Hasta La Gadget!

Given the high-profile nature of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto franchise, it is not surprising to find that there are many who are attempting to sue the developers. In the past we have heard claims of how some of the characters in the game are based on real people, like in the case of Lindsay Lohan who believed that the bikini-clad girl in Grand Theft Auto V was based on her likeness (it is not true, a different model was used for the likeness).

Well the latest lawsuit to land on the doorsteps of Rockstar comes from a daughter of the mobster responsible for bringing down John Gotti. Karen Gravano asserts that the character, Antonia Bottino, is based on her and her life story and she is suing Rockstar for using it without her permission. She is demanding $40 million in damages. (more…)

Mobster’s Daughter Alleges GTA 5 Used Her Story And Likeness Without Her Permission original content from Ubergizmo.

Red Dead Redemption was released back in 2010 and found itself surrounded by positive reviews. That being said, we’re sure many gamers out there are interested in seeing a sequel released, especially in today’s day and age where we might look forward to different gameplay as well as improved graphics. Well the good news is that a sequel to Red Dead Redemption could be in the works and could even be launched later this year, at least that’s according to Baird Equity Research, who has come to the conclusion that Take-Two and Rockstar could be making an announcement regarding the sequel later this year.

According to analyst Colin Sebastian, “We expect product announcements over the next year such as extending GTA V to other platforms (e.g., PC, next-gen consoles), the next Red Dead, etc., to help improve revenue and earnings visibility. In addition, the company has significant potential to grow digital/onnline revenues, which should help improve gross margins and add visibility to growth.” Their analysis is based on how they expect Take-Two to meet the guidelines they issued to shareholders for the next financial year. Of course neither Take-Two nor Rockstar have make any statement regarding any of the games mentioned above yet, so do take it with a grain of salt for now, but would you guys love to see a Red Dead Redemption 2?

Red Dead Redemption 2 Could Launch As Soon As 2014, According To Analyst original content from Ubergizmo.

For those unfamiliar with the Rockstar patent consortium, they are basically a group of tech companies that have joined forces to buy Nortel’s patents from a while ago. The companies that are part of the consortium include big names such as Apple, Microsoft, and Sony, just to name a few. Back in December, Google filed a complaint against the consortium, basically alleging that the consortium are a bunch of bullies who have come together to harass other tech companies, such as Google themselves, and it looks like Google is not alone in feeling that.

In yet another lawsuit filed against the consortium, it seems that this time several US cable companies have come together and decided that the consortium’s plans to break up into smaller shell companies is just not fair. Apparently the plan was for the consortium to divide themselves up into smaller shell companies, with each shell company holding a patent needed by the cable companies. From there it is presumed that the shell companies will approach the cable companies and ask them to license the patents in question or risk getting sued for obscene amounts of money.

It is unclear how the lawsuit will proceed and what the Rockstar consortium will do in response to the lawsuit, but for those interested in taking a look at the lawsuit in its entirety, click here for the details.

US Cable Companies Sue The Rockstar Patent Consortium original content from Ubergizmo.

Most of the time when playing a video game, the number of protagonists that the gamer controls is usually one. This is more or less the standard, even in games such as Baldur’s Gate where your character is the main character and basically you lose the game if your main character dies, versus  the other five members of your party. Rockstar decided to turn things on its head with Grand Theft Auto 5 when they introduced not one, not two, but three protagonists which gamers could control throughout the entire game. It was an interesting idea and given the various successes of the game, it looks like Rockstar’s idea paid off, but was this something the developers knew would happen? As it turns out, not really.

In a recent interview with Edge, Rockstar North’s art director Aaron Garbut revealed that including three protagonists in the game was something of a leap of faith, and that there was a good chance it could propel the game to new heights of success, but at the same time could backfire really badly on them as well. “[Having] multiple characters was a leap of faith. It was an interesting idea, and it felt like we could do interesting things with it, but it also felt like a change to the core of the game that might backfire. I think it really worked out.” GTA 5 has been met with rave reviews to date but what do you guys think? Was one of the reasons the game played so well was because of the use of three protagonists, versus one?

Rockstar Took A Leap Of Faith With GTA 5′s Three Protagonists original content from Ubergizmo.

Inside the world of Grand Theft Auto 5 and the GTA Online universe there’s an update coming down this week that’ll allow users to do-it-themselves in a whole new set of ways. The latest in create your own experience abilities comes with GTA Online’s Race Creator and Deathmatch, both arriving in a sort of Beta […]