History Trivia / RedDeadRedemption

* ReclusiveArtist: Uncle's voice actor Spider Madison. Apart from three other credits on his IMDB page, Madison's filmography pretty much ends with this game, and he doesn't reprise the role of Uncle in this game's prequel. Absolutely nothing is known about his personal life. Not even his date of birth. It's not even known if he's still alive.

* NoPortForYou: Reports concerning the game's source code being inelegant likely accounted for Rockstar ruling out a PC release, though this was ultimately subverted with the sequel thankfully.

* TroubledProduction: The game was apparently so rough and unplayable just months before release that Rockstar president Sam Houser desperately emailed producer Leslie Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails between the two, while Sam and Dan Houser were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles, as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version (the game did, however, get a PolishedPort for the Xbox One, especially the Xbox One X). Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RockstarSpouse/20100107/86315/Wives_of_Rockstar_San_Diego_employees_have_collected_themselves.php a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.

* TheWikiRule: [[https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Dead_Wiki The Red Dead Wiki.]]

* OrphanedReference: The Blackwater stranger quest "The wronged woman" has a widow mention his late husband frequented a gambling boat. While the line stll makes sense in the final release due to Blackwater having (off-screen) port activity, pre-release footage reveals that the game actually did have an accessible gambing boat at some point in development that was cut before release.[[note]]In the final game the husband is found inside Blackwater's saloon before he's killed.[[/note]]

* OrphanedReference: The Blackwater stranger quest "The wronged woman" has a widow mention his late husband frequented a gambling boat. While the line makes enough sense in the final release due to Blackwater having (off-screen) port activity, pre-release footage reveals that the game actually did have an accessible gambing boat at some point in development that was cut before release.[[note]]In the final game the husband is found inside Blackwater's saloon before he's killed.[[/note]]

* CastTheExpert: Anthony de Longis is an expert martial artist who's especially proficient with a bullwhip and has for decades been a stunt performer and coordinator; he trained Creator/MichellePfeiffer as Catwoman for ''Film/BatmanReturns'' and Creator/HarrisonFord as Indiana Jones for ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''. However-- although you might think a Western would be an ideal place for De Longis to [[TheCastShowOff display his skills]]-- [[SubvertedTrope you would be wrong;]] his character Marshal Leigh Johnson never so much as touches a bullwhip.

* FanNickname: "Grand Theft Horse," oddly, to fans and detractors alike. Depends on how much you like VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto.
** Thanks to [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee's]] review, a few fans have opted for [[WordSaladHumor "Green Spleen Submarine"]] or [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons "Purple Monkey Dishwasher."]]
** "Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy Shootin'" is another popular nickname for the game, in the same vein as the above two.

* ImageSource:
** ShootTheRope
** WhatADrag

* TheOner: A behind the scenes example. According to Benjamin Byron Davis in interviews after ''II'''s release, every cutscene in ''I'' had to be recorded from the beginning if they needed a new take as the technology back then didn't allow combining different takes. So while the cutscenes utilize different camera angles when required, the audio and motion capture is always from a single take.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:

* WordOfSaintPaul: According to his voice actor, Bill's dislike for John stems from jealousy; he's jealous that Abigail chose John over him. However, John also was one of the few who kept Williamson in check, and once he left the gang, Bill's morality loosened and he slowly went insane. The second game ignores this, and it's instead implied that Bill's mental issues are caused by a combination of hereditary dementia, PTSD from his time in the army, and insecurity over his homosexuality.

* OldShame: It's not been said out loud, but the way the sequel treats Native Americans as UnacceptableTargets suggests that Rockstar isn't too fond of how they portrayed them in this game. It's not too hard to see why; Nastas is the only native character who gets any sort of characterization, yet dies soon after he's introduced (the fact that [[BrownFace he's played by a white man]] ''really'' doesn't help), and the rest of the natives in the game -- who are explictly said to be misguided young men -- only exist to be shot at.

* ImageSource:
** PeacefulInDeath

* OldShame: It's not been said out loud, but the way the sequel treats Native Americans as UnacceptableTargets suggests that Rockstar isn't too fond of how they portrayed them in this game. It's not too hard to see why; Nastas dies soon after he's introduced and every other native -- who are explictly said to be misguided young men -- in the game exist only to be shot at.

* ReclusiveArtist: Uncle's voice actor Spider Madison. Apart from three other credits on his IMDB page, his filmography pretty much ends with this game. Absolutely nothing is known about his personal life. Not even his date of birth. It's not even known if he's still alive.

