Video Games Deluxe – Video Game News, Reviews, Walkthroughs And Guides | GamingBolt https://gamingbolt.com Get a Bolt of Gaming Now! Mon, 03 Mar 2025 22:35:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Rockstar Games Acquires L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files Developer Video Games Deluxe https://gamingbolt.com/rockstar-games-acquires-l-a-noire-the-vr-case-files-developer-video-games-deluxe Mon, 03 Mar 2025 22:35:53 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=613287 Video Games Deluxe, a Syndey-based studio known for the L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, will be acquired by Rockstar Games. The Grand Theft Auto publisher also confirmed its renaming to Rockstar Australia.

Headed by Brendan McNamara, who founded L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi, the studio is also responsible for the recent upgrades to Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar Games head of publishing, said, “After working closely over many years, we are excited to have Video Games Deluxe join the team as Rockstar Australia.”

McNamara added, “It’s been an honor to work closely with Rockstar Games this past decade. We are thrilled to be a part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible.”

Rockstar Australia’s new responsibilities and projects are unknown, so stay tuned for more details. It could assist Rockstar North on the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, scheduled for launch this Fall on Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

Set in modern-day Vice City, it focuses on two criminal protagonists with further story details yet to be revealed. Following its reveal in December 2023, Rockstar Games hasn’t showcased any more gameplay or a release date. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick warned of potential “slippage” for its launch, though nothing is confirmed. Stay tuned for more updates.

]]> 613287 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Patch Fixes Several Issues but There is Still Work to Be Done https://gamingbolt.com/grand-theft-auto-the-trilogy-the-definitive-edition-patch-fixes-several-issues-but-there-is-still-work-to-be-done Tue, 19 Nov 2024 11:23:16 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=604303 The gaming industry has seen its fair share of disappointing releases. Year in and year out, flops come and go, some on a much larger scale than others. By comparison, 2021 doesn’t seem all that terrible, with flops like Balan Wonderworld and Battlefield 2042 sticking out the most. However, it also marked the launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which packaged Rockstar’s classic 3D trilogy of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas into one remastered compilation.

To say that all three titles are beloved among fans would be an understatement, especially given how they influenced modern open worlds as we know them. Even with the trilogy’s lack of footage leading up to the launch, everyone was still hyped. Of course, the rest is history.

Performance issues on consoles, misspelt signs, glitches, bugs, crashes, broken animations, oddly modeled characters (some who looked nothing like the original games), that rain from San Andreas, which made it difficult to see anything, and more were only the beginning. That it cost $60 rubbed many the wrong way – its Metacritic user score plummeted to 0.4 at launch and currently sits at 1.1. Not that the critics’ scores were any better at 54 Metascore for the PS5 version based on 47 reviews. The less said about other platforms, the better.

It was a messy time, but even with Rockstar issuing refunds on PC, the trilogy sold over 10 million copies as of February 2022. That’s roughly three months after launch, seemingly indicating that most would wait for fixes. Maybe they were content with the current package. Blame was allocated across the board, first to Grove Street Games (which also faced criticism for its 10th-anniversary ports of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City) for its handling of the project, then to Rockstar for going ahead with the release despite its state.

Regardless, fixes did arrive roughly a month after launch, adding a cinematic camera to all games, fixing several misspelled signs, and improving stability (a classic). It even prevented rain from appearing indoors – ignore why this happened in the first place. However, the most significant ones would appear on Android and iOS, when those versions launched in December 2023.

Published by Netflix and developed by Video Games Deluxe, it improved the experience significantly. Not only were the visuals better than the current version on consoles and PC, but it also captured the feel of the classics. The obvious question then was when it would arrive for other platforms, if at all.

grand theft auto the trilogy the definitive edition

After nearly a year of no news, the update is finally available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch, bringing a laundry list of fixes, improvements and even some quality-of-life features. Between all the fixes and updates done throughout the years, the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition is worth dipping back into, even if it’s still not quite perfect.

Though official patch notes aren’t available, community members like TJGM and VideoTechUK on Twitter have already begun compiling the most significant changes. Let’s start with the positive, the biggest being Classic Lighting, which restores the lighting in each title to resemble the original games.

It now applies across all areas in each title, so instead of Liberty City looking oddly bright at night during the rain, it’s now appropriately dark and borderline gothic. San Andreas looks phenomenal, with the orange hues of the opening restored and looking better than ever. It’s a massive jump visually, but that’s only the start, as volumetric clouds are now present in San Andreas when flying high in the sky.

