Rockstar Makes the Best Trailers

[@RealPixels]

Get an exclusive Surfshark deal! Enter promo code REALPIXELS to get up to 6 additional months for free at surfshark.deals/realpixels

[@akibro113]

They are geniuses when it comes to music, they always choose a perfect music for every trailer and game.

[@JoaoVictor-rg5ix]

Well. They are Rockstars brother!

[@dharma_dude]

Yeah I think that this is a large part of why they're so good. I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch that GTA V trailer that featured Stevie Wonder's "Skeletons" a *lot* (that trailer rocked).

[@DemonThr1ftrrrr]

Meh, all the songs they choose are pretty mid

[@YellowBriefs]

Sam Houser is allegedly a HUGE music nerd

[@indian_crocodile]

@@DemonThr1ftrrrrwhat you expect? Metal music?

[@Aryan-MNV-2000]

Legitimately they have the greatest taste in music, artistic approach, and trailer shot choices.

[@Jakeyisdead]

Rockstar just make highly interactive movies at this point its insane

[@cesarborgia9240]

CDPR are fair competitor to Rockstar in regard to artistic approach in gaming.

[@iBocks_]

@@cesarborgia9240 I wish we could say that too when it comes in terms of gameplay quality and open world

[@pandaboogus]

@@cesarborgia9240it’s funny how you compare a one hit wonder to a company that’s been in the business since the mid 90s

[@samzony]

​@@pandaboogusNot only that, he is comparing them to a company who have almost no misses.

[@Micah__]

Rockstar is one of the few developers left for me that I’ll pick up their games day one.

[@CRWolf07]

Rdr2 trailer #3 is genuinely my favorite trailer ever. Not only is the visual presentation perfect but the music for what became “Blood feuds, ancient and modern” still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. Also important to note it shows just enough about the game's narrative without giving too much away. For a story like rdr2 that’s not easy to do

[@Watermelon_Man]

The problem with (mainly) movie trailers and show trailers in comparison to Rockstar games is that a Rockstar game offers a unique experience (compared to movies and such) of absolute freedom to just run around doing stuff. They could use a bunch of B-roll footage and establishing shots alone, and it would sufficiently work as a trailer because more than half of what they’re selling you is the world you’ll be playing in. Movies, shows, and certain genres of gaming only provide a singular straightforward experience, so they HAVE to put that in the trailer to sell you on their product because they don’t have the luxury of just throwing a bunch of non-story footage at you and retaining your interest that way. That being said, movies trailers still have a major issue with putting TOO much plot in trailers and not enough general scenes, but that’s another can of worms.

[@ungabunga7879]

Grand theft auto 4's first trailer "things will be different" sits as a core memory from my childhood, any use of phillip glass is sure to be beautiful, but rockstar knows best.

[@jmccm7739]

Congrats on the sponsor, man. You deserve it! Goes without saying, the video was awesome, it perfectly elaborates on the title.

[@musicaleuphoria8699]

I felt that the introduction of Rockstar gameplay trailers, starting with RDR1 was an awesome inclusion of explaining the games' mechanics, behind the scenes style.

[@Ronuk1996]

Yes then you had LA Noire and Maxpayne 3 which had the design and technology trailers.

[@pranoychakravorty2370]

It was really refreshing to see that trailer after seeing so many years of every Game dev making games set in Fantasy setting with nonsense RPG System with bloated lifeless openworld or making Competitive shooters . It was just cathartic to see a real game which I will put 100 of hours in . What I really love about Rockstar is how simple their trailers are , no flashy editing no use of cg trailers no use of celebrities to promote the games . Just to the point of what you are going to do . Any other game company or filmmaker would have just put a song of weeknd or billie Ellish or any zoomer influencer in the trailer and call it a day but here it shows how the level of confidence in the marketing team , devs and the audio engineers have for their product . Props to them for not following the current trend which I have seen is redflag for a lot of games . I dig the idea of Bonnie and Clyde storyline Rockstar is going for and what I saw from the trailers they don't seem annoying or out of place for gta , I was getting a Hell or Highwater (2016) feeling from them I don't know why .

[@channel45853]

Just because you may not like a certain game, doesn't mean that it is a fake game.

[@bulgarianreaper6587]

​@channel45853 He didn't say that RPGs and FPS games are "fake games". He pointed out that the industry is filled to the brim with games like these, and so it was nice to see something refreshing

[@jonathangrant480]

As someone who's addicted to rewatching their trailers solely for the music I can confirm.

