GTA: Chinatown Wars jacks more wallets, sells 74K in April

by David Hinkle { May 18th 2009 at 11:31AM }

In its first month of release, GTA: Chinatown Wars managed to only sell 89,000 copies in the US, according to the NPD. Now that the figures for April have come in, Gamasutra reports the game has managed to sell another 74,000 copies. Mind you, we're no mathematicians (well, not all of us), but by our calculations, that means GTA: Chinatown Wars has managed to sell a total of 163,000 copies in the US so far, which is a lot lower than what most analysts predicted the game would sell in its first month.

We guess that South Park bump didn't do the game much good ...

Tags: business, grand-theft-auto, grand-theft-auto-chinatown-wars, gta, gta-chinatown-wars, rockstar, sales

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

required @ May 18th 2009 11:39AM

I'll bite one of these days. I just really don't like the DS (I have the original, it's ugly). Maybe it will get ported to another system some day.

Roto13 @ May 18th 2009 11:58AM

It won't.

tobz1000 @ May 18th 2009 1:09PM

Why not?

Massmass @ May 18th 2009 1:31PM

Unlike the PSP GTAs, Chinatown is far too handheld centric. It plays like a handheld game and it looks like one. Plus, outside of the DS it would lose its appeal greatly.

Remember the GTA for GBA? Why should this be any different?

Maybe it'll come back as a collection some day, but that's just as unlikely. It'll rest where it died.

required @ May 18th 2009 1:48PM

Massmass, I have no idea what you mean. The PSP games are both incredible handheld titles and the PSP a great portable gaming platform. Its sleep at any time function makes everything pick up and play. The DS (original) on the other hand is an ergonomic nightmare, top heavy with that tiny stylus. Two low resolution screens, one touchable. Flawed sleep. Ugh. I would much rather game with any one of the 3 Game Boy Advance variations as they were wonderful portable systems. The DS not at all.

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ May 18th 2009 2:16PM

The Lite and DSi are much better, design-wise, compared to the original.

Chinatown Wars is, very much, a DS game. It simply wouldn't work on another platform. At least in its current state. With the two PSP games, it was a much easier task of porting them to PS2.

And what's flawed about the DS's sleep mode?! Close the system, and it's sleeping. It's that simple...

required @ May 18th 2009 2:36PM

It's more of a standby mode and the DS loses power rapidly during it (compared to the PSP). Also some games don't do it at all (animal crossing). They only turn off the backlight, and GameBoy games won't even do that.

KeenCommander @ May 18th 2009 2:38PM

@Required: What he was saying is that the PSP GTA games were basically the same game style as the PS2 ones except, well, on the PSP - and as such were easily ported. This would not be nearly so easy to port since it's far more designed around a portable hardware that creates an experience which consoles haven't (to date) replicated, so there's really no comparable piece of hardware to even try to put it on. Granted, the Wii comes closer (point vs. touch) but it's still hardly the same thing, and the mechanics wouldn't work the same.

jklope4 @ May 18th 2009 2:56PM

@required: It sounds like your criticisms of the DS are ones which were addressed in the Lite (and, I'd assume, the DSi). The top screen of the Lite is considerably lighter than that of the original model. And I don't know the numbers for the original, but the Lite can, from full charge, last for 2 weeks in sleep mode. I can assure you that GTA: CW does go to sleep when you close the lid. Consider too that the brightness of the Lite makes the screens far more attractive and less wearing on the eyes.

As for porting it to a different system, it would be ridiculous. The PSP games were ported so easily not because of a gameplay style, but an input style. The PSP controls are basically those from the PS controller, minus some buttons. The DS, on the other hand, relies on the touch screen in addition to traditional input. GTA makes significant use of the touch screen, something another console would be unable to replicate. The Wii would be ineffective too, because of the precision required to hot wire a car, for instance.

GTA: CW was designed from the ground up for the DS and because of that, it is the only system upon which it will truly work. The PSP games used a modified GTA3 engine and, like I said, used the PSP input. And come on, it's $20 now. You cannot go wrong picking it up.

required @ May 18th 2009 3:40PM

I'm just hoping that it might get ported to the next version of some other device. Maybe the next PSP will have a touch screen or the next iPhone will have buttons. Then again, maybe I'll get a new DS and put mine to pasture.

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ May 19th 2009 2:36AM

Yes, for God's sake, get a new DS!

Both models:
+Brighter, clearer screens
+Thicker, longer styli
+Not ugly as sin

DS Lite:
+Still has GBA playback (but cartridges stick out 1cm)

DSi:
+Improved Internet functionality, and downloadable games
+Still has "clicky" buttons like GBA SP and DS (DS Lite's buttons are really mushy and harder to pull off diagonals on)

Animal Crossing is one of the few games that doesn't go to sleep (Duck Amuck being another one; and WayForward had to get special permission from Nintendo to do so). This is due to the fact that stuff is meant to always go in in AC, even if you aren't playing.

