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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Upon release, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars immediately found its way on my top five games of 2009. With its style, humor and variety it's clear Rockstar was trying to shine a new light on the popular franchise. Not only that, Rockstar took chances in hopes to attract a similar audience to a handheld GTA as it has on consoles. From a new class of criminal, fighting for honor and turf in Liberty City to an addictive (albeit, mostly cloned from Drugwars) illegal narcotic mini-game, Chinatown Wars felt like a breath of fresh air. Sadly, the game was a commercial disaster, relative to its console-based siblings. Be that as it may, Chinatown Wars was not only my favorite on-the-go game of the year, it was easily one of the best games to release across any platform in 2009.

Nintendo's focus on "evergreen" titles has been a staple of the publisher for years now, with marketing support lasting longer than ever with this generation's major releases. So it surprised us last April when the company said it hoped "word of mouth" would help push GTA: Chinatown Wars' lackluster initial sales higher as the months progressed. However, when executive vice president Cammie Dunaway recently spoke with MTV Multiplayer, Nintendo's traditional message quickly returned. "Part of what's needed is you have to continue to put marketing support behind these titles."

She also called sales "frustrating, quite frankly," but declined to comment on Rockstar's marketing surrounding the release of the game. Dunaway remained diplomatic through the conversation though, only offering, "The old dynamic of 'throw it on television for a few weeks and then move on and forget it' just doesn't work," giving us little more than a taste of her real feelings behind the release's marketing push. Check out the whole clip after the break.

Meeting with Rockstar yesterday for our first hands-on with the PSP "remastering" of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, we kicked things off with a question that's on everyone's minds: What's happening to the DS version's touch-based minigames? The answer: They're all still in the game, just adapted to a button-based format.

We hotwired a car to try it out and were presented with a comic book panel-like inset that had us rotate the analog stick, time L and R button presses and rotate the stick again. According to Rockstar, similar mods have been made to all the minigames, but no minigames have been added exclusively for the PSP release. (Developer Rockstar Leeds did, however, deem the need to pay bridge tolls unnecessary.)

We were quickly pointed toward some added elements, specifically a new aiming "arc" for lobbing grenades and Molotovs while driving, copious bloom lighting (it was a rainy night) and punched-up explosions. The in-game "PDA" has also been redesigned slightly to mimic the PSP XMB interface.

Check out freshly captured new screens in the gallery below:

PSP owners expecting a Liberty City Stories-styled facelift for the upcoming port of Chinatown Wars may be a little disappointed. One glance at the first batch of PSP screenshots shows that the game hasn't strayed far from its DS origins. Sure, the enhanced lighting effects and widescreen presentation are noticeable improvements, but it's clear that this GTA isn't pushing the hardware in any significant way.

Hopefully, the visuals won't stop PSP owners from checking out the game. It may be a port of a DS game, but it's a port of one of the best DS games ever. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available on UMD and PSN on October 20.

The upcoming PSP port of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available -- in both UMD and PSP Go-friendly downloadable formats -- on October 20th. Rockstar Games still hasn't shown what kind of enhancements will be made to the one-time DS game, nor have they released any screenshots of the game in action. We understand Rockstar's penchant for secrecy, but considering this is one of the few titles Take-Two has planned for the holiday season, we recommend they get the hype-wagon (pictured above) revved up soon.

Rockstar has announced that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the latest portable offering in the open-ended crime series, will be making the jump from DS to PSP. The game will be available in both UMD and digital download format when it's released in the US and Europe this autumn. Featuring enhanced widescreen graphics, improved lighting and animation and additional story missions, this version of Chinatown Wars "will take full advantage of the power of the PSP system."

No new assets have been released for the PSP version -- in fact, the official website still says it's exclusive to the DS -- but we should see more of this new addition to the ever-growing 2009 PSP lineup soon. See the PSP box art, after the break.

Imagine: a world of Nintendo products -- a Nintendo World if you will. New York's Nintendo HQ is playing host to yet another launch event. Although the venue may be the same, the atmosphere will stray far from the norm. The M-rated Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars deserves its own mature-themed party.

DJ OhNo will be on hand providing music throughout the night in an event "all fans ages 17 and up" are invited to. The first 25 fans that purchase the game will be given a chance to get some exclusive, limited edition swag, such as GTA Kubrick sets. A limited edition customized Chinatown Wars DS Lite system will be on display, and "even more surprises" are being planned for the evening's festivities.

The event takes place the evening of March 16th, from 11:59PM to 2AM. Let us know if you can make it. For those of you outside of NYC, take this new trailer (after the break) as a consolation prize.

If the first trailer for Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars didn't supply enough in-game footage, perhaps this latest trailer will do the job.

