Crew Cut: Season's Beatings

Posted on December 31 2012, 12:46pm | Author: R* M | Filed Under: Social Club

As Old Man Winter tightens his icy grip outside, Social Club Crews have continued to keep warm with regular southbound trips to the hot and hazy multiplayer grottos of São Paulo in Max Multiplayer. To celebrate the season and in the spirit of giving, we've hooked up all members of Social Club with a little stocking stuffer in the form of the awesome new Human Skull, accessible via the Head Items section of your Loadouts. After this past Saturday's Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Event, we also introduced Event-specific Crew leaderboards for the very first time on the Social Club Multiplayer Events page, alongside our usual individual Player leaderboards. The chance to unlock another skull, the fearsome Wedding Skull, by placing in the top 10 private Crews brought the best of Social Club Crews out in force, with everyone allowed to join in all the games. We'll have more chances to unlock these skulls coming in January. This week on the Crew Cut we take a look at who the winning Crews were in our second Social Club Winter Calendar Event, and which squads are catching our eye for the very first time with performances that left their opponents strung up like fairy lights. We've also rounded up some fine and festive seasonal Crew Emblems we found further below.


Makavell from Slaughterhouse sent in this pic of him preparing for his nuptials. Ah, romance.

DEATH AND MARRIAGE

With the awesome Wedding Skull to fight for, Crews were repping hard to cement their place at the top of the leaderboards. The Ice Cold Assassins Crew impressively snuck into the top 10 private PS3 Crews with just five members. This came as no surprise after the plucky Free Aimers proved themselves admirably in a recent bout against the Rockstar Dev Crew, showing us the speed and accuracy with which they maintain their 90% Feud win percentage. However the most astonishing performance in the entire event was by two-man Crew Black Shadow. This deadly duo worked harder than Saint Nick on Christmas Eve to finish 10th overall on the PC Crew Event leaderboards; respect to leader BermsBertDualShk for also finishing eighth on the PC Player leaderboards.

 

Black Shadow are just one of a host of Crews who have not yet received the recognition that they clearly deserve here in the Crew Cut report. Two more Crews that have never been featured are Kung Foo Fighters and Dixie Gaming League, coming in 8th and 9th respectively on the Xbox leaderboards during the event. Kung Foo Fighters Crew recently snuck into the top 20 of all Xbox Crews worldwide, and are making a play for the big dogs. Meanwhile the Dixie Gaming League's vocal leader, MONSTRO1988, shouts out his "heritage, not hatred" Crew faithfully here in comments on the Newswire. Monstro is a professed Loadout connoisseur and strong opponent to the current trend towards dual-wielding amongst Max Payne 3 players. The tactic seems to be effective as Monstro himself placed 9th on the individual leaderboards. Solid work, there.

Three more Crews new to this column caught our eye during the event. Fight Fire With Fire made it to 70th place on the Xbox leaderboards with just three members. Having recently added a fourth, their future appears to be bright. The ironically named Peacekeepers Crews were anything but during the event as they made it into the top 10 private Crews on PC. A full 40,000 XP ahead of the Russian Bears Team, Peacekeepers have just 102 members, so if you're a PC player looking for a Crew to join up with so you can rock the Wedding Skull, these might be your guys. The Order of the Dragon pushed to 7th on the PC boards, and we're big fans of the competitive-but-attitude evident in the feed of their Crew's profile page: "Any Crews looking for a challenge, or a display of good sportsmanship, you are welcome to join us." Quite refreshing to see a Crew showing goodwill to all.
 

      

TIS THE SEASON

With Christmas just around the corner, we're pleased to see a few Crews getting in the spirit already with well-placed Santa hats giving a festive feel to some classic Social Club emblems. The YRA and S-13 Brasil are committed not only in their Emblem Editor practice but in their Social Club Events performances as well, with both of them earning their right to sport the Wedding Skulls over the Holiday Season. The YRA Crew's British Bulldog can show off his new mustache proudly after they finished top of the PS3 private Crews during the Event. Meanwhile, the S-13Brasil Crew's emblem cries reddened tears for the fallen, but the 2,465 Kills they racked up during the event proves every word of their cerebral motto: "Nenhum obstaculo e tao grande se sua vontade de vencer for maior" ("No obstacle is too great, if the desire to win is greater"). 

