Gaming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

[Link5084]

Some new info

http://kotaku.com/5102984/ds-touch-screen-...-chinatown-wars

The folks over at 1up spoke with Gordon Hall of Rockstar Leeds, the developer behind Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS.

In the interview, Hall describes how the touch screen interface will be used in the game, or more specifically, how much. Besides allowing access your PDA for things like checking your e-mail or ordering weapons, players will be doing a lot of tapping and scratching when it's needed.

"Outside of the PDA, you also use the touch screen to fill in those little details left out of most console games. You may find yourself in a minigame hotwiring a car or breaking into a warehouse by disabling a key-code lock. We also use the touch screen for more everyday events like buying and using [lottery] scratchcards. Everywhere it felt right to use the touch screen, we've done so."

Hall also noted that while there will be plenty of touching going on, the driving controls will still be used by the d-pad. Thank goodness! Now we just need to see if there are any prostitute minigames involving use of the stylus. (Yeah, I went there)

I can't wait to see how this will turn out

 

[GeekyGuy]

Yeah, just finished reading that same article a little bit ago, and the things he had to say only served to get me more excited for the game. Saying it's the most impressive GTA game he's worked on so far speaks volumes to me about the quality of the game. He's talking about going back to optimize any time there was a slight dip in the framerate. And yeah, not many dev teams get this kind of room to maneuver when making a game. Two years for a DS game...that alone is impressive, especially considering the PS2 GTAs weren't even spaced out quite that much.

 

[InuYasha]

It's only GTA it's nothing to go nuts over......

 

[Banger]

It's only GTA it's nothing to go nuts over......

You sir are going to hell for saying that.


Also this "interview" gave me even more hopes on the game. I hope this gives those with slightly lower hopes a bit higher.

 

[Joey R.]

It's only GTA it's nothing to go nuts over......

You sir are going to hell for saying that.


Also this "interview" gave me even more hopes on the game. I hope this gives those with slightly lower hopes a bit higher.

Let's face it: GTA games have been awfully overrated. They tend to be good, but nothing to go crazy over. Maybe GTAIII and Vice City were mind-blowing-ly innovative for the era, but come on... GTA IV has obviously jumped on the "graphics over gameplay" wagon. SA was good... and vast, I can't deny it, but it was too commercial. This GTA, on the other hand, being in 3D but with a 2D-ish gameplay perspective, gives me good vibes. At least, it seems it will be fun, real fun, like GTA2. Let's see how the stylus-controlled system turns up...

 

[InuYasha]

It's only GTA it's nothing to go nuts over......

You sir are going to hell for saying that.


Also this "interview" gave me even more hopes on the game. I hope this gives those with slightly lower hopes a bit higher.

I'm already there

, GTA has lost it's appeal to me after the 2nd one.....

 

[NeSchn]

When does this even come out?

 

[Joey R.]

When does this even come out?

January 2009 Europe, TBA NA.

 

[jowan]

NO WAY!!!! IM GOING TO EUROPE AT THAT TIME

 

[Moots]

GTA gets boring after a good hour of random driving and killing. 4 was fun for a little longer, but gets repetitive quickly.

Sandbox games are great and all, but lose their appeal quickly, as the story and characters are often lacking, in favour of having wide open game play.

 

[agentgamma]

Can't wait for this! I love the GTA series and don't have a PSP and now I can finally play it on the go!

GTA gets boring after a good hour of random driving and killing.

I prefer the PC versions as you can mod them
Playing a GTA game as Solid Snake or Ronald McDonald NEVER gets old XD

 

[Tall Alien]

it better not be touch-only

 

[agentgamma]

it better not be touch-only
QUOTEHall also noted that while there will be plenty of touching going on, the driving controls will still be used by the d-pad

 

[iPikachu]

hope it turns out good. waling and hitting people with your stylus.....

 

[updowners]

Chance of getting over-hyped = VERY HIGH

 

[Veristical Blaze]

I luv this game on pc and psx and psp and ps2 and ps3 etc. soo i think DS will keep my luv the same

 

[Hadrian]

When does this even come out?

January 2009 Europe, TBA NA.

