Rockstar Newswire

Read on for a recap of action in Table Tennis, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto IV...

The full collection of GTA Trilogy Kubrick Collectibles is now in stock at the Rockstar Warehouse - including the rare San Andreas set for the first time available for sale at the Warehouse, and a special new Anniversary reissuing of the Vice City set.
 

Super rare and highly sought-after amongst both GTA fans and Kubricks collectors, you can now score the San Andreas Kubrick Box Set directly from Rockstar Warehouse. Featuring Carl “CJ” Johnson, Officer Tenpenny, Big Smoke, Ryder, and straight from “The Mothership,” The Truth.
 

 

The latest automatic title update is now available to download for Max Payne 3 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. It paves the way for today's Deathmatch Made in Heaven DLC release with support for that pack (read all about the new modes and more here) and also introduces the following fixes and improvements:

• Slightly increased the rate of fire and the accuracy of the IMG 5.56 and fixed an issue where it would occasionally jam between bursts
• Fixed a reloading issue with the M24
• Fixed an issue where the auto 9mm would sometimes change fire mode when toggling the laser sight on/off
• Fixed an issue where the scope and laser attachments for the IA2 AR rifle would occasionally not work
• Fixed an issue where the grenade indicators would sometimes not display correctly
• Improved fix for instance of players occasionally getting stuck in cover during the single player campaign
• Fixed an issue where players could occasionally have trouble aiming using Southpaw controls in the single player campaign
• Fixed an issue where certain users received an error message when selecting Social Club from the Main Menu
• Fixed an issue with signing up to Social Club in-game for Japanese users

If you have any problems downloading this title update or are experiencing any other technical issues you need help with, please contact our tech support team through any of the following means:

Since the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition last month, we've enjoyed hearing your choice moments, soundtrack favorites and anecdotes of miscellaneous mischief as you revisit (or perhaps discover for the first time) the sights and sounds of 1980s VC on your iOS and Android devices. We've also heard a handful of pleas asking for tips on particular missions and tasks, so here are just a few pro tip strategies from Rockstar for what seem to be the most challenging assignments.

"The mission that do you after purchasing the Malibu club and you have to go to the second island to see Phil Cassidy at the shooting rage. Man, that mission is freaking hard" - XXBro0klynJAYXX

Phil Cassidy is the best stick-up man in town and while he's not quite asking you to shoot a fly off his head from 80 feet, you'll still need a solid aim if you're going to impress him in the "The Shootist". For those who need a reminder, the mission requires you to beat Phil's score across three different rounds in the shooting range, and each is played from a first-person perspective. Note that there are two ways to control the reticle: the analog method, where you touch and hold the left-hand third of the screen to bring up a virtual analog stick, just like when moving around the world on foot; and the swipe method, where you drag along the center third of the screen to adjust your aim. You may also want to enable 'tap to shoot' in the Controls menu, so you can fire by tapping anywhere on the right-hand third of the screen and not just on the button icon.

Targets up close are tempting, but go for ones in the background. You'll get more points and can easily shoot at other targets that pass in front.

For the first round, firing at moving targets against the clock, focus on the target furthest away. Not only does this target give the most points, you'll also be able to pick off the chest sections of other two targets as they pass in front of it with minimal reticle movement. As the easiest and most lucrative of the three rounds, you should be looking to pick up 30-35 of the 60 points required in total.

In round two, focus on making each bullet count. Targets will appear in the six windows and it can be tempting to try and pop them all, only to end up chasing shadows. Keep the reticle moving around the windows at a slow, steady pace and wait for the targets to come into line. On a good day you may even take your total up to 60 in this round, or at least leave yourself with only a few to grab in the third, most difficult round.

If you try and go for every target, then you're going to find round three difficult, given the speed at which they move and the various spots in which they appear. Instead, alternate the reticle position between these two "sweet spots": the doorway furthest away from you on the left and the waist-high wall opposite that on your left. These two positions alone should provide enough targets to take you to your total, providing you put in the good work in the previous rounds.

