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Dazed shares a new exclusive interview with Rockstar Games, including 7 new screenshots:l and magazine cover: - The game has been in development roughly since 2013 - Players’ actions have consequences. Walk down the street with a rifle, and the city will have something to say about it. More and more, the games are converging on real life, and non-player characters (NPCs) are acting... well, less like NPCs than ever. - For Rockstar, the goal is to create a world of total immersion, which reacts more realistically than ever to what you choose to make of it. - The story has evolved, too, with higher stakes and characters grounded in all aspects of the world they inhabit. - Players can choose to either play as a couple, or go off and cause chaos independently - Players can cruise along the highway as Jason, or swap to Lucia in the passenger seat to scroll on the in-game phone. (Yes, there are working social media feeds) - When the job inevitably goes wrong and spirals into a car chase, the fluid switching system enables players to take the wheel in one moment, then fire on pursuers out of the passenger window the next - GTAVI is very consciously staged as “a Bonnie and Clyde-type narrative”, says Rupert Humphries, senior vice president of narrative at Rockstar - Choices can have repercussions that cut much deeper than Rockstar’s previous titles or “honour” systems that reward conscientious game playing. -Food affects Jason and Lucia’s weight, while exercising visibly builds and tones their muscles. And, if you end up spending a long time away from your bed, on the run from police or on a multi-day bender - Players can expect encounters with virtual iterations of Florida Man, the cultural archetype-turned-meme known IRL for wrangling alligators, drunken antics and literal grand theft auto. - In-game products, brands, shops and campaigns that bear more than a passing resemblance to their real-life counterparts. “Our vision is to build a vibrant, believable culture,” he says, meaning that every brand, from fashion label to car company, has to feel like more than just a one-off joke, as if it actually exists and serves a real purpose in Leonida’s cultural ecosystem. - Rockstar team has more than doubled in size since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. It has offices around the world, with one branch in LA dedicated almost solely to the world of in-game pedestrians (NPCs). More than 50 real street artists were brought in to design murals in places like Vice City’s Stockyard (based on Wynwood, Miami). The team that deals with vehicle handling is made up of literal race-car drivers. (Source: dazeddigital.com/life-cultur…)