Embedded after the break is a new gameplay clip of Chinatown Wars, featuring the hacking process and the delightful act of sniping. We'll be the first to admit that having to actually assemble the sniper rifle is all kinds of awesome, though we remember the process being somewhat more challenging on our last trip to the grassy knoll.

The Chinatown Wars are about to begin. Rockstar Games' first official trailer for the upcoming DS-exclusive Grand Theft Auto game finally shows off some in-game footage ... provided you slam your face to the monitor and squint. This much-too-brief trailer gives us a very basic synopsis of the game's story, and does very little to highlight any of the game's compelling gameplay. That's a shame -- because we really do like the game.

Watch the trailer, after the cut.

Rockstar currently has GTA: Chinatown Wars on a pre-launch (post-launch, in some cases) sampling tour across the United States. The locales will allow people to play the game before its March 17 release, plus "limited-edition Rockstar apparel" will be given away. Check our the full list of dates and locations after break.

Of course, the real fun comes if and when somebody manages to carjack one of these promotional vans. (Seriously, don't do that.)

[Via RockstarWatch]

There appears to be some confusion over what multiplayer options will be included in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. The DS game will feature support for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but the connectivity does not expand to multiplayer.

Instead, multiplayer is limited to local system play. A flyer from New York Comic Con (via GoNintendo) shows the game will include competitive and cooperative modes -- although no other details were revealed.

While Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection won't be used for multiplayer, it will allow players to communicate and interact with their friends. For example, you'll be able to share favorite locations, chat live through in-game instant messaging, and trade in-game items. Stats can also be uploaded to Rockstar's Social Club site. Through the Social Club, Rockstar is promising "special contests, events, and promotions," although what those will entail is still unclear at this moment.

Grand Theft Auto's jump into the current generation of home consoles introduced a new level of depth, realism and maturity into the franchise. While Niko's story was compelling, it lacked a certain je ne sais quoi that series regulars expect. In lieu of zany over-the-top comedy, there was drama; in lieu of arcade action was a refined cover and aiming system.

These changes certainly progressed the series further, but it's hard not to miss the classic action found in earlier GTA games. Chinatown Wars, Rockstar's first real foray into DS development, is the perfect opportunity to revisit the arcade trimmings of the classic PS1/2 era of the games. Chinatown Wars is, at its best, a perfect blend of old-school gameplay with modern design philosophies.

The notion of old meets new is immediately apparent from the visuals. Screenshots don't do the game justice. The graphics are quite impressive, with full 3D models, an incredible amount of texture variety, and a very steady framerate. Of course it comes nowhere close to the fidelity of the PSP games, but the team at Rockstar Leeds has created a sharp, clean look that works within the limitations of the DS hardware.

Analyst Dough Creutz of Cowen Group believes GTA: Chinatown Wars is as much a test for Take-Two as it is for Nintendo. Gamasutra reports on Creutz's bullish investor note, where he expresses that the title will reveal Take-Two's "ability to make inroads" on Nintendo's platforms.

On the flip side, he expresses that Nintendo wants Chinatown Wars to succeed because it appeals to core gamers, whom Creutz apparently thinks Nintendo still gives a Yoshi's turd about.

We're well aware that there's a drug-dealing component to GTA: Chinatown Wars, but the details on it have been a little lacking -- this post won't help much. MTV Multiplayer learned that players may want to sell drugs in Chinatown Wars because cash from missions won't dramatically increase in payout, unlike other GTA titles. Selling drugs is apparently one way to increase cash flow.

According to Rockstar, locations for deals are plentiful and won't detract from the action in the game. The drug economy is also affected by destruction of CCTV cameras. The more you break, the less valuable the drugs become (yes, less, it seems counter-intuitive). No word yet if Rockstar plans to have drug prices in the game reflect current standard market rates.

Keeping track of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has proven hellish, if only because there is so much to the game. Fortunately, we picked up some chunks of new information from Stephen Totilo's excellent write-up, so we're going to try and glue these disparate pieces into a coherent post.

Firstly, one of the more fundamental changes to the 3D GTA formula is found in the police system. As in the home console and PSP games, your "Wanted" level wavers depending on how much crime you wreak, but here, escaping the police is not an option. Instead, you'll have to wreck a certain number of police cars before your Wanted meter falls.

When you're not steering the authorities into buildings, you'll be able to take in the same slow-motion stunt jumps and 24-hour day/night cycle that were in other GTA games, and Totilo confirmed the presence of licensed music, minus the vocals; for what it's worth, one Rockstar rep described the soundtrack as "familiar." Typically, there will also be in-jokes to appreciate, with several missions named after other games, such as "Pursuit Farce" and "Street of Rage."

Most excitingly, Chinatown Wars will have multiplayer modes. Aside from the online leaderboards we already know about? We're not sure, but we look forward to finding out!