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]

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.

Re:

[MythMoth]

"Want a kitten? Want it now?"

Re:

[British]

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!"

Re:

[AugstWest]

"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.

Re:

[enderjsv]

Actually, a lot of the music in GTA3 was taken from Scarface. Most of it wasn't made up. And can you actually tell me you didn't like the music of GTA:VC. To date, one of the best soundtracks to any game I've played.

Re:

[fractoid]

/puts on country hat
Aaaaal my exes live in Texas...
That's why I hang my hat in Ten-ess-eeeeeee!

I laughed so hard when I found out that was a real song. And the German DJ that played house music was hilarious. "Welcome in my haus of House Music!!"

Rights

[Paktu]

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:

[ghostcorps]

What would u expect? royalties? lol

Re:Rights

[Rogerborg]

You should call and tell them that.

Re:Rights

[Cyberllama]

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:

[demi]

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

Yes, they could have required you to release it under a free license that allows them to use it (and you and anyone else, too).

Re:

[kalirion]

Of course if you happen to be making a home movie of your children while at the same time participating in the promotion, they own the rights to that.

Re:Rights

[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.

Re:

[Achoi77]

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.

Re:

[HTH NE1]

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)?

Re:

[CopaceticOpus]

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.

Even that doesn't seem that shady to me, so long as the company is completely upfront about the terms. There are probably many great ideas out there that are lost because the thinker doesn't have the time, desire, or know-how to bring his idea to life. I think such a person would prefer to see their idea become reality rather than have it

Re:

[DarkMantle]

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

Re:

[suv4x4]

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!

Re:

[loafula]

yeah, god forbid they actually take the recorded message offered to them and used it in a game.

Worst. Job. Ever.

[AbsoluteXyro]

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

Re:

[Ziwcam]

No. *THIS* [youtube.com] is the worst job ever...

(sorry for the shitty quality. I imagine that version has been recompressed about 3 bazillion times. Too lazy to search for a better version)

Re:

[Zonk (troll)]

No. *THIS* [youtube.com] is the worst job ever...

(sorry for the shitty quality. I imagine that version has been recompressed about 3 bazillion times. Too lazy to search for a better version)

Here [google.com] is a better quality version.

How many of the calls will be...

[niceone]

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

Re:

[Thing 1]

Depends how many people read your post :)

Re:

[mwvdlee]

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

Live

[sonamchauhan]

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)

Re:

[MrShaggy]

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

Re:

[cyberstealth1024]

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.

While I'm sure this is technically possible...just:

1. set up an array of game servers ...like any other online game
2. configure the servers to accept incoming streamed video...as well as queueing protocols
3. provide the users with the VOIP call-in numbers, IP address, etc in order to submit their audio/visual content
4. (Profit!!!)?

....I'm sure that this would be a filting/censoring headache!

Note: Here, I'm talking about having user-submitted audio/visual content to be broadcast server-wide on a public server.

Re:

[sonamchauhan]

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

Re:

[cyberstealth1024]

I concur on the separation of user-generated content. Thanks for breaking it down and distinguishing between the two. I like your concept of streaming video from the TV tuner (or audio from FM radio tuner). Similar to how games such as GTA allow you to play your own mp3's....except move it onto the next step and stream from live sources.

Please...

[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*

PERFECT!!!!!!

[axia777]

YES!!! This is perfect!!! LOL!!! I would LOVE to be playing GTA4 and hear ol JT ranting and raving about the dangers of violent video games. I reality, that moron did not even realize that he has made himself into the perfect GTA character.

Re:

[pokerdad]

*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*

If you think that would be so funny, why don't you call in pretending to be him?

Re:

[Beefysworld]

They wouldn't be allowed to use his name or likeness, as he'd more than likely sue straight away. Try a parody (it'd fit better with the GTA humour). Let's say I've got this friend call Tack Johnson. He's a crazy lawyer from... Morida! Yeah, that's it... He seems to have a vendetta against a gaming company called.. FakePoo!

Why not stream in-game, real-time?

[Yuioup]

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:

[teh MrCrow]

There will be a TON of garbage among the recordings, like prank callers and people telling lame jokes. I think it is better this way for the overall quality of what you can hear ingame.

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

[brouski]

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.

Re:

[maxume]

Why not? Cost+=2, value+=1, that's why not.

Re:

[knubo]

You could ofcourse just tap into an existing radio channel and stream that. Like Howard Stearn :-)

Re:

[HTH NE1]

Like Howard Stearn

I gotta get a different font; I misread that as "Howard Steam".

Re:

[smiltee]

After 12 years, do the radio will play the same old tunes or play music completely unrelated to the settings of the game? Anyway, J.T. or the RIAA will surely oppose to this.

iTunes

[Johnny Mnemonic]

I always thought that GTA missed a trick. Wouldn't you rather listen to songs of your own selection while driving around and causing mayhem? Would you rather do that enough to pay $1/song? Downloaded from a web-service to the console, and saved on the console.

