Rockstar has been pretty tight-lipped about sales of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which is available on three platforms. The DS, PSP and iPhone versions launched on different dates but all were met with praise - including some of the highest average review scores for their respective platforms.

However, Take Two CEO Ben Feder is today claiming that sales of the game have "suffered at the hands of piracy". He says that this combined with a weak demand for handheld software have left copies of Chinatown Wars on store shelves rather than in the hands of gamers.

Specific sales numbers are not available, although you can read the rest of MCV's interview for a little more insight.

Rockstar Games has released both of its PSP Grand Theft Auto titles digitally today. Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories are available for download now from the PlayStation Store, but there is a small catch - the games are only available in Europe.

No reason for the restriction has been revealed, but if you're lucky enough to live in a country which is served you can pay £13.99 or €17.99 for each of the two highly rated titles. The games will work with all generations of PSP console, including the newly-released PSP Go.

Fans of Grand Theft Auto won't have to wait long to get their hands on the PSP version of Chinatown Wars - the game is due to go on sale in less than two months.

Rockstar Games revealed today that the game will be available on October 20th in North America and October 23rd in Europe. It released earlier this year for Nintendo DS and the PSP version promises a significantly altered experience. The first images are due to be released very soon.

Rockstar Games announced today that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be released for PSP later this year. The game made its debut on Nintendo DS in March and received overwhelmingly positive reviews.

It will be the first console GTA title to be distributed digitally on launch day, and will of course also be released on UMD.

There are no screenshots of the PSP version yet. There also isn't any description of how the touch-screen games (which made the DS version so unique) will be ported to a console without such functionality.

At the end of a tremendous week in which The Lost and Damned hit Xbox 360 and trailers for the DS-exclusive Chinatown Wars were released, many will be wondering when Sony's consoles will get a little more GTA action.

That question may have been answered yesterday when MTV News spoke to John Koller, SCEA's Head of PSP Hardware Marketing. In the interview, he expresses the good relationship which his company has with the series publisher, Rockstar Games and goes on to talk a little further about GTA:

"No one should sleep on that franchise. It's tremendous for PlayStation in general. We’ve had two that are the top two sellers on PSP right now. So, there’s definitely continued conversations with Rockstar on all their brands."
-- John Koller, Sony Computer Entertainment America, 26 February 2009

Source: MTV Multiplayer

Rockstar Games have today announced the next game in the Grand Theft Auto series will be called Chinatown Wars. The title will be in stores by the end of this year exclusively for Nintendo DS.

The game will make use of much of the DS's technology, with some gameplay elements involving the touch screen. Interestingly, the game's official website carries the Nintendo WiFi Connection logo, indicating that there will be some online content in the game. While there are no images to share today, the game has been confirmed to be set in a modern day Liberty City, much like GTA IV.

Fans of Liberty and Vice City Stories will be pleased to hear that the game is being developed by Rockstar Leeds, the studio responsible for the series' two hit outings on PSP.

The latest (and probably final) PlayStation 2 Grand Theft Auto game is now available for purchase in all territories around the world.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories sells for $19.99 in the United States and is rated M for Mature. In Europe you can pick it up for €29.99 or £19.99 if you live in the UK. The game is identical in content to the PSP version (which was released last year), with the exception that the multiplayer mode has been removed and the game should be smoother and feature crisper graphics and effects.

It's the final step on the path to Grand Theft Auto IV which is coming in early 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Rockstar Games have released the official trailer for the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Check it out below:

French gaming website Jeux Actu have released four further screenshots of the PlayStation 2 version of GTA: Vice City Stories. Check them out below:



You can now also find every screenshot on the new PS2 Gallery page.

One of the UK's top gaming websites, Eurogamer, has today managed to break Rockstar's silence about the precise nature of the PS2 version of GTA: Vice City Stories.

Contradictory to what other websites have been claiming recently, the game will include no multiplayer modes whatsoever with the only improvements being a greater draw distance and enhanced "graphics" and performance.

It's sounding more and more like this is a game being made only for those without PSP's - if you can swallow the lack of multiplayer support the game will be yours for just £19.99 when it goes on sale in early March.

Source: Eurogamer