For quite a while now, Rockstar games has been a household name, famous for bringing some of the biggest and best games to our consoles. Originally created as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar NYC was founded in 1998, now with 10 subsidiaries of its own. They boast a wide array of games, such as the Red Dead series, Grand Theft Auto series, Max Payne and L.A Noire . Rockstar have never been afraid to push the boundaries of social acceptance, willingly throwing obscene game-play, sexual content, offensive themes and just outright violence into their games. It's safe to say the majority of us lapped it up and continue to do so today, as Rockstar's games continue to offer an experience unlike any others. They have managed to create multiple worlds, with Red Dead and GTA at the forefront. Even though they are miles apart chronologically, the experiences are some of the most enjoyable on the mar

First and foremost, let’s take a look at Rockstar Games’ track record with single-player titles. Rockstar has not delivered a new title since 2013’s _ Grand Theft Auto V _ , which is ultimately a reflection of the success of _ Grand Theft Auto Online _ . In fact, Rockstar has only released two other games since the original _ Red Dead Redemption _ and _ Undead Nightmare _ expansion in 2010: _ L.A. Noire _ and _ Max Payne 3 _ . Hopefully, the _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ team at Rockstar was fully-devoted to the title and the wait will be worth it, but a five-year hiatus from releasing any single-player title is enough to make us a bit w

The most controversial games created by Rockstar have to be their Manhunt series. The first Manhunt was released in 2003 and seemed destined for damnation from the beginning. A stealth based horror game, Manhunt requires you to play as the main character James Earl Cash, a death row inmate. In order to progress through the game, you had to murder gang members, with the method of murder becoming quite graphic and obscene, in ways never seen before on any platform. It included things like suffocating people with plastic bags to the use of blunt force trauma. Manhunt created many problems for Rockstar due to its graphic nature. There were reports of a split in the company, with many people worried about how dark the game was. However, Rockstar was no stranger to controversy at the time, receiving a lot of attention over their previous GTA releases. However, Manhunt was even worse. The game was it was banned in New Zealand and confiscated in Germany. It received even more negative press when it was implicated in a UK murder, although the game was eventually absolved of all involvement. Although it received many positive reviews, was all the negativity really worth

With the release of the eagerly awaited Red Dead Redemption 2 on the horizon, they will be thrust into the spotlight once again. That being said, nothing is ever perfect and we all make mistakes, and Rockstar has been no exception over the years. Whether it is being nit-picked to death by their players or condemned within the media, no publisher inspires as many positive and negative reviews as Rockstar. But all publicity is good publicity. ri

We all know that GTA V 's online multiplayer community is one of the largest and most complex communities to ever exist, containing a grand number of players all vying to be the biggest, baddest and richest. Between online missions and heists, building yourself up from the ground in-game can be a daunting and lengthy experience. Starting out with nothing up against people who have everything, you begin to ask yourself: how? How can these people have so much when you have been grinding away just to buy yourself a crappy little garage on the bad side of town. Two words: Shark Cards. A common theme in multiplayer games these days is the ability to buy in game add-ons to give yourself an advantage against opponents. GTA V is no stranger to this tactic, making purchasable Shark Cards available to boost your in-game cash for real life tender. Although many people may think this is fair game, a large number of players who aren't willing to part with their hard earned cash have voiced their distaste for the use of the Shark Cards, as it means they are not able to compete with those who use t

While loot boxes continue to dominate the discourse of legality in video games, it is the community of gamers at large that have actually forced changes to happen. The microtransaction controversy surrounding Star Wars Battllefront 2 is a prime example of the Gaming narratives community bringing a fundamental change to a game, as is the more recent removal of the "Death Tax" in _ Sea of Thieves. _ It will be interesting to see if the online element in _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ follows some sort of play-to-win platform, which many would argue is currently the case in _ GTA Online _ . Regardless, unless Rockstar manages to exceed expectations with the game’s online experience, the studio may be forced to play nice and enter into a collaboration with the community that will ultimately deem the multiplayer mode as a success or fail