Rockstar controls information so games feel "magical"

Rockstar controls the release of information about itself so its games feel "magical".

The secretive publisher/developer believes the less is known about Rockstar, the more its games will feel "alive".

"It's really important to us that the games (feel) kind of magical," Rockstar co-founder and writer Dan Houser told Variety.

"It might annoy people that we don't give out more information, but I think the end point is people enjoy the experience. The less they know about how things are pieced together and how things are broken down and what our processes are, the more it will feel like this thing is alive, that you are being dragged into the experience. That's what we want."

Last week Rockstar unveiled Grand Theft Auto 5 with a trailer that set tongues wagging across the internet, but little is known about the game, save it is set in GTA: San Andreas' Los Santos, a present day, fictional version of Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Houser revealed that Rockstar plans to incorporate single-player into Max Payne 3's multiplayer - but wouldn't say how.

"We wanted to put some elements of single-player into the multiplayer so the multiplayer will have a lot more detail and have elements of story in it and have a sort of an immersive quality," he said.

"We think that's something that is under-explored in multiplayer."

Max Payne 3 is due out March next year after being announced in 2009. Its long development is the result of Rockstar's pursuit of realism, Houser said.

"We are building a film set, but it's a 360-degree film set that has to join together and feel real.

"Some of the stuff we end up being most obsessed by are the things that join between walls. And where a lot of other games fail is their models may look great, but they don't sit together very well."

Fans remember Max Payne 1 and 2, created by Alan Wake developer Remedy, fondly. This nostalgia, Houser said, creates a problem for principle developer Rockstar Vancouver.

"I think the challenge of nostalgia is a profound one, because one thing about video games is your memory tends to remove the horrendous," Houser said.

"(The games) become these great, perfect experiences. It's definitely a challenge to get the right pitch when you want to appeal to the fans of the original and bring in a new audience."

The PC version of Max Payne 3 may support stereoscopic 3D, according to Variety, but Houser remains unconvinced by the tech.

"I don't think anyone has solved the riddle of how you make 3D an integral part of the gaming experience," he says simply.