Posted on November 27 2012, 12:11pm | Author: R* Y | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
Announcing the Winter Calendar lineup of official Rockstar Social Club Multiplayer Events with action lined up across Red Dead (including Undead Nightmare and the Complete Edition), Grand Theft Auto IV (including the Episodes modes) and Max Payne 3 (including all the latest and greatest DLC modes). A whole new slate of opportunities to prove your mettle online against your fellow sharpshooters of Social Club, as well as taking on our Rockstar Devs in all of your favorite game modes. The Social Club multiplayer events page will be fired up with a hearth of live streaming action for each event and exclusive prize pack sweepstake gifts - not to mention event leaderboards, live Rockstar-hosted chat and bonus XP de rigueur. Also keep an eye out for chances to unlock new and exclusive Social Club avatar items for your Max Payne 3 Loadouts - we'll of course announce specific details along those lines about unlocks, prizing, special guest players and more in the days leading up to each event.
Here are the Winter Calendar dates:
Friday, December 7th Red Dead Redemption (including Undead Nightmare) PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 4-7pm EST / 9pm-12am GMT
Saturday, December 15th Max Payne 3 PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 11am-2pm EST / 4-7pm GMT
Friday, January 11th Max Payne 3 PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 4-7pm EST / 9pm-12am GMT
Friday, January 25th Grand Theft Auto IV & Episodes from Liberty City PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 11am-2pm EST / 4-7pm GMT
Thursday, February 7th Max Payne 3 PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 12-3pm EST / 4-7pm GMT
Red Dead Redemption (including Undead Nightmare) PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 4-7pm EST / 9pm-12am GMT
Saturday, February 23rd Grand Theft Auto IV & Episodes from Liberty City PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 11am-2pm EST / 4-7pm GMT
Events will always include:
Chances to Play with/against Rockstar. Some of the very folks who helped create your favorite Rockstar multiplayer games jump online in these sessions to play with fans across Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network and on PC.
Exclusive Prize Packs. Enter on the day of each event to have your name drawn to win gear in each of the six events - some of these will definitely include chances to score Grand Theft Auto V gear. Prizing also includes official t-shirts and special collectibles such as Rockstar keychains, Red Dead playing cards and GTAIV license plates, as well as Rockstar stickers and more.
Live Video Streams. Flip between two live high resolution video streams on our events page, each showing the in-game view of a Rockstar dev player. We're also on our Twitch page with another stream, showing the stream of a third Rockstar player. Listen in as Rockstar devs often coordinate over headset to dominate the competition.
Leaderboards and Unlocks. Participate with us in Max Payne 3 multiplayer during the dates listed above to compete in the leaderboards and for your chance to receive new unlocks. Back in October we gave away some new Max Payne 3 skull masks, and we have a few more we're lining up to give away during the winter.
Bonus XP. More weeknights and weekends of bonus XP are coming for Red Dead and Max Payne 3.
Live Chat. We'll have two Rockstar-hosted chatrooms running during the day, the first being on the events page and the second on Twitch.
We're also known to jumponlinetoplay completely unscheduled and unannounced, just throwing out an impromptu word via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Steam (for PC matches) when we feel like a bit of multiplayer mayhem. So do make sure you're following us at any or all of those places to get that word as it happens...
Posted on November 20 2012, 5:08pm | Author: R* Q | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
Newly introduced as an addition to the Max Payne 3 Multiplayer features at Social Club, you can now relive every bullet of your multiplayer experience and learn from your specific history to improve your game with the new Social Club Match Reports feature. Just like a football coach studying last week's game film to plot and plan out and adjust upcoming game plans, Match Reports provide you with in-depth analysis of your past forays into the battleground to allow you to better understand what tactics are working for you and which tactics are causing your downfall. Logged in users with Max Payne 3 linked can access Match Reports directly at http://socialclub.rockstargames.com/games/maxpayne3/mp/matchreports. Read on for a breakdown of each element of the feature, and helpful tips on how to use Match Reports to take your gameplay to the next level.