[@aw2584]

Respect for shouting out "Sound of metal" the movie, despite Oscar nominations it seems like the movie is widely unknown and its such a fascinating piece that I watched it with family during Christmas break and still think about it

[@jplosts]

To me there's nothing that ever tops GTA IV first trailer, and also the huge hype about the new tech at the time. It wasn't just game, it was culture, everything was so different, fresh, grounded and grimey. They also took huge inspiration from the Koyanisqatsi documentary about the exodus, the massification of big cities and the insane growing of population. Amazing trailer i still shiver when watching that trailer.

[@Brumsly]

I totally agree, well said.

[@wuzzupo]

Dude, your trailer song transitions are amazing!

[@RebSike]

GTA IV Trailer #4 is my favorite game trailer, it sets a tone so well

[@choosey7848]

I’m so glad I didn’t see any trailers for spiderman. When doc oc first came out I was a kid again.

[@Ronuk1996]

Manhunt and Maxpayne 3 also have great trailers Rockstar are really good at making trailers.

[@davaughnwilliams5100]

Fax

[@ma14.27]

I just watch super detailed reviews and then decide that I don't wanna watch the movie anymore because I like watching reviews and summaries more. But when I purchased RDR2 a year ago, I didn't know anything about it, I mean except for that it was a western cowboy game, and it was the best decision ever, I'm not sure if I would have bought the game if I obsessed over it before I played it.

[@thomasmason6631]

I’m a red dead fan over gta as well but recently replayed the gta 5 story mode “as realistically as possible similar to how I played red dead 1&2” I was trying to figure out if they take place in the same universe and I’m starting to believe they do I recently saw strange man’s video on the subject and I can’t believe his view. I would like to hear your view on the subject. I think gta and red dead do exist in the same universe names of cities and states get messed up sometimes like New York instead of liberty city small details like that shouldn’t mean they aren’t connected also I disagree that Miami New York Los Angeles all exist as well as liberty city vice city Los santos that wouldn’t make sense 2 types of very similar cities

[@Ronuk1996]

Manhunt takes place in gta world. Bully and red dead seem to be different worlds.

[@VerminSupremeFanPage]

its not really a small detail its the name of a city. theres no way the state of California and New York City both changed their names within around 100 years

[@gabrielmartines3510]

They didn't change names, GTA 4 history program already stated that Liberty City used to be called new Rotterdam, then the british took it from the Dutch and renamed it Liberty City, maybe a version of Red Dead story existed in GTA canon, but GTA definetely doesn't exist in Red Dead canon, maybe L.A Noire and Max Payne do, but GTA doesn't.

[@gabrielmartines3510]

@@Ronuk1996 Bully takes place in the Manhunt and GTA's world, it was mentioned in GTA 4.

[@semweerts]

And the legend returns

[@horzey78]

The craziest marketing blunder ever has to be for Terminator 2. Cameron didn't want the audience to know that Arnie was the good guy, but the second trailer revealed it all. Can you imagine sitting in the cinema at that scene where he's revealed to be John's protector. It would've been amazing. Still my favourite movie though!

[@ElRadioDJ913]

Rockstar knows their craft so well and of course their advertising works so well.

[@VeRG1L_47]

It's so baffling that R* can make amazing singleplayer games, but when it comes to their online features it's shit. Yeah, both GTAO and RDO are goddamn cashgrab and in case if RDO they abandoned it very quickly

[@renaigh]

I don't care at all for their Online stuff and frankly neither should you or anyone.

[@TKsh1]

Considering that Rockstar can still deliver great singleplayer games, this probably has more to do with their publisher Take-Two.

[@Donkster1911]

Big man Pixel back at it again

[@Systox25]

There is the spoiler paradox. A study over 10 years ago has shown that you will enjoy a movie more if you know the spoilers. Watching a movie and expecting something isn’t as stressful and you don’t get distracted by confusing plot twists. This is not for everyone and story writing got better in good movies. RDR 2 is best played spoiler free because it’s about discovering and immersing yourself into the character.

[@Systox25]

Spoilers also can create hype and excitement

[@Dbonesburneraccount]

I think the worst part is even if studios could do a no marketing strategy,all of their info would be leaked because we live in the age of hackers. So they basically rip the bandaid off before leakers do.

[@lukebocko]

You know it’s a good day when pixels uploads

[@LowBatteryYT]

Rockstar makes the best games, best trailers probably goes to DICE and I will 100% die on that hill.

[@frenchtoastenjoyer]

Imo the recent trailer of Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty is one of the best I've seen

[@tomcardiff4701]

Mate it's 1:30 am and I'm staying awake because I love your vids, keep it up.