Shadows now realistically move in time with the position of the sun. Those awkward shifting shadows of overhead structures from before are gone, and the movement is now more natural. Fire has some additional bloom and lens flares added alongside new, more realistic glass-breaking effects. Cubemap reflections are back and look much better than the previous screen-space reflections. Several issues with frame pacing have also been addressed, and performance is better on current-gen platforms, PC and even the Nintendo Switch.

grand theft auto the trilogy the definitive edition

Of course, each game has its own share of fixes. The neon lights at Malibu Club and other locations in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City have been restored while Grand Theft Auto 3 has better rain effects and texture improvements. Sandstorms in San Andreas are now properly portrayed, Market Station looks far better (with lighting added to the tunnels), CJ’s character model while cycling has been fixed, and perhaps most important of all – the lamp posts throughout the world are now orange instead of white. It’s truly a brand new world – even the birds have returned across all three games.

There are a fair number of gameplay improvements as well. Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City now allow for shooting and moving with weapons like shotguns and assault rifles, which previously wasn’t possible. Movement animations while aiming also look far smoother. You can also pause during cutscenes and save files to display the date and time, making it far easier to discern.

All this being said, there are still issues across all three titles. CJ’s face is more in line with the original, but other character models, including Denise, still look completely out of place. The level of detail is also underwhelming and in some cases, downright awful, while the camera will continuously auto-center if moved, which is most annoying when flying. Poorly upscaled artwork can still be found in San Andreas, and interior lighting requires changes to resemble the original games.

Nevertheless, the current state of the trilogy is far superior to its launch. It wouldn’t be without controversy, of course, with Grove Street Games’ logo and name removed from the intro and main menu screens. Founder Thomas Williamson criticized the removal of developers from the game’s credits (which isn’t the case) but also revealed that the update “includes hundreds of fixes that were provided by those developers that stayed out of players’ hands for years.” Which fixes the studio specifically worked on in this update is unknown, but it does raise an interesting point.

grand theft auto the trilogy the definitive edition

Considering the fixes arrived in the mobile versions last year, what took so long to bring them to other platforms? An agreement with Netflix? Extensive testing to ensure they landed without breaking more things than they fixed? We’ll never know, but the timing is odd (or maybe not, considering the holiday season).

Regardless, if you’ve been on the fence about picking up Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, it may still be worth waiting for at least a price drop. With the issues still plaguing the trilogy, which are far from insignificant, it wouldn’t be remiss to wait for another update to drop and potentially improve them further. It can evoke that nostalgia from the originals, thanks to the lighting changes and volumetric fog. However, there’s still more work to be done before the redemption story is complete.

]]> 604303 GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Receives Classic Lighting Option on Consoles and PC https://gamingbolt.com/gta-the-trilogy-the-definitive-edition-on-consoles-and-pc-receive-classic-lighting-option Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:08:20 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=603913 A new update is live for the controversial Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on consoles and PC. It adds visual enhancements previously exclusive to the mobile versions developed by Video Games Deluxe and published by Netflix. These include a classic lighting option, which brings the atmosphere and skybox closer to the original games.

As pointed out by Twitter user TJGM, the update adds volumetric clouds when flying high up in the sky, improved lamp posts, shadows moving in real time, improved running and aiming animations, lens flares on fire and new effects for glass breaking. CJ also no longer appears deformed when cycling, and weapons from Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, which required standing still, can now be aimed while moving.

There are also options to pause cutscenes and save games have dates and timestamps attached. Not everything is ideal, though. Camera controls tend to re-center often, especially while flying, and LOD doesn’t look very good. Nevertheless, considering everything wrong with the original release, this is a massive step up. Oddly enough, Grove Street Games, who worked on the base game, and their logo are missing from the main menu and splash screen.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is available for Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and PC. Check out our review of the launch version here.

]]> 603913 Former L.A. Noire Devs Are Still Working “Exclusively on Projects for Rockstar” https://gamingbolt.com/former-l-a-noire-devs-are-still-working-exclusively-on-projects-for-rockstar Mon, 08 Jul 2024 02:35:48 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=592712 Formed by Team Bondi alumni who worked on L.A. Noire, Video Games Deluxe is a studio that some tend to keep their eye on, and though the studio – which previously developed L.A. Noire – The VR Case Files – was said to be working on more Rockstar titles, some recent reports suggested that perhaps the developer was returning to a period 1940s LA setting in anew video game.

As caught by VGC, Australian composer Freyja Garbett seemed to reveal in an Instagram post that his since been removed that she was composing music for a game titled Sowden House, which she described as a “psychological thriller set in 1940s L.A.” developed by “the creators of L.A. Noire“.

In a statement to VGC, however, Video Games Deluxe has clarified that Sowden House is not a new project that it is working on. The studio says it is based on cut content from L.A. Noire that is more of a tech demo and unlikely to see the light of day, and that it “decided to finish the score commission to support a local composer.” The studio says it is still working exclusively with Rockstar.

“We are working exclusively on projects for Rockstar. We commissioned some music from a local composer Freyja Garbett for a VR project that we were working on a number of years ago when between projects. It is based on a case from L.A. Noire that did not make the cut but was more of a tech demo than anything else. We have no idea whether this will ever see the light of day but we decided to finish the score commission to support a local composer.”

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