"I'm almost on the last mission but I still need to do 'Checkpoint Charlie' for the Boatyard" - VinewoodTits

We know this one's proven difficult to our friend VinewoodTits and others, so we're here to impart some helpful seamanship. The key to driving speedboats is in following straight lines (and that doesn't mean taking Rosenberg with you). Keep looking ahead and try to collect each package keeping side-to-side movement to a bare minimum. Try to memorize the positions of tight turns and start them early - the last thing you want to be doing on the ocean is making twitchy movements as they're difficult to correct. As you approach a turn, ease off the gas while you line it up and then accelerate through. Finally, prepare yourself for the jumps and make sure you carefully line up your approach. If you're messy through that section then you're going to have trouble completing the mission within the time limit.

Hit the link below to read on for our tips on "Demolition Man" and more...

Now that both the Max Payne 3 Hostage Negotiation and Painful Memories DLC packs are out in the wild (get the full lowdown here and here in case you missed them) we've been checking out how the best players in the community use the new Bursts, weapons and Loadout Items to their advantage. Taking this into account, along with input from the top players at our dev studios, here's our tips on how to make the most of your arsenal.

The M24 is the first bolt-action sniper rifle in the game and provides impressive stopping power at long range for those accurate enough to wield it. We recommend equipping the Supressor to mask its distinctive sound and protect your position, even though that slightly impairs the range.

The IA2 AR is one of the most powerful and accurate assault rifles in Max Payne 3 multiplayer, and it's best used to keep enemies at bay from around mid-range. While it's fire rate means it not as efficient up-close, you may want to consider a punchy side-arm like the Sawn-off or the 608 Bull for those intimate encounters.

The UAR-21 is a good all-round assault rifle with a particularly fearsome fire rate that makes it more effective up close than some others. However, that does mean you're going to get through plenty of ammunition so we recommend adding the Extended Mag attachment, along with the Barrel Upgrade and Gas Systems kit if you can spare the Loadout weight.

Highly accurate across mid to long-range and with plenty of ammunition in reserve, the IMG 5.56 is a solid choice for those large, open maps like Canal De Panamá and New Jersey Cemetery.

Hit the jump for some tips and strategies on how to utilize the new Bursts and Items from both packs.

New Crew outfits rock your squad's emblem boldly and proudly - here as modeled by our own Rockstar Dev Crew. Click click.

NEW SOCIAL CLUB CREW OUTFITS UNLOCKED

Any ragtag group of mercenaries can take up arms and face a common enemy, but no truly great army is complete without a uniform that binds them together. The fiercest street gangs and warriors of the world have always been careful to unite under a visual identity, both for practical purposes of avoiding friendly fire and for the pride of knowing that you fight for a cause.

Now, you and your Crewmates can look united on the battlefield - and strike fear in your opponents when they see you coming ("Oh no, not THEM!") - with these new Crew outfits for members of Social Club that will display your Crew's emblem loud and proud right on your chestpiece. You may have already noticed the Crew Jacket available to male avatars in the De Marcos faction; now we are releasing an outfit for every faction, including all the DLC groups and two unique Crew outfits for the UFE.

In the picture above, members of our own Rockstar Games Dev Crew stalk through the favelas rocking the Rockstar Emblem with pride. To access your new Crew gear, head into the Avatars section of the in-game Multiplayer Arsenal menus and explore the Torso options for your avatars, both male and female.

This past Saturday's Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Crew Event was a virtual - and bloody - fashion show of Emblem gear on parade, featuring 3XP as well as the skull mask unlocks. Good to see everyone in the matches and in the chatroom.

SAY HELLO TO OUR LITTLE FRIENDS

In honor of the launch of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for iOs and Android devices, this week on the Crew Cut we take a look at the Crews who themselves pay thematic homage to the glitz, glamor, gangsters and guns of eighties Vice City - disciples of Tommy Vercetti, Love Fist groupies and more.