Then you wouldn't need to hear the same 10 tracks over and over again. That drove me a little nuts.

Of course, it would be preferable to be able to upload music that you already own, and do it for free, but let's not get crazy here.

Re:

[Phudman]

You could listen to your whatever music you wanted in the PC and Xbox versions.

Re:

[f1r3f0g]

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.

Re:

[matts-reign]

Vice City for PC at least allowed you to put Ogg and MP3 tracks in a folder so you could create a custom radio station. You could also just make the folder a shortcut to wherever you kept your music collection.

GTA3 on X-Box

[MagusSlurpy]

GTA 3 on the X-box lets you play the mp3s that are on the hard-drive. Nothing quite like mowing down old ladies with random sub-machine gun blasts while rocking out to "Bananaphone."

Re:

[ClamIAm]

I don't mean to sound rude, but: dude, where have you been? The Xbox has a feature that lets you rip your CDs to its hard drive, and game developers can hook into this by allowing "custom soundtracks" (i.e. whatever music you rip). The Xbox versions of GTA support this. The 360 adds copy-from-MP3 player and LAN streaming to this.

Re:

[Mark Gillespie]

The Sony PSP version also does this, so it's ovbious the PS3 version will also..

Re:

[the.Ceph]

Other people have mentioned that GTA 3 and on let you use your various audio files but even the first GTA would let you use your own cd's.

Music made the game...

[Cyno01]

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...

TCFH - Send us your screams

[tomaasz]

There's been the exact same kind of contest with They came from Hollywood, a yet-to-be-released indie game by Octopus Motor. It was called "Send us your screams" and the part with giving up your rights to the submitted content was identical - there's no better way to do this.

http://www.theycamefromhollywood.com/screams.html [theycamefr...lywood.com]

I was looking forward to TCFH but it seems like it will never be finished since the makers are struggling to make it perfect. What a pity.

Re:

[reanjr]

"Blast email" is marketing for "spam".

Re:

[NIN1385]

It's only spam if it's unsolicited, however I signed up for this newsletter. A blast email is a single email sent out to a list of addresses, it's not always spam but it has the same elements.

Taking The Cheap Route

[schweinhund]

Sounds to me like Rockstar is looking to save a few bucks. I mean, they could easily pay people a little something ($250? $500?)for giving them some material for their upcoming mega-blockbuster.

It sounds cool and fun to take part in this, but then on the other hand if they gave people any notice for their contribution, it could give them perhaps a small start in voiceovers (if they were really, really good). Perhaps an edge for their creativity to help it thrive in such woefully uninspired times.

This just s

Re:

[Floritard]

Oh come on. I'd pay $250 to have my voice in a GTA game. We're talking about a game that has grown more and more epic each iteration, a game whose online video preview recognizably clogged the internet upon release, a game that courts big controversy and blockbuster-movie profits. And be assured you're going to see your name in the credits, both in the manual and in the ingame final credits. I'm sure that's enough for any fan.

Re:

[HTH NE1]

And be assured you're going to see your name in the credits, both in the manual and in the ingame final credits.

I wouldn't count on that. I'd expect that if they did request your name with your submission, it may only be to weed out any actual and unionized celebrities for whom such terms turning over their work for no pay would be null and void.

IANAL, Hollywood or otherwise.

Re:

[Floritard]

God what's it like to be so cynical? I mean really, I'm a cynical bastard, but I really don't think Rockstar is going to save a whole shit-ton of money for GTA's budget by soliciting a bunch of wankers on the internet for some of the more benign content in their game. We're talking about sound bytes for just one of the many radio stations the game is bound to have. Even if they hired professional talent as usual, the cost probably wouldn't exceed the price of just one of the hit songs they're going to licen

Wikification

[HTH NE1]

God what's it like to be so cynical?

It's about having every chance to be pleasantly surprised and never being disappointed when you're wrong.

When submitting your content, you're giving up all your rights to it (including right of attribution), and making it exclusively the content of Rockstar to reproduce. You won't even have the right to reproduce the snippets you contributed.

They'll probably revoice it as well, so it won't even be your performance. Maybe they'll even change a word here or there to make it punchier. And without knowledg

Lazlow

[filth grinder]

Most of the in game radio station production is done by Lazlow Jones. He hosts The Technofile on XM, as well as having various shows around the country. He did a pretty good show weekly at night in NY. He's put it out of CD on his website and has it available for downloads. lazlow.com [lazlow.com]

He's really funny and listening to his show you can see how much of an influence he is on the sound design of the GTA game series. So I'm excited to see what he ends up doing with these callers.

He's also done some stuff w