GTA: Chinatown Wars stands to be the strongest title in the PSP’s Christmas line-up, according to Rockstar.

The game is a reworked edition of the DS version, which was released this March. It hits shelves on October 23rd, and will be competing with the likes of Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines and Rockstar’s own Beaterator in the run-up to Christmas – but the firm is still confident the game will hold its own.

“We see Chinatown Wars as the must-have PSP game this Christmas for mature gamers,” Rockstar’s general manager Neil Stephen told MCV.

“The GTA series has an extremely strong heritage on the PSP and we are extremely proud that Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories are the two best-selling titles in the platform’s history.

“With Chinatown Wars we are bringing one of the most critically acclaimed handheld gaming experiences of all time to an established GTA fanbase on PSP.”
Stephen also dismissed the notion that the PSP market is dwindling, confident that the platform already has a well established audience that will be all too eager for Chinatown Wars’ arrival.

“There is a massive install base for the PSP in the UK that is fast approaching 3.5 million owners,” he said.

“A large proportion of this audience are fans of GTA since we are the best-selling franchise on the console. As a result, we are targeting this userbase as directly as possible.”

The publisher has organised a heavyweight national phone kiosk ad campaign to promote the game, as well as a radio campaign set to reach more than three million listeners.

Chinatown Wars will also sponsor the launch of South Park Studios’ UK online portal, with the popular cartoon’s audience expected to generate high levels of traffic.

Rockstar has also arranged traditional print, online and trade advertising.