The Vercettis Crew's ("Remember the name") awesome portrait of Tommy and his signature tropical shirt was originally featured in one of the very first Crew Cuts, but below left is a pretty sweet pattern version that seems apt for Crew Emblem use and should look particularly stylish on the new Crew outfits unlocked. A very nice abstraction with some of Vercetti's favorite tools of the trade mixed in with the flora and fauna. The best Rockstar character resort wear piece we've seen since this Max Payne emblem back in the second ever edition of the Crew Cut. Another Crew returning to the Cut this week, Sons Of GTA, have a plethora of impressive emblems dedicated to Vice City among other games in the GTA series. We particularly like the attention to detail in their recreation of the Vice City logo, which is nigh-on perfect - no easy feat. This esteemed 231-member Crew have Accomplishments including Membership IV, Feuds I (73 feud wins) Solidarity III (over 1,000 Crew assists), and more - so we can only imagine how hard they're going to go once it comes time for the first Grand Theft Auto title supporting Crews. One to watch - or align yourself with if you're a currently Crew-unaffiliated GTA fan.  

Rewind Crew certainly get in the spirit with their claim to be “droppin’ bodies like an 80's drug addiction" and they seem to be able to back up that braggadocio. With 674 wins, the Crew sports a 65% Feud win percentage and are ranked no.1 on the Xbox LIVE leaderboards for Crews with 6-20 members. This Crew have had this awesome rendition of the Vice City Martini girl seen below left as their emblem ever since their foundation in late May of this year - it ain't broke, why fix it? The Vice Crew, in name, emblem and notable member LanceVance225, are clearly devotees of VC. This tight-knit group of four has a 71% win percentage and Accomplishments such as Legend I, having finished as the top Crew 20 times in online multiplayer game modes. We love their emblem, with an economic and powerful use of color depicting some essential elements of Vice City - palm trees, brass knuckles, and a trusty pistol. The Vercetti Estate Crew might need to improve their win percentage (26%) but we like the use of the Vercetti Family insignia in their regal looking emblem, and credit these guys for having a loyal gang of 224 members. Accomplishments include but are not limited to Solidarity IV (over 2500 Crew assists) and XP V (over 25,000,000 accumulated as a Crew). 

There are also a few smaller Crews devoted to Vice City - here's hoping that the mobile launch of their favorite iteration of the GTA series will spur some recruitment. For starters, we have a Crew named after Vice City's beloved hair metal band, Love Fist. It's clear from some of our recent GTAV artwork that the Love Fist fandom still runs strong all over the world to this day. Time to give Dick, Willy, Percy and Jezz the love they deserve and sign up to represent this powerful logo. Vice City Resident's crest is another great example of emblem editors being inspired by the themes of Vice City to create a simple but memorable brand for their Crew. They have fought a meager three Feuds between the 15 of them, but with an emblem like this it's time to get back out on the battlefield and get better known. The Vice Hotline Crew threw everything at their emblem to create a psychedelic splash of color. The Crew's motto claims they represent for "Strength in Numbers", which is only slightly awkward in that that they only have one member - a clear Vice fan who is also a card-carrying member of the aforementioned Vercetti Estate. Hey ZCRAZE, we hope this helps get some new recruits on the roster!

We'll be back soon with some updated recaps of all our recent Rockstar Crew versus private Crew throwdowns as well as more of the awesome emblems that you guys have been creating and publishing around Social Club. 

On top of the thrill of experiencing the sights and sounds of Vice City on your mobile or tablet, the 10th Anniversary Edition of the game - now available for iOS and Android devices - has a wide array of control customization options to ensure your play experience is as smooth as Vercetti's wardrobe. Some of these options were introduced last year in the GTAIII 10^th Anniversary mobile release and some are new or enhanced for Vice City. Here's a quick rundown of these options and beneath that you can find a full guide to the control settings that can be accessed and tailored from the Main Menu by tapping on Options > Controls:

• Enhanced Free Look Camera Control: You can now touch the center of the screen (anywhere that isn't occupied by a button icon) and drag in any direction to rotate the camera a full 360° around Tommy.
• Positionable Chase Camera: You can finely adjust the distance between the Camera and Tommy by pinching in and out from the center of the screen.
• Tap to Shoot: With this activated, you can tap anywhere on the right-hand third of the screen (not just on the designated button icon) to fire off a round of your selected weapon.
• 1st Person Auto Aim: When activated, this option gives you a subtle nudge in the right direction when using scoped weapons such as the sniper rifle or the rocket launcher.
• Running Jump: To make Tommy jump, double tap on the 'Run' button icon.

