L.A. Noire Message Board older than one year ago

Being a good cop in '40s-era Los Angeles isn't as simple as sticking to the book. If L.A. Noire's launch trailer is any indication, detectives will need to rely and relay a lot on his face. Specifically, that look he gets whenever he bite into a lemon.

The wait is almost over! See more in-game footage in the Launch Trailer of Rockstar Games' L.A. Noire.

#xboxlive The next big Rockstar Games release may be hopping on the "online pass" bandwagon, with word of the "L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass" coming from Microsoft today. The 800 Microsoft Point purchase gets you... well, we're not quite sure just yet. More »

Rockstar and developer Team Bondi are trying something totally new with L.A. Noire. It's a detective story that truly puts you in the shoes of a cop, searching crime scenes and interrogating suspects. To date, we only know Cole Phelps as a hard-nosed cop. But there's more to Cole than just his badge and his gun...

#gallery Here are some new screenshots of L.A. Noire's hard-nosed homicide captain, James Donnelly. Though you may have seen him in previews and screens before, Rockstar wants you to really get to know the man. [Rockstar] More »

Whether you're a fan of jazz standards from the 1940s or totally sick warehouse raves, Rockstar's planning to scratch your itch with the release of LA Noire's soundtrack. Two distinct versions of the score will be released through iTunes alongside the game on May 17:

• The LA Noire Official Soundtrack, which features original compositions from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World composer Andrew Hale, as well as over 30 licensed jazz numbers from Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and others.
• LA Noire: Remixed, a six-track EP featuring remixes of said jazz standards by DJs such as DJ Premier, Dave Sitek and Truth & Soul.

Of course, we're assuming that we'll be able to listen to said songs while cruising around in-game Los Angeles while we ... wait, had the car radio even been invented back in 1947? We guess we could just lug a Victrola around with us wherever we went, though that might get in the way of all the crime-solving.

As is so frequently the case with big, upcoming blockbusters, Amazon has sweetened the pot for anyone willing to lay down a pre-order on LA Noire. Anyone who pre-purchases Rockstar and Team Bondi's cinematic crime drama will also get their hands on a $15 credit for future purchases.

The first of eight original short stories in Rockstar's LA Noire: The Collected Stories series has just hit the web. Jonathan Santlofer's What's In a Name? (no relation to our own series, we assure you) tells the story of "a sociopath with high hopes, and a curious knowledge of the Los Angeles underworld. And of a young LAPD detective working to crack the latest murder case to terrify the city." The series, which includes big names like Joyce Carol Oates, revisits some of the "characters and cases in the game." If you'd rather wait until all eight installments are available, "the complete L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories which will be available for download at all major eBook retailers" on June 6th.

For your reading convenience, Rockstar is offering a downloadable PDF or, if you find yourself sans-Kindle or iPad, perhaps the web-based reader is more your speed. At a brisk 4100 words, it shouldn't take you long to read it, so you can get back to doing more important things ... like not playing LA Noire for another ten days.

#rockstar One of Mafia II's drawbacks was the extremely long driving times often required by a map that spread mission points very far apart. L.A. Noire will be twice the size - eight square miles to Empire Bay's four - and will require 30 minutes to traverse by car. More »

#lastories As L.A. Noire's release draws near, Rockstar has teamed with the Los Angeles Times for an informative little promotion that highlights the real-world inspirations of the cases the game will throw at you come May 17. More »

Rockstar Games and the L.A. Times recently collaborated on a very neat (and yet very upsetting) project -- an interactive map displaying all of the real-life crimes that inspired the plot of Rockstar's upcoming drama, LA Noire. The crimes, all of which took place between January 1 and December 31, 1947, are heavily detailed by the map, with excerpts from news articles about each crime available for your perusal.

If you've got a strong stomach, many of the cases prove to be an interesting read. Like, for instance, the one about the acrobat burglars who robbed a store for $2,500 and a few gulps of milk. Or, the one about the wife who "playfully" stabbed her husband in the neck until he died from it. Keep an eye on the map in the coming weeks as the outlet adds even more quirky murders to the list.

#mattersofsize You can't judge a video game by the number of discs it ships on&emdash;not unless you're prepared to declare the four-disc Lost Odyssey as the best Xbox 360 game of all time. You can, however, judge the intent of the developer to give you a whole lot for your dollar. More »

Alright, gumshoes, bust out your novelty-sized magnifying glasses and fingerprint dusters -- we've got a heck of a mystery for you today. We've gone ahead and titled this case "The Mystery of How Buy.com Can Afford To Pre-Sell LA Noire For $44.99." Have at it, inspectors!

See now, this is confidence.

LA Noire's exploration of the seedy, criminal underbelly of a big city through the eyes of a hard-boiled detective is something pretty special in the gaming world. But in books? There are maybe one or two with a similar premise. Just a few.

But a crowded marketplace isn't keeping 2K and Rockstar from releasing L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories through eBook services on June 6. The anthology collects Hollywood tales from authors like Megan Abbott, Joyce Carol Oates and Jonathan Santlofer that share not only the game's 1940s setting but also some of its characters.

If you'd like a taste of what to expect, you can find a sample of Megan Abbott's "The Girl" right here.

