Rockstar's Housers in MediaGuardian 100

By Robert Purchese Published 25 July, 2011

L.A. Noire helps brothers to 27th.

Brothers Sam and Dan Houser, the founders of Grand Theft Auto maker Rockstar, have climbed The Guardian's annual list of the 100 "most powerful people in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, digital media, media business, advertising, marketing and PR".

MediaGuardian 2011 ranked the Houser brothers 27th - one place higher than in 2010.

MediaGuardian credits the Housers with having had "the biggest and most influential video game release of the year": L.A. Noire.

"Rockstar raised the bar with its Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption, defining a new era of sprawling open-world adventures. With L.A. Noire, inspired by Raymond Chandler and LA Confidential, it has done it again," claimed MediaGuardian.

Sam and Dan Houser finished above Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, chef Jamie Oliver and Lord Sugar. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg topped the list.

Whereas Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption were internally developed Rockstar titles, L.A. Noire was created by Australian independent studio Team Bondi. Rockstar signed as the publisher in 2006.

L.A. Noire has attracted a wealth of coverage from both specialist and mainstream press. And not all of it has been good.

Allegations of unfair working practices have been rife, as former Team Bondi staff incensed by exclusion from the game's credits blew the whistle on conditions at the studio.

The Housers may have had high profile success with L.A. Noire, then, but former staff claim Rockstar will never work with Team Bondi again.

Eurogamer's L.A. Noire review awarded 8/10.

L.A. Noire.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Mkwone #1 10 months ago

    I bet they're well pleased to be 27th on the Guardians MPPTRNMDMMBAMPR list

  • arcam #2 10 months ago

    When this game first came out all the comments were really positive. Nowadays there's a general tone of disappointment.

    Is it just a reaction to the bad press about working practices, or did it take a while for people to realise the game wasn't what it first appeared to be?

    I ask because it's been announced for PC, and originally I was very interested...

  • f01re #3 10 months ago

    @4 I loved it and finished it but 90% of my mates got bored and gave up halfway through.
    Edited by f01re at 25/07/11 @ 14:25

  • metalangel #4 10 months ago

    @arcam: the game seems much bigger and more exciting at first... it's after a few hours you get used to the facial animation and huge city and laid back pace, and notice all the flaws.

  • BigDannyH #5 10 months ago

    Wasn't really feeling it then heard about the working conditions and traded it.

    I'd like to say that from a moral standpoint I'd do the same for any game, but I'd be most put out to miss the new Batman or Uncharted.

  • God_Octo #6 10 months ago

    I actually really enjoyed the game, and I still do. It might be flawed, but I thought it was enjoyable. I can't think of another game where you get to play as a detective, chasing up leads and suspects when they inevitably run. I thought the story, although a little long winded, was intriguing and reasonably well plotted. Cole's character seemed flat, but then I realised it was a Noir tale, and so I waited for his downfall and the real story to start.

    So despite the flaws, and the apparently terrible working conditions Bondi employees worked through, I enjoyed the game. I thought it was fresh and fun.

  • PixelPirate #7 10 months ago

    The guardian list is kinda mental, some big players are underneath some pretty non-influential people.

    It doesnt seem a well thought out list in my view.

    taken with a pinch of salt

  • bumyoghurt #8 10 months ago

    The Housers getting the credit for Brendan McNamara's work there then.

    Good to see the L.A. Noire hate-wagon still rolling on. OMGZ DEY DINT PAY OVERTIME DA GAME IS CRAP

  • P1GEONPOO #9 10 months ago

    TEAM BONDIGE

  • Snake_2011 #10 10 months ago

    if Rockstar made LA Noire it would have been a lot better but it was still a great game if LA Noire 2 gets made it could be a masterpiece if bondi do it right.

  • LazyNinjaUk #11 10 months ago

    For the first few hours I really liked the game, but it wasn't till I started asking other people about it, that I found some of the areas I though were kind of weak everyone else REALLY hated.

    Well before the Bondi 11 story broke it was pretty evident the game was good on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you find it's a game that lacks depth. Then the Bondi 11 thing happened, and I have to admit it did tarnish the game for me.

    Crunch periods are an unfortunate neccessity in the games industry, but finding out the dreadful hours they had to work shocked me. To be honest I hope the hard workers at TB get to move onto bigger things and better working conditions, I hope Brendan Mcnamara gets sacked.
    Edited by LazyNinjaUk at 25/07/11 @ 16:01

  • metalangel #12 10 months ago

    @EddieMink: If the whole 'arresting the wrong people' thing is meant to show both pressure from above for results and Phelps' determination to please, they could have made it more blatant that you were charging people for the sake of it as opposed to just deciding you'd done enough and making the accusation based on what you had.

    The overall plot (because games need one, it can't just be a serious of episodes each of which are interesting on their own) really worked against them, not least of all with those fucking newspapers expecting you to both be interested by and pay attention to shit which was both dull in the extreme and made absolutely no sense until the very end.