At the top of the Match Reports page, you'll see a timeline of your most recent matches, sortable by multiplayer game mode. The feature records the gory details of your previous ten matches, so check back in regularly to keep up to date with the info.
Once you've selected a game, the Heatmap (as seen above)will indicate the flashpoints and bottlenecks where your opponents are zeroing their sights, so you can use this information to out-think and then out-flank them the next time you roll out on to that map. Scroll through a complete timeline of all the kills from that match using the play-by-play navigation on the left-hand side - with ability to see which weapons were used, who was using them and where they stood to finish off their opponent.
Selecting the skull to the right of the Heatmap will bring up Weapon Usage information, which lets you see which weapons work best for you, your team and your opponents. In combination with the Social Club Arsenals feature, this will give you everything you need to know about which weapons are best for you on which maps, so there's no excuse not to up your KDR. Trying to figure out whether it's more efficient and effective to aim for the head or the gut when targeting enemies? Selecting the body icon will pull up the Damage Breakdown, which will tell you where and how damage was dealt by individual players and by entire teams who won or lost that specific match.
The Match Reports page also displays your stats for all weapons used in a given match. Keep tabs on your arch-enemy Nemeses and find out which players you should be targeting for easy kills.
Let us know what you think of the new feature in comments and stay tuned for continuing Social Club feature updates and enhancements soon.
Posted on November 19 2012, 3:22pm | Author: R* M | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
As we get ready to announce our new lineup of Winter Calendar multiplayer dates later this week, here's a look back at all of the Bullet Timing, Shootdodging, TDM-ing and Gang Warring action that went down in our recent October Max Payne 3 sessions which included Social Club members getting an exclusive first crack at unlocking ghoulish, intimidating new Max Payne 3 skull avatars. We'll also of course have a roundup soon of the current November sessions of Red Dead, GTAIV and Max including a recap of the bloodshed from last Friday's epic doubleheader.
Held on October 12th, the first event of the month's duo of dates saw our Rockstar Devs venturing into the lobbies of the Social Club playlist on Max Payne 3 multiplayer, greeting the masses of itchy trigger fingers. With some of the most elite practitioners of online shootouts reliably present at the event, the level of play was high and competition as thick as ever.
Early on, our very own MaxPayneDev3 and MaxPayneDev1 teamed up on PC with a few warm-up games of Gang Wars. In the Bus Depot, Dev3 was thrown into an intense battle for turf as players swarmed around a checkpoint in the broken down buses. The RPG proved to be the perfect weapon to aim at the disputed land, as Dev3 took out swaths of attackers, including ATM779, Shape_shifter and samo1980 in a single shot. Despite Ardistel sniping from the roof of the central warehouse and Sleepeur dual-wielding a deadly PT92 and 1911 pistol combo, the Devs' team held on to take the round. In consecutive games of Assassination, both teams were able to take down their intended targets; Dev3 managed to take out Ardistel, asdjagfjk and Bundeswehr43365 in yet another triple multi-kill with the RPG. Finally, after taking a round of Total Turf, the Devs' team entered the final Showdown with a 6 point lead. In a mad, scrappy fight for survival, the Dev team held on their advantage and took a Feud win from the Payne Killers Crew as well for good measure.
Below, you can watch ShenmueSaga’s full video of our event, capturing MaxPayneDev1’s performance as streamed live on the Social Club Multiplayer Events page. Check out the last hour of the event to see Dev1 venture out of the Social Club playlist and into the Branco Headquarters for an intimate game of Payne Killer. Fleeting alliances were made and broken as Dev1 worked with those on hand to take down Max and Passos and then to survive as them. Dev1's tactic of using grenades to suppress the special Characters and the M500 shotgun to follow up at close-range proved effective to remain in contention. Alexander.Cooler combined a Grenade Launcher with melee attacks to join Dev1's Passos as Max - and the two worked together to take out LukePein and Radamel. Ultimately, Alexander.COOLer was able to take victory in the game, finishing well on top of the leaderboards. Kudos.
