4of 5 - Defunct Games
4of 5 - Defunct Games
4of 5 - Defunct Games
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Fan Interview<br />
With Rich Rosado, Associate Producer of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories<br />
Rich Rosado worked with the revolutionary Grand Theft Auto III and<br />
the whole family of GTA titles that followed it. In fact, you can actually<br />
hear him as one of the pedestrian voices in San Andreas! He’s been with<br />
Rockstar games since 2001, where he worked with a little game you<br />
might’ve heard of called Max Payne. In addition to his work in creating<br />
Vice City Stories, he also worked on GTA’s PSP debut, Liberty City Stories.<br />
korn: Is GTA: VCS going to be a continuation of the Grand Theft Auto<br />
series, or is this game just a side story to esh out the franchise? Are there<br />
any new areas in the level map that differ from the PS2 counterpart?<br />
Rich Rosado: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is a whole new game,<br />
[with] an entirely new storyline and all new characters. As a game, we<br />
have expanded on what we have learned from previous installments in the<br />
franchise to make what we feel is a de ning version of Grand Theft Auto.<br />
In terms of the map, the game takes place roughly two years prior to the<br />
events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. If Vice City itself is an alternate<br />
Miami, the timeline for our game captures a grittier Vice City, much as<br />
Miami was a different city just a few years prior. A lot of construction is<br />
going on, and the glamour that many associate with that time period is just<br />
beginning to emerge. As for the map, there will be some new areas. How<br />
we expanded on the city, and how it ends up as the map you saw in Grand<br />
Theft Auto: Vice City, was great fun to pull off.<br />
MPHtails: Will we have as many “mini-missions” this time around, such as<br />
the Sunshine Autos races and the Ice Cream Truck/Drug Running?<br />
RR: It wouldn’t be a Grand Theft Auto title without them. We love to<br />
provide gamers with the ability to wander around and explore the world<br />
we have created for them. Some old favorites have returned, as well<br />
as some new ones that take advantage of the environment of Vice City.<br />
There are a number of water-based missions since the waterways are so<br />
important. You will be able to save lives, you will be able to ght crime,<br />
but the means by which you engage in those activities will be tweaked for<br />
new gameplay mechanics.<br />
Honrosie42: Do you attempt to design the missions more like the console<br />
versions, or do you design things with a “pick up and play” style due to the<br />
handheld nature of the PSP?<br />
RR: We feel that we did a pretty good job in Vice City Stories of walking<br />
the ne line between the two. Liberty City Stories was our rst time<br />
designing a Grand Theft Auto game on the PSP, so there was a level of<br />
experimentation going on in all aspects of the game, and mission structure<br />
was one of them. With Vice City Stories we wanted to create more<br />
detailed, action-packed missions as we feel today’s Grand Theft Auto<br />
players are accustomed to more sophisticated missions. An extra year of<br />
technical design has allowed us to really push the PSP hardware to open up<br />
the mission design and really esh some great things out.<br />
Honrosie42: Does the scaled down nature of the PSP present any tricky<br />
problems in recreating the GTA games?<br />
RR: Absolutely. Unique challenges faced us at every turn. First, the size of<br />
the media, 1.8GB, is such that we invented new ways to t all the data, all<br />
while retaining the massive open-city environments that Grand Theft Auto<br />
is known for. From a mission standpoint we planned development around<br />
the concept that most people would be playing the title on the go — during<br />
commutes or on the subway. As such, the missions were designed to be<br />
short, explosive, and action-packed. While this worked for a lot of people,<br />
we had some vocal fans who really wanted more complex missions. In an<br />
attempt to please everyone while staying true to our original design, we<br />
have included a variety of missions that take advantage of the complexity<br />
of the city and vast number of activities available.<br />
Designing games in general is an enormously dif cult endeavor. We take<br />
each of the lessons learned from one version of a game and expand on<br />
them in new versions. With the PSP, we’re attempting to create games that<br />
