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Up until about 15 minutes ago, our excitement for Red Dead Redemption was limited to our ability to create online posses in the game's open-world multiplayer mode. Thanks to a certain listing in the title's recently released Achievement (and, presumably, Trophy) list, however, our fascination has radically shifted. The listing in question? "What About Hand Grenades," which is unlocked when the player throws their first ringer in a round of horseshoes.

We've posted the full list of Achivements after the jump, though we seriously doubt we'll unlock anything other than the one mentioned above. How are we supposed to embark on frontier adventures when there are horseshoes to be played?

#achievements The achievement set for Red Dead Redemption is out, giving another look at what you can do in its lawless open world, which is basically anything. The game incentivizes cowboy-up stuff such as bustin' horses, winnin' poker, and shootin' people. More »

Once upon a time in New Austin: playing through the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption's story.

#multiplayer Rockstar pumped out a few more screens of Red Dead Redemption this time showing us the competitive side of its multiplayer setup. On the jump, a video also fleshes out what to expect. More »

#filthflarn The ESRB's served up a no-surprise M for Red Dead Redemption but enlightens us as to why - drugs, blood and a whole bunch of words Roy Rogers never said to Dale Evans. More »

When it comes to effective marketing strategies, it's kind of hard to beat "give away free money." It looks like that's exactly what Rockstar is doing in the UK, as any Xbox Live Gold or Silver member that downloads the Read Dead Redemption "Multiplayer Free Roam" trailer from Xbox Live between April 26 and May 10 will receive some free goodies. Specifically, grabbing the trailer will net you a token to download a Red Dead Redemption dashboard theme and -- more importantly -- 400 Microsoft Points for free. The points and token will be sent to the associated Live ID email address used to download the trailer within four to six weeks.

It's worth noting that the points expire on December 31, 2010, so don't plan on hoarding them. Also, the promotion is limited to the first 5,000 downloads (amounting to $25,000 in free money, incidentally). We're not sure how high the hype for Red Dead Redemption is in the UK, but we get the feeling this trailer is going to be pretty popular. Full details here.

Honestly, Rockstar didn't even really need to do anything new with the multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption -- we would have been happy to simply see our childhood cowboy shoot-em-up battles reenacted in shiny HD. But it looks like they went ahead and surprised us anyway. As you can see in the new trailer above, every battle starts out with a Mexican standoff, with the winner getting a head start on the map. The reworked Dead Eye system is available in multiplayer, too, letting you paint targets and then unleash a hail of gunfire. And bringing in old-school cannons and a turncrank gatling gun is a nice, old (olde?) Western touch, too.

All of those tools are available across multiple modes, including normal and team deathmatch, and a few capture-the-flag variations based on bags of gold: Hold Your Own is standard CTF (on a large scale in some maps), Gold Rush gives multiple bags to chase around, and Grab the Bag has everyone going after just one. All of the modes grant progression across weapons challenges, with golden guns serving as the ultimate reward. And here we thought it was fun just chasing the other kids around the living room pointing our fingers at each other.

#tv John Hillcoat, director of The Road - and more importantly The Proposition - has helped developers Rockstar put together a 30-minute animated film machinima based on Western adventure Red Dead Redemption, which will air next month. More »

#feature Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption sells itself as a Western. But did you know it's not really a Western at all? More »

#difficulty Rockstar says Red Dead Redemption will feature three different difficulty modes, and while they're limited mostly to just the game's aiming feature the studio is calling the variable difficulty a first for any open-world game it's ever built. More »

Was Grand Theft Auto IV mind-numbingly easy for you? Or controller-throwingly frustrating? Rockstar is attempting to scale the difficulty of its next open-world game, Red Dead Redemption, to accommodate players of all abilities. "We've implemented levels of difficulty into the game that employ different types of auto-aiming," a new Rockstar Games blog post explains. "Casual mode gives you a full auto-aim system (and faster regenerating health). Normal mode features snap-to-target with precise aiming using the right stick. Expert mode implements free aim with no lock-on at all."

According to the post, this is actually the first time Rockstar has implemented multiple difficulty settings in its open world games. It's certainly an interesting approach to take: changing the actual method of gameplay, versus simply scaling enemy and player health. Will it be successful, though? Even Rockstar seems uncertain: "We will be interested to see what people think having played with each option."

Brand new looks at the multiplayer game.

Click to posse-size Ever since we first saw the trailer for Red Dead Redemption's free-roaming multiplayer mode, our minds have been feverishly attempting to come up with a name for our rag-tag group of desperados. Sadly, we've yet to come up with anything better than "The Frontier Sunshine Squad." Perhaps the latest batch of screenshots for the title, arranged in the gallery below, will provide us with the inspiration we need to come up with something more intimidating.

How about "Revolver-Having Super Friends?" Is that any better?