* WordOfSaintPaul: According to his voice actor, Bill's dislike for John stems from jealousy; he's jealous that Abigail chose John over him. However, John also was one of the few who kept Williamson in check, and once he left the gang, Bill's morality loosened and he slowly went insane. [[{{Jossed}} The second game ignores this]], and it's instead implied that Bill's mental issues are caused by a combination of hereditary dementia, PTSD from his time in the army, and insecurity over his homosexuality.

* WordOfSaintPaul:
** According to his voice actor, Bill's dislike for John stems from jealousy; he's jealous that Abigail chose John over him. However, John also was one of the few who kept Williamson in check, and once he left the gang, Bill's morality loosened and he slowly went insane. The second game ignores this, and it's instead implied that Bill's mental issues are caused by a combination of hereditary dementia, PTSD from his time in the army, and insecurity over his homosexuality.
** According to Dutch's voice actor, Benjamin Byron Davis, Bronte is meant to be this to Dutch and is part of what contributes to Dutch's SanitySlippage. Dutch has imagined himself a educated refined criminal who is entirely capable of running a ManBehindTheMan organization if he ever got enough money to do it. Meeting Bronte, who is exactly this, ''disgusts him'' because he is an honorless arrogant piece of garbage who embodies the worst civilization has to offer. Unbeknownst to the rest of the gang, Dutch realizes he has nowhere to go and retirement is not an option after Chapter 4.

* WordOfSaintPaul: According to his voice actor, Bill's dislike for John stems from jealousy; he's jealous that Abigail chose John over him. However, John also was one of the few who kept Williamson in check, and once he left the gang, Bill's morality loosened and he slowly went insane. The second game ignores this, and it's instead implied that Bill's mental issues are caused by a combination of hereditary dementia, PTSD from his time in the army, and insecurity over his homosexuality.

* NoPortForYou: Reports concerning the game's source code being inelegant likely accounted for Rockstar ruling out a PC release, though this ultimately subverted as the game did end up coming out on PC a year later.

* NoPortForYou: Reports concerning the game's source code being inelegant likely accounted for Rockstar ruling out a PC release. It also means that the game will probably never get a remaster for future generations of consoles.

* TroubledProduction: The game was apparently so rough and unplayable just months before release that Sam Houser desperately emailed Leslie Benzies for help in getting the game in working order. According to the lawsuit and emails between the two, while Sam and Dan Houser were Rockstar's "idea guys" who handled most of the creative aspects, Benzies oversaw programming and development management, and things turned nasty when the Housers tried to go without Benzies in ''RDR''. While Benzies did save the day, the frantic development crunch and resulting tangled mess of code ensured that ''RDR'' will likely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ11gHIJKj4 never get]] an UpdatedRerelease on PC or eighth-gen consoles, as Rockstar did not want to risk a PortingDisaster like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'''s PC version (the game did, however, get a PolishedPort for the Xbox One, especially the Xbox One X). Worse, the crunch required from the staff to get the game finished was bad enough that several anonymous spouses of Rockstar San Diego employees wrote [[https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RockstarSpouse/20100107/86315/Wives_of_Rockstar_San_Diego_employees_have_collected_themselves.php a scathing letter]] that accused Rockstar's management, in no uncertain terms, of destroying the lives of their employees through stress. While ''RDR'' won rave reviews and became Rockstar's biggest success outside of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the experience soured the working relationship between Benzies and the Housers.

* NoPortForYou: Reports concerning the game's source code being inelegant likely accounted for Rockstar ruling out a PC release. Its also means that the game will probably never get a remaster for future generations of consoles.

** According to former Rockstar San Diego designer Dominic Craig, Redemption was originally going to be a direct sequel to ''VideoGame/RedDeadRevolver'' with Red Harlow on the run after killing Governor Griffin and you taking control of Red's son, who goes looking for his father after outlaws wrong him. The tone and atmosphere was going to be more similar to ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'', but the team was urged by higher ups to make it more like ''Film/TheWildBunch'' in terms of both plot and atmosphere.

* WordOfSaintPaul: According to his voice actor, Bill's dislike for John stems from jealousy; he's jealous that Abigail chose John over him. However, John also was one of the few who kept Williamson in check, and once he left the gang, Bill's morality loosened and he slowly went insane. The second game ignores this, and it's instead implied that Bill's mental issues are caused by a combination of hereditary dementia, PTSD from his time in the army, and insecurity over his homosexuality.

* UpdatedRerelease: The PC version features more graphical options like improved draw distances and support for up to 4K resolutions and faster frame rates that take advantage of more powerful PC hardware as well as a Photo Mode, additional Bounty Hunter missions, Gang Hideouts, weapons, horses and trinkets. The latter features were later made available to the console versions.