Rockstar Newswire

The recently released trailers and videos have all delivered a taste of the seamless blend of crime scene investigation, interrogation, cop show drama and action that permeates L.A. Noire. However, it's not until someone's been handed the controller to play for themselves, that the experience truly shines. This past week, the gaming press got their first opportunity to experience a few cases on the Homicide desk.  Below is a sample from some of today's preview stories:

"Recently, I got my first opportunity to play L.A. Noire... It works well, and if you get off track, your partner is there to spot things you miss. It’s important to scour the location for every clue, as missing things limits your options in subsequent interrogations.... L.A. Noire is going to give gamers an experience unlike anything we’ve ever played before." - Game Informer

"L.A. Noire is spectacular, both in looks and scope. Your first 10 minutes in the game will be spent in slack-jawed appreciation of its stunning visuals. Then you'll forget about that as you're swept into a game world full of clever storytelling, believable characters and stimulating gameplay." - MSN

"In interrogation scenarios you have a first-person view, letting you get a good look at every little bit of reaction as you ask your questions. Based on those reactions and the evidence you've gathered, you've got three options for a response: you can accept what they've said at face value; you can express doubt they're telling the truth if you've got a hunch that they're trying to pull the wool over your eyes; or you can call them out for lying, if you have the evidence to back that assertion up. The capture technology means this isn't so much a gameplay trick, as a purely human skill--it's not a matter of learning tells, or gameplay being shoehorned in; it's a matter of looking at someone's face and telling if they're lying." - GameSpot

"As someone who's been looking forward to L.A. Noire since it was first teased, I couldn't be happier with how the game is shaping up. The presentation, the mechanics, the story, the performances, they're all spot on. May 17 never seemed so far away." - G4

"It’s worth gushing over the MotionScan technology again here. The groundbreaking tech not only makes the characters appear and speak more realistically than any game ever, but it sets the scene perfectly and without it L.A. Noire would lose a lot of its appeal and well realised environments. As a result, it’s far from ‘just’ a cosmetic feature...On the whole, L.A. Noire is a breath of fresh air in this FPS filled world, and finally getting to grips with the game has heightened our anticipation for the game even more... Team Bondi and Rockstar seem to be onto a winner with this crime-thriller." - GamesRadar

"‘L.A. Noire’ is great entertainment, to tell it straight. The combination of witty dialogue, top-notch acting and of course amazing new MotionScan technology delivers something unique. How about that – a genuine first in how long? Yet it doesn’t feel like a gimmick, rather a mature new direction that ushers new opportunities for interactive drama of all kinds." - Yahoo Games UK

"It succeeds on all fronts, and this is not purely a result of the believable facial animation, but also the authentic setting, gruesome plot and stellar penmanship at work... Emotionally engaging and presented in a raw, bloodied context, L.A. Noire has the makings of a grim masterpiece, putting both its underlying tech and the talents of its ensemble cast to superb use." - NowGamer

"At the first look stage, we were enthralled; now, having gone hands-on, we're totally enamoured. It's one thing to present a genuinely innovative gaming concept that redefines styles of gameplay as we know them, and it's quite another to pull that concept off. Rockstar and Team Bondi are doing precisely that with LA Noire and, quite honestly, we can't write enough superlatives to describe how fresh and invigorating it is to play." - TVG

Previously:
Life And Crime in 1947 Los Angeles: Latest L.A. Noire Previews from IGN, Fast Company & More
L.A. Noire Latest Previews: Entertainment Weekly, Kotaku, Tech Radar and More
"Creating a New Genre of Videogames": The Daily Telegraph Interviews Rockstar & Team Bondi on L.A. Noire

Check out the latest exclusive previews of this spring's L.A. Noire from around the web and around the world.

To help set the scene, IGN have an exclusive interview with Team Bondi's Brendan McNamara about the state of Los Angeles in 1947, a city transformed by social and industrial change in the wake of World War II, and endemic police corruption:

"Los Angeles has a long and checkered history of boosters and corruption. Mayor Frank L Shaw used the citywide Vice Squad as bag men for collecting his cut from many nefarious activities taking place around the city. The last straw came for Los Angelenos when LAPD Captain Earl Kynette placed a bomb in the car of corruption investigator Harry Raymond. Raymond survived the blast and at the trial Kynette alleged that his orders came from City Hall. Later, Mayor Shaw's administration was implicated in over a thousand illegal betting and prostitution rackets, often - it was claimed - under the protection of the LAPD.

It wasn't until the appointment of former Internal Affairs head William H Parker in 1950 that the real work of weeding out the corruption within the LAPD would begin. Parker's most famous quote when referring to police corruption was, "We'll always have cases like this because we have one big problem in selecting police officers ... we have to recruit from the human race."

