GTA: Chinatown Wars Did Not Sell Especially Well

There is the off chance that GTA was just overshadowed by Pokemon Platinum.  It's a crazy theory, but Pokemon might have ruined GTA's chance at success.

Also, I think we need to look at the numbers next week to see if GTA: CW has legs like the console GTA games.  If sales drop significantly in April, then mature gaming on the DS is dead, which is fine.

Well they can't succeed every time, there is still hope though, there always is...

"I do not want to play a "core" gamer franchise on a handheld. In fact there's very little I would prefer to see on a handheld over my HDTV."

I think it's foolish for people to assume anything with GTA on it will sell no matter the actual product. And that's not to say it's not a great game. It's just not what people want in their GTAs ... obviously.

It kind of sucks to tell you the truth since its one of the few DS games coming out this year I am getting from what I see since the DS library is getting overrun by all those so-called games like the Imagine series and crap like that, which probably sells if they keep on making endless amounts of them or that they are not that much to develop.  What you said though Jeff is probably true in that the reason it has sold low numbers is the whole adult-oriented side of things.  I have the game and I really like it thus far. 

"I do not want to play a "core" gamer franchise on a handheld. In fact there's very little I would prefer to see on a handheld over my HDTV.

I do hope this sends a clear message. Hopefully people like Atlus will start making games for consoles again instead of the 30 titles they have coming out for DS and PSP."

a GTA game on a fuckin DS....what you expect??

I thought the game was pretty rad. That's a bit unfortunate.

I do not want to play a "core" gamer franchise on a handheld. In fact there's very little I would prefer to see on a handheld over my HDTV.

I do hope this sends a clear message. Hopefully people like Atlus will start making games for consoles again instead of the 30 titles they have coming out for DS and PSP.

I bought it, but I don't see myself finishing it anytime soon, if ever. I played the first few missions and as soon as I realized I was forcing myself through it, it wasn't fun anymore. It saddens me to think that they'll probably stick to the new serious GTA IV formula from now on, but I much prefer the silly ones, and this was a nice, albeit brief return to that.

My reason for never picking it up is I just don't care for GTA. I appreciate what it is and understand what everyone seems to like about it, but I get incredibly bored with it. I was somewhat tempted to pick up GTAIV just because of the word of mouth about the story but I know that I'll never finish it and get burned out on it. It's just not for me even though I'm the "target audience" (22 year old male). I liked what I played of the old school top down GTA stuff but I just don't feel compelled by that style game anymore.

It's a shame GTA didn't fly on the system, but while it might be the DS audience... couldn't it also be a bit of franchise fatigue after all the GTA4 hype and marketing?  I know personally I was interested, but couldn't justify another GTA game for a while.

This makes me wonder, how did Dementium sell?

Endurance Run that bitch; help their sales! It worked for Persona 4 and Atlus, lol.

Like most have said many DS users who are adults have R4s or other cards, I am li ke them but rarely play my handhelds, as well as only download games that I would never buy something like Metal Slug 7 while fun is not something I feel I need, it kills 20 minutes when bored.

That sux but shall I tell you whats great and free
Scary Girl

Scary Girl

I think this is just telling of the power of the R4, M3, and Slot1 Cards that are on the market today. It's got nothing to do with the demographic of the system.

I called this one out... As much as I wanted this game to sell well on the DS, I knew it wouldn't. When you look at the kinds of games that are selling massively on the DS, you can tell this is not the type of game that people who own this console buy. Too bad, even though I predicted this outcome, I was really hoping to be wrong.

I'm not sure that the M-rating, adult-focused content is the sole reason this game struggled at retail; it was also more expensive than your average DS game and didn't exactly look like what the mass populace associates with GTA.

Do we know how these numbers compare to the Liberty City Stories/Vice City Stories PSP releases?

The DS is crap, the games are crap, and top-down GTA went out 10 years ago.

Unbelievable. That game is amazing, one of the DS's best. People are stupid.

to be honest, jeff maybe right, but i think there are alot of ds owners that have a R4 card with pirate games on, i dont i bought my copy.   if thousands around the world have a pirate copy then the sales will look low.

I'd imagine by this point the demographic who'd actually buy GTA on the DS is already well aware (and most likely owns) an R4 card as someone else has already mentioned.

The audience which would buy the Imagine and training series aren't going to stumble across an explanation of pandora batteries or homebrew on facebook or foxybingo anytime soon, so those games will continue to sell the numbers. It begs belief that the industry still kids itself  about 'oh it must be that they aren't interested' when the PC market has been dealing with the piracy issue for the last 20+ years.

This of course ignores the fact that unless you're about 10 in the backseat of your parents car, playing a game on the move just seems a hassle as opposed to say listening to your iPod.

Yeah, for me it's a question of timing.  Just right now, all I'm doing is playing RPGs.  On the console and the DS, RPGs are my focus.  If this had come out a year ago, I might have taken the plunge (although then I was only playing WOW), but right now I have no interest in this style of gameplay. 

I'm sure there is an element of truth that this game probably would have sold better on the PSP since that portable has a history with the franchise.

That's a shame. I bought it and love it, and I have suggested everyone that asked me about to go play it, too. Still, the main thing that I noticed were my friend's reactions to me playing it. "Oh, that GTA game for the DS looks like crap, how can they do it right?" And I answer to them that they did do it right and it is awesome, but they remain unconvinced. And that is where lies the problem, along with the DS being the primary platform for young children.