View Controls: During gameplay, various buttons are displayed on-screen, with each triggering an action depending on the situation. Each action has its own icon, and this screen is your legend for those icons (also pictured below). They're all in one place for easy reference.

Adjust On Foot Controls: This lets you fully customize exactly where each of the button icons, and HUD elements such as the mini-map, appear on the screen when you're on foot. Simply touch and drag each item to wherever you want it to be and double tap each item to resize it. They'll appear exactly where you placed them the next time you play and don't worry: nothing is final, so feel free to experiment until you're comfortable.

Adjust Driving Controls:  Just like the above, touch and drag to position the button icons that appear while driving, and double tap icons to resize. These don't need to be consistent with your on foot controls, so feel free to mix it up completely if that's what you're comfortable with.

Adjust Flight Controls: This should be self-explanatory by now – all you need to do is touch and drag the button icons that appear while flying and double tap to resize.

Use Analog Steering: When on foot, you control movement by holding anywhere on the left-hand third of the screen that isn't occupied by a button icon. Wherever you thumb will become the center-point of a virtual digital analog stick and you can drag in all directions to move around accordingly. If you'd also like to use this method to control steering while driving (as opposed to the default method that has two button icons for left and right) then set this option to 'On'.

Accelerometer: With this option selected, you can control steering while driving by tilting the actual device left and right (provided of course your device supports this feature).

Left Handed Analog: This instantly flips your current control scheme setup (think of it as creating a mirror image) and is a great quick option for left-handed players.

Invert Look: While aiming down the scope of certain weapons like the sniper rifle and the rocket launcher, this option allows you to invert the y-axis.

Tap to Shoot: Particularly useful in gunplay-focused missions, this option allows you to tap anywhere on the right-hand third of the screen (or the left-hand third of the screen if you have 'Left Handed Analog' set to 'On')  to fire, and not just on the appropriate button icon.

1st Person Auto Aim: If you need some extra help with the sniper rifle, rocket launcher or other weapons that offer a 1st person perspective, try this feature. Note that not all weapons support this type of view.

Hopefully this guide will help you get off to the best possible start in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 10th Anniversary Edition; feel free to shout in comments or drop us an email directly at mouthoff@rockstargames.com if you need additional guidance or have any tips of your own you'd like to share.
 

Update: The multiplayer event has now concluded but Triple XP will be active all weekend long. Thanks to everyone who joined us.

By popular demand, the first Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Event of our Winter Calendar is a weekend affair - taking place this Saturday, December 15th from 11am to 2pm EST (4-7pm GMT). So put any holiday shopping plans on hold for a few hours weekend warriors and pick up those dual M10s to battle it out in our live-streamed event along with other members of the Rockstar Games community.

OFFICIAL ROCKSTAR IDs
Participating official in-game Rockstar names will be:

• MaxPayneDev1 (Xbox 360)
• MaxPayneDev2 (PS3)
• MaxPayneDev3 (Xbox 360)
• MaxPayneDev1 (PC)

SWEEPSTAKES
Enter to win a Max Payne 3 prize pack on the events page, including a Max Payne 3 t-shirt, bullet keychain and stickers. Five winners will be randomly selected. Official rules can be found here.

COUNTDOWN
If you're unsure of when the event will begin in your time zone, have a look at the countdown on the Social Club multiplayer events page.

HOW TO FIND US
When the event starts up on Friday, enter Max Payne 3 multiplayer and select the Social Club Multiplayer Event playlist. We'll play a mix of Soft Lock and Free Aim, so look for the names listed above. We receive many requests from players who wish to play with our Devs, and we do our best to accommodate them all. During the event, our Devs will jump in and out of different lobbies to get a game with as many different fans as we can. If you can't get in a game with our Devs immediately don't forget to remain patient and make sure you get out there and represent for yourself and for your Crew.

FUTURE PLAYSESSIONS
If you want more time to play our games with us, your best bet is to follow us at our official Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Steam pages so you can get the word when we're going online for some impromptu multiplayer.