                   

We leave you this week with an awesome rendition of the GTAV "Beach Weather" girl by ErnestoRock2 given a suitable Christmas twist by Sweeeet55 for Consumer Products Crew. Not only do they have a sweet emblem, but as the only Crew on Xbox to beat the 121,000 strong hordes of the Payne Killers Crew members, Consumer Products were top of the tree on the Xbox Event leaderboards. With well over 4,100 Feuds won, it should come as no surprise. Sons of GTA didn't make it onto any of the Event leaderboards, but we must give respect for the holiday-themed version of their emblem featuring the men of GTAs past. You'll have to make room for three more in there next year, lads!

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Previous Editions of the Crew Cut: 

Recapping the November Social Club Multiplayer Events with Fan Videos & More

Posted on December 20 2012, 1:12pm | Author: R* M | Filed Under: Games, Social Club


Social Club stalwart and Video Editor all-star FugetSudo created this pretty awesome video of Niko Bellic himself getting in on the November 29th GTAIV PC event fun live from Tw@ cafe.

Thanks to Social Club members worldwide for joining us last month for a stacked set of Multiplayer Events battles across Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption and GTAIV - and those we've seen continuing to fight the fight in the current Winter events calendar with action unfolding well into the New Year. We'll have a December recap soon looking at all of the most recent action including the skulls holiday unlock Max Payne 3 extravaganza that happened this past weekend.

The final month of the Fall Calendar kicked off with November 16th’s intense 6-hour doubleheader of Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. Our two live-streaming players, RedDeadDev3 and RedDeadDev4, started with a Gang Shootout in which Dev4 took out 3 opponents in the opening duel and then raced to 13 kills for only 6 deaths. However, the opposition clung on thanks to solid work from KALD_KSA_F-15 (PSN ID) and mad2oo8m (PSN ID), leaving only $50 in it with three minutes to go. Dev4's teammate justaway56 (PSN ID) came to life here with a series of quick fire kills to claim the win for Dutch's Gang and come away as top player with 19 kills notched.


RedDeadDev4 waits for the perfect moment to take out Chief_RoYAL_KuSh

Following a spontaneous mass brawl in Free Roam, Dev3 entered a Grand Prix in Carrera Del Diablo with DemonLord B7R, Mazzkulin, AkA x MaFiAzZ, ClaudeSpd, ListeKing, StrappedRuby303 and Samuel4000. Dev3 saw an early lead diminish as weapons went live and DemonLord BR7 immediately put his horse down. It was an uphill struggle from there but our dev almost pulled it back, clinching second going into Chuparosa but ultimately falling just behind the race winner, Mazzkulin. Dev3 fought valiantly in the next two races and was in prime position going into the final race, but wound up falling to a 5th place finish - credit to Mazzkulin. for the overall win.


Our Dev player rides into the sunset during a race around Chuparosa

Hit the jump for much more including videos, screens and a list of participants from our November multiplayer events...

Crew Cut: Rep Your Squad with Newly Unlocked Crew Outfit Avatars

Posted on December 17 2012, 1:04pm | Author: R* K | Filed Under: Games, Social Club


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. 

 

Previous Editions of the Crew Cut: 

Join Our Max Payne 3 Social Club Multiplayer Event this Saturday with TRIPLE XP All Weekend

Posted on December 13 2012, 3:51pm | Author: R* K | Filed Under: Games, Social Club

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.

You'll also get to bask in the warm glow of TRIPLE XP all weekend long - and as a special bonus we're unlocking the fearsome Human Skull mask for all Social Club members. Now your opponents will have to face the Grim Reaper dead in the eye as you attempt to put them six feet under. As long as your platform ID is linked to your Social Club account, you'll find this awesome new skull is already unlocked in the Head Items section of your Multiplayer Loadout.
 