Read the full story here: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1148209p1.html

Fast Company took a deeper look at Motion Scan, with Brendan explaining exactly why the MotionScan process is so unusual:

"MotionScan has made the post-production process become much more streamlined and efficient. The technology directly transfers the actor's performance into the game engine, so very little post-processing work is needed. That means we can free up artists and designers to focus on other aspects of the game, as well as pay more attention to fine-tuning things from a storytelling standpoint."

Read more here: http://www.fastcompany.com/1724050/la-noire-brendan-mcnamara-team-bondi-rockstar-games-motionscan

While Paste Magazine explores the balance between interrogation and action:

"The level of action varies greatly from case to case. Many cases are solvable without the need for violence. For example, instead of pulling out his gun and shooting a fleeing suspect, Phelps can fire a warning shot that stops the person in their tracks. Other times, Phelps has little choice but to roll up his sleeves and pursue justice using deadly force. It becomes a balancing act between introducing players to a radically different type of gameplay and also maintaining a level of comfort and familiarity."

Check the full story at: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/02/interview-team-bondis-brendan-mcnamara-talks-la-no.html

Previously:
L.A. Noire Latest Previews: Entertainment Weekly, Kotaku, Tech Radar and More
IGN's Reader Q&A on L.A. Noire
"Creating a New Genre of Videogames": The Daily Telegraph Interviews Rockstar & Team Bondi on L.A. Noire

On the heels of this week's May 17th release date announcement and big new trailer launch, more details about L.A. Noire are beginning to be revealed, and the press are taking notice.

Recently, L.A. Noire was the focus of Kotaku's weekly Well Played column, with members of Rockstar Games and Team Bondi providing insight on the genesis of the crime thriller, a look into the art of reading faces and what it means for the future of interactive entertainment:

"We always knew, when we wanted to go down this route and make a detective game, that the key part was getting the witness in the room," said Team Bondi head Brendan McNamara. "The key part is the interrogation. Can you break them?"

Read that full story here: http://kotaku.com/5735120/how-the-human-face-could-be-the-future-of-gaming

Entertainment Weekly's interview expands on the subject in further detail:

"In L.A. Noire, the photo-realism isn't just a nifty visual -- it's central to the gameplay. According to [Rockstar's Jeronimo] Barrera, "The core mechanic is... trying to figure out whether or not the person you're having a conversation with is lying to you. As the game plays out, you're investigating crime scenes and finding evidence, and you use those pieces of evidence in the conversation." And McNamara insists that the lying isn't a binary good/evil deal: "When I was writing the game, I had up on my whiteboard: 'Everybody's lying about something.'"

Read EW's piece here: http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/24/la-noire-trailer-rockstar-games/

Meanwhile, UK’s Tech Radar examined a case in detail and came away impressed not only with the game itself, but its approach to the unflinching and occasionally grisly subject matter.

“There is a level of maturity running though L.A. Noire that suggests that it is a game being pitched at people ready to take the next step in gaming. That's not to say it's light on action, even the single case included a fist fight, a car chase and a shoot-out.
The slavishly recreated LA environment, the hard-boiled characters and the grimy plots are straight out the writings of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy.”

Read lots more from their 4-page preview here: http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/the-technology-of-la-noire-922086?artc_pg=1

Also, check out new previews at:
Igizmo: http://issue.igizmo.co.uk/1H4d2c8608e5f51959.cde/page/6
Gameplanet: http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/playstation/games/153247.L.A.-Noire/previews/136361.L.A.-Noire/
Electric Pig: http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2011/01/21/la-noire-review/
Digital Spy: http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a298227/preview-la-noire.html

Previously:
IGN's Reader Q&A on L.A. Noire
L.A. Times Hero Complex & PlayStation: The Official Magazine Cover Story
"Creating a New Genre of Videogames:" The Daily Telegraph Interviews Rockstar & Team Bondi on L.A. Noire
"Facing the Future" - Games TM UK Digs into L.A. Noire
 

There's plenty of car chases and shootouts in L.A. Noire, but it's how the game creates gameplay out of human interactions that makes it truly groundbreaking. Observing a suspect, analyzing their behavior and knowing when to believe or doubt them - or when to confront them with the evidence you've collected - is the real test of your skill as a detective. Asking the wrong questions could cost you precious time or clues, and falsely accusing a suspect could cause them to clam up completely, depriving you of a precious source of information. MotionScan is the technology that makes this gameplay possible, but it's up to you to make the most of every opportunity. Here are four new screens straight from the interrogation room.

Is this the face of a man with nothing to hide?

Phelps confronts a suspect with the evidence against him.

Phelps questions a witness at the scene of a crime – questioning can take place at crime scenes, residences and places of business whenever you’re active on a case.

As his skeptical partner looks on, Phelps attempts to extract an alibi from a suspect in a hideous crime.

