1. Red Dead Redemption, Product
Like most great things, they take time and effort to make. Rockstar didnʼt rush the game
just to make money and adapt the game later on. Rockstar planned and produced Red
Dead Redemption from start to finish in five years. This is why the release date kept being
pushed back; as Rockstar wanted to make sure that the game was perfect before they
released it into the world. They didnʼt feel that it mattered how long it took, as long as the
finished game was the best it could be.
Red Dead Redemption was said to cost $100 million (£70 million), Rockstar had previously
claimed that itʼs their most ambitious game yet. This had led to Rockstar spending more
money on advertising than ever before, with their company first cinema advert. People had
suggested that this points towards an inflated budget, and additionally accusations of poor
working conditions in the San Diego studio reported to have negative affects on the
gameʼs lengthy development process.
The game was created for use on both the PlayStation3 and the Xbox360, both these
consoles are technologically converging machines, they also both output at a High
Definition visual standard, they connect to the internet and have large enough hard drives
to cope with the capacity of an ʻopen world gameʼ. This means that during gameplay Red
Dead Redemption doesnʼt have to load whilst moving between various game zones. It is
only because consoles such as the PS3 and 360 have been invented that Rockstar could
create a game of such detail, previous consoles (PS2) couldnʼt process a game as
powerful and detailed as Red Dead Redemption.
Rockstar created Red Dead Redemption using their sophisticatedly advanced game
engine; ʻRageʼ. This game engine is a software system designed for the creation and
development of games. Rockstar redesign and start from scratch each time they create a
game, which may take longer but produces a better game at the end of the day. ʻRageʼ the
system that Rockstar created consists of a rendering framework; to create the objects
within the game. A physics engine which allows things to interact in a realistic manner e.g.
objects falling, an audio engine to make sounds and special audio effects. It also contains
an animation engine to make things move, then a scripting language to enable gamers to
interact with it.
Itʼs gaming systems like these that make it possible to create some of the greatest games
around.