GTA to whack Wii?

September 21st, 2006, 17:26 Posted By: wraggster

Source: A lengthy article on MTV News.

What we heard: At its pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference in May, Microsoft stunned attendees by announcing that Grand Theft Auto IV would be released on the Xbox 360 the same day and date it arrives on the PlayStation 3. Though Sony reps would later play it down, the development meant that the long exclusivity window that prior GTA games had on the PlayStation 2 would not survive the next-generation console transition.

But while Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas all appeared on the Xbox, no GTA game ever made it to the GameCube. In fact, the only GTA games to make it to a Nintendo platform were the handheld top-down titles Grand Theft Auto (Game Boy Color, 1999), Grand Theft Auto 2 (GBC, 2000), and Grand Theft Auto Advance (Game Boy Advance, 2004).

However, now comes word that the Wii might be carjacked by the GTA franchise. Speaking to MTV News at last week's Wii press conference in New York City, Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that the Mario Factory is in talks with Take-Two Interactive, parent of GTA publisher Rockstar Games. "I'll be spending some time later today with the folks over at Take-Two to see what type of support they can give our console," he said. So far, Take-Two has only expressed interest in using Wii's motion-sensing functions for a baseball game.

Though he didn't mention any specific titles to MTV, the outspoken executive did say that Nintendo wants the Wii to have more adult-oriented content than the GameCube did. That console's catalog was dominated by family-friendly offerings, although it had several notable M-rated games, such as Killer7 and Resident Evil 4.

"The fact is there will be M-rated content on the Wii console," said Fils-Aime. "EA has already announced that they're bringing [the GTA-like crime game] The Godfather to our console. And we want every single best-selling game to be available on Wii. Whatever that content is."

The official story: Fils-Aime's comments have ignited a firestorm of speculation among prospective Wii buyers and GTA addicts. However, they are not official confirmation of plans for a Wii GTA--or any particular Take-Two title for the platform. Requests for comment sent to Nintendo, Take-Two, and Rockstar had not been returned as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that Take-Two and Nintendo are talking. As for GTA on the Wii? The once-unthinkable notion now appears to be a possibility.

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