Interview With Sam Houser

One of my favorite videogame pages, 1Up, did an interview with Sam Houser, the co-founder of Rockstar Games and the man behind GTA IV. I have to say I like that he does his thing (which becomes our thing when playing the games) and has no fear in hurting non gamer's picture of the world and it's conventions:

1UP: When you think of what Rockstar has been through lately, it's like there are two ways you can go. You can play it supersafe, or you can push it. The American media can take one thing, like the drunk-driving minigame, and make it a bullet point for the news.

SH: Our games are consciously made for adults -- it's why we started the company.... [From 17 years old] and up, I think we have a right to play what we want to play. And that's that. And as long as it's not touching on themes that are socially inappropriate -- and some films do it, and I think games should be allowed to do it, but let's be respectful -- as long as you're not doing that, what's the f***ing problem? Adults should be able to play what they want. America, the country I'm now a citizen of and love, is built on that premise....

I think the problem that games have got is that they're called "games," and that makes people think of 8-year-olds and Mario.... I've been a fan of Mario games as long as I've been playing games. My hat goes off to [Nintendo] -- we learned so much from those people -- but it obviously skews younger.... We're doing our thing. But I think for politicians, for lawyers, and for parasites, you go "game" and you go "killing" and you go "children," and it's too easy. It's a nice way to get half a page in the paper.... When you look at how much work goes into making this stuff, and how much passion and creativity and ambition is behind it, to boil it all down to that is really, really depressing. One of the things that I've struggled with during Hot Coffee is [that] San Andreas is a game that I think is absolutely wicked, top to bottom -- a seminal piece of work -- that's now going to be remembered for Hot Coffee. I think actually we're getting past that now, just about two or three years later, but that stuff really upset me, because it boiled it all down to a bunch of salacious, cheesy muck. We're just not about that. We're not going out to court controversy from anybody. We're looking to make stuff that inspires us, turns us on as young people that are involved in this incredibly powerful, incredibly exciting, incredibly no-rules medium where we sit and go, "What should we make? Let's make this! Let's make that!" All this wonderful energy.

Click here to read the full interview and don't miss this interview about the game's engine as well!

Also I have here the German Trailer. Der deutsche Trailer, Leute: