That's according to Rockstar Games founder Dan Houser who tells Edge that Nintendo "didn’t want us to make a GTA for kids, and we weren’t interested in making a game we wouldn’t normally make." Houser describes Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS as "almost like a GTA version of a classic arcade game." Go on...
"I mean, GTA is about stealing cars and shooting people – how could it not be an 18 rating?" he adds. The DS game's flamethrower and, more importantly, the drug dealing mini-games (pictured), will certainly garner some attention from those concerned that a cel-shaded crime spree will corrupt our global youth.
Chinatown Wars may not have been what you were expecting, what with its tattooing touchscreen challenges and carjacking mini-games, but it certainly looks interesting. And, if we can be so bold, pretty good for a 3D Nintendo DS release. Whether it will find enough of an audience for more stylus controlled massacres, given its mature bent, we look forward to figuring out.