More Screenshots from L.A. Noire:
Phelps on the Case | Crime Scenes, Lineups & More
Screens and Press Previews from GamesRadar, Game Informer, IGN, G4TV and More

Head on over to IGN for a special reader Q&A of questions about L.A. Noire answered by Rockstar's Jeronimo Barrera and Team Bondi's Brendan McNamara - including why the actors involved are excited about the MotionScan technology that powers the game's incredibly lifelike faces, what happens if you arrest the wrong guy and more.

You can read the full story here: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1144147p1.html

In the latest talk about L.A. Noire, the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex blog visits the Depth Analysis studio in Los Angeles to check out the MotionScan process at the heart of the game. Comparing the process used by James Cameron for 'Avatar,' Hero Complex calls Aaron Staton's performance in LA Noire "arguably the most lifelike ever seen in a videogame." Read the full story here: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/01/10/l-a-noire-new-tech-and-six-years-of-work-behind-epic-game/

Meanwhile, Playstation: The Official Magazine dedicated the cover of their February issue to L.A. Noire and in a revealing ten page feature, talk to the team behind the game about the challenges of acting in MotionScan, the science and art of building a realistic digital Los Angeles, and the overall experience of having witnessed the gameplay in depth. "What's perhaps most interesting is how much a part of the experience the acting actually becomes.  The moment-to-moment gameplay of L.A. Noire is a combination of walking around inspecting areas and casing joints, examining items, and driving - all punctuated by violence in the form of fistfights, shootouts and car chases...  It is, quite simply, compelling cinema woven into a game narrative." The issue is hitting newsstands this Tuesday, January 18th.

Previously:
"Creating a New Genre of Videogames:" The Daily Telegraph Interviews Rockstar & Team Bondi on L.A. Noire
"Facing the Future" - Games TM UK Digs into L.A. Noire

Left: Mic'd up and ready, Game Informer's Dan Ryckert prepares for MotionScan. Center: the raw, three-dimensional scan.  Right: The in-game character.

Back in March, Game Informer had an exclusive first look at L.A. Noire and the Depth Analysis studio responsible for scanning the actors and placing them in-game, but that wasn't all. During the visit, one of Game Informer's writers was selected to make a cameo as a minor character in L.A. Noire. While there was some hint of being involved in typical motion capture (the typically anonymous process of donning a dotted jumpsuit and having your movements recorded as datapoints for digital characters), they had no idea they were going to be acting out real lines -  and having their entire performances scanned and placed inside the game itself. Here's an excerpt from Game Informer writer Dan Ryckert's experiences:

"It quickly became apparent what I had unknowingly signed up for. Team Bondi's tech affords them the luxury of recording actors with 32 highly precise cameras in a soundproof white room, which then creates an amazingly realistic in-game model of whoever is in the chair. They explained what the plan was for me...I'd be captured with the cameras, allowing my exact likeness to be used for a journalist character in the game. I'd be receiving a full 1940s makeover at the hands of Hollywood stylists, then it was time to get in the chair and record dialogue while the cameras captured every subtle motion of my face."

"They buckled me into the chair and pointed out the X mark that I'd need to keep my eyes trained on. Once I was adequately prepared, the door shut behind me and I was alone in an almost eerie soundproof room that looked like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey (only with 32 cameras pointed directly at my face and a roomful of people on the other side of the wall monitoring my every move)."

Read the full story here: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/01/11/how-rockstar-put-me-into-la-noire.aspx

British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph recently traveled to Los Angeles to experience the technology behind L.A. Noire's facial performance scanning. Part one discussed their impressions of the game itself, covered on the Newswire here. The second part of the Daily Telegraph's look at L.A. Noire is now online and features an interview with Rockstar Games VP of Development, Jeronimo Barrera and Head of Team Bondi, Brendan McNamara discussing the twin development of the game and the technology that would become the foundation of L.A. Noire's lifelike and emotionally charged interrogation gameplay. Here's a snippet as Brendan discusses the news media of the period, whose coverage of real-life crimes had a huge impact on the dark and occasionally grisly content tackled in the game itself:

"When we were doing the research for the game it was an eye-opener. Back in those days you could literally have a picture on the front page of the newspaper of a woman who had been cut in half. There was a level of brutality that was accepted in that age; people had got used to it during the Second World War and that allowed for that sort of editorial judgement in a paper, which over time changed. You would never see something like that now. Plus, newspapers were coming out three or four times a day at that time and they weren’t just news, they were a sort of entertainment back then."

Read the full interview here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8240920/LA-Noire-developer-interview.html

Read why the Daily Telegraph thinks L.A. Noire is genuinely groundbreaking entertainment in part one here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8204296/L-A-Noire-preview-finally-the-videogame-that-feels-like-a-film.html

Previously:
"Facing the Future" - Games TM Digs into L.A. Noire