Its already been said by Rockstar that its not gonna make Q1 2009.

I enjoyed GTA 1-3 and Vice City had its moments, I prefer the overhead ones to be honest, I had more fun with those. GTA 4 however was just meh for me, the missions where a lot better but I never play GTA for the missions.

There is this interview reveals quite a bit too:

"1UP: How long has Chinatown Wars been in development, and how does it compare to the development cycles of the PSP Grand Theft Autos?

GH: The game’s been in development for two years now, with a big team. This is by far the biggest game Rockstar Leeds has ever done. I remember the conversation I had with [Rockstar president] Sam [Houser] that kicked this all off. We both felt the DS community was being starved of mature content, but no third-party publishers were making headway on the platform. There was no previous business model that showed anything other than abject failure in the adult DS space. We came away from that chat with a target to get something onscreen that would really change the perception of the DS and the games it’s capable of making. If we thought, after the initial test phase, that it had potential, we’d back it and hope we could do what Rockstar always tries to do and create new markets. If, though, it looked like we couldn’t really impress people and excite them about something new, then we’d pull the plug straight away.

1UP: How long do you estimate this game will take to complete?

GH: It really depends on what type of player you are. I can spend literally days just building up my criminal empire without touching a mission at all. But that aside, in classical terms, I think, for an average player, we’ve got around 20 to 30 hours of gameplay just to complete the story missions — that gets you through about 28 percent to 30 percent of the total game. The narcotics dealing takes up much more of your time, and we have more side missions, odd jobs, and one-off characters with their own mission strands to meet around this world than you’d ever expect. I’d say to get to 100 percent stats complete, you’d be looking at around 70 to 80 hours of play. This still doesn’t mean you’ve seen everything. You still have multiplayer and the entire online and Social Club content to dabble with. "

 

[CockroachMan]

When does this even come out?

January 2009 Europe, TBA NA.

Its already been said by Rockstar that its not gonna make Q1 2009.

I enjoyed GTA 1-3 and Vice City had its moments, I prefer the overhead ones to be honest, I had more fun with those. GTA 4 however was just meh for me, the missions where a lot better but I never play GTA for the missions.

There is this interview reveals quite a bit too:

"1UP: How long has Chinatown Wars been in development, and how does it compare to the development cycles of the PSP Grand Theft Autos?

GH: The game’s been in development for two years now, with a big team. This is by far the biggest game Rockstar Leeds has ever done. I remember the conversation I had with [Rockstar president] Sam [Houser] that kicked this all off. We both felt the DS community was being starved of mature content, but no third-party publishers were making headway on the platform. There was no previous business model that showed anything other than abject failure in the adult DS space. We came away from that chat with a target to get something onscreen that would really change the perception of the DS and the games it’s capable of making. If we thought, after the initial test phase, that it had potential, we’d back it and hope we could do what Rockstar always tries to do and create new markets. If, though, it looked like we couldn’t really impress people and excite them about something new, then we’d pull the plug straight away.

1UP: How long do you estimate this game will take to complete?

GH: It really depends on what type of player you are. I can spend literally days just building up my criminal empire without touching a mission at all. But that aside, in classical terms, I think, for an average player, we’ve got around 20 to 30 hours of gameplay just to complete the story missions — that gets you through about 28 percent to 30 percent of the total game. The narcotics dealing takes up much more of your time, and we have more side missions, odd jobs, and one-off characters with their own mission strands to meet around this world than you’d ever expect. I’d say to get to 100 percent stats complete, you’d be looking at around 70 to 80 hours of play. This still doesn’t mean you’ve seen everything. You still have multiplayer and the entire online and Social Club content to dabble with. "

2 years is a lot of time for a DS game development.. can't wait for it..

I wonder what they'll use the Social Club for.. it's being used on the GTAIV PC version for videos upload and save games.. Highscores and sharing stuff like tattoo's design maybe?

 

[damole]

Hope it is good!

 

[anime4ever]

old but yeah:
http://gamekyo.com/newsen29038_grand-theft...st-screens.html

new news said that theres a drug dealing mini game:
http://gamekyo.com/newsen29088_gta-chinato...-mini-game.html