Also, rally the troops from your favorite user-made Crew for this event, as we're rolling out new Crew leaderboards and unlocking the Wedding Skull mask for the top 10 user-made Crews on each platform. Please take note that this only applies to user-made Crews, so active members of top public Rockstar Crews like the Payne Killers and Read Dead Rustlers will not receive the Wedding Skull. Crew leaderboards and Wedding Skull masks will go live at noon ET on Monday, December 17th and once we release the skulls they will only be available in your Loadout when you're actively repping that top 10 Crew.
 
During the event our team of Rockstar Dev players will be live-streamed on the Social Club Multiplayer Events page alongside our official hosted chat and sweepstakes - where you can enter to win one of five Rockstar prize packs. As with all of our Max Payne 3 events we will be posting player leaderboards after the event so you can see how you measure up against your rivals. Also, don't forget to check out our third bonus stream on the twitch.tv/rockstargames page, where we also host weekly impromptu playsessions and our ongoing series of Dev vs Crew challenges.
The full event details, including who to look for and how to participate are laid out below:

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.

Details for the Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer Event with TRIPLE XP (December 7th, 4-7pm EST)

Posted on December 6 2012, 2:30pm | Author: R* Y | Filed Under: Games, Social Club

Update: The event has ended, but Triple XP is on all weekend long. Enjoy!

We're kicking off our winter slate of Social Club Multiplayer Events Friday December 7th with a Red Dead Redemption Triple XP throwdown across both platforms. Join us in Free Roam on the Red Dead multiplayer frontier at 4pm EST / 9pm GMT with your favorite mount as we'll be playing through all of the game's mutliplayer modes including a few rounds of Undead Overrun from the Undead Nightmare expansion. We'll be online until 7pm EST / 12am GMT, but the Triple XP will be live all weekend long, even after the event comes to its conclusion.

We're streaming three of our four official dev players during the event - with two live video streams and chat hosted at the Social Club Multiplayer Events page, where you can also enter for a chance to win one of five Rockstar prize packs that include a Rockstar t-shirt, a deck of Red Dead playing cards and some assorted stickers (entry period begins at midnight EST on the Events page and lasts throughout the day). Our third dev player will be streaming on our TwitchTV page, which also includes a Rockstar-hosted chat.

OFFICIAL ROCKSTAR IDs

  • RedDeadDev3 (Xbox 360)
  • RedDeadDev4 (PS3)
  • RedDeadDev5 (Xbox 360 on Twitch)
  • RedDeadDev6 (PS3)

HOW TO FIND US
We'll invite some players during the event, but please keep in mind that we might not necessarily be able to get you in right at the beginning. Lot of players often attempt to send over friend requests and messages simultaneously, and we try to give priority to those asking in a respectful manner via chat or in comments... please don't spam!

To get started, select Multiplayer from the main menu, and choose Normal from the list of difficulties. We'll hop into some Hardcore matches during the day for sure, but we generally like to get started with Normal difficulty.

ADDITIONAL TIPS

  • Want to earn Triple XP, and fast? First lead your posse to Warthington's Ranch, then head to Pike's Basin, a Gang Hideout between Armadillo and MacFarlane's Ranch. Have a look at the in-game map, as both locations are marked in big letters. We recommend doing this with three or more players in a posse. Twin Rocks is another possibility, located northwest of Armadillo, but it doesn't reward as much XP as Pike's Basin does.
  • If you're having issues finding us or getting an invite, watch one of the video streams. Take note of the mode we're playing, and you might be able to join us by selecting that same mode in your game.
  • Submit your Gamertag or ID once in the comments section for this article about an hour before the multiplayer event begins. Let us know whether you're on PS3 or Xbox 360, and we'll be able to get you on our list and invited to the next available game.

Feel free to drop your own tips in the comments below in advance of Friday's festivities...

