“Chinatown Wars is a perfect match for the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We are very excited to bring this incredibly ambitious version of Liberty City, with this level of detail and immersive gameplay on Apple’s new gaming platforms.”

Just like Beaterator, there was no mention of a price but we’ll keep you updated as the story unfolds.

via toucharcade

It seems that a game studio founded by developers working on Fable II, Crackdown and GTA entitled Ruffian Games, has announced their expansion. 

The infant game studio will expand their employee base by 15 but still are unable to let the world know what they are working on. Joystiq quoted Ruffian exec Gaz Liddion as saying “Now we’re in full production, we’re itching to share the fantastic work these guys have been producing,” going on to say that the announcement “won’t bee to far away”.

Hmm, I wonder what the project could be? Crackdown 2 anyone?

It was recently announced that Take Two executive Gary Dale has taken the seat as Realtime Worlds new CEO. If you’re not familiar with Realtime Worlds, you may be familiar with its debut title Crackdown; you know, the game that came with a Halo 3 multiplayer beta key? Yeah, that one.

Co-founder and creative director of Realtime Worlds, David Jones, had this to say about Mr. Dale:

“Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business. As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth.”

The real growth we will see from Realtime Worlds, however, is with their upcoming GTA-esque MMO All Points Bulletin.

Press release after the break.

Realtime Worlds Names Leading Video Game Industry
Executive Gary Dale as new CEO

Former Take-Two Exec Assumes Helm of Innovative Interactive Entertainment Company on Verge of First Online Game Launch

            BOULDER, Colo. – April 27, 2009– Realtime Worlds, Inc., a leading independent video game developer and publisher, has chosen respected interactive entertainment executive Gary Dale as its new chief executive officer. A video game business expert with more than 25 years of executive experience, Dale will oversee the day-to-day operations and drive strategic direction of Realtime Worlds and its products, commencing with the highly-anticipated urban-themed online game All Points Bulletin.
“Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business,” said David Jones, co-founder and creative director, Realtime Worlds.  “As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth. His years of experience at companies such as Capcom and Take-Two will prove invaluable in ensuring we meet our goals of becoming a world leading next-generation online publisher. My focus going forward will be on ensuring we continue to deliver quality innovative experiences as with our debut title, Crackdown.”
“Realtime Worlds is one of the most innovative game companies in the world,” said Gary Dale, CEO, Realtime Worlds, Inc. “The Company is on the verge of launching products that will change current conceptions of what MMO games are about. I can’t imagine a more exciting opportunity than to join this talented and creative team as we prepare to deliver such ground-breaking and high quality online entertainment to gamers around the globe.”
A seasoned professional with considerable publishing, business, marketing and operations experience, Dale most recently served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. In this capacity, he focused on optimizing the sales, marketing and distribution business, coordinated new opportunities in emerging genres and markets and served as the corporate liaison for the publisher’s various labels. Prior to this role at Take-Two, Dale was chief operating officer of the company’s Rockstar Games publishing label.
Previously, Dale served as the European managing director of Capcom Co. Ltd., a Japanese interactive entertainment company. He was also the CEO of Broadband Studios, a subsidiary of Take-Two focused on the creation of broadband interactive entertainment software and technology.
Earlier in his career, Dale held various executive positions at BMG, including senior vice president of International Marketing at BMG Music, and president of BMG’s Interactive Software and Video Division. In addition, he’s held marketing and executive positions at some of the most renowned companies, including Nabisco, Duracell and Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, where he served as vice president of Asia Pacific and vice president sales and marketing for Europe.

About Realtime Worlds
Founded in 2002 by Creative Director David Jones alongside gaming industry veterans Ian Hetherington and Tony Harman, Realtime Worlds is one of the largest and most successful independent game developers in the world. With an exceptionally talented staff of more than 230, the company’s experienced teams have a tremendous history of creating some of the world’s bestselling video games, including the global hit franchises “Lemmings” and “Grand Theft Auto.”
In an exclusive partnership with Microsoft Game Studios, Realtime Worlds launched its first title, Crackdown, on Xbox 360 in early 2007. The debut game broke records for demo downloads, sold approximately 1.5 million copies, and won multiple awards including prestigious BAFTA and Develop Industry Excellence awards.
With offices in Boulder, Colo. and Dundee, Scotland, Realtime Worlds is currently working on All Points Bulletin, a multi-player online game in the urban action genre.
For more information on Realtime Worlds, visit www.realtimeworlds.com.

# # #

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

It seems that I Heart Cool Stuff has recently gotten a glimsp of a previously unannounced GTA: Chinatown Wars Nintendo DS.

This thing was on display at the NYC Nintendo Store for the game’s launch party and, apparently, the first 25 people in line at the launch part got the chance to get their hands on one of these consoles.

Sure, the Nintendo DS is cool but what really makes the bundle neat are the chop-stick styluses. Too cool.

If you had any doubts in Rockstar’s ability to develop for the Nintendo DS console, you can now lay them to rest.