#rockstar There are a million stories in the naked city of Rockstar's L.A. Noire, and the game can only tell so many. That's why Rockstar has recruited eight of the thriller genre's finest writers to create L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories. More »

"We're not trying to make interactive movies, we're making video games that are cinematic," Rockstar's Simon Ramsey told the audience at the 2011 Tribecca Film Festival. L.A. Noire is the first video game ever to make an appearance at the event. Ramsey presented a walkthrough of one the game's early cases, "The Red Lipstick Murder" on the big screen at Chelsea's SVA Theater in Manhattan...

#blip Here's a little something to adorn your desktop with in the days leading up to L.A. Noire's release. [Rockstar] More »

Rockstar has announced both the in-game and web-based online Social Club features that will be integrated into LA Noire. Within the game itself, logging into the Social Club will unlock the Chicago Lightning Suit, which can be worn by protagonist Cole Phelps once he becomes a detective. For some unfathomable reason, the suit improves Phelps' accuracy with shotguns and machine guns -- we guess they just don't make them like they used to.

Players will also be able to "Ask the Community" when Phelps is interviewing witnesses and suspects. When deciding whether or not someone is telling the truth, Phelps can use Ask the Community to see percentages of what other Social Club members chose in the same situation. The feature requires Intuition Points to use, which Rockstar notes are "in short supply." Again, we're not sure where Phelps acquired his magic, time-traveling, internet-connected notepad, but we suggest everyone just roll with it.

Several features are available via the Social Club website, including a 100 percent completion checklist, game statistics and Achievement and Trophy tracking. The site also includes a Case Tracker that allows players to access Phelps' notebook, which contains "virtually everything" that he has jotted down within the game, letting players stay "on the case and connected with [their] investigation" no matter where they are.

#lanoire The audience laughed loudly once during the first film festival screening I've ever seen of a video game. More »

#shortcutsandobstacles The next big game from Rockstar Games and Team Bondi will be challenging—or easy—in unusual ways. More »

If the bevy of trailers and previews we've seen of LA Noire are any indication, it looks like it might be Rockstar's most cinematic game to date. What about those poor souls who want to enjoy these film-like qualities, but can't manage to virtual-shoot to save their virtual-lives? According to MTV Multipalyer, Rockstar art director Rob Nelson assuaged this group's fears while demoing the game at the Tribeca Film Festival last night, telling attendees that they'll be afforded the option to skip action sequences after failing them two or three times.

Nelson explained, "You can skip those action elements and still experience the bulk of the narrative." Can you? We're not exactly sold on the idea. Wouldn't that be like reading a book, and then skipping those pages where the protagonist shoots hundreds and hundreds of dudes?

#watchthis LA Noire was shown off behind closed doors earlier tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was a strictly no-cameras kind of event, something YouTube user Darkskater7991 seems to have overlooked. More »

While much has been said about the animation technology used in L.A. Noire, a recent piece from the Los Angeles Times reveals that Rockstar and Team Bondi have expended considerable effort in recreating Los Angeles as it was in 1947. The development team used 1930s era Works Progress Administration maps and topographical information from the US Geological Society to create a city layout.

Beyond the city itself, the developers also strove to accurately represent the lives within it. For example, aerial film and photography from the period was used to recreate authentic traffic patterns. Many other factors were researched, from clothing to the levels of smog that were present in 1947. Head over to the L.A. Times site for the full story.

#gallery We're just a few weeks away from the release of Rockstar's next big effort, crime drama L.A. Noire. Today, the people behind Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption give us a peek at L.A. Noire's vice desk, which apparently deals with Los Angeles' "dregs, druggies, pimps, pushers, prostitutes, bootleggers, bookies, mob lords, thugs and gangsters." Yes, they're a busy division! More »

Rockstar said it had some new "Crime Desk" screens from LA Noire, but then we looked through the gallery in this feature and found a knife, a boxing ring, a slot machine and plenty of people ... but no desks. What gives?

Oh, wait -- we get it. "Crime Desk" refers here not to a literal desk, but to the LAPD's Vice division. That's pretty embarrassing on our part. We might have a little trouble with the in-game detective work.

Something something badge something piece something clean up this town!

The rise from lowly beat cop to member of the Vice Squad will be one fraught with danger, but you're up to the challenge, right? The latest trailer for LA Noire certainly hopes so, as it shows off some exciting details leading up to your big promotion. You've only got a few weeks left! Look lively!

#watchthis As Rockstar's L.A. Noire approaches release, we're getting a closer look at how you'll rise through the ranks of the L.A. PD and solve "unassigned cases." More »

L.A. Noire is nothing if not ambitious. At first glance it may seem to tell a simple story; that of Cole Phelps decorated WWII veteran and his rise through the Los Angeles police force. Given that he moves from case to case, and desk to desk: from beat cop through traffic, arson, vice and homicide, it's not hard to see gamers thinking that this is a linear game; that players aren't necessarily active agents in the narrative. But that's a long way from the case...

When L.A. Noire ships for PlayStation 3 next month, the game will include an exclusive mission called "Consul's Car Traffic Case." Details about the mission are not known. A Rockstar representative said they'll have more information coming soon. Separate case missions are also available to those who pre-order the game at participating Walmart stores called "A Slip of the Tongue" and at GameStop called "The Naked City" for both PS3 and Xbox 360...