Rockstar Allows GTA Fans to Call Liberty City Radio Station

NIN1385 writes "Rockstar has sent out a blast email saying that people are now encouraged to call into a Liberty City radio station. WKTT Talk Radio is accepting calls right now allowing people to voice their opinion about what is wrong with today's Liberty City and/or America, and the best will be used on the upcoming GTA IV Soundtrack."

hilarious

[mastershake_phd (1050150)]

One thing you never hear about when people talk about GTA is throughout the whole serious there has been a serious vein of comedy throughout each game. Its not all mindless violence, its more of a lampooning of stereotypical mindless violence. Not to mention their radio jokes, and sketches are on par with any comedy album I have ever heard.

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[MythMoth (73648)]

"Want a kitten? Want it now?"

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[British (51765)]

I remember in GTA:SA there's this funk/soul dj talking about how he likes to meet women at science fiction conventions. That struck me as so off-kilter, it was hilarious.

The creepiest humor on the radio was in GTA:VCS with a commercial for little girls' underwear called "lacy surprise". One of the lyrics says "daddy close your eyes!"

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[AugstWest (79042)]

"I tried everything to lose weight. Well, except eating less and exercising."

The Glory Hole Amusement Park for kids is another winner.

Of course, I have to say that the "fake" music on the stations in GTA3 is FAR superior to the newer scheme of using real pop songs from the era. Whoever came up with the music for GTA3 should be given 5 or 6 radio stations in each game, it was the most impressive thing they've released imho.

Rights

[Paktu (1103861)]

You grant Rockstar an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and all right, title and interest for the duration of all copyrights (without territory, time, use, other limitations or any obligations), including the exclusive right to copyright, renew and extend such copyright and use, reproduce and exploit (and authorize others to do the same) in such manner as Rockstar determines (and all other rights you may have), all elements of any messages or recordings generated by you while participating in the Promoti

Re:Rights

[Rogerborg (306625)]

You should call and tell them that.

Re:Rights

[Cyberllama (113628)]

Do you honestly think something like this would be even remotely possible without a disclaimer like that?

You're not signing away your children, just whatever recording you make.

Re:Rights

[by Anonymous Coward]

You grant Rockstar an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and all right, title and interest for the duration of all copyrights (without territory, time, use, other limitations or any obligations), including the exclusive right to copyright, renew and extend such copyright and use, reproduce and exploit (and authorize others to do the same) in such manner as Rockstar determines (and all other rights you may have), all elements of any messages or recordings generated by you while participating in the Promotion.

Wow. Sounds like the kind of thing I'd love to be a part of.

What exactly do you object to? Do you think someone who submits a throwaway joke should have a stake in the game or profits, or be able to claim the right to withdraw their submission at a later date (say after a million copies have been sold) because they changed their mind?

I know some companies have pulled shady contests that sould similar (e.g. send us your ideas for a video game, if we make it we'll send you a t-shirt), but this ain't that.

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[Achoi77 (669484)]

Methinks GP was going for a knee-jerk reaction by spinning a "big-bad-corporation-takes-rights-away-from-contri butors-again" stance, rather than looking at Rockstar simply trying to cover their own ass.

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[HTH NE1 (675604)]

What exactly do you object to?

I can understand "the exclusive right to copyright" bit, even though that means you can never reproduce your part of your participation again (you can never tell that joke again), but what about the "renew and extend such copyright" part (your great-grandchildren can never ever tell that joke either)?

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[DarkMantle (784415)]

Well, do you facebook? [albumoftheday.com] Because it sounds like the agreements there.

In the Terms of service it states.

"By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for

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[suv4x4 (956391)]

You grant Rockstar an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and all right,...

Wow. Sounds like the kind of thing I'd love to be a part of.

Yea, suckers! I could've recorded myself rant, and sold it on iTunes, but now?! I'm broke!

Worst. Job. Ever.

[AbsoluteXyro (1048620)]

I feel really bad for whoever has to screen these calls. That guy is going to have some serious headaches.

How many of the calls will be...

[niceone (992278)]

How many of the calls will be from Jack Thompson then?

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[Thing 1 (178996)]

Depends how many people read your post :)

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[mwvdlee (775178)]

Remember; Rockstar will be legally allowed to use that recorded phonecall in-game and, if I know anything about Rockstar, they would!

Live

[sonamchauhan (587356)]

Games could accept VoIP calls, then play it live (or slightly delayed) as in-game talk radio (in multiplayer or even single player games). Ditto, for submitted video or picture content (sourced from webcams or home videos). -- they could be ingame TV or content, or even textures for characters or NPCs.

Hmmm.... maybe Internet radio stations being threatended by RIAA royalties have a new niche for ... ingame radio stations, paid for by gamer subscriptions. Since the multiplayers games companies already charge the users credit card, they could be the intermediary for digital content.

Also, it could work the other way around. Video games that streamed content from my digital TV/radio tuner or digital music collection, as in-game content (e.g., TV or music stations)

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[MrShaggy (683273)]

Now thats something you get royalties for... unless I get there first.

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[sonamchauhan (587356)]

Valid points.

Content could be seperated into two rough areas:

- Content meant for broadcasting
For this the same array of techniques used in real world broadcasting (e.g., filters, broadcast delays [wikipedia.org]) coudl be used

- Content for local consumption
Local content I already own, could be used in-game for my consumption, but would not be sent out. For example, my digital TV tuner run as an in-game TV stations. Or the game could continually scan it and try to build video snippets by matching teletext in

Please...

[by Anonymous Coward]

*Please let Jack Thompson call up and start ranting*
*Please let Jack Thompson call up and start ranting*
*Please let Jack Thompson call up and start ranting*

Why not stream in-game, real-time?

[Yuioup (452151)]

Hey,

Why not stream the radio real-time to the players while they're playing GTA4?

That would be amazing. Have an in-game radio station run by real people somewhere which you can call any time. The XBOX360 is perfect for that (headset).

Why not?

Y

Re:Why not stream in-game, real-time?

[brouski (827510)]

There will be a TON of garbage among the recordings, like prank callers and people telling lame jokes.

Oh, so you've used Xbox Live then.

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[reanjr (588767)]

"Blast email" is marketing for "spam".

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[f1r3f0g (879606)]

They've already dunnit.

The Rockstar Custom Tracks app (Which is free from the Rockstar website) will allow you to rip your CDs (CDs you own) to listen to in game, on your PSP.
AFAIK, this only works on GTA for the PSP.

Music made the game...

[Cyno01 (573917)]

Vice City at least, which is the only one i've played, and still do. The radio stations in vice city were all over an hour loop, with a great mix for the genres of the era. I actually ripped the stations from the game and will listen to it. Definitly not reccomended for driving though...