Rockstar Debuts L.A. Noire Trailer, Confirms Spring 2011 Release Date

Rockstar Games confirmed today that the long-delayed crime drama L.A. Noire would be coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Spring 2011, also releasing the first cinematic trailer for the game online. While the trailer doesn't show any gameplay, it does reveal details about the game's story, which seems to revolve around a detective investigating a series of murders by interrogating suspects and researching hard evidence. The trailer also serves as the premiere for a new motion capture technology from Sydney, Australia-based Depth Capture, dubbed MotionScan, which is being used for the first time in the game. Information about the Team Bondi-developed L.A. Noire has been relatively scarce since the title was first announced back in 2006. The game has been delayed multiple times in that period, though the long development cycle is in keeping with other Take-Two franchises such as Bioshock and Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar's Max Payne 3, originally planned for a Winter 2009 release, is currently expected some time in calendar 2011. In September, Take-Two revealed its profits had outpaced analyst estimates for the second straight fiscal quarter, and also increased its sales expectations for the current quarter by roughly 20 to 30 percent.