The full recording of Dev1 uploaded to YouTube by ShenmueSaga.
In the last game of the day, it was every man for himself up on the Hoboken Rooftops (part of the free Disorganized Crime Pack download). MaxPayneDev1, playing as the Mona Sax avatar, headed into the cold New Jersey night with the trusty mini-30 and a few grenades to pick out the campers. While Alexandreas was able to score a few easy kills using the Booby Trap Item, Dev1 had some success thanks to the range and accuracy of the mini-30 in picking out opponents amongst the rooftops. After DieterKrass, playing as Max Payne's other femme fatale, Fabiana Branco, blasted his way into the lead with the 1911 and DE .50, Dev1 fought back into contention with a couple of tidy triple-kill streaks. However, Vitek9811's ruthlessness with the dual wield bull 608s was ultimately enough to win the game.
Hit the jump for much more including a recap from the Halloween special event with skull unlocks that was hosted on 10/26...
Posted on November 15 2012, 12:41pm | Author: R* K | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
Update: The Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3 multiplayer events have ended, but Triple XP is live all weekend. Keep in mind that the top 100 players per platform in the Max Payne 3 event will each receive the new skull mask, and it will become available 24 hours from the time the event ended Friday. More opportunities to get the skull masks are coming in the future!
All day Friday, we're serving up a double helping bounty of Social Club multiplayer events, including a Max Payne 3 finale added on to our originally scheduled Red Dead session as a make up for the event we postponed due to Hurricane Sandy a couple weeks back. It all begins Friday November 16th when we activate Triple XP for both Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. We'll be kicking off with Red Dead on PS3 and Xbox 360 from 11am-2pm EST / 4-7pm GMT, and then continue on with Max Payne 3 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 from 2-5pm EST / 7-10pm GMT.
Land Grab, Stronghold, Gang Matches, Undead Overrun and other matches can be expected in Red Dead, and for Max Payne 3 we'll be throwing down in the new maps from the recently released Hostage Negotiation Pack as well as other DLC and of course maps and modes from the original game release as well.
Following the recent Max Payne 3 Halloween themed multiplayer event when we featured special skull avatar unlocks, Friday we'll be unveiling another one, this time with the Arcane skull mask (pictured above). The top 100 players per platform during Friday's Max Payne 3 multiplayer event will each receive the new skull mask, as determined by the leaderboards on the Social Club Multiplayer Events Page. If you wind up one of those top 100 players, the skull will become available to you as an unlock 24 hours after the multiplayer event finishes. And if you aren't successful - don't worry, there'll be more opportunities to unlock this and other skull masks coming soon.
Join in the community chat on the Social Club Multiplayer Events Page while watching two live streams showing all the action, plus you can enter to win a one of ten total Rockstar prize packs during the event. Each includes a Rockstar t-shirt, Red Dead playing cards or Max Payne 3 bullet keychain and a package of Rockstar logo stickers.
TWITCH A third video stream will be live on our Twitch page, including a second chatroom in which you can discuss all the event happenings.
OFFICIAL RED DEAD REDEMPTION ROCKSTAR IDs Participating official in-game Rockstar IDs will be:
RedDeadDev3 (Xbox 360)
RedDeadDev4 (PS3)
RedDeadDev5 (Xbox 360)
RedDeadDev6 (PS3)
OFFICIAL MAX PAYNE 3 ROCKSTAR IDs Participating official in-game Rockstar IDs will be:
MaxPayneDev1 (Xbox 360)
MaxPayneDev2 (Xbox 360)
MaxPayneDev1 (PS3)
MaxPayneDev1 (PC)
COUNTDOWN If you're unsure of when the events will begin in your time zone, have a look at the countdown on the Social Club multiplayer events page.
