Guy Cocker

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to be invited to see Rockstar London for a first play on Grand Theft Auto IV. This was an occasion in itself — Rockstar never allows journalists to play a GTA game ahead of release. But regardless of the game, Rockstar has to be commended as a publisher that really knows how to show off its games.

For anyone who isn’t privy to the world of games journalism and/or PR, here’s how a typical preview event goes down. You and an assembled throng of journalists will be invited to a central-London location. There, you’ll be given a short introduction by the game’s designers, after which there’ll be the chance to ask some questions. If you’re lucky, or the game is due for imminent release, you’ll get to play on the game while anxious PRs look over your shoulder to make sure you’re not breaking anything. You may also have the chance to have a one-on-one interview, although you’ll invariably have to wait around for the publisher to fit you in.

Rockstar works differently. When they invite you to see their game, they invite you personally and put you in a dark room with an awesome home cinema setup. They spend ages with you (two and a half hours with GTA IV), talking you through everything they’re showing you and answering any questions along the way. They give you time to explore at your leisure, allowing you to have an experience that’s different to everyone else who’s played the game. They even have bowls of sweets lying around in case you need a sugar hit. There’s a passion and a buzz about everything Rockstar does, and while it obviously helps when you have one of the most anticipated games of the year, the way they demo things serves as an example to the rest of the industry.

Sadly I can’t talk about anything from the game itself as it’s all under embargo, but rest assured, the coverage will be up on GameSpot in the next couple of weeks. Instead, I’ll leave you with some random shots that I took from the company’s office. Sorry they’re a bit…rubbish, but the office itself is pretty secretive.