Red Dead Redemption Message Board older than one year ago

Major Nelson has posted the Xbox Live Marketplace schedule for the first part of August, detailing the upcoming Deal of the Week, DLC and Xbox Live Arcade releases. The highlights include the Summer of Arcade -- continuing this week with Castlevania: Harmony of Despair -- as well as next week's Deal of the Week, which discounts Dragon Age: Origins DLC. Most notably, the Dragon Age expansion Awakening will be reduced from 3200 MS Points ($40) to 2400 MS Points ($30). Furthermore, the Red Dead Redemption DLC "Legends and Killers" has been dated for August 10.

As a quick reminder, there are several new items out today, including the Metro 2033 "Ranger Pack," new BioShock 2 DLC and a new weapon pack for Mass Effect 2. Check out the full schedule, including today's new content, after the break.

#dlc Eight characters from Red Dead Revolver invade Red Dead Redemption next week in the Legends and Killers Pack, bringing with them nine new multiplayer map locations and one angry-looking tomahawk. More »

Amazon MP3's frequently rotating selection of $5 downloadable albums has been visited by a handful of soundtracks from current-gen games. These include the harmonica-centric sounds of Red Dead Redemption, the ambient future-noise of Mirror's Edge, the eclectic tunes of LittleBigPlanet and more -- all for a mere five-spot.

Of course, we'd suggest you also take some time to consider purchasing a handful of other MP3 albums which were marked down for the month of August, but that wouldn't be appropriate. Like, should you buy Huey Lewis and the News' Greatest Hits compilation? Well, of course -- but we can't tell you to do so, because we're not a Huey Lewis and the News blog. At least, not during the weekdays.

#music Whether you're a fan of old-timey Westerns or just excellent things in general, the soundtrack to Red Dead Redemption is one of the all-time greats. Here's how it was made! More »

Seeing that Red Dead Redemption takes place in a primitive world predating the car stereo, Rockstar San Diego had to come up with another way of injecting music into the title. Their solution: an interactive, Spaghetti Western-inspired score -- the making of which can be seen in the video below.

#rockstar A key timewaster in Red Dead Redemption is hunting animals. Statistics prove that many of you have done quite a bit of it. But where to find those pesky beavers, bats and unicorns? More »

Close to perfection - but not quite perfect. We discuss what worked and what didn't.

If you've been waiting for a good deal before jumping on the Red Dead Redemption stagecoach, Amazon just might have you covered. Mosey on over to the online retailer and you can holster a PS3 copy for $42.99 (17 buckskins off the regular price). Rustle it up quick though: This deal's gone by sunup.

The latest batch of screens for Red Dead Redemption's upcoming, multiplayer-centric DLC pack, "Legends and Killers," fills us with straight delight. Why? Because our go-to online avatar (a morbidly obese Bandito) is totally getting replaced by Pig Josh, the dynamite-strapped gentleman above.

One of the most memorable moments from Red Dead Redemption comes with the player's arrival in Mexico -- a moment accompanied by a haunting acoustic tune created for the game, titled "Far Away." Singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez recently performed the song live and on video at Rockstar HQ.

#clips Jose Gonzalez recently dropped in to Rockstar Games' New York offices to record an acoustic version of his song "Far Away," featured on the Red Dead Redemption Soundtrack. On their roof no less! The song can be heard in-game during John Marston's ride to Mexico on horseback. More »

#cheating Just because the Old West was full of no-good cheatin' scoundrels doesn't mean Red Dead Redemption's online multiplayer has to be. Rockstar plans to roll out a title update that will end cheating and griefing once and for all. More »

Title update in the next month to address cheating.

And not just any cheaters, but no good, dirty cheaters. According to a post over on Rockstar Games' site, the next title update to Red Dead Redemption will bring with it "measures to counter hacking and cheating" on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Furthermore, a handful of "anti-grief" features will be added to the game's Free Roam online mode. Apparently, cowpokes enduring repeated harassment from other online players will be given the choice to jump to another point (of their choosing) on the map. The culprits doing all the griefing will get branded as such after six consecutive kills, earning them a Most Wanted status and wrangling the game's NPCs against the offender.

Rockstar also promises to continue monitoring online play for those doing bad deeds after said title update goes live "within the next month," but then, isn't the existence of outlaws an inescapable reality of the Old West?

NPD has revealed the bestselling games for consoles from January through June of 2010. IGN notes that Nintendo dominates sales by individual platform, with six of the top ten titles created for its hardware; and five of them developed by the money-printing publisher itself. In combined platform sales, runaway hit Red Dead Redemption rides high.

2010 Top Five Combined Platform Sales from January-June:

1. Red Dead Redemption (PS3, Xbox 360)
2. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)
5. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)

Check out the top ten individual platform sales leaders after the break.

To celebrate its swiftly-approaching tenth anniversary, Rockstar Games will compile all of the visual elements that have gone into designing its catalog of games into a three-book set sometime next month. The pages therein will contain everything from conceptual illustrations, models and wireframes to advertisements and box art. This beefy, aesthetically pleasing package comes with an asking price of $450.

As attractive as these tomes would look propped against one another on our coffee table, we find it difficult to reconcile the fact that we could spend the same amount of money on a PS3 or 360 and copies of Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City. Heck, we'd even have enough cash left over for one of those novelty-sized party subs, which would increase our enjoyment of the aforementioned items tenfold.