HOW TO FIND US IN RED DEAD When the first event starts up Friday, enter Normal difficulty multiplayer. This places you into a public Free Roam lobby. You should be able to run into a Rockstar player this way, but if you want you can send a friend request to one of the above IDs. Their lists might be full as most services only allow a max of 100 friend requests. We recommend partying up and playing with other Social Club members until the point when you're able to join us.
HOW TO FIND US IN MAX PAYNE 3 Enter 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.
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...
Posted on November 9 2012, 10:24am | Author: R* M | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
CREW VS DEVS CHALLENGES
Since we challenged Social Club's top Crews to face off against a team of our Devs in Max Payne 3 Multiplayer, we've received a torrent of propositions - ranging from the polite to the... well, let's just call them 'fighting words'. On Monday October 29th we held a private throwdown with the Dutch Stoners in a 4v4 Soft Lock battle on Xbox 360. With the Devs rocking their fearsome Demonic skull masks, we took a clean sweep winning all five game modes in a Gang War at the bus depot. A Team Deathmatch went the way of the Dev Crew as well; they racked up an impressive 200 kills in the process. A Gang War at the docks was a slightly closer call, but ultimately our Devs ran out 3-0 winners over the course of the match.
We tip our hat to Slaughterhouse Crew who showed us a few weeks ago why they're one of the most feared Free Aim squads out there. After being given a lesson on Free Aim, we fear for the the Legends Of Red Dead Crew who seem to have their own private war with Slaughterhouse. If you two Crews ever organize a face-off, make sure you invite us so we can stream it on our Twitch page.
On Thursday October 18th, we clocked up a glorious win in a nail-bitingly competitive matchup with The VII7 Crew. GGretski and company came out strong, winning the first Team Deathmatch in Bus Depot by a handsome margin. Switching over to Gang Wars, our Devs proved their worth in Max Payne 3's signature multiplayer mode, opting for tight-knit tactics that paid off brilliantly. After losing an opening round of Deathmatch in the Favelas, our team was able to take a round of Short Fuse after the timer ran out with 3 seconds to go on a bomb planted on the bridge. Using this springboard to win the next two rounds comfortably, our Devs held on to take the match. GGretski admitted the loss was "embarrassing" in the Twitch chat but declined to comment on how he felt after we won another Gang Wars in the Hoboken Alleyways; if it's any consolation, GGretski, we've seen that end of the stick all too well ourselves, as you can read about below. You can also check out recordings of the full stream of this bout, and our other games and events, in the videos section of our Twitch.tv page.
Prior to that, we took a convincing victory over our friends from the BrokenWhiskyBottles, who count amongst their ranks some of our most dedicated and hardcore fans. Ever gracious, even in defeat, ChicagoEnigma has come out said "This was so much fun, and entirely insane for us to do.. But I would not change a thing about it. It was a definitely a privilege to get to play against the Devs." Thanks Chicago! It was an honor to play against you lot as well. While we were streaming the game on our Twitch page, GermanScientist recorded his own gameplay perspective during the match and kindly uploaded it to YouTube. As the man says, "See 0:55:15 for a cool view when MaxPayneDev6 shot a RPG right in my face!" Sorry bout that!
We were less successful in our earlier Free Aim fixtures, losing decisively to elite Free Aim Crews Shinobi, Murders Death Kill and Ice Cold Assasins. Our Devs were humbled by the talent on offer - these squads put on a clinic in our two battles and showed the value in a Crew working together to hone razor sharp strategy, skill and coordination. Shinobi were featured all the way back in the third edition of the Crew Cut for their formidable Feud win percentage, and recently gave MLG Pro player Crreama sound beating on his own Twitch channel - something that Crew member Kenshiro360 proudly displays alongside their waxing of Rockstar in his profile Status. Congratulations to Kenshiro360 for taking Top Player in two of the games, and we have grudging respect of dRCrYSIS' strafe tactics with the PT92.
