Posts Tagged ‘gta chinatown wars’
Rockstar will port GTA: Chinatown Wars to PSP
GTA: Chinatown Wars had somewhat of a lackluster launch when it was released exclusively for the Nintendo DS on March 17th of this year. To make up for a poor performance Rockstar will turn to the PSP hoping that those who bought titles like GTA: Liberty City Stories will find Chinatown Wars a good experience.
However, the PSP version of Chinatown Wars won’t be a direct port as new story missions along with enhanced graphics will be featured.
There’s no telling when the Rockstar Leeds developed PSP version of GTA: Chinatown Wars will hit shelves but according to Yahoo! News it will be released in both a physical UMD form and over the PlayStation Network for PSP Go users.
GTA Chinatown Wars Sales Puts Analysts’ Reputation at Stake
The GTA series has been host to quite a few controversies, but not quite as puzzling as this. Two industry analysts have filed vastly different predictions for the US sales of GTA: Chinatown Wars, Rockstar’s take on the famed series for the DS. It is seen as an important indicator of whether M-rated titles can sell well on the platform.
First up is EEDAR analyst Jesse Divinich who pegged the March sales of the game at only 200,000 units, noting that while it will be profitable for Rockstar, the numbers aren’t exactly encouraging for other publishers.
Meanwhile, analyst Michael Pachter estimated that the game has sold over twice that number.
It is not yet confirmed just how many units the game has sold. Official NPD sales numbers aren’t due till Thursday, so keep biting your nails.
Analyst: Chinatown Wars to Sell Millions
Now that the game is out to raving reviews, analysts are expecting gamers to grab up several million copies of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars by the end of the year.
"If the title’s subsequent reviews are consistent with the initial critical response, ‘Chinatown Wars’ would be the highest rated title on the DS to date," said Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz.
Creutz expects the game to sell about 2 million units this year.
"The highly-rated release supports our belief that Take-Two has, pound-for-pound, the highest-quality development talent in the industry," added Creutz.
This is Rockstar’s first outing on the DS. Their previous handheld games include GTA: Liberty City and Vice City Stories on the PSP.
Chinatown Wars to be Epic
Rockstar’s upcoming handheld GTA title looks to be rather epic, as a feature in Nintendo Power magazine reveals that most of Liberty City from GTA 4 will make the jump to Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
Four of Liberty City’s five boroughs will be featured in the game. Dukes, Bohan, Broker and Algonquin will be playable, with Alderney being the sole absentee.
It was additionally revealed that Chinatown Wars will feature a cel-shaded Liberty City that will be viewable through a 360-degree rotating camera, though the main perspective will be top-down. As one can expect, it will be populated with pedestrians and vehicles.
There will also be a PDA for emails, maps, GPS navigation, radio and others.
Chinatown Wars was originally due out this year, but has been delayed for release sometime between February and April 2009.
Drug-dealing GTA Incites Fury from UK Drug Support Group
Building up the hype train for the upcoming portable version of GTA that will let you sell drugs, British tabloid The Sun published an article Thursday titled “Fury Over Drug Deal Vid Game”.
The article had Darren Gold speaking on behalf of UK support group Drugsline, calling out the game for its “glamorization” of drug-dealing and “substance misuse”.
Ah, but it’s all a video game, right? Right? No one’s listening, and they obviously don’t care.
Rockstar will undoubtedly benefit from the free publicity GTA: Chinatown Wars will get from groups such as this. The game is due out later this year or early next year.
Chinatown Wars to Allow Drug Trafficking
Citing the latest issue of Edge, CVG reports that the upcoming DS entry in the GTA franchise will let players sell a variety of real-life drugs for in-game profit.
Gamers will be able to traffic six types of drugs – heroine, cocaine, weed, ecstasy, acid and downers – to meet the demands of the market.
"We wanted to have a drug-dealing mini game in lots of the GTA games," said Rockstar creative VP Dan Houser. "We played with it a little in Vice City Stories, because it worked really well juxtaposed with the main story."
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is set for release exclusively on the DS early next year.
GTA: Chinatown Wars Gets Release Date
In more GTA news, publisher Take-Two has announced that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be released on the DS sometime between November 1, 2008 and January 31, 2009.
This was mentioned by none other than CEO Ben Feder who disclosed the information at a conference call today. At the time of the game’s initial announcement, Take-Two noted that it would release the game b this Winter, but did not provide any specific time period.
The project is being handled by Rockstar Leeds, the same people behind the previous portable GTA games.