by John Davey. The intriguing part of the character is that when he’s not a superhero, he’s a teenage boy named Billy Batson, who was played by Michael Gray.
The series ran for three seasons and after its first season, it aired during the same hour as The Secrets of Isis, creating what was known as “The Shazam!/Isis Hour.”
CBS / IMDB
The Secrets of Isis was the companion series to Shazam!, and because of this, the two characters appeared in both series. Isis was portrayed by Joanna Cameron. In this series, Isis is the superhero-style alter-ego to the schoolteacher Andrea Thomas. She can transform into an Egyptian goddess when presented with crises that no mere mortal could resolve. The character was later adopted into modern DC comics.
One of the most memorable parts of the series was the way that Isis would often “break the fourth wall” and speak directly to the audience.
There were a lot of other live-action series that aired on Saturday mornings as well.
NBC Universal / IMDB
While Monster Squad only lasted for one, 13-episode season, plenty of people tuned in on Saturday mornings because of Fred Grandy, who had starred in Love Boat. Grundy played Walt, a criminology student who worked nights at a wax museum. One night, the computer he created caused all of the wax figures to come to life.
Think Night at the Museum, but if Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein’s monster decided to become superhero crime fighters.
NBC / IMDB
The live-action series Jason of Star Command was actually inspired by another popular live-action series from the time, Space Academy. The series aired on CBS and was designed a little bit differently from TV series today.
The first season was written as 16 chapters that were only 15-minute episodes and styled like movie serials that told one overarching story. The second season was a stand-alone comprised of half-hour episodes.
NBCUniversal / IMDB
Space Academy was set in the year 3732 on an asteroid that housed the Space Academy. Academy brought together the best young minds of the time to explore the mysteries of space. Jonathan Harris starred as Commander Isaac Gampu, the head of the Space Academy. Harris was best known as Dr. Zachary Smith from the popular sci-fi series Lost in Space.
Space Academy only had 15 episodes, but reruns kept it alive in the minds of Saturday morning viewers.
CBS / IMDB
Ark II was another short-lived, live-action series that aired on Saturday mornings. Also set in the future, the series was set in the 25th century following the fall of civilization. The series was loosely based on the story of Noah’s Ark, which is why all of the characters are named from figures in the Hebrew Bible.
Like most of the Saturday morning series, Ark II was filled with moral lessons to teach the kids who watched it each weekend.
CBS / IMDB
Big John, Little John was a Saturday morning sitcom that only ran for one season. The show’s main character was a 40-year-old, middle-school science teacher played by Herbert Edelman. He drinks from the legendary Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida and discovers that he can now spontaneously change into a 12-year-old boy and back again.
It first aired on NBC in 1976 and also aired in England on BBC One.
NBC Universal / IMDB
McDuff, The Talking Dog was part of the three-hour block of live-action shows that aired Saturday mornings on NBC from 1976 to 1977. This television block included Land of the Lost, Big John, Little John, and Monster Squad, among other series.
None of these series survived their first seasonm and McDuff was the first cancellation, airing only 11 of the 13 episodes that had been filmed.
NBC Universal / IMDB
During its original run from 1974 to 1976, Land of the Lost aired on CBS on Saturday mornings. The series blended stop-motion animated dinosaurs with its live-action cast to create a unique experience for audiences in the ’70s.
The series ran for three seasons, amassing 43 episodes that were eventually syndicated as part of the Krofft Superstars package.
NBC Universal / IMDB
The Krofft Supershow was a variety show composed of several live-action segments. It originally aired on ABC in 1976 for two seasons before returning as a completely revamped series for its third season after its move to NBC. The new series featured the Bay City Rollers who replaced the “Kaptain Kool and the Kongs” segment, which featured a rock band that had been created for the show.
The series was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft productions, which also produced the popular variety shows Donny & Marie, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and The Krofft Komedy Hour.
Sid and Mary Kroff Productions / IMDB
Another extremely popular variety show was The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, which featured the players of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team singing, dancing and performing comedy sketches.
Their initial animated series, The Globetrotters, was a hit for the network, which prompted the invention of The Popcorn Machine variety show. These 25-minute episodes aired on Saturday mornings on CBS for a year. Despite the series only having one season, the Globetrotters went on to have other series on CBS.
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This article originally appeared on YourMoneyGeek.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
CBS / IMDB
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Featured Image Credit: Kerkez / istockphoto.