And at this point, Wild World is over 3 years old. Time to fime other games to play!

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 11:39AM

And I'll sit back and watch the fanboys somehow spin this as a success, just like they have with all the other sales failures on the Wii.

Mr Khan @ May 18th 2009 11:49AM

Because you have your secret insight into development budgets and publisher expectations, right?

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 11:55AM

Well, I'm sure by now the developers of hardcore games on Wii and DS "expect" their games to sell horribly, but does that make it a success when they do sell bad since it met expectations?

I don't know, I'm not going to debate much in this thread. I'm just interested to see how people like you Mr Khan are going to spin this one.

Cody @ May 18th 2009 12:04PM

Ironically tmac, you are the purest form of "fanboy" I've ever seen. Noone else could hate another console or brand name as much as you.

Are you employed by Sony and/or Microsoft? No? Thought not.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 12:08PM

Ah, but what if I was working for them? You'll never know for sure, and that's the beauty of it :P

Anyway you're wrong. I'm not a fanboy for hating the wii, as a fanboy has a wierd obsessive love for 1 console from 1 company like Fernando with nintendo, Killjebus with Sony, and Sprinkles for 360. Now, if you called me a hater then yes that's more accurate. I like my ps3 and 360, and it's clear they're superior to the wii, but I wouldn't even think about bringing either of them up as my favorite consoles ever, not yet at least.

Fernando Rocker @ May 18th 2009 12:17PM

tmac...

I'm not going to spin anything, just hoing to say facts.

Aparently you forgot that this game is selling worlwide, not only USA. The game has been constantly on the EU charts, since the release. The game is near half million now... and believe (you know is true, no matter what you say) this game will sell more than the PSP games. It's just a matter of time...

Jason Statham (Aka Vegeta) @ May 18th 2009 12:18PM

"I'm not going to debate much in this thread"

I'm sorry, but since when have you ever had a debate? A debate is an intelligent argument between two or more persons with confliting opinions.

You don't debate, you troll fanboys and games you don't even care about for the sole purpose of pissing people off.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 12:22PM

that's rich coming from vegeta, who can only do SARCASTIC REPLIES IN ALL CAPS to people. I wouldn't call that debating either.

And yes, I fell for his baiting but I couldn't resist pointing out the irony. No more after this :P

rowd149 @ May 18th 2009 12:25PM

*sigh* Tmac, let me just make this as clear to you as possible. ***Development for the Wii and DS costs a fraction of what development for the PS3 and 360 costs.*** I guess you must be too young to remember, but last generation, 100,000-300,000 copies sold was enough to break even on a game, if not make a tidy profit. Wii and DS games only have to sell about the same amount. Because of the increased costs of development on the 360 and PS3, games created for those systems MUST sell upwards of a million copies just to make back the money invested in them. THIS IS WHY A DS GAME CAN SELL 150,000 AND NOT BE A FAILURE. Please, please, try to understand this.

Jason Statham (Aka Vegeta) @ May 18th 2009 12:32PM

"that's rich coming from vegeta, who can only do SARCASTIC REPLIES IN ALL CAPS to people. I wouldn't call that debating either."

Yep because that's the only thing I do. Seriously look in my profile and you'll see over a 1000 posts of me typing in all caps being sarcastic.

Sigh.

My point still stands, you don't debate at all. You just troll.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 12:39PM

I bring up tons of great points, but because I'm open about my dislike for the wii people like you just pass me off as a troll (plus it's because you can't think of a response).

I'll give you guys one to think about now. Why is it ok in the gaming community when people want to pass off a game because it's too dark or grey, but when people pass off a game because it looks too kiddy and they don't like those types of games, they're immediately called trolls and/or shallow idiots? As many dark brown/grey games that are on 360/ps3, there's as many kiddy looking games on the wii.

Think about that one.

Markez @ May 18th 2009 1:08PM

No, it's because when it comes to anything remotely Wii/DS related you're about biggest troll on the site which everyone realizes.

Your 'great points' are nothing more than you always saying how you're right about everything, not intelligently discussing anything Wii/DS related, taking other people's comments as further proof that you're initial point was right, and not listening to anyone.

Zerokku @ May 18th 2009 1:25PM

@ tmacairjordan87

"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis

I've posted that before and I'll post that again. If you automatically write something off because it's "kiddy", not only are you missing out on some amazing games, but you're showing just how shallow and immature you really are.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 1:29PM

But that doesn't answer my question, it basically just repeats what I've heard throughout the internet on here, Kotaku, etc. Why is it ok to write off games like Killzone 2 because they're too dark, but not ok to write off, say, Boom Blox because it looks too kiddy? (Just using examples here).

tmacairjordan87 @ May 18th 2009 1:32PM

Also, I'm not necessarily talking about me here. I've seen tons of people get torn up by w/e website I'm on because they said "I don't want to play this because it looks too kiddy and I'm not a fan of those games.

