Bungie and Rockstar talk future plans

by Stevie Smith - Sep 23 2008, 13:00

Two of gaming’s development heavyweights have been shooting the software breeze this week, with Bungie teasing its fan base with titbits of information regarding a new Halo title, while Rockstar Games has revealed why the Nintendo Wii is missing out on a motion-sensing version of Grand Theft Auto.

According to Dan Houser, co-founder of controversy-courting games company Rockstar, the studio has opted against bringing the Grand Theft Auto series to the Wii as it “didn’t feel natural” on Nintendo’s hugely popular home console.

Talking with Nintendo Power, Houser went on to say that the little dual-screen Nintendo DS made for a more fitting platform for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and provided the game’s creative team with “a lot of interesting challenges that would be totally different from what we’d done in the past.”

Specifically, Houser focused in on the application of the DS stylus and a chance to use mini-games in a way that the team thought was both interesting and exciting, enabling them to “integrate seamlessly between those two modes.”

However, that doesn’t mean Grand Theft Auto on the Wii has been totally black flagged by Rockstar, with Houser offering vaguely that the studio “haven’t really done any concrete, major thinking about the Wii, one way or another.”

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is due for release on the Nintendo DS before the close of Q4.

Meanwhile, over at Bungie, the acclaimed Halo series creator has posted a somewhat cryptic message to its official Web site indicating that a flood (hoho) of information regarding the studio’s latest, undercover project is heading our way.

In keeping with Bungie’s established penchant for smoke-and-mirrors tantalisation, the recent “Keep it Clean” post, which was made live by Bungie member ‘Superintendent’, delivers no official details regarding the game, but does hint at some morsels of goodness.

There are teasing mentions of Tokyo by the Superintendent, who appears to be something of an ‘Urban Infrastructure A.I.’ construct. The post also points to a ‘Metropolitan Emergency’ and also includes a mention of the UNSC (United Nations Space Command), which is a mainstay element of the Halo universe.

While offering a big, fat nothing in terms of definitive answers, current Net chatter suggests Bungie’s post is a preamble to the unveiling of a new, Halo-related game that may be the first to showcase a central character other than the ubiquitous Master Chief.

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