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]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-19-2008 @ 12:13PM
Tweek said...
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.
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9-19-2008 @ 12:51PM
Parker said...
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.
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9-19-2008 @ 2:29PM
Bryan said...
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.
9-19-2008 @ 1:04PM
bluezy said...
I gotta say, those look pretty good, especially for the DS.
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9-19-2008 @ 2:17PM
treqie said...
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.
9-19-2008 @ 2:22PM
bluezy said...
It's not the best scan, but i'm sure it looks great in action.
9-19-2008 @ 1:17PM
[email protected] said...
Shame about the radio stations, but the rest is sounding good. Color me interested.
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9-19-2008 @ 1:25PM
Jose El Maton said...
Very cool, looks like an updated GTA from the original Playstation days. I loved those (I started replaying GTA 2 like two days ago!)
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9-19-2008 @ 1:26PM
cbylife said...
screen shots=huge fail=i am no longer interested!
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9-19-2008 @ 1:56PM
Risingsun said...
I was excited, but those 2 shots put me off. I think i need to see it in action.
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9-19-2008 @ 1:57PM
Morning Toast said...
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.
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9-19-2008 @ 2:20PM
PestName said...
Ugh, this actually looks worse than I'd have expected. Hope it plays better though.
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9-19-2008 @ 3:10PM
NetOperator Wibby said...
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.
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9-19-2008 @ 3:15PM
Paulmichael said...
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.
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9-19-2008 @ 3:43PM
HotLimit said...
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.
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9-19-2008 @ 3:46PM
xcdjy said...
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...
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9-19-2008 @ 5:12PM
Nintendork said...
GTA FAIL
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9-19-2008 @ 5:50PM
spyker said...
Looks interesting. I want it in motion!
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9-19-2008 @ 7:27PM
Turbo said...
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*
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9-19-2008 @ 7:55PM
Big George said...
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?
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