However, similar to how Disney cartoons appropriate and adapt classic European folk stories (Allan), Rockstar’s digital rendering of the United States entails significant alteration. For Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, the results speak for themselves: “ GTA is America” (Stuart, “Rockstar’s Dan Houser”). system.ģ Responsible for bringing digital America to life in the Grand Theft Auto series, Rockstar programming teams expend significant time analyzing and decoding specific (often architectural) elements of the American experience. The view reflects the international origins of the creative team it also resides in the cast of playable game characters, who typically come from minority backgrounds and position themselves outside the mainstream U.S. Rockstar hones a unique outsider view on the American condition. Along with other Rockstar franchises LA Noire (2011) and Red Dead Redemption (2004+), Grand Theft Auto is formatively an exploration of the geography and culture of North America.
John de Cr èvecoeur and Alexis de Tocqueville writing of their experiences of early America, the British-founded Rockstar seems most interested in exploring “what then is the American” (Crèvecoeur III).
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However, unlike the largely wholesome and patriotic narratives found in Disney programming, Rockstar’s series has, from inception, sold itself as a mature, playful, and often dark take on the American experience.Ģ Like French intellectuals J. As total global sales for Grand Theft Auto V (2013) surpass 130 million units, the cultural reach of Rockstar Games’ criminal caper competes with the likes of Disney’s Mickey Mouse and George Lucas’ Star Wars for brand recognition.
Top of pageġ Grand Theft Auto is one of the most successful entertainment products on record. Exposition of these themes is, however, compromised by Rockstar’s primary commitment to deliver a mainstream gameplay experience, resulting in mixed messages and moments of ludonarrative dissonance. Of interest here is how, through specific game mechanics such as “satirical play,” the title targets the concept of “the American Dream,” and exposes themes of excess consumption, fake-ness, and social decay in the Californian and broader American experience. The game is awash with social and political commentary. Presented by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser as “the endpoint of the American dream,” Grand Theft Auto V provides a crime-laden journey through a simulated Southern California landscape (“San Andreas”). This article explores how Rockstar employs the location and game play elements of Grand Theft Auto V (2013), a title that has now generated over $6 billion in worldwide sales, to critique elements of American culture, politics, and lifestyle. Rockstar Games is a video game publisher famous for its immersive and highly detailed action-adventure titles set in America, thanks to its two main franchises, Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto.
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