Back on Saturday October 10th, Ice Cold Assassins came out to represent PlayStation Crews against the Rockstar Dev Crew. They did their platform brethren proud, winning conclusively in all three Team Death Matches that we played. We were intrigued to see Crew member hkl_100's tribute to his friend The M3rcad0'sunusual tactic dubbed "No-Scope Sniping" in action. However, since being at the wrong end of an ass-whupping, the less we see of them in the future the better. Against Murders Death Kill Crew, our Devs cited FAARNSWORTH as a particularly fearsome shot with the sniper rifle. With the open ground covered, the rest of the team were able to outmaneuver our Devs and take a convincing victory in all three games.
And in our earliest of these bouts, the Rockstar Dev Crew faced off in an 8 vs 8 Team Deathmatch against the Elite Gamer Crew, who proudly boast the top 3 Team Deathmatch players on Xbox, IRAQDE3IL, LOSTBOY FOUND and MIShka Madness. While the Rockstar Dev Crew were able to claim their fair share of Feuds and lost by only seven kills in the Bus Depot, we again took an L in three straight sets to our worthy opponents - now a well-earned boast at the EGC Crew page ("WE BEAT THE DEVS 3-0 ... WELL DONE BOYS BIG UP"). However, during team practice the following day, the Rockstar Devs invited the Elite Gamer Crew for a behind-closed-doors off-camera rematch. With no one around to witness the game, both sides have controversially claimed victory, which can only mean that one final rematch is on the cards! Elite Gamer Crew, we'll be in touch.
We'll be announcing our next set of Private Throwdowns very soon. Make sure you check out our Twitch page to watch recordings of past games, and follow us at either Twitter or Facebook to get the word when we're kicking off our next matches (we'll also drop a heads up in comments here). To everyone else from a Crew who has challenged us so far, you should have received a reply to your email by now (if you've only very recently contacted us, then watch your inbox in the coming days); while we can't play everyone immediately, we're trying to get to as many, if not all, of you bit by bit you so please be patient. If you're a Crew with some cred at the top of one of the new tiered leaderboards by platform who'd like the chance to take us on, keep your Challenges coming in to crewchallenges@rockstargames.com.
SOCIAL CLUB FOUNDER CREWS
When Rockstar Games Social Club was relaunched back in May of this year, we gave out special tags to those Crews who were with us from Day One. (For those not in the know, two stripes on a Crew tag denotes a Founder Crew, which is a special designation granted to any Crew created before May 15). With the recent announcement of exclusive Day Of The Dead Skulls for our Founder Crews, we thought we'd take a Where-Are-They-Now look at which Founder Crews have stood the test of time, and made the most of their head start, as well as some who haven't quite lived up to their early hype.
Of the Founder Crews who currently boast full membership rosters, most have already earned at least one mention on the Crew Cut. SFO-Wolf however are one Founder Crew with a full headcount who have thus far been overlooked, despite being around since May 9th. In their time, they've put out some pretty serious emblems, but we particularly like the regal crest shown above. Crew leader pencil_dude splits his time with another Founder Crew PCC, who still rep hard across all three platforms after being featured in the very first edition of the Crew Cut.
While they may no longer be in the top ten private PS3 Crews, the Rising Angels are still putting in work in Max Payne 3 Multiplayer and maintaining an impressive 75% Feud win PCT, counting prominent Founder Crew Ganja Outlaws amongst their recent scalps. Having just tipped over in to the 101-300 tier of Xbox Crews, Tennent's Special Crew maintain a dedicated Twitter account to boast of their status as the "Top Scottish" squad. Just behind them is another Founder Crew, The Sevens, this one with several color variations on an awesome 50s gun-totin' rockabilly chick. The Sevens also lay out a Communist manifesto in their status claiming that "there is no Crew leader, and that all members are the Crew." Marx Payne?
Posted on November 2 2012, 6:52am | Author: R* K | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
Due to power outage issues in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, today's originally scheduled live-streaming Max Payne 3 Social Club PSN Multiplayer event is being postponed. Stay tuned for an update to the Multiplayer Events calendar in the days ahead.