In the words of our big friend Fat Joe, GTA: Chinatown Wars is going to be a mad ill, dope game.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is currently under development by Rockstar Leeds and is looking at a March 17th release date for the Nintendo DS.

Read (GamerLimit)

Now before you go and boycott Grand Theft Auto’s debut on a Nintendo console, please take note that the game will in fact feature multiplayer. That multiplayer, however, will not be playabale over Nintendo’s Wi-Fi connection only via local player, this includes cooperative mode as well.

Bummer, yeah, but then what does the Wi-Fi connection do for the game? Well, you’ll be able to chat with other players ingame, share your favorite spots, and upload your stats to Rockstar’s Social Club. Oh boy!

Read (Joystiq)

The rumor suggested that it would be a full retail game and could sport a subtitle, such as GTA: San Andreas, instead of being called Grand Theft Auto 5.

Though Rockstar shot down the rumor, 2009 won’t be devoid of GTA action, as the franchise will make its leap to the DS – Chinatown Wars – on March 17, and the first set of Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content for GTA 4 will be released next month.

If you’ve been dying for a peek at the Nintendo DS entrance of Grand Theft Auto, now’s your chance. NintendoEverything has gotten their hands on several screenshots of the upcoming game that you will not want to miss.

While the graphics are crude, it is to be expected given the DS’ power, so don’t expect this to be a damper of the playability of the game.

More screenshots like the above can be found here.

I remember when it was first announced that the PSP would be getting GTA titles it was such a big deal, bringing such a mammoth of a game as GTA to a handheld. Well, Rockstar is looking to make Vice/Liberty City Stories obsolete with GTA: Chinatown Wars.

Rockstar exec Gordon Hall was recently have quoted to say, “We are very proud of all of the PSP games we have made, especially the two GTA games, but this game is far bigger”. Quite a bold statement considering the scale of the 2 PSP games.

GTA: Chinatown Wars is currently on schedule to hit store shelves for the Nintendo DS on March 17th of next year so it will be a while until we have the ability to put Gordon Hall’s words to the test.

As the name implies, the mod adds full multiplayer network play functionality to several of Rockstar’s famous action games where multiplayer was originally absent. It was started back in 2003 as an experimental piece of C++ software and grew from there. Players can create their own custom maps and gamemodes, as well as game-specific functions and go online to duke it out.

For example, look at this story in the Dailymail site about a 13 year old who set some cars on fire.

“A teenager who torched three cars in Lyon, France, told police he was wanted to imitate scenes from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

The 13-year-old schoolboy used petrol to set light to three vehicles after playing on the violent GTA 4: Liberty City game on his home PC.

The game awards points creating as much as crime and destruction as possible in a city.”

To get the obvious point out of the way first: Why was a 13 year old playing an M-rated game in the first place? Secondly, how did he get the PC version, which hasn’t even been completed, let alone shipped. Finally, the game does not award any points for causing destruction and crime. The only thing the game has ever awarded me was having my weapons confiscated, and that was only for shooting out someone’s tire.

"It really was that the DS felt like it had a lot of interesting challenges that would be totally different from what we’d done in the past," he said. “The stylus and the chance to use minigames in that way was really interesting and exciting to us, and we thought we could integrate seamlessly between those two modes."

Meanwhile, publisher Take-Two hasn’t completely shut the door on a possible Wii version of the franchise, noting that the DS entry is an “important step” and that they intend to “continue to grow that relationship with Nintendo.”

While company CEO Ben Feder wouldn’t comment specifically on the potential game, he stressed that Take-Two plans on building its relationship with Nintendo.

“We’ve spent an enormous amount of time and effort working with Nintendo. We’re very proud of the partnership,” he said. “GTA: Chinatown Wars is an important step… and we intend to continue to grow that relationship.”

Maybe a GTA title is in the works for the Wii, or maybe it will be a port of GTA 4. Who knows?

This was the result of a poll of over 1600 parents who were asked what they would be most concerned about their children doing while at a sleepover. While marijuana topped the poll, playing GTA came in at a close second, with porn and alcohol rounding out the list.

“Although these findings seem surprising at first, they hint at fears parents have about video games,” said Grand Theft Childhood co-author Cheryl K. Olson. “To some parents, video games are full of unknowable dangers… Of course, parents don’t want their children drinking alcohol, but that’s a more familiar risk.”

The Grand Theft Auto series has been a scapegoat for politicians and other groups for its so-called “objectionable” content. A recent murder of a Thai cab driver is also being linked back to the game.

It’s unlikely that this will have a major impact on Take-Two Interactive’s sales of the flagship title, as many gamers have already pre-ordered the game, and many are planning to purchase it. Everyone is hyped for the game’s release and many are patiently waiting for the official release.

Read (Yahoo! News)

But then again, isn’t it the parent’s responsibility to make sure what your child is allowed and not allowed to do in the world? There are plenty of violent movies that are running ads in the CTA, and I’m sure a lot of them contain more adult themes than Rockstar’s creation. Movies can be sneaked into, and can usually be watched without parents even knowing. But video games are played at home most of the time, and it’s unlikely that a kid will be able to purchase a full-priced retail game without a help of an adult.