#animals Evey game has a Horde Mode these days. EVERY game. I mean, Bass Pro Shops The Hunt has one, except it's no stand-off against aliens. It's man against attacking forest animals. More »

#rockstar Fans eagerly awaiting next month's release of Red Dead Redemption should mosey on over to Rockstar's Gunslingers Facebook app, where they can work out their frustrations against each other the old-fashioned way - with a barrage of hot lead. More »

Rockstar Games has today unveiled one of Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer modes. Like Grand Theft Auto IV, "Free Roam" lets players explore the entire single-player gameworld in an online, multiplayer environment. Players can continue to explore on their own, or band together to form "posses" of up to 8 hombres. While possied-up, players can take on other posses, hunt down criminals or start a "group activity," like a traditional multiplayer deathmatch. Up to 16 players can be in the same online lobby simultaneously.

As with GTA IV, experience points are gained as you play through the game. There are 50 levels of character progression, with experience points unlocking new weapons, mounts, characters and challenges.

Today's announcement emphasizes that Free Roam is just one part of the Red Dead Redemption multiplayer experience. "There are more structured competitive modes that we'll reveal soon," Rockstar promises. Catch the trailer after the break.

Form a posse and saddle up, the wilderness beckons.

#journalism A report on news.com.au says that a former editor for Zoo Weekly, an Australian "lads mag", has been sacked after making public an email from Rockstar, publishers of the Grand Theft Auto series, demanding more "favourable coverage" from the writer. More »

#marketing Red Dead Redemption will be Rockstar's "most ambitious game to date," says a studio executive, which explains why it's carpet-bombing TV and certain film audiences with a sizable pre-launch ad campaign. More »

You have got to have some huge cojones to go and get a giant tattoo of a dude from a video game that isn't out yet. What if the game is a real stinker? Then you have to be that dude nobody likes who goes around defending the game, saying people just didn't get the symbolism or whatever other excuses those people make up to justify their decision. It's a real mine field.

That's why the above tattoo (via iGrandTheftAuto) of James Marston, from May's Red Dead Redemption, is so odd to us. It's not like the guy who got the tat will be the next Zune guy, but, well -- whatever makes you happy, we guess.

[Via Rockstar]

Morality wasn't just a black and white issue back in the Wild West, you know. There were plenty of gray areas as well, such as: Shoot that outlaw, or don't shoot that outlaw? Shoot that horse, or don't shoot that horse? Shoot everyone in that town, or don't shoot everyone in that town? Rockstar will contextualize this moral ambiguity in Red Dead Redemption, forcing protagonist John Marston to make some difficult choices, as previewed in the trailer above. (As you might have guessed, all decisions are shooting-based.)

As you watch the video, think about what type of gunslinger you'd like to become. We're thinking Gene Hackman from The Quick and The Dead. Or, possibly, Gene Hackman from Wyatt Earp. Or, better yet, Gene Hackman from Welcome to Mooseport.

#clips With apologies to Hobbes, life in the American West also was nasty, brutish and short. And also hellaciously violent, as Rockstar's second trailer shows in the variety of encounters you'll have - and survive - in Red Dead Redemption. More »

#trophies Rockstar has published the list of achievements and trophies for Red Dead Redemption, giving a few more clues as to the kind of low-down no-good son-of-a-bitch-bastard deeds you'll be doing in the upcoming Western sandboxer. More »

You fight bears. With a knife.

I love Westerns: Shane, Stagecoach, The Searchers, Rio Bravo, Unforgiven, Open Range. These are the immersive stories that I've always wanted to play in games. There have been some decent efforts, like Dead Man's Hand, Gun, Call of Juarez, and even Red Dead Revolver, but they all confine the player to narrow paths. What happened to the wide-open Wild West? Enter: Red Dead Redemption.

This is the largest world Rockstar has ever created. Can you quantify that? "It's big," a representative assured me.

#paxeast The air shimmers with heat as I survey the scrub plain laid out before me. Wild animals frolic. Horsemen go about their business. I whistle for my horse, saddle up, and take my first ride into Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. More »

Cue the tumbleweeds and rattlesnakes!

#paxeast Not many words for you about PAX East in this post. Just pictures and captions of some of the things we spotted on our first day at PAX East. More »

We just spent some time getting our filthy hands even filthier inside of Red Dead Redemption, where we actually skinned a horse and instantly felt like we'd killed Trigger. But no-good horse killin' aside, the big news here is that multiplayer is coming to Red Dead Redemption. We don't know how just yet, but a Rockstar representative told us that it would incorporate multiplayer in a "surprising" way. Surprising as in it doesn't totally suck like in GTA IV? Aw, snap. Yeah, we went there. Now we'll have to worry about being skinned.

More details are coming directly from the horse's mouth (sorry, couldn't resist) the week of April 5th, so stay tuned for more details when Rockstar reveals the secrets of what we like to call Red Dead Redemption: Posse Galore.

Rockstar has released another trailer for Red Dead Redemption, entitled "Gentlemen and Vagabonds." The trailer gives us a glimpse at the many colorful characters John Marston will meet on his quest in the Wild West. And they are colorful, ranging from a traveling doctor to stereotypical Irishman to a particularly nasty, smelly hillbilly. They don't all look very friendly, either, particularly that hillbilly, who appears to be burying Marston in the final scene. It's hard to say what Marston did to wind up in that situation but, trust us, if a hillbilly is digging your grave, things have taken a turn for the worse.

Red Dead Redemption releases May 18.