Previously:
Recap, Video & Screens from the Red Dead Redemption Social Club Multiplayer Event on September 13
Recapping the July 27th Red Dead Redemption PSN Social Club Multiplayer Event
Red Dead Redemption PSN Social Club Multiplayer Event Recap Featuring Contest Winners and Fan Videos

Crew Cut: Playing the Field

Posted on November 30 2012, 11:34am | Author: R* M | Filed Under: Games, Social Club

In the over six months since the launch of Social Club multiplayer Crews, we've seen that the way players handle their relationships with their Crews definitely does vary. While there's certainly players who have committed themselves to a loyal relationship with one particular Crew (and a lot of Crews who also demand full exclusivity from their members), there's plenty others with more of a polygamous attitude towards the entire endeavor. And hey - with the ability to be a member of up to five Crews concurrently (although only one active at a time), that's entirely your prerogative - not everyone is cut out for a long-term Crew commitment. So whether it's a case of pulling double-duty and two-timing between a couple beloved Crews you just can't choose between, or really spreading the XP love around - today's edition of the Crew Cut has a little fun blowing up spots in a new column highlighting those who we've seen playing the Crew field.

BFAMREALISM came to our attention with his second place Overall ranking in Max Payne 3 Multiplayer on Xbox 360. BFAMREALISM loves getting up close and personal with the short range weapons: his top 3 are the M10, the Auto 9mm and the trusty Sawn-Off. With these tools of the trade, he's been quite busy as a strong contributor to the Lawless Gangstas (7,441,521 XP) and Unfair Advantage (6,368,241 XP) Crews, and the predominant force in his own two man crew, aptly named bfam realism Crew. That's plenty of action, but just last week BFAMREALISM decided to step out with the famous OneEightSeven Crew, showing an insatiable appetite to benefit from Crew assists and Feuds.

      

Our second open-relationship Crewmember today is a longtime fan we've seen many times on the Max Payne 3 battlefield. Scarlettnscott is clearly playing her reputation to an advantage as she stepped out against our own Rockstar Dev Crew alongside The VII7 Crew in a recent private throwdown. We also saw scarlettnscott's Gamertag amongst the roster when ProKillersUnleashed got in touch with us about setting up a game. Then, when scarlettnscott also threatened to turn up and fight us as part of the BrokenWhiskeyBottles, we were truly impressed at her ability to play the field to consistently devastating effect, but had to politely decline in order to let other players get involved. However if we are ever to rematch the BWB, we hope to see her out there. A special shout as well to her other Crews, the popular OneEightSeven and the Girls with guns.

     

Finally, artists have long held a reputation as being a romantic bunch and it appears some of our Emblem Artists are no different in terms of having a free-spirited and polyamorous approach to Crew relationships. Whether it's for practical reasons to help spread the visibility of their fine talent in more than one domain in order to further their renown, or just an insatiable desire to be prolific and practice their love widely - some renowned Emblem Artist studs are known to join multiple Crews and publish original creations for each of them. Today's spotlight shines on ErnestoRock, who has two accounts set up to manage all of his Crew Emblem-request suitors and the time he spends fulfilling them. Below is a small gallery of Ernesto's creations we particularly admire including Rockst4r Los Santos' Grove Street party, One Bullet At A Time's rendition of Misty and The Hardcore A Team's homage to divine intervention. We'll keep a keen look out for more.

    

PRIVATE THROWDOWNS

Here's a roundup of action in our private grudge match throwdowns pitting our own Rockstar Dev Crew against various Crews who've challenged us to an online rumble for bragging rights.

