
'It was just terrifying': Bradley Cooper opens up about becoming Leonard Bernstein during 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'
Bradley Cooper described the process of transforming into Leonard Bernstein as ‘terrifying’ and full of hurdles
1970-01-01 08:00

‘She doesn’t hurt ticket sales’: Internet agrees as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell welcomes Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift romance
'It has connected more fans of Taylor’s and more fans of the NFL in some ways,' said Roger Goodell
1970-01-01 08:00

What The Autumn Statement Means For Economy, Markets and Your Money
In a live Q&A on the Markets Today blog, we asked experts from across the newsroom for their
1970-01-01 08:00

Meloni and Scholz Deepen Ties, Leaving France Behind
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are spearheading a series of closer business dealings
1970-01-01 08:00

OxyContin maker's settlement plan divides victims of opioid crisis. Now it's up to the Supreme Court
The legality of an agreement by the maker of OxyContin to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harm done by opioids is going before the Supreme Court
1970-01-01 08:00

'We'll be here waiting': Fans emotional as BTS' Jungkook writes personal letter to ARMYs about upcoming military enlistment
Jungkook told fans that he will be starting a new journey in December and have to leave them behind 'temporarily' to enlist in the military
1970-01-01 08:00

Arsenal midfielder's agent admits talks over new contract are 'at a standstill'
Jorginho's agent admits talks over a new contract with Arsenal are at a standstill.
1970-01-01 08:00

Thanksgiving Adds 46 Million Turkeys to Truckers’ Chilled Cargo
If you think delivering the perfect Thanksgiving turkey from brine bucket to dinner plate takes precision, you should
1970-01-01 08:00

Hezbollah fires rockets at north Israel after an airstrike kills 5 of the group's senior fighters
The militant Hezbollah group has fired more than 50 rockets at military posts in northern Israel
1970-01-01 08:00

Ex-Rockstar Games developer shuts down blog after huge Vice City zombie game leak
A former Rockstar Games developer has moved to shut down a blog that had revealed some insider information about game development at the company in the 2000's following feedback from Rockstar North via email. Former Rockstar North technical developer Obbe Vermeij opened up in a blog about the development secrets behind Grand Theft Auto 3, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas and GTA IV. Vermeij, who worked for Rockstar between 1995 - 2009, revealed the development of a GTA 2.5 (to follow the 2D GTA 2) as well as a zombie survival-horror successor-of-sorts to GTA: Vice City, based off of the code of that game. However, before the blog could continue, a post discussing the games was deleted yesterday after Vermeij was contacted by Rockstar: "Today (22 Nov 2023) I got an email from R*North," wrote Vermeij. Apparently some of the OG's there are upset by my blog. I genuinely didn't think anyone would mind me talking about 20 year old games but I was wrong. Something about ruining the Rockstar mystique or something. Anyway, This blog isn't important enough to me to p**s off my former colleagues in Edinburgh so I'm winding it down." Vermeij added further clarity to the situation on X and stated that Rockstar North did not force him to close the blog down, just that it was disliked by former colleagues. There is no telling as to what specifically Vermeij's former colleagues found umbrage with, but Vermeij discussed a lot about the development of early GTA games as well as the cancelled Agent PS3 exclusive and the aforementioned zombie project in a post entitled 'Distractions: Agent & Z.' Rockstar Norther spent a while pogressing the idea of their zombie game - Z. The game, (pronounced zed), would've been built using code from Vice City, based on a push from artists at the company who were fascinated with zombies. Z would've been sent on a Scottish Island with the player repelling constant attacks from the undead, using vehicles to explore. Why didn't it go ahead? Well those working on Z - according to Vermeij - found the idea depressing and focused work on GTA: San Andreas instead. Vermeij also talked about aspects behind the development of GTA 3 and Vice City, and touched on the potential of a GTA 3 LAN game to add multiplayer to the open-world map, an idea that would gestate until it was realised fully in GTA IV. It's a shame that Vermeij has closed his blog posts on the GTA games, as it was genuinely interesting, and the posts that remain aren't as perhaps 'gossipy' in that they don't reveal unknown information, but they still touch on deeper aspects of game development at Rockstar. For those who are interested, you can find it here. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings
1970-01-01 08:00

German Budget Mess Could Inflict Big Growth Hit in 2024, BE Says
Germany’s economy may grow next year by less than half the pace it could otherwise have achieved as
1970-01-01 08:00

Turkey's central bank hikes interest rates again as it tries to tame eye-watering inflation
Turkey’s central bank has delivered another huge interest rate hike as it tries to curb double-digit inflation that has left households struggling to afford food and other basic goods
1970-01-01 08:00