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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars updated on iOS, out now on Android
When Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars launched on iOS devices in 2010, it wasn't offered as a universal app, meaning that one purchase wouldn't grant players versions of the game for both iPhone and iPad. Four years later, developer Rockstar Games has fixed that – a new patch has added universal support for iOS 7.0 devices or later to both versions of the game, along with touched-up visuals and MFi controller support. App Store shoppers will see both versions of Chinatown Warriors, but as Touch Arcade reports, Rockstar will eventually retire the iPad version of the game. Fans that previously purchased the iPad version will have Chinatown Wars and its update in their purchase history, so the streets of Liberty City should remain open to them after Rockstar pulls the iPad build. Either version of Chinatown Wars is $2.99 on the App Store, and an Android version with "enhanced graphics, lighting and explosion effects" launched earlier this week at the same price. [Image: Rockstar Games]
GTA: Chinatown Wars HD out for iPad, this is what it looks like
As promised last week, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD for iPad has arrived in the App Store. It's $10 (the same price as the iPhone version -- shame it's not a universal app), and you can see what that Hamilton would get you in the gallery past the break. %Gallery-101832%
GTA: Chinatown Wars HD hotwires iPad Sept. 9
Though Rockstar missed its original June release date for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on iPad, the delay might have been worth it for a cool release date: September 9 (a.k.a. "9/9"), which goes very well with the $9.99 price. That's actually the same price as the iPhone version, and you get updated graphics for that (relatively) enormous iPad screen! Like the iPhone version, Chinatown Wars HD includes a customizable "Independence Radio" station, so you can listen to your own music while fueling gang wars and looking for the most profitable drug deals, and then keep the music going when you play Grand Theft Auto.
PSN Summer Sale: get PixelJunk Shooter, GTA Chinatown Wars, and more cheap
If you've been hesitating to pull the trigger on any PSN purchases, that hesitation is now paying off. Sony just announced temporary discounts on a bunch of downloadable PSN games and Minis. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for $15, anyone? How about PixelJunk Shooter for $5?
GTA: Chinatown Wars accounts for 50% of M-rated sales on DS
Here's how you make Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars sound like a massive sales success: "As of February 2010, Chinatown Wars' unit sales in the US represented nearly 50 percent of the unit sales of all M-rated DS titles in the history of the platform." That's Take-Two CEO Ben Feder, via MCV, putting Chinatown Wars' sales into perspective. That means it met the combined sales of the 6 M-rated games on DS to date, which include Dementium: The Ward, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence and Ultimate Mortal Kombat, and the smaller releases: Theresia, Touch the Dead and C.O.R.E. Despite comparing GTA's sales to 3 games most people have never heard of, 2 games that most people didn't know were on DS, and Dementium, Feder kind of admitted that the game's sales weren't where Take-Two wanted them to be, echoing Nintendo's statement last December. What's to blame? Piracy, of course. "Piracy is a real and present danger for our industry and must be addressed, especially in the handheld market," he said. "The commercial performance of Chinatown Wars has certainly suffered at the hands of piracy."
Interview: Rockstar vets Lee Hutchinson and Matt Shepcar on their new studio, Double 11
Having put to bed a past with Rockstar Leeds -- and helping to turn out a laundry list of triple-A titles, including the portable Grand Theft Autos, while working there -- lead engineer turned studio director Lee Hutchinson and soon to be ex-lead programmer Matt Shepcar recently announced their new development studio: Double 11. Like so many other game devs these days, the two grew tired of big-budget projects with huge staffs, leaving in favor of creating their own smaller, mobile titles. "Our small size also means that every single team member is of paramount importance to their success or failure," the pair told Joystiq in an interview this afternoon. That isn't to say that the two have any complaints with Rockstar relating to the recent quality of life allegations. "We had a great time working at the Leeds studio and there are a lot of really talented people there," they told us. Hutchinson further expanded on his time at Rockstar to Develop. "Rockstar Leeds and the spouse allegations had no effect on our decisions to leave." In fact, we asked the two how they'd feel about working with Rockstar again in the future, and they told us, "We'd love to work with Rockstar again ... our split was very amicable and we hope Gordon [Hall] would consider working with us again in the future." To find out more about the studio's plans -- including a prospective Summer release for the its first game and where we might find said game, not to mention an explanation of the "Double 11" name -- join us past the break.
GTA: Chinatown Wars 30% off on iPhone this weekend
Both the DS and PSP versions of GTA Chinatown Wars have been well-received by gamers and critics alike, which inevitably spurred a release on the iPhone. And if you're an iPhone fan who's been looking to pick up the Apple platform port, now's a good time: it's on sale for 30 percent off this weekend only in the App store. That brings the game down to a very manageable $6.99, and you can download it for that price up until 12am ET Sunday night, at the conclusion of Valentine's Day. We'd offer that it's also a good gift idea for that special someone in your life, but we wouldn't want to help produce any modern day Bonnie and Clyde types now, would we? Download GTA: Chinatown Wars from the App store - $6.99
Best of the Rest: Xav's Picks of 2009
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: GTA Chinatown Wars sales 'frustrating'
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.