are as amazing as anything you would see on any other console, including<br />
next gen systems.<br />
54_COVER STORY_GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY STORIES<br />
goodfellaron: Does GTA: Vice City Stories make use of the PSP’s<br />
upcoming new GPS feature?<br />
RR: Integrating GPS into games could lead to some interesting game<br />
elements. However, we want all features to be available to all PSP<br />
players. By working on GPS exclusive features, we must tell players to<br />
purchase an accessory to experience the full game.<br />
gh_07: Now that you have made Liberty City Stories and Vice City<br />
Stories on the PSP are you thinking about making San Andreas Stories?<br />
RR: As a company we are very committed to creating cutting edge<br />
content for the PSP. It’s an amazing piece of portable technology<br />
that is uniquely suited to the kinds of games we like to make. Since<br />
we are just learning to fully utilize it, there are no concrete plans for<br />
new versions.<br />
Remy-Soujirou: Am I seeing things or are Lance and Victor Vance identical<br />
twins? Also, supposedly, the main character, Lance Vance, changes his name<br />
to Quentin in the game. Is this by any chance Rockstar is paying homage to<br />
lm director Quentin Tarantino?<br />
RR: While there is a resemblance, you do notice several key differences<br />
(one of which is that Vic is shorter than Lance). As for Quentin, while he is<br />
a good director, I’ll chalk that up to coincidence.<br />
8bithaven: The GTA series has put out some great games in the past but what<br />
are the new things that you are adding to the gameplay to keep it fresh?<br />
RR: It gets harder and harder to create gameplay that is both fun and new.<br />
We try our best to listen to what our fans liked and did not like about our<br />
previous titles, and with games in general and incorporate that feedback<br />
into new games.<br />
So, what are we adding? A lot of work went into the mission design in<br />
general. We made a very serious effort to avoid redundancy. The dozens of<br />
missions in the game are designed to be as fun and exciting as possible.<br />
AngstOverlord: Are we ever going to get a playable female character in<br />
GTA? As much fun as I had with CJ in his underoos, I couldn’t identify with<br />
him at all.<br />
RR: You never know... strong female leads can indeed make for great<br />
gaming. I am sorry you could not relate to CJ, but was it due to the fact<br />
that he was a man, or the setting he was in? Would simply switching him to<br />
a female have made it better, or simply come off as a gimmick to cash in<br />
on a broader, female audience?<br />
AngstOverlord: Secondly, is the music going to have new pieces, or will it<br />
be the same as the console edition? I revel in 80’s music.<br />
RR: So do we, and in doing so we have created an entirely new soundtrack<br />
for Vice City Stories, with songs such as Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What<br />
Love Is,” Dio’s “Holy Diver” and much more. We are incredibly proud of<br />
this soundtrack, it contains over one hundred licensed tracks and is quite<br />
possibly the best, deepest collection of songs ever assembled. It was also<br />
spectacularly dif cult to t it all on the UMD. I hope you enjoy it!<br />
AngstOverlord: Finally, will swimming be enabled in this game? Drowning<br />
in a three-foot deep puddle just cramps my style.<br />
RR: Break out your trunks! Not only is swimming in the game in an<br />
incidental way, like when you drive your car off a pier, for example, but<br />
the waterways around Vice City play a role in the game in a broader sense<br />
than ever before.<br />
snowstorm52: What new vehicles are in the game that weren’t in Vice<br />
City for the consoles?<br />
RR: There are some vehicles, such as the JetSki, that are entirely new<br />
to the Grand Theft Auto universe. With so much water surrounding Vice<br />
City, the team here really focused on making the water-based vehicles feel<br />
completely different than land-based vehicles. So for example, the JetSki is<br />
really fast but can take very tight turns by holding down the Right Shoulder<br />
button while maintaining the ’feel’ of a Grand Theft Auto vehicle.<br />
In addition to completely new vehicles, we are also proud to have been<br />
able to include helicopters, which are making their debut on the PSP in<br />
Vice City Stories. Being able to y the choppers is awesome! It opens<br />
up a huge dynamic in the game, with the verticality of Vice City and the<br />
rooftops, and it’s such an incredible way to see and get around the city.<br />
HARDCORE GAMER MAGAZINE_VOLUME 2_ISSUE 5_CALL CHUCK