In Rockstar Games’ latest iteration of the GTA franchise, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the game moves back to its classic top-down view roots, while at the same time retaining the multi-layered online integration that Grand Theft Auto IV introduced on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. As the most complex DS game ever developed, clocking in at over 800,000 lines of code, Rockstar Games looked to maximize its online functionality throughout different stages of the game. Rather than create a single multiplayer mode that is frequently tacked on at the end of the game, GTA Chinatown Wars’ connected gaming features are woven throughout the lifecycle of the game, from the pre-order point all the way through to unlocking additional content after the main storyline is over.

The Rockstar Social Club Links the Game to the Web

Competing against your friends is one of the huge draws to social, connected gaming, and Chinatown Wars makes it easy to compare your own stats against those of your DS friends, by uploading your friend roster from the system to the Rockstar Social Club portal automatically. Now you can compare your stats against any of your buddies with the game if they’re also signed up at the Rockstar Social Club. Traditional leaderboards have previously given you less useful rank among hundreds of thousands of other players. Chinatown Wars makes it more meaningful by focusing on relative performance to your friends, giving you extra bragging rights with your buddies.

The Rockstar Social Club will link any of your PS3, Xbox 360, Windows or DS accounts from Rockstar’s recent Grand Theft Auto or Midnight Club games into a single account, giving you quick access to stats across a number of games using a single login. Simply enter your DS friend code and sync your stats and you’re all set. The centralized Rockstar Social Club login is a win-win for both the publisher and gamer: The publisher collects marketing information from their users, and the gamer has quick access to stats across multiple games with a single login and has data and can enable additional content for in-game enjoyment.

Unlockable Content Galore

Once at the Rockstar Social Club, registered users can also play Flash games like Mr Wong’s Laundromat to unlock additional cash that can be spent back in the game. GameSpy’s custom work links money earned out of game straight back into your in-game funds to spend on bigger guns and more ammo (and you can never have enough of that).

The Social Club also acts as a hub for additional unlockable content. Players who pre-ordered the game received certain bonus items depending on the retail partner, like early access to the
bulletproof Infernus sports car in-game or exclusive ammo and cash or additional drug dealers to earn money from. This created additional co-marketing opportunities between Rockstar and its retail partners.

Beyond that, find the two missing Guardian Lion statues in the game and you gain access to additional Xin missions once you visit the site again. Your name is also proudly displayed along with others who found the lions for everyone to see. More unlockable content is still in store for members who are signed up to Social Club.

Publishers Want Stats too!

For publishers, rich stats on how gamers have played their titles have become an invaluable tool to plan the evolution of a franchise, or give them the ammunition they need to invest more resources into online features for new titles. Rockstar Games has access to usage reports on how their game is being played and how far players proceed. No more guessing about what percentage of players completed the game or how many players use specific online features. Data mining like this will help the publisher build an even better game focused on what gamers liked the next time around.

Online Play Isn’t Just Competitive Play

Chinatown Wars proves that a good online game doesn’t have to feature online multiplayer. Rather than play online with random people form the Internet, trusted friends can connect online by chatting and trading items they no longer need with each other. All data is securely stored on GameSpy’s backend. Players can still play competitively against their friends in local multiplayer battles.