Marketing authenticity: Rockstar Games and the use of cinema in video game promotion

Wright, Esther 2017. Marketing authenticity: Rockstar Games and the use of cinema in video game promotion. Kinephanos: Journal of Media Studies and Popular Culture 7 (1) , pp. 131-164.

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Abstract

Considering promotional materials as a source of information themselves, this article tracks how Rockstar Games position titles through cinema references. Referring to the relationship between video games and cinema, and tendencies to evaluate video games according to their “cinematic” qualities, it demonstrates Rockstar’s attempt to have an active role in coding their products as such. Through discourse analysis of selected Rockstar-authored promotion and other paratextual sites of information, it illustrates the ways in which the promotion of Max Payne 3 (2012), Red Dead Redemption (2010), and L.A. Noire (2011) encouraged identification of their relative cinematic influences and/or qualities.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	5 October 2021
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 08:20
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/143667

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