Saturday November 17th saw the Fear The Wrath Crew come to take on our Rockstar Devs in a tight series of 4-on-4 games. Fear The Wrath nominated the Branco HQ map as their first choice to play a Team Deathmatch bout. With almost every player opting for dual-weld Sawn-offs, it was a fast, furious and messy battle, with no mistake or false step left unpunished. In one of the closest TDMs we've seen yet, the Devs held a three kill lead until the final two minutes when Fear The Wrath rallied to nose in front and hold on - Crew leader WrathOfJenati taking three kills in the final 10 seconds as insurance. Our Xbox party then headed to Club Moderno for a dance of death. This time, the victory was much more convincing as Fear The Wrath took the game handily 76 - 42. After two losses, the Rockstar Dev Crew sought redemption in a Gang War in the Bus Depot. Turf Grab proved an easy victory for us, as our Devs held on to all three checkpoints for the majority of the round. It was a similar story in Passage, and while Fear The Wrath were successful at Grab, when Dev 2 took down RosiGolan in Takedown, the writing was on the wall. Our Devs held out to win the battle, but respect to Fear The Wrath Crew for a fantastic performance in Club Moderno.


The heatmap from our first game against Fear The Wrath Crew.

On November 20th, the Rockstar Dev Crew came up against the cream of the crop: The Ganja Outlaws Crew who have reigned supreme at the top of the PSN leaderboards for several months running. Now it was time to prove their worth against our Devs on PSN. Entering a Bus Depot Gang War, a game of Grab turned out to be a war of attrition, as neither side managed any drop-offs - they were too busy filling each other with lead. Max Payne Dev3 got close, but was picked off by DNutz90 just meters from the drop-off point. Final score: 25 kills to 21 in favor of the Ganja Outlaws. Devs took the next two rounds narrowly, with Feuds being chalked up for both sides in Takedown, where CammySutra was the marked man. The Devs swept in and Dev1 executed the target with no mercy. A six point advantage entering the final Showdown proved too much for the Ganja Outlaws to overturn. By the end, the Devs had stretched their lead to 13 and taken the Gang War with style. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, fellas.

  

Sticking with Gang Wars, the Ganja Outlaws sought revenge in the Docks and were vindicated by a stellar performance, where they took four of the five rounds, including the final Elimination. With scores tied at 1-1, it was for all the marbles with one more Gang War in the North Favelas. After Ganja Outlaws took the first two rounds, Dev3 equipped the Spray Can to salvage some pride and checkpoints in Passage. Only a victory in a game of Turf Grab would give the Devs any kind of hope in the final round. DutchStoner took up a high sniping point, but it wasn't enough to distract the Devs from their mission and they finished on top. This left it all square heading into the final round. Top player Peawicko's RPG proved his own undoing with an immediate suicide, and the Dev Crew held on their lead for much of the game. However, as the clock ticked down, so did the teams' respawns until there were just three Devs and two Ganja Outlaws left. With both sides opting to camp down and play it safe, Dev4 went on a maverick run through the central channel to outflank the remaining players. In a nail-biting finale, Dev4 popped up from cover with the Sawn-off and cut down CammySutra to secure a famous victory. Thanks for the game guys, one of our most exhilarating yet. You can all watch the first half of this illustrious session below.


Check out the video from the first half of our private throwdown with Ganja Outlaws

 
The next challenge for our Rockstar Dev Crew was the fearsome Legends of Red Dead Crew in Free Aim on November 24th. And the LORD quartet - with Infamous_RayG of MARV3L Crew guesting alongiside them - proved they're just as adept with a pair of PT92's as they are with a Cattleman Revolver. We started with Gang Wars in the Favelas and got burned in the first three rounds as our Bomb Suited opponents displayed surgical dual-wielding accuracy. In fear of a clean sweep, our Rockstar Devs1 and 2 used lighter Loadouts to their advantage and took all three checkpoints in 'Siege' to get a fighting chance going into the final round. Alas, the headstart proved too much and the Legends of Red Dead picked up the win when DJRico666 decimated Dev2 with the rocket launcher.
 
The next round of Gang Wars in Docks went much the same way, with LORD taking a three-round lead and then foiling us right at the death in a round of 'Short Fuse', defusing the bomb seconds before explosion. That lead to a clean sweep with Lord_Fredinho taking the most kills - an impressive 44. With the overall win out of contention, we headed into Team Deathmatch armed with bruised pride and dual sawn-offs, but the Legends of Red Dead stayed true to form and claimed another win.
 