Posted on October 25 2012, 3:20pm | Author: R* K | Filed Under: Games, Social Club
Update: The event has ended, but Triple XP is live all weekend long for all platforms worldwide. The Day of the Dead Skull should be unlocked for all members of Founder Crews right now. If you are a member of a Founder Crew and do not see this in your Loadouts please email us at mouthoff@rockstargames.com with the link to your Crew’s profile. We're still working on getting everyone who joined the Social Club Event Playlist the Demonic Skull. You should all receive them by tomorrow morning.Look for more skull mask unlock opportunities in the future.
Join us Friday October 26th from 4-7pm ET / 9pm-midnight BST, for a special Halloween edition of the Social Club Multiplayer Events series where you can unlock a freaky all-new Demonic Skull head item for Max Payne 3 Multiplayer in keeping with the spirit of the season. We'll be playing on Xbox LIVE; however, players across all three platforms will be able to join their respective Social Club Multiplayer Event Playlists in-game to unlock the Demonic Skull as seen above. TRIPLE XP will also be live on all three platforms, right through the weekend.
In addition to the Demonic Skull, we're also unlocking the Day of the Dead Skull as a special bonus exclusive to all members of our veterano Founder Crews. If you have a Founder Crew as your Active Crew, or you have played at least one full game in the 26th October Social Club Playlist, check out the Head Items section of your Multiplayer Loadouts after 4pm to access the Skulls (you may need to exit to the main menu of Max Payne 3 and then return to Multiplayer in order to see them). Skulls do not award any bonus abilities, but they do look awesome!
We'll have four of our most lethal dev players tearing it up with you across various game modes, double live stream, Rockstar-hosted chat and a sweepstakes to win Max Payne 3 Prize Packs over at the Social Club Multiplayer Events page, plus a bonus stream over on the Rockstar Twitch channel. At some point during the event, our four Rockstar devs will Crew up to take on challengers - so look out for that in the chat and ready your Crew to try and take them on, just like Broken Whiskey Bottles, Shinobi, Elite Gamer Crew, Ice Cold Assassins and The VII7s have done recently. Be sure to check back in to the Multiplayer Events Page to see if you made the top 200 on the Event Leaderboards.
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
MaxPayneDev2
MaxPayneDev3
MaxPayneDev4
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 are available in several languages.
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. Please note that the playlist will be visible on all platforms, but on this occasion our devs will only be playing on Xbox LIVE.
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...
Posted on October 23 2012, 10:01am | Author: R* X | Filed Under: Social Club
Some very sad news has come to our attention in that longtime community member IWIHooligan has recently passed away.
IWIHooligan was a dedicated and active member of the Social Club - a huge fan of titles like The Warriors and GTAIV as he led The Warriors GangCrew - a regular commenter here at the Newswire and attendee of multiplayer events - and was talented in his own right as a video editor as a former winner of one of our Video Editor Contests for his piece, "I Walk Alone" (you can also read a nice interview with him that fansite GTAAddict conducted in 2011).
We know that many of you here at the Social Club were mates of his - we'll all miss his voice and presence here and we'd like to take this time to remember him and to offer our deepest condolences to all of his family and friends.
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:
The Rockstar Warehouse is the official online retail destination to shop for Rockstar games, fine apparel, limited-edition collectible merchandise, soundtrack releases, posters and more. Currently in stock:
Make sure you like Rockstar on Facebook to get all of our big announcements, updates, trailers and special offers right to your News Feed. Plus exclusive apps from Rockstar including:
Send a friend a fortune with the Chinatown Wars Fortune Cookie. Over 100 to choose from. Browse our collection til you find one you like or customize your own personal fortune - you can write an original one up to 65 characters long.
Take our 16-question personality quiz to find out which character from the Grand Theft Auto series you are most like. Possible results span the last decade of Grand Theft Auto titles from Grand Theft Auto III all the way through Episodes from Liberty City.