Take-Two's Zelnick doesn't believe in annualized GTA
If we took away one important lesson from Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick yesterday, during the company's investor call, it's this: it takes a lot of time to make "triple-A" games. That's why Zelnick isn't interested in annualizing the Grand Theft Auto franchise. "We don't feel that GTA oughta be an annualized franchise," he said, adding that he was "pleased" the series has been "testing new formats and new platforms" this year with two DLC expansions on Xbox Live and GTA: Chinatown Wars for DS and PSP. Instead of pushing out a new GTA game every year, Zelnick explained that Take-Two is focused on the "balance between how long it takes to develop such an incredible title that meets consumer expectations and how long you need to make sure than an appetite has been both satisfied and whetted [for the next game]." He padded his point with phrases like "high profitability" and "resiliency of the franchise," though when taken to task over how the publisher expects to make money in a "non-GTA release year" -- and in light of projected, continued losses from its baseball franchise -- he responded, "We remain committed to that goal [of profitability] ... naturally, we are disappointed that we're not projecting to achieve that goal in 2010." Meanwhile, somewhere in California, Bobby Kotick laughed maniacally.
Rockstar Social Club adds new features for Chinatown Wars PSP
Even if you're playing Grand Theft Auto on a portable system, the Rockstar Social Club is waiting to welcome you with open arms ... and flying ducks. The online hub has just added new features to mark the launch of GTA: Chinatown Wars on PSP.Aside from some new downloadable papercrafts (joy!) the site has added a minigame called Peking Duck Hunt which you can play to earn in-game cash. Just between you and us though, you'll probably have more fun just skipping straight to the real game.
GTA: Chinatown Wars losing nothing in PSP port
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:%Gallery-71116%
GTA Chinatown coming to the iPhone
Payback has been doing pretty well on the iPhone as a Grand Theft Auto clone, but the real thing is coming soon, apparently -- Rockstar Games says that they'll be bringing the acclaimed DS hit Chinatown Wars to Apple's iPhone and iPod touch platforms. Pretty big news, not only for GTA fans looking for a hijack-ing and crime spree fix (in this edition of the game, you can also deal drugs around the city, so that'll be fun), but also for the platform as a whole, since this is yet another sign that big developers are thinking about the iPhone as a major handheld platform. Chinatown Wars isn't the only game Rockstar will be releasing on the App Store, either, as their PSP music title Beaterator is also set to make an appearance. Nothing has yet been said about exact date or price (though G4 has guessed Rockstar wlll aim higher than the premium somewhat-standard of $9.99). We'll keep tuned to the police scanners for you.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars breaking into iPhones this fall
Having made less of a splash than expected on the DS, Rockstar now seems intent on throwing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars at every handheld gaming platform to see what sticks. Days after showing the first screens of the PSP version, the company has announced a version of the game headed to iPhone and iPod Touch this fall. There are no screens or details about this release yet, but in the announcement, Sam Houser calls Chinatown Wars "a perfect match for the iPhone and iPod touch." Almost as perfect as it was for the DS, the system for which it was designed! We're very interested in how GTA will work without buttons. In a morbid kind of way. %Gallery-71116%
First screens of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars PSP hijacked
Click to steal more screens. 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.%Gallery-71116%
GTA Chinatown Wars is the first Z-rated DS game in Japan
The Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (Japan's equivalent of the ESRB) reserves its most restrictive rating, Z, for games intended for ages 18 and up. There's a slightly less restrictive D rating for ages 17 and up, which gives Z-rated games a sort of stigma almost equivalent to the ESRB's AO rating -- Z-rated games require the buyer to provide proof of age, and often have little or no display presence in stores.Which isn't exactly good news for the first CERO Z-rated DS game ... Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, whose North American sales suggest it doesn't need any more disadvantages. Like every other GTA, Chinatown Wars will carry the adults-only rating in Japan. Unlike every other GTA (except for IV on the PC), this one will be published by Cyberfront instead of Capcom when it comes out in the fall.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars breaking out on PSP this fall
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.%Gallery-44051%
Rockstar, Media Molecule lead 2009 Develop Awards nods
Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North, together with LittleBigPlanet dev Media Molecule have netted an impressive eleven nominations for the 2009 Develop Industry Excellence Awards, the UK's annual prize patrol for all things excellent in the industry. The Rockstar houses pocketed six of their own for work on GTA: Chinatown Wars and GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned, including nods for visual arts, technical innovation and audio. Rockstar Leeds is also up for the award for best handheld game studio, while both are in the running for being recognized as the best in-house team. Media Molecule is up for five awards as well, including best indie studio and best new IP. The Guildford studio is also up for the technical innovation award, where it's not only up against the Rockstar folks, but the teams behind Killzone 2, PlayStation Home, Football Manager Live and Fable II. We wish all nominees the best of luck and remind them not to forget to thanks their moms should they take the stage and accept an award during the July 15 ceremony.
GTA: Chinatown Wars jacks more wallets, sells 74K in April
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 ...
Mr. Wong's Laundromat provides online money laundering for GTA Chinatown Wars
Need any more proof that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is the best GTA game you're not playing? Rockstar has just announced the official opening of the Mr. Wong's Laundromat browser game, which allows players to earn in-game money and unlockable costumes that can be sent to the DS cartridge.Once you've logged in to the Rockstar Social Club and linked your game to the service, you can start playing the web game, earning "up to $10,000 per day working for Mr Wong, a local Chinatown 'businessman' who's helped more than his fair share of cash trickle seamlessly and undetected through the streets of Liberty City over the years." The game itself is pretty simple -- just catch money and jewelry as it tumbles out of washing machines, and dump it into Mr. Wong's van. It's an enjoyable diversion on its own, especially with included leaderboards. But as an online supplement to the DS game, it's even more interesting! Too bad about the "If it ain't Wong, it ain't white" slogan, which is not only potentially offensive, but a near-complete ripoff of something that was already taken off the market for being offensive.