  
 
Bloody but not deterred, we rallied to take the fight to the LXG Crew on the 27th November. LXG have sat comfortably at the very top of the pile of Xbox Crews for some time now having racked up over 217 million in XP, so we were hyped for the chance to take down the biggest and baddest of them all. We began the day with a Team Deathmatch in the Bus Depot. While there was no quarter given or asked in the opening exchanges, the Rockstar Devs went on an unprecedented run: 14 kills with no reply to take the game 36 - 19. LXG were never able to recover the deficit and with Dev1 patrolling the upper balconies of the Depot warehouse, the game finished in favor of our Devs. Next up, a ding-dong battle in the snow-covered Hoboken Alleys began with a tense game of Last Man. It came down to 1-on-1, as Dev10 stalked IcedOutCook, eventually finishing him off with dual SMGs in the carpark - execution: gangland style. Later, Dev1 was picked off easily after going on a kamikaze run down the central alley in Takedown, but it wasn't enough to stop our Rockstar Dev Crew from taking another victory. In the second Gang War of the day, it was again level pegging heading into the final round, but the LXG Crew couldn't match their tactical Gang Wars skills with the demands of all-out warfare, and the Devs finished the day with a 100% record. Cheers to LXG for the games; we look forward to our next encounter against xVx-The-Agency-xVx planned for later today Friday 30th November at 5pm. We'll let you know here in comments (and via Twitter) if they dare to show...
 
Previous Editions of the Crew Cut: 

GTAIV + Episodes from Liberty City PC/PS3/360 Multiplayer Event Thursday November 29th (4-7pm EST)

Posted on November 29 2012, 4:00pm | Author: R* Y | Filed Under: Games, Social Club

Update: The event had ended. Thanks to everyone that joined in to watch, play, chat and to enter to win prizes.

Play Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer, enter to win cool prizes, watch Rockstar play the game and chat with other Social Club members Thursday November 29th from 4-7pm EST / 9pm-12am GMT. We'll be playing both GTAIV and Episodes from Liberty City on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, switching to The Lost and Damned for the middle hour and finishing with The Ballad of Gay Tony for the finale.

Five nifty prize packs will be given away. Each one includes a Rockstar Machine Tee, GTAIV license plate, a bonus Max Payne 3 t-shirt and a bunch of stickers. All you need to do to enter is give us some information so we know, should you win, where to send the package. All the details stay with us. We don't give them out to anyone that's going to spam you with emails or whatever.

If you want to go in fully prepped and ready to go, we recommend doing the following:

  • Head in-game before things begin Thursday to prepare your multiplayer avatar's look. Gotta look sharp for the video streams on the Social Club multiplayer event page and Twitch.
  • Be sure to hit up your friends ahead of time so you can get together in Party Mode to strategize for Team Deathmatch. Rallying points, places to avoid, body armor spots, etc.
  • Take a few practice runs at the tracks in GTA Race so you're solid on the shortcuts and weapon pickups.
  • Enter a few Deathmatch games to warm up on your shooting and aiming skills. Quick, efficient kills.
  • And most importantly, be sure you've got the discs nearby and the games and patches installed. Game installation is optional on 360.

ROCKSTAR DEV ACCOUNTS

  • GwRockstar3 (Xbox LIVE)
  • PlayRockstar (PSN)
  • GwRockstar1 (PC & streamed on our Twitch TV channel)
  • GwRockstar4 (Xbox LIVE)
  • GwRockstar2 (PC)

Only add one of our devs to your friends list to play. We will clear each account's friend list at the start of the event and accept as many invites as we can. We recommend playing with Social Club members, as getting in a game with a dev is not a guarantee. It is, though, something we attempt to do for everyone each time we host a multiplayer event.