Hmmm...I think the verdict is still out on the fate of GTA on the DS and DSi.  Like many DS games, GTA might slowly sell over the long haul, giving Rockstar and Take-Two a steady stream of income throughout the year.  I think the next two or three month's NPD numbers will give everyone much greater insight into how much of a "hardcore" audience truly exists on Nintendo's handheld platforms.      

Well thats what you get when you think the most R-rated game on the market to mainly a little kids, grandma and girls consle. Plus on top of that, most of my 21 year old friends who own a DS have an R4 card for it soo

It's a shame. It's one of the best games I've played on the DS, and combines many great but seemingly disparate elements really well. I can only imagine it's a perception issue. I certainly didn't pay it much attention until I started hearing how great it was.

Also, a word to those who avoided Chinatown Wars because they're tired of GTA - I'm with you. I too skipped San Andreas, and never finished Vice City. I stalled out on GTAIV but eventually plowed through to see the ending. Chinatown Wars is a different animal though - you are constantly doing new and interesting things in the missions, and the gameplay is actually a lot more varied, less frustrating, and fun, frankly, than even GTAIV. It really deserves a go on its own merits.

This is extremely dissapointing for me. Now that I have a real "job" and can't spend as much time in front of the console, I've been really greatful for the deeper experiences we're seeing on the DS. This lets me play in little bits on the subway, bus, while watching TV with my girlfriend, etc. GTA for DS is a standout title, and if low sales numbers mean we'll see fewer titles of this caliber in the future, its our loss! 

Or...

i bought my copy 2 days ago,  and a dsi.  i love it.

I just went and bought a PS2 for some hardcore RPGing. Don't ask me to drop money on anything else until I fully utilize that system, Gertsmann!

I'm at home a lot, and I've got a hundred 360 games I need to play, but if I end up taking this trip to Boston later this year, I'll probably pick it up for the hotel room.

Maybe sales were bad because when I ordered chinatown wars from Amazon couple days ago and later got it... it had the special pre-order unlock key.

Amazon had the promotion that if you preorder GTA Chinatown wars, you get an unlock code to get a bulletproof car. Mine had the unlock code and I didn't preorder it, I bought it a couple days ago... almost a month after release.

Possibly a limited time thing, but they still have the boxes with the codes inside.. thus they didn't sell out of the promotional boxes.

The only reason I haven't bought this game yet is because I still have a backlog of games to play from 2007/2008. But hey I'll go buy it this afternoon "for the cause" even though I'll only play it in a year. NPD you can make that 89001.

I think a lot of it had to do with the commercial marketing of the game.  The commercial imo made it sound like it was a really crappy thrown together game with it's really lame economic jokes in it. It was not until I did research on the internet about it [not something the average consumer would do] that I found it was actually a pretty awesome game.  I have not really been too interested in GTA though for a while tbh though.

i did my part i picked the game up and i love it, one of the best ds games ive played in a long time, maybe it will pick up in sales by word of mouth.

I agree with Red. Though a great game, these sorts of games do not sell as well on nintendo platforms as they would do on other ones.

Thats crazy, having played the game myself. It is infact the first GTA game I have ever owned and it has certainly convinced me to follow the series and I would even go as far as picking up GTA IV (if it wasn't so messed up for the pc). The problem I see is that the majority of DS owners arn't necessarily those who also own an Xbox 360 or PS3, DS seems to be aimed at more of a casual market 'pickup and play' if you liike. And becuase of this that kind of audience wouldn't really have heard of the series, let alone want to play it with the big red '18' sticker on the front of the box.

it wasn't really hyped up enough
I bought it and am still enjoying it
but I didn't even know about it until about a week before it came out other than it existed, I didn't know if it was going to be good so it was off my radar
however I sort of wish more games came out that I only new about a week in advance
however I guess that doesn't make the moneys

I'd heard sales for this game were bad but man these are bad. I do find it sad that in this day and age even when you have an awesome game from one of the most popular franchises ever when you put it on the DS the average gamer dismisses it as rubbish without a second thought.

That's a sad state of affairs.  I bought my copy just as it came out and I'm very happy with it.  Actually I would love to dedicate more time to the game, just been too busy and my DS really only sees use when I'm traveling.  But that will be my primary DS game for a while.  For Rockstar's part I'm sure we wont see them developing for the DS again any time soon, which is a shame because I was really hoping to see more from them in the future.  =(

@sixpin:  Those are good points, I think you might be on to something there...

I think it has more to do with it being GTA on a handheld than it being a mature rated game on the DS. Most GTA players are probably skeptical of a portable GTA title, especially one on the DS. GTA fans that are used to the playstyle of GTA III - IV are most likey turned off by the top-down view of the DS title. And although I like the game and think it is a strong effort, I can't say that it is great. The controls are loose, the camera annoying, and the aiming is as bad or worse than GTA III. Overall I think it is mostly that GTA fans are being careful with their cash. Afterall, Lost and Damned came out right before Chinatown Wars. I think a lot of people might be more willing to pay $20 for more GTA IV than $35 for an unfamiliar DS title.

I think thats really sad, but I am not sure whether it is because its a mature game on the DS-I mean, the Wii had No More Heroes and that sold fine. I think its more the fact that it is a GTA game, and everyone that likes GTA has bought a PSP if they bought a handheld console.

I love GTA but I only own a PC and I'd buy it if it came to steam but the only DS games I play are on an emulator.

Yeah not only is it the audience not really wanting it...i'll wager most fans of "GTA games" or M rated games in general don't own a DS to play it on. Or abandoned it or whatever

It's sad that such a great game is being vastly outsold by shovelware.