GTA: Chinatown Wars details finally revealed? [update]

by David Hinkle { Sep 19th 2008 at 12:00PM }

Update: First screens! Check past the break to see them.

Some details on the upcoming portable GTA game, GTA: Chinatown Wars, have dropped in the latest issue of Nintendo Power. For one, it's apparently following the sandbox formula of previous games, and will have that M label slapped on the front of the boxart.

Due to hardware limitations, these details say the game will have an isometric camera angle and be a cel-shaded affair, complete with no load times. There will be dynamic weather effects and it's reported that draw distance and frame rate are sound. Liberty City will be scaled down quite a bit, though (and changed some), but there will be pedestrians and cars about, doing their thing. Oh, and there will be radio stations, although songs are going to be focused more on instrumental numbers.

As for controls, there will be an auto-targeting system that the player can utilize with the R trigger. They can also use the d-pad to aim and bust caps that way. There's also going to be "subtle" auto-steering for when you're in a car and players can use the touch-screen to navigate the in-game PDA, which will allow you to "email, contacts, the map, a music player, GPS, and stat-tracking (which allows you to upload stats direct from the game to Rockstar's Social Club website)."

And that's basically all that's being reported right now. Sounds like a lot for such a small cartridge, and until we see some screens, we're going to remain skeptical. What about the rest of you?

[Via Joystiq; screens courtesy of Gamekyo]

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

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tweek @ Sep 19th 2008 12:13PM

I feel the same, until some screens start showing up I'm going to remain skeptical about it, can't get a good handle on how it is going to be just from a few words here and there.

Parker @ Sep 19th 2008 12:51PM

I don't understand the statement about draw distance, if the game uses an isometric perspective. Maybe you can zoom out to see further ahead? I'm also nervous about the "minigames" mention, though other GTA games on big consoles have minigames too, and they're okay. I hope the music is actual licensed music and not generic video game crap. I'm still quite skeptical, but the game's on my radar regardless.

Bryan @ Sep 19th 2008 2:29PM

the cars are smaller then the people skeptical
maybe thats what he meant about the drawing distance skeptical
i think this looks great skeptical. i might have to take my little cousins ds away when this comes out. skeptical.

cbylife @ Sep 19th 2008 1:26PM

screen shots=huge fail=i am no longer interested!

bluezy @ Sep 19th 2008 1:04PM

I gotta say, those look pretty good, especially for the DS.

treqie @ Sep 19th 2008 2:17PM

Really? I see a bad scan, and based on that - it doesn't look anything near the high standard that the DS has to date.

bluezy @ Sep 19th 2008 2:22PM

It's not the best scan, but i'm sure it looks great in action.

sketchampm@gmail.com @ Sep 19th 2008 1:17PM

Shame about the radio stations, but the rest is sounding good. Color me interested.

Jose El Maton @ Sep 19th 2008 1:25PM

Very cool, looks like an updated GTA from the original Playstation days. I loved those (I started replaying GTA 2 like two days ago!)

Risingsun @ Sep 19th 2008 1:56PM

I was excited, but those 2 shots put me off. I think i need to see it in action.

Morning Toast @ Sep 19th 2008 1:57PM

Looks like the classic GTA model from pre-GTA3 days. That's fine with me...and what do you expect? It's on the DS. The 3D on the DS is less than stellar to begin with. It's smarter to focus on good play control and action than worry about pushing the DS to the graphical limit.

PestName @ Sep 19th 2008 2:20PM

Ugh, this actually looks worse than I'd have expected. Hope it plays better though.

NetOperator Wibby @ Sep 19th 2008 3:10PM

Hmm, I was really hoping for a top-down perspective ... I'm not so sure about this one, but gameplay videos have a way of changing my mind.

Paulmichael @ Sep 19th 2008 3:15PM

I don't know why people would be complaining about the graphics. You're talking about the DS. It's an old handheld with paltry 3D processing capabilities, in relation to the PSP that is. Doing an isometric camera is cool, and this still looks better than the GTAs of PS1 days. Those games were very fun, so this should be more of the same greatness. Too bad about the radio stations, but I hope they do have at least one talk station, those are funny.

HotLimit @ Sep 19th 2008 3:43PM

Don't let the screens fool you, I'll bet those lame-looking figures have a lot of frames of animation that just look lame in stagnant shots.

If they release a video and the characters have less movement than GTA2, then I'll lose faith. The last thing we need is more GBA-quality games on a system that can do so much more.

xcdjy @ Sep 19th 2008 3:46PM

Ugh, it looks.... horrible.

I've never been one for complaining about graphics, it's usually games with bad graphics that are the best, but the whole prospect of GTA on DS, especially with this 'birds eye view' camera angle.

I'll remain skeptic, but...

Nintendork @ Sep 19th 2008 5:12PM

GTA FAIL

spyker @ Sep 19th 2008 5:50PM

Looks interesting. I want it in motion!

Turbo @ Sep 19th 2008 7:27PM

I'm still kinda interested, but it doesn't seem that good any more... but hey, dynamite comes in small packages :D *optimistic about this game*

Big George @ Sep 19th 2008 7:55PM

This is stupid. Even the most recent Force Unleashed proves that the DS can do a 3D over-the-shoulder type game. You telling me Rockstar can't do a decent 3D engine on the DS but Lucasarts can?

ViRGE @ Sep 19th 2008 10:24PM

Have you actually tried S(W)TFU on the DS? It's terrible, and not just because of gameplay. It's ugly and chugs like a fratboy. There are very few good full-3D games for the DS, it just doesn't have the power.

Kefka @ Sep 19th 2008 9:25PM

It's not really a question of "can the DS do 3D" - of course it can, many games have done it before. It's a question of "can the DS do 3D well enough to make a modern-GTA-style game look decent and play well"... which I don't think it could.

GTA games can get hectic, they can be fast, they have large environments, and nobody likes load times... If Rockstar was to try to make a "proper" GTA3 style engine for the DS, I assure you it would look terrible in order to squeeze out an average frame rate, and even then have high amounts of fogging. Better to stick to the isometric style they've chosen and focus on making a more solid engine overall and better gameplay to boot.

I'm not saying it looks great, but people who were expecting a scaled down GTA3 on the DS need to wake up.

Anyhow, like most other people: Skeptical.