FINDING US IN-GAME
Pay attention to the live chat on the Social Club multiplayer event page. We'll announce where we're at in there. We'll begin in Grand Theft Auto IV in GTA Race, and later progress to The Lost and Damned in the second hour and The Ballad of Gay Tony in the final hour. Use the in-game cellphone to select the mode we're playing during the event.

NEED A PARTNER?
For team-based modes such as Team Deathmatch, gather your friends using Party Mode. You can also hit up the chat during the event or just post your PSN ID/Gamertag in the Comments section below.

ABOUT PARTY MODE
Party Mode is an easy way to get your group together and find matches.  Here are the three quick and easy steps to get you up and running:

  • Save your current game. To get started, fire up the in-game mobile phone by pressing "Up" on the d-pad. Select Multiplayer > Party Mode > Yes.
  • Next, open up your phone again and select the Friends option to invite at least one person into your Party Mode game.
  • Once your team is ready to roll, open up the in-game phone again and select Games > GTA Race.

New Avatars of the Painful Memories DLC Pack Including Lucky Social Club Member Fan Faces

Posted on November 29 2012, 3:01pm | Author: R* L | Filed Under: Games, Rockstar, Social Club


Ready for action. Presenting the members of the Max Payne 3 DLC Multiplayer Cast. From left to right, avatars bearing the likenesses of Rachel Locke, Jeremy Wallace, Louis Van Bree, and Cesar Aguirre.

This past summer, thousands of  Max Payne 3 fans auditioned via a series of special Multiplayer Events for the chance to be cast as avatars in an upcoming Max Payne 3 DLC pack. The future is now for Social Club members Cesar Aguirre, Jeremy Wallace, Rachel Locke and Louis Van Bree who will each make their debut next week cast as members of the De Marcos Abroad faction in the Painful Memories Pack. Proverbial fish out of water, albeit heavily armed ones – members of the ruthless De Marco crime family have taken a South American holiday for a bit of pleasure and to conduct a transaction or two. This new faction will come with a range of avatar wardrobe options from beach attire to New Jersey goombah business chic.

 
Congrats once again to our cast. Cesar aka Ccssrr is a PC player from Argentina and a proud member of the Payne Killers Crew with an avatar that comes rocking his signature eye piercing. New Hampshire native and Xbox player Jeremy, also known as RiotReady, has a look perfectly cast as a tough guy soldier who knows how to handle a G6 Commando on the battlefield. Hawaii’s Rachel, known as Lucyfurr at the Social Club, is currently the top ranking member of The Dirty Jackets Crew by a handsome margin having racked up over 4M in XP and originally made us take notice while handily eliminating campers in the North Favela during our casting multiplayer sessions. Rounding out the De Marcos Abroad is a fixture here in the Newswire comments section, Belgium's Louis aka Louis1993. During casting, Louis' deadly RPD and back-yard familiarity with the Docks' rooftops made his selection and our nod to the 300 members of the one and only PCC Crew the perfect choice to round out this quartet of killers.
 
 
The second faction available in next week's Painful Memories pack is the United Souls of the People - the band of guerilla assassins that Max Payne once called "psychos with a dream." This vicious Panamanian paramilitary group pair up to oppose the De Marcos Abroad faction in Team modes on the DLC pack's Canal de Panamá and Shoot First maps which are both inspired by the single-player game's boat party level. You can of course also rock these new faction avatars in any map via Free-For-All Deathmatch as well. Expect some heavy-duty accoutrements to dress these guys up for battle with - including a serious MG Belt Bandolier, intimidating masks and clutch protective head gear.

The Painful Memories DLC Pack will arrive next week Tuesday December 4th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. We'll have a bit more to show from the pack including a tour of the new maps leading up to Tuesday's launch here at the Newswire.
 
Previously:

Social Club Crews

For Max Payne 3 to Grand Theft Auto V and beyond, Crews are groups of Social Club members who form persistent teams to compete and earn rewards in-game and on the Social Club website. Create a Crew or join one now - here are some Crews we've featured in the Crew Cut here at the Newswire:

Rockstar Warehouse

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