Rockin' the Vidya-Casbah: A Look At Some of Rockstar's Games

Ooooh-wee, y'all!

I skipped a post last week because I was just too busy to sit down and write something. Well no more of that, I promise! Between packing stuff and getting ready to move I've found the time to return to some old favorites of mine from a company that is quite well known, Rockstar Games.

The three games I'll be talking about in this post are all venerable classics in their own right, all released within a year of each other. They are: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), The Warriors (2005) and Bully (2006). Though each game was made by separate studios working under the Rockstar banner I show how they all share a common DNA.

An Introduction to Violence

Hello once again fellow Doomers,

Today I'm going to talk about violence in video gaming. I got some comments on last weeks article that suggested I should explore the topic of violence in popular games further and how these games use ethical window dressing to make that violence more palatable.

That seemed like a swell idea to me so here we are. Let's talk about violence.

Retreading Familiar Ground - GTA III: Shoreside Vale

Hello once again fellow Doomers!

Today we're rounding out the GTA III portion of Retreading Familiar Ground with a look at the game's final burrough, the residential area of Shoreside Vale.

Shoreside Vale is probably the smallest of the three islands despite its large geographic footprint. Half of the island is the airport and the other four districts are comprised of a light industrial area, two residential areas and a dam.

I think Shoreside Vale is really just there to give you more ways to view the rest of the city. From the hills in the north of the island you can stand atop the game world and take in all three islands at once.

The layout itself is probably the most interesting of the three islands. It has hills and lowlying flatlands along with bridges, tunnels and a dam that all serve to connect the two residential neighborhoods with the industrial area, which is separated by a small inlet of ocean.

That said, let's dive in and break it down district by district.

Retreading Familiar Ground - GTA III: Staunton Island

Hello once again, dear Murder Junkies

This time on Retreading Familiar Ground we continue our look at Grand Theft Atuo III's iconic burroughs by revisiting the second island of the three, Staunton Island. Once again heartfelt thanks go out to the good people of gta.wikia.com.

Retreading Familiar Ground - GTA III: Portland

Hey gang!

This time I'm going to do something a little different. This is the first in a series of articles I'll be doing on each of the distinctive neighborhoods and districts that make up the world of the Grand Theft Auto games. Since Grand Theft Auto III back in 2001 the main star of the series has not been the protagonist that players inhabits during their time in the game world, but in fact that game world itself.

I've spent a crazy amount of time in the last 13 years getting settled into the environments of these games and now I want to go back and take you with me. Hence the title of this series of articles: Retreading Familiar Ground.