Another big sale is header to Xbox LIVE this week, and Rockstar has the most on offer when it comes to quantity, quality and savings. From March 26th to April 1st you can save on games and associated DLC from a collection of titles, including Max Payne 3, L.A. Noire and Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Max Payne 3

L.A. Noire

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

Thanks to Major Nelson for the heads up!

I wanted to take some time to address what's been in the news recently about San Diego. I've been thinking about and working on this since the news first broke. The reason I didn't post about this story as soon as it broke was because I wanted to get all the facts. If you've been living under a rock for the past week, heres the low-down: spouses of current and former Rockstar San Diego employees posted a blog post about the working conditions of the studio. This is similar to an incident with EA back in 2004. According to their blog post, everything was good until March of 2009. From what I can gather from comments on the various news stories, after completing the South Central expansion, the Midnight Club team was "slowly dismantled". Some were laid off, some quit, and the others were merged into the Red Dead Redemption team. A source told Joystiq this:

"At first, the team was told there was going to be another. That lasted a few months until the team was told, 'Well, we're going to do another, but it will be all outsourced ... but there will be a core team of 5 - 15 people at RSSD working on it.' Then, after a while longer, it was just not going to happen at all."

While it is sad that Rockstar had to dismantle the Midnight Club team, it's not the only company letting people go. Right now the economy is in a bad state. Couple this with the high costs of operating a business in California and the fact that SD had three teams (MC, RDR, and Rage Tech teams), there may not have been a choice but to merge the two game teams into one. Does this mean the end to Midnight Club? Not exactly. If San Diego stays open after Redemption, it could very well be their next project. But back to the issue at hand, the treatment of the employees. The spouses tell that the studio has started doing 12 hour days and mandatory Saturdays. While this is unfortunate, this is sadly the norm within the industry when it comes to crunch time. Even a former developer of the studio before Rockstar aquired SD admitted this has been the norm there even before the Rockstar days. However, the spouses tell about new studio managers being appointed who have little game production experience and if that's true, it definitely cannot help the situation at the studio.

The big question is, do all the developers at San Diego feel the same? A current developer at SD who is going by the name of "Code Monkey" doesn't feel exactly the same way. While he does admit to a rather unplesent and unusual work environment for some, he still loves RSSD.

"As a R* employee for a certain amount of years, let me first say that I feel like a proud citizen of my clan, but I like many of my peers seek a reprieve from the issues that the wives have boldly brought to the media's attention. I suppose I've been one to personally let things slide a lot over the last few months as I work many long hours, many of which I feel have been somewhat forced upon me, because I love my job so much, and every second I spend in my chair in front of my screen is only a second that comes completely natural to me. I like to make games, and I like to solve game problems. That being said, I also have a very supportive significant other half, and we have no children to feed and spend time with. Also because I'm in fairly good health, I don't find myself complaining about quality of life so much as I may complain of other issues at the studio that directly affect me. But I also do have close friends at the studio who have had their health and lives deteriorated in some way, and whether or not the long hours have directly contributed to these ailments, it certainly hasn't helped. And just because I may feel just fine today doesn't mean I'll still feel fine tomorrow or months down the road when it all catches up to me. And I acknowledge the day we have a child of our own may be a day of reckoning. ...When it's all said and done, I love my studio, I love my game, and I love my team, and I wouldn't give this up for the world. I just would like to see things improve for all of us, including our management."

On the 11th, Rockstar sent this email to the folks over at SD:

"Dear Rockstar San Diego

No doubt you are all aware of the comments made on Gamasutra regarding some internal dynamics at the studio and some people's dissatisfaction with the environment. We take issues related to working conditions extremely seriously and will look to address any genuine concerns immediately.

It’s been a challenging few years, and a tough last few months as the game moves towards completion, but the final product of all that incredible effort is on the verge of finally being received by the public: the stellar game that is Red Dead Redemption, a game of which you all should be justifiably proud and which you should be excited to see come to market.

We do not agree with the allegations in the Gamasutra post (e.g. there has been no reduction in health benefits or ancillary benefits and perks (such as free dinners and massages etc), wage increases across the studio have kept track with cost of living increases, and anyone who feels they have been overlooked for a bonus for a game they worked on please contact HR to discuss as soon as possible). Nevertheless, we do know that the team is working very hard right now, and we care deeply about the physical health and mental well-being of every single person on our team. We are committed to working through any issues anyone at the studio may have, and to providing support wherever possible. Please, if you have concerns, discuss them with Sarah Shafer or with Rob Spampinato who heads up HR for the whole of Rockstar and who will be on-site in the studio for the next few days (Rob is sitting in the “new york” office). If you would prefer to speak to someone in confidence outside of Rockstar, please contact Chris Casazza, who oversees HR for Take Two.

Red Dead Redemption is rightly one of the most anticipated games of 2010, and we’re incredibly proud of the entire team for the truly outstanding work that’s gone into making this remarkable game as good as it is. Here’s hoping we can give this game the reception it deserves this April.