[@PainfulFrontier]

Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer 2 is the best 2nd Trailer so far

[@NamePend]

some companies need trailers so that people remember they exist. other companies have no competition that one tweet can break the internet and drive sales. Rockstar could honestly release one more trailer and just remain quiet until the release and they will still break sales records... but companies love to surprise shareholders with day one sales and so on

[@SKAPT80082]

Could you do another rdr2 deepdive of the horses in the game, their relationship with the owners, historically accurate gear, the historical view of horses during the wild west days, gunsligers favorite horses and such? Love the vids 😊

[@amazanta1605]

Hundred percent agree they create hype through viewing the product rather then viewing the idea of the product with a chi trailer

[@jaigrudeva8158]

Great vid as usual. Do you have any plans to have a look on RDR1 ?

[@forrestxvii]

Since San Andreas I’ve caught the pleasure of seeing every rockstar trailer since. Bully and red dead 1 being my favorite for sure. But I’ll never forget when red dead 2’s dropped talk about excitement

[@Ronuk1996]

For me RDR2 and 1 plus GTA4, Manhunt and Maxpayne 3 are my favourite trailers.

[@CertifiedArab]

This is exactly what i did with PD3 and that started with the open beta. Loved it so much that i decided that i will buy the game at some point, and payday as a hole was special to me so i ignored EVERY. SINGLE. PIECE. of spoilers imaginable on youtube and social media. Whether it was a 3 second clip of the game as background footage or the official goddamn trailer, i did not watch a single one of them at all and actually pressed "Stop recommending this channel" on like 40+ channels on that, luckily PD3 wasn't much of a story game so there wasn't any "MAIN CHARACTER DEATH SCENE 4K 120FPS" videos to worry about *And it was an amazing experience* I went into the game Mostly blind apart from the first mission and it was so great. I had to learn how to complete the heists and playthrough them on my own without having outside knowledge on the maps, i got to listen to the music for the first time which considering its a payday game is a big deal and i got to figure out tips and shortcuts all on my own, only part i had to look up was the story because that shit was super confusing even after rewatching the cutscenes like 4 times and i got to explore the skill tree without some "Best and most optmized skill tree's for PD3 2023" video. So like Mr.Pixels has said, if you find a game (or movie) that you are certain that you are gonna buy/play at some point, AVOID ANY TYPE OF GAMEPLAY OR TRAILER POSSIBLE LIKE THE BUBONIC PLAGUE DURING THE 1500s. Once you do play the game you won't be sure of what the story contains and or what ever type of twists it would contain and the suprise factor is kept

[@GorillaGlueEnthusiast]

The earliest rockstar trailer that sticks out in my head is san andreas, welcome to the jungle had the vibe even with the game more focused around the Westcoast gang culture of the time. Rockstar does it best!

[@ungodlybeast8436]

Will you be doing a historical analysis of rdr1

[@codyC423]

This video would've been awesome if you actually spent more than 15% of the video talking about Rockstar's trailers

[@tf2293]

October November this year we will have trailer 2 for gta 6 then quick succession trailers until release

[@marksonofnel55]

I started boycotting trailers a few years ago after three particular influences: 1 - Cyberpunk 2077, where the years of hype were all shown to be primarily lies 2 - The Last of Us Part II, where I came to the conclusion that if the trailers had not implied Joel's continued survival, there would have been much less backlash (obviously it wouldn't have been as well received as part 1, as it does have other flaws), the original trailers from so many years before had left people theorizing that Joel might die early on, and that did not result in massive backlash then 3 - I watched a fairly boring, empty, and slow sci-fi movie, Io (2019) which wasn't terrible, but afterwards I watched the trailer, which seemed to depict an entirely different film, one that could be called a thriller and seemed to include some significant action which did not actually exist in the movie, making it seem that the rather short third act was most of the movie. No doubt, plenty of people were severely disappointed watching that movie because of that trailer. The marketing team advertised it to the wrong kind of person.

[@alexhouser4201]

I'm just hoping rockstar knows what they are doing for the next trailers for gta6.. but I'm sure they will be good

[@mankytoes]

I also pretty much always avoid trailers for films- one thing you didn't focus on was how they can ruin comedy. One I watched was The Suicide Squad, because I was on the fence about watching the film. The trailer was good, and I liked the film overall. But the trailer had some of the best jokes in it. Most of the cinema laughed, but I didn't, because I knew the jokes were coming, I felt like I'd really missed out of one of the best aspects of the film.

