Chinatown War is no doubt going to be a huge step for Rockstar, giving some of the award winning franchise to Nintendo fans for the first time (excluding the unsuccessful GTA Advance). However, it is a new avenue for the series, a DS game with the unique DS controls and features.

There is always that possibility with bigs moves like this as to if the game will live up to it's expectations, and obviously Rockstar's last attempt at a GTA on a Nintendo system wasn't all that popular, but take Rapper Fat Joe's word on it, it's "mad ill, [a] dope game".

Convinced now? Okay, so maybe your not completely sure of who this Fat Joe is, thats understandable. Fat Joe has however, as he stated at the beginning of the video, had his music in a GTA game. In Grand Theft Auto IV his popular track Crackhouse featuring Lil Wayne can be heard on The Beat 102.7.

Alright, so he's not exactly somebody of much significance in the world of Grand Theft Auto, but he does seem keen on the game. And hey, if Fat Joe says it's "mad ill"...

Rockstar has released a video showing off hot-wiring, car jacking, and peeling out.

The official site for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has launched. The site has 15 screenshots (most new) and a new trailer.

Trailer:

Screens: (this is only a selection of the screens)

Official Site: Chinatown Wars

IGN has just posted a very interesting interview with Rockstar Leeds president Gordon Hall. We highly recommend you check out the interview and the city renders.

Interview: IGN

Interested in having a hand-on demo of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars before it's release on March 17th? Today, Rockstar announced that they will be touring from coast-to-coast at GameStop stores up until the games release. That's 84 GameStop stores throughout 52 cities through Alabama to Washington, over the next 6 weeks.

Check out the events page on the official website to see when the tour is stopping by your local GameStop store, and be sure to attend to have a rare hands-on of the game before it's released, as well as receive some limited edition Rockstar apparel.

It's times like these that I wish I was an American.

For more information on the tour, be sure to check out http://www.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars/tour/.

Yesterday night, an ad for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars aired during Late Night with Conan O' Brian. Unfortunately, I didn't happen to be watching the show that night (I usually watch via an online service), so I missed the ad. However, tonight I watched Conan's last show and during the show, the ad replayed again. I was able to snatch it up this time and upload it to YouTube.

Rockstar has announced through their RSS Feed that next week the official websites for GTA: Chinatown Wars and Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central DLC will be launched, along with debut trailers for each. No new release date has been set for the South Central DLC as of yet, you may remember that it was originally planned for release on January 29th, however for an unknown reason the plan wasn't put into action. We have been in contact with Rockstar, and they have assured us that once a date is set they'll let us know.

No word on when in the week to expect the launches of the websites and debut trailers, but we'll keep you posted.

With just under a month until the release of the first Grand Theft Auto game on the Nintendo DS, it's interesting  to see that a few retailers are offering exclusive codes to unlock particular content in the game.

We've talked about the code GameStop is offering to unlock all the weapons at Ammunation and give you $10,000, however we haven't yet mentioned the code that Amazon is offering when you order the game from Amazon.com. When you order Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars from Amazon prior to the release of the game, you will receive a code to unlock an Exclusive Bulletproof Infernus, pictured to the right.

Now their is one important thing to note, you cannot actually acquire the car until you've progressed 4% through the games' story, at which time the Auto Merchant's will open. The vehicle will apparently come from the Rockstar Games Social Club, so we are guessing this means vehicle customization will be available in Chinatown Wars, as well as the ability to share customized vehicles with people through the Social Club*. Once you reach 4% progression, and the Auto Merchant's has opened, you can purchase the Amazon Exclusive Bulletproof Infernus from their for $1,200. A price tag that Amazon says won't be an issue for Huang Lee.

*This is not official, so don't take our word on it for the moment, although we would be inclined to think that customization of vehicles will be a feature, as well as sharing via the Social Club. We'll keep you posted on any official news surrounding it later on.

For more information on the Exclusive Bulletproof Infernus code Amazon is offering, see the information page. To pre-order the game in time for the code on the release of the game, see the Chinatown Wars Amazon.com listing.

Eight gaming sites have posted their previews of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars today, the three we found most intreaging where:

CVG

New to Chinatown Wars is a burnout mechanic which, by holding accelerate and handbrake, you can spin your wheels and then burn off leaving a trail of fire. The fire, hilariously, kills nearby people, which is as useful as it is funny in police chases

We hijacked a sports car that required us to loosen four screws and remove a panel, exposing two wires that needed to be ripped out and connected to start the engine - all on the touch screen.

IGN

I could have assembled that sniper rifle all day - it felt so satisfying, slotting all the pieces into place. Jacking into cars - and there were different mini-games depending on which car you were jacking - also felt really good, be it jamming a screwdriver into the ignition or hotwiring a car.

GamesRadar

Rockstar Leeds has gone to town with the DS' feature set, using it all in ways that arguably immerse you more in the experience than any other edition in the series.

The rest of the reviews can be found at:

• Kikizo
• GameDaily
• 1UP
• Total Video Games
• GamePlayer

There are some new screenshots in the previews, but we don't feel it would make much sense posting them here without a proper description of each, so check out each review for a full wrap up including imagery and details! Check back soon for more news as the game nears release.

Two new screenshots of the upcoming DS Title Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars have been posed by gaming website, Edge-Online. Edge has also stated that the game is pretty much complete and the development phase has switched to QA testing and polishing.

Apparently, it’s already complete, save for a few more passes for polish and bug hunting.

It’s just a little over 2 months now before we can get our hands on Chinatown Wars. Stick with us to keep up with the latest news about this new and innovative title!

Source: Edge-Online.com