A group of six Dutch gamers played Red Dead Redemption for 50 hours straight over the weekend, garnering them recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records. The event took place at a Dixons store in the Netherlands, where six players started out as competitors, but eventually decided to keep playing and get the world record together. All six will receive recognition from Guinness, a $1300 prize and a Twistdock connector from the event's sponsor.

There are two things that make this stand out from your average weekend-long play session. First, we're talking 50 hours for all six gamers with no breaks. While that's definitely been done before (with less than healthy consequences), Guinness was there to put the official stamp on everything. So, until you get them to watch you play Final Fantasy XIII and all of its optional missions all in one sitting, this record will probably stand.

Red Dead Redemption running away with it.

Red Dead Redemption is THE Western-themed video game. While many Western-themed games have come before it, RDR offers the most complete and satisfying take on the theme, making you feel as if you're truly there, in the dying days of the Old West.

The gameplay is top-notch; it never grows old riding off in to the wild to find an animal of some sort to kill and skin, or to search for gang hide-outs and shoot up the bad guys who dwell within. Indeed, the game world is massive and is full of activity; the amount of side content and the rewarding nature of exploring the game's world will not leave you disappointed.

The game succeeds thematically, as well; each portion of the game's world is like a different Western genre, with New Austin representing the classic Old West, Nuevo Paraiso representing the darker spaghetti Western, and West Elizabeth representing a more modern take on the Western, symbolizing the death of the Old West and the birth of the modern age. And that's without mentioning the beautiful plot and excellent character development present throughout the game; John Marston isn't your typical "badass outlaw," but rather, a character that you will grow to empathize with and deeply admire throughout the course of the game.

Some would call Red Dead Redemption "GTA: Old West Edition." Well, I call it GTA perfected. Red Dead Redemption is one of those games that you have to play if you consider yourself even somewhat of a gamer.

#books Rockstar, the developer network behind games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, will be releasing a book collection next month cataloguing their history and artworks. It comes in three enormous hardcover tomes, and costs $450. More »

#scenic Didn't know this: Red Dead Redemption has an "afk" mode - don't move the controller, and Marston and the HUD disappear, revealing a panoramic view. Digital Foundry used this mode to create startlingly lifelike time-lapse video that you may download. More »

One of the upcoming DLC packs for Red Dead Redemption -- henceforth referred to as "the one without the zombies" -- has been captured in screenshots. Titled "Legends and Killers," the pack includes nine multiplayer maps, eight playable characters from the original Red Dead Revolver, a tomahawk projectile weapon, and new Trophies and Achievements, which you presumably unlock by implementing the tomahawk in an unorthodox manner. Like, for spreading mustard on a delicious ham sandwich.

The "Legends and Killers" pack will land on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store next month for 800 MSP ($9.99). Check out a few screenshots of the new content in the gallery posted below.

#screens Rockstar has released four screens of next month's Legends and Killers downloadable content for Red Dead Redemption. Are you man enough to look Mr. Kelly in the eye? More »

Compared to last month's disappointing NPD numbers, with the industry down 5% overall, this month's numbers are ... well, they're still sort of a bummer, but for nearly opposite reasons! While hardware was down in May, 20% year-over-year, it's up 5% this month with every console posting positive percentages. The newly revamped Xbox 360 led with the biggest improvement, with sales up 132%. The Wii managed to place 3rd, with the lowest overall improvement at 26%.

While last month's software sales were up 4%, mostly riding on Red Dead Redemption's back, this month's numbers are still Red Dead-heavy, but down 15% year-over-year as Rockstar San Diego's horse opus fell from a combined 1.5m units to just shy of 1m. Much of the month's software lineup looks the same as last's - there's Super Mario Galaxy, barely dropping at all; there's UFC and Wii Fit; and, of course, New Super Mario Bros. - but we're also welcoming Just Dance back to the top 10 along with newcomers Toy Story 3 on DS and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 on Wii. Check the full software list after the break.

• DS: 511K, up 127K (+33%)
• 360: 453K, up 257K (+132%)
• Wii: 423K, up 88K (+26%)
• PS3: 305K, up 150K (+97%)
• PSP: 121K, up 62K (+105%)

Red Dead Redemption developer Rockstar San Diego has let about 40 employees go, according to a statement given to IGN. "As Rockstar San Diego transitions from the launch of Red Dead Redemption onto future projects," studio manager Steve Martin said in the statement, "we are realigning our resources in order to continue to develop games as effectively as possible." The remaining team members are " hard at work on the development of downloadable content for the game."

It's common for development teams to grow during the creation of a game and shrink following that game's completion, a tendency that Martin himself notes. Regardless, we wish the best to all of those who find themselves riding into the sunset.

Red Dead Redemption developer makes cuts.

#nothingpersonnel Red Dead Redemption is a commercial and critical success, moving more than 1.5 million copies in its first month while wrangling rock-solid reviews. Despite that, Rockstar has axed about 40 employees from the San Diego studio, according to sources close to the developer. More »

#nothingpersonnel Red Dead Redemption is a commercial and critical success, moving more than 1.5 million copies in its first month while wrangling rock-solid reviews. Despite that, Rockstar has axed about 40 employees from the San Diego studio, according to sources close to the developer. More »

#doh Who wants Red Dead Redemption for $23.99? Enough people to crash GameStop's web page, foiling the company's attempt to feature the game as this week's Power Hour deal. More »

#reddeadredemption I CAN outrun a bear. I can just about outmanoeuvre a wild boar. Although I'll get taken down by a pack of wolves fairly fast. A wild cougar will tear my fleshy neck asunder. More »