But in every shooter post or other game that looks kinda dark, the sentiment that it's ok to hate it because it doesn't use every color in the rainbow is almost universal. I don't understand that double standard at all.

Mr Khan @ May 18th 2009 1:40PM

Actually is a somewhat legitimate point to address. It probably has to do with the gaming media's stereotypical vision of a good game. The stereotype is something similar to Killzone 2, and therefore it can be called hum-drum in that regard, while any game with style cannot be blasted on that point alone because hey, at least its trying to be different

It isn't right, but most of the norms of the gaming media aren't right either...

Markez @ May 18th 2009 1:42PM

"the sentiment that it's ok to hate it because it doesn't use every color in the rainbow is almost universal" No, it's not. Those people get just as ripped as those who rip on stuff for being excessively kiddy. Likely just your slanted perception of everything causing you not to notice it as much. What it now sounds like your basically saying, is that 'because others troll, so will I'

Cody @ May 18th 2009 3:59PM

" Now, if you called me a hater then yes that's more accurate."

smh.... And that makes you look any better how? Actually, that makes you look even more desperate.

Jack Spicer @ May 18th 2009 9:26PM

If the game costs a dollar to make and sells 3 for ten dollars a piece, would that make it successful? No it wont, sales are down already, this game bombed. Dont put any PR spin on it.

skyzbig @ May 18th 2009 11:40AM

R*, the PSP is staring at you...

JXCgunrunna @ May 18th 2009 12:04PM

I have Vice city stories and i like CW much better. more fun and also easier to pick up and put down at any time.

Dao Jones @ May 18th 2009 11:40AM

Great game, surprisingly. Let's see how the Best Buy deal helps it out.

Freak Mojo @ May 18th 2009 11:51AM

What's the Best Buy deal?

I'm actually planning on picking this up once I get my DSi.

Dao Jones @ May 18th 2009 12:39PM

$20 for it about two weeks ago. I believe it was just a one week deal, though. :(

Blue_Falcon @ May 18th 2009 11:42AM

On the positive side of things: That's only a drop of what...17% or so? You figure most games lose most of their momentum after their first month, so this isn't -entirely- bad.

It's still disappointing to see such a good game owned by so (relative) few, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time.

mazza_man @ May 18th 2009 5:02PM

I never really liked GTA either. But I picked this up because out of principle and I'm McLovin every second of it. Been playing about 15 hours and only 35% done of the actual story.

Buy it, you wont regret it.

mazza_man @ May 18th 2009 5:03PM

My bad.

ArchiGamer @ May 18th 2009 11:53AM

I might get this game, but I don't really like the GTA series to begin with.

Anyway, to please Tmac, this could be worse, it could sell worse than oit already does, but it could go up. Then again, this the DS and its demographic leans to a younger crowd. I honestly think this could have done better, sales wise, on the PSP. But the gameplay would only be better on the DS.

mazza_man @ May 18th 2009 5:02PM

eugaet @ May 18th 2009 12:03PM

Didn't really care for the GTA series once it went 3D, but thoroughly enjoyed the 2D predecessors. So GTA:CW so far has been fully awesome. Hasn't left my DS since I purchased it.

Hopefully, this title'll have steady monthly sales over the next year. If you're on the fence, it's worth the full price in my opinion.

Greendomo @ May 18th 2009 7:31PM

This is a great game, and more than worth the $20 I got it for at Best Buy. In fact I'd say it's better than GTA4. It has that sense of fun that GTA4 was lacking. Don't get me wrong, I liked GTA4 a lot, and it had a much better story than Chinatown Wars, but I'm surprised at how much I'm liking the topdown GTA again.

knor @ May 18th 2009 12:16PM

hands down, one of the most entertaining games I've played on the DS in a very long time.

Assuming sales continue to stay weak, by the end of the year this could be the "rare gem" that you find at a used game store. Which, obviously, is sad for a game this good.

David Black @ May 18th 2009 12:20PM

I would just like to say that I agree with everything you just said knor. Spot on.

josh @ May 18th 2009 12:17PM

I think people may just be tired of GTA in general. The hype for 4 was so all-consuming, after all. All of my friends (and me) bought 4, and played it for awhile... but then just lost interest. I just don't need another infusion of GTA for a long, long time. I think alot of other people feel the same, thus the lower than expected sales.

madhat @ May 18th 2009 12:32PM

>All of my friends (and me) bought 4, and played it for awhile... but then just lost interest

Er.. doesn't that pretty much happen with every game anyone purchases ever? That's kind of the nature of... life. At some point, you will lose interest in something you enjoy right now.