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[IbizaPocholo]

https://www.mensjournal.com/videogames/lazlow-interview-absurd-ventures

Jeffrey "Lazlow" Jones was as much a star of Grand Theft Auto as he was an architect in its making. Over two decades he established himself as a pivotal senior member of a global development team creating some of the most successful entertainment ever made – as a writer, actor, and producer both on and within the games. But in 2020, he left the video game studio behind.

It was time for a new project with long-time collaborator, Rockstar’s Dan Houser – one where they could stretch their storytelling style into new areas and genres. Where they could pull apart fresh topics in games, podcasts, animations, or whatever they wanted.

Yet GTA – like his decade-long career in radio broadcasting, from Oklahoma rock music to New York City talk shows – remains a part of his being. It’s in his DNA.

Take his father, once the spitting image of a GTA character; long, unkempt hair and an overgrown beard, you’d expect to find him on the drab streets of Liberty City. Old photos of him in his undercover narcotics cop days are unrecognizable, even to Lazlow.

Check the link for more.

 

[Pelao]

I hope GTA 6 turns out well, but for me, the departure of Benzies, Lazlow and Dan Houser signalled the end of the Rockstar I knew.
I no longer have the blind faith I used to have in this studio.

 

[gaming_again]

I hope GTA 6 turns out well, but for me, the departure of Benzies, Lazlow and Dan Houser signalled the end of the Rockstar I knew.
I no longer have the blind faith I used to have in this studio.

100%. I fear that GTAVI will have no heart.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

100%. I fear that GTAVI will have no heart.

GTA VI is the first GTA I'm interested in since San Andreas.

 

[Soodanim]

Haven't read it all yet, but what I have was interesting. It also reminds me that it's been so long since I've seen a link to a professional outlet with work done by a professional. It's usually clickbait and ragebait.

Thanks IbizaPocholo

 

[CGNoire]

Yeah Dan's leaving was also the departure of my unquestionable faith in Rockstar.

 

[Revolutionary]

Their new podcast seems interesting. I'm not a podcast guy but I'll check the first episode out.

 

[Windom Earle]

I think the GTA6 trailer was the worst GTA trailer I've ever seen.

 

[ozz ex machina]

Yeah Dan's leaving was also the departure of my unquestionable faith in Rockstar.

Me too. Very sceptical of what gta 6 looks like in terms of narrative and character design.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

From GTA to the Internet of Things: What Lazlow Jones Did Next - IGN

IGN interviews Lazlow Jones, who left GTA and Red Dead developer Rockstar after 19 years to join Dan Houser at Absurd Ventures.

www.ign.com

Houser is not alone, of course. His partner in crime here is Lazlow Jones, who to the average GTA fan is perhaps an even more recognisable name than Dan Houser. The former journalist and radio host became the voice of GTA for a generation of gamers after he produced, scripted, and hosted the hugely popular Chatterbox FM radio station in 2001’s seminal Grand Theft Auto 3.

From there, Lazlow worked with Dan Houser on pretty much every Rockstar game as a co-writer, coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas to satirize whatever place and time were the focus of the development team's attention. Dialogue, quest design, even Easter eggs — Lazlow was there. It’s almost overwhelming to interview him. Where to start? Which of the long list of Rockstar games he worked on over a near 20-year stretch to pick his brains on first?

Perhaps it is best, though, to start by asking about the end. With GTA Online bringing in billions for Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two, with Red Dead Redemption 2 an enormous hit in its own right, and with GTA 6 development ramping up, Lazlow left Rockstar. He left Rockstar. You’re at the top of the video game development mountain, and then you jump off. Why?

More at the link.

 

[bender]

I really didn't care for Lazlow after San Andreas.