Rockstar announced today that it is releasing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the PlayStation Portable. The open-world crime game will be available at retail on UMD and digitally from the PlayStation Network in North America and Europe this fall.

According to Rockstar, the new version of Chinatown Wars will take "full advantage of the power of the PSP." It was specifically built for the PSP platform with "upscaled widescreen graphics, enhanced lighting and animation," includes "all-new story missions," and will take full advantage of the power of the PSP system."

Chinatown Wars for the DS was critically lauded (and incredibly addictive!), but didn't sell as many copies as some in the industry expected. Some think the relatively soft sales of the title for the DS are because the Nintendo handheld install base is heavy on kids and light on "core" gamers. So it will be interesting to see if the PSP's sales are stronger than the DS's sales. I'm guessing Chinatown Wars will sell better on the PSP than the DS -- maybe not in terms of total units sold, but in terms of percentage of system owners who purchase the game.

What do you think? Are you excited for the release of this title? Do you think it will do well?