[@TrionnoStunting]

What is the game in 13:15 shit looks nice

[@douglas215]

I think it is "Lake"

[@RealPixels]

Yep, that's Lake! A charming little indie game-very slow and relaxing.

[@TrionnoStunting]

Yeah, i bought it. Very fun to play!@@RealPixels

[@Etimm]

Rockstar first trailers are always perfect, but from the 2nd or 3rd it just becomes spoilers, without forgetting the gameplay trailers, character trailers, etc...

[@its.sapphire]

i love your accent sm bro

[@Incredible_Mister_J]

Sometimes, subtlety is best.

[@_Colti_]

What an amazing video!

[@renaigh]

being that Red Dead is such a big part your channel's success, I'd like to know your thoughts on the RP side of the community.

[@TreSwayy]

I also think DICE is one of the best at trailers

[@oui2611]

you lost me at superhero movies. you could had ended the video at 5:27

[@SepticSafe_]

Wow what a brave take 👏👏👏👏👏

[@mjolnair]

I’m glad they don’t use cg trailers

[@theycallme_D]

When it comes to trailers id give it to Ubisoft. Assassins creed

[@AL2009man]

Say what you want about GTA5's PS5/Xbox Series trailer: I still think it's the best trailer they done for GTA5.

[@coconutjuice5232]

Future greatest games of all time

[@user-gm9zi1tp1g]

Ubisoft make the best trailers

[@HugoElcabezas]

They make the best video games.

[@Klemen1x]

Its either Rockstar or Valve imo. Id still go Valve though gotta love the iconic TF2 trailers and especially the L4D2 trailer, but thats basically the only trailers that are memorable from valve, cause they barely make games so because of that there are no trailers.

[@AyJayEm23]

I don’t know about this. Me personally, I think Ubisoft makes the best trailers just look at the AC games trailers. This is just my opinion though and I respect yours.

[@hardeep.s.k]

Nice 🙏😀

[@logarhythmic6859]

You probably should've given spoiler warnings for all the non-Rockstar related media you talk about. Just like how you avoid trailers for getting movies spoiled, maybe I should avoid video essays lol.

[@RealPixels]

0:09

[@logarhythmic6859]

@@RealPixels Fair point lol. Maybe include it in the script, because I missed the few frames that was on screen

[@TerranceDavis-lu3yr]

Now they just need to make the best games and then we're back on track😅

[@Nothing_happening_here_go_away]

Vice City has the best trailer

[@Brumsly]

The TV trailer that featured Flock of Seagulls is burned into my memory, so good.

[@Khnshfkt.rockstargamesindia]

great

[@Gadanfer]

Who cares about the trailer when the cop system and missions design are the same since 2004

[@indian_crocodile]

They are not?

[@MALOK003]

dice

[@danielb.7224]

hideo kojima makes the best trailers

[@Silv3rM4st3r]

When The Last of Us Part 2 announced, I was stunned, flabbergasted, hell even outright crying happily... I only saw the first teaser and avoided the rest of the trailers and interviews like the plague, even when the game got leaked, I somehow avoided everything. I went in blind, knowing, this will be a blast and I will cry all over again... Oh, oh, oh... how wrong I was. I was not happy, actually I was outright furious of how bad this game can be. (I will not get into details.) But it surely didn't change my view on how I approch trailers. When Hollow Knight Silksong gets a release date, im going to avoid, every single trailer, teaser, whatever out there. Because I suresh!t know, this will be good... hopefully.

[@eduardoflores922]

Thats because you dont know Kojima boy...

[@SGFTI]

I thought GTA6's trailer sucked and made the game look like it's gonna be bad.

[@Waffles_Syrup]

I have to disagree with you a bit. I think the gta 6 trailer is really bad, especially compared to gta 5's trailer 1. Gta 5's trailer 1 is super iconic for all the reasons you list in the video, but for 6's it should not have been the first trailer, especially with that song. It would be much better as a trailer 2.

[@tomcardiff4701]

I feel that the trailer would have been received differently if the leaks didn't happen.

[@Ad1tputra]

​@@tomcardiff4701true. We kinda already knew what Gta 6 is gonna be, another reason why leaking a game is not usually a good thing. Ik Rockstar are scummy with Gta Online (milking it) but leaking their game? NO Considering Rockstar is now focus on quality rather than quantity. I think people need to realize that we need to wait at least 5 years for a new Rockstar game. I mean look at RDR2 development time and i heard Gta 6 development started in 2014 (that's 10 years ago)

[@madhunter6420]

gta 6 trailer absolutely sucked and was overhyped af. IV and V had more to show on their first ones