Sincerely,

Jenn"

Due to all this, people have cried for a boycott of the game. However, "Code Monkey" disagrees with a boycott.

"We want people to play our game. Forget about the money and any possible job security for a second. We made a great game, and we just want people to play it and see that."

In the end, hopefully everyone can get past the finger pointing and make this a learning experience for all parties in this incident and even other studios. We wish the folks at San Diego, current and former, good luck. Hopefully at the end of RDR, you guys will enjoy a long, well deserved break while we spend weeks of our lives throughly enjoying the fantastic game that will be Red Dead Redemption.

Sources:
Gamasutra
Joystiq

This story is still developing. We will continue to update as more information comes available. If you believe I have missed something or want to make a correction, please contact me.

With the impending release of the UMD drive-less PSP Go, Rockstar has silently released some of the back PlayStation Portable catalog onto PlayStation Network.

While other Rockstar PSP games have yet to appear such as the GTA Stories games or The Warriors, more than likely they will be coming soon.

EDIT: It seems that they have been removed from the store today.

Last week the South Central Vehicle Pack #1 was released by Rockstar, today the 2nd pack, South Central Vehicle Pack #2, has been released for Midnight Club: Los Angeles. You can now purchase the pack from Xbox LIVE and PSN for 240 MS points/$2.99 respectively. The download adds these new vehicles to your game:

• 2008 Cadillac XLR V
• 2008 Lancer Evolution X
• 2007 Aston Martin DB9
• and bonus 2008 Ducati 1098 R

Same as the first package, Rockstar also released a new gameplay clip showing the new vehicles in all their glory, see below:

Please also note that the vehicles will only show up if you have downloaded the FREE Midnight Club: Los Angeles - South Central Upgrade. You can read all about the South Central Upgrade here.

Buy Now: Xbox Marketplace

As promised last week, Rockstar has announced through the Midnight Club LA News page today that the first of the two Vehicle Packs for Midnight Club: Los Angeles has been released. You can now download the pack on Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Store for 240 MS points/$2.99 respectively. The pack contains three brand new high-performance vehicles, including:

• 2008 Audi S5
• 2008 Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG
• 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT.

In addition, a new gameplay clip was released also, showing the above mentioned cars speeding around the streets of L.A., check it out below:

The second Vehicle Pack is planned for release next Thursday. Stay tuned!

Buy Now: Xbox Live

Rockstar has just announced that there will be two car packs releasing for Midnight Club: Los Angeles on both platforms starting next week.

The first pack, releasing on April 16, includes an Audi S5, the Mercedes CL 65, and a 2009 Eclipse GT tuner. The second pack, which releases the following week on April 23, includes a Cadillac XLR V, a Lancer Evolution X, an Aston Martin DB9. The second pack will also include a bonus vehicle, a Ducati 1098 motorcycle.

Both packs will cost 240 MS Points or $2.99 on the PlayStation Store and will also require that you have the free South Central map downloaded. As far as we understand, you will not have to have the paid South Central pack to buy these packs. We have also managed to score two new screens.

The Midnight Club: Los Angeles upgrade, South Central, was fully released last week on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Store. In a continued, and rather new tradition that started with Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar developers and staff will be online, ready to verse fans of the game later this week. On April 4th a number of developers from Rockstar Games and Rockstar San Diego will be on Xbox LIVE, ready to head-to-head with anyone that thinks they know the game better than they do!

It is important to note that inorder to join in you MUST have the the Map Extention downloaded, it is free and will unlock the South Central part of Los Angeles. You aren't required to have the Premium Upgrade which costs 800 MS points (Xbox LIVE) or $9.99 (PlayStation Store), just the Free Map Extention.

Keep an eye out for these Gamertags and shoot of an invite:

• RockstarNYTest1
• RockstarNYTest2
• RkstrNYQALEAD1
• RkstrNYQALEAD2
• RkstrSDDesign1
• RkstrSDDesign2
• RkstrSDDesign3
• RkstrSDDesign4
• RkstrSDTest1
• RkstrSDCode1
• RkstrSDAudio1
• RkstrSDArt01
• RockstarDub10
• RockstarDub11
• RockstarDub12

You can catch them online between 4:00 – 7:00 P.M. ET or 1:00 – 4:00 P.M. PT.

For more information check the Xbox LIVE GWD event page.

The first DLC for Midnight Club: Los Angeles, South Central, is out now on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Store.

Xbox Live: Free Map Upgrade
Xbox Live: Premium Upgrade

It seems while Rockstar was waiting for Microsoft today, they identified a bug in the Xbox 360 version of Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central. Rockstar hopes that the delay will be very short and are working as quickly as possible to fix the bug. The PlayStation 3 version of the DLC is unaffected by this and is out now on the PlayStation Store.

Another heads up, Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central is out now on the PlayStation Store in the US. Xbox owners will have to wait a bit longer as Microsoft still has yet to fix Xbox Live.