No, no it doesn't. What did I want GTA Chinatown Wars to be when I first heard about it back in July? In short, I wanted it to be some retro, stylized top-down goodness. So Nintendo Power recently released a little feature on the game, and little did I know that Rockstar was going to give me just that, M-rated and cell-shaded goodness. It was actually quite a bit better than I expected after reading people's impressions of the game, but I was quick to realize that they're all full of shit. After seeing a few of these shots, I really dig the artstyle. And if the controls work well, I can see this being a LOT of fun. 

Here is a quick run down on the features and impressions courtesy of Nintendo Power:

• True GTA game - sandbox gameplay, open-world environment, gritty crime narrative.
• Isometric camera angle.
• Cel-shaded polygons w/ black borders, (which is a very cool look in my book).
• Tasteful, well-implemented touch controls and mini-games.
• UI based on a PDA - hub for email, contacts, map, music player, GPS, stat-tracking.
• Stats uploaded to Rockstar Social Club website.
• "Portable" arcade-style mission design for shorter periods.

  

• Simple aim with the control pad, targetting with the R-button.
• Subtle drive-assist.
• Quickly jump back into the action if you fail a mission.
• Flamethrower, chain-gun. 
• Liberty City modeled well throughout the game.
• Solid load times, frame rates, and draw distances.
• Abundant pedestrians/cars on-screen.
• Wanted system - objective is to disable police cars any way possible.
• Real-time weather effects, 24-hour day/night cycle.
• Tons of radio stations.

All the screenshots above were the first "batch" of scans from Nintendo Power. To me, that looks great, but when I say that, I'm imagining the game.. on a DS Lite screen.. in motion. So I was taken aback by how much negativity people were giving a game they hardly knew anything about. Here are a few (of many) comments left on the illustrious and always intelligent Gamespot forums:

"that looks awful"

"Looks pretty terrible. I'll stick with Liberty City Stories."

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little..."

"As soon as I saw those images, immediately I was depressed..."

"Wow Rockstar, don't even bother."

"Ugh. This looks like trash."

And I could go on, but what's the point. Excuse my language for a bit here, but people are fucking dumb (imagine me saying that in a George Carlin voice). Not only is everyone completely overreacting to a couple of magazine scans, they are unable to see beyond the low quality shots and unusual aesthetic. It's almost like they've forgotten who's making the game.

Anyway, another batch of shots came in that confirmed my brilliant opinion. This game is going to look great in motion on the DS.

I can't wait to play this. Am I alone?

This is getting a tad ridiculous. Here we are, a couple months before the release of Wrath of the Lich King, and the collector's edition is already sold out. This is only surprising because the collector's edition for the Burning Crusade was relatively unpopular (sealed copies are going for retail or less a year and a half later). Sure, they were sold out for a few weeks before and after launch, but that's it. Does this mean World of Warcraft is becoming even more popular than it already is? Or is it that Northrend is just a better sell than Outland?

The death of Arthas (at least it is safe to assume he dies, even though it would be awesome if they surprised us with an ending that resulted in something other than the antagonist's death) represents the end of the Warcraft 3 story arc, which is pretty significant if you think about it. And now that Blizzard has offered a "casual" way to experience storied content, it is definately a buy for me and perhaps others who want to experience the end of an era as well.