Considering the ESRB lists all of 10 Nintendo DS titles rated M, this isn't surprising. Still, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars bragged the game accounts for more than half of M-rated game sales on that platform.
Speaking to MCV, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive addressed Chinatown Wars' disappointing sales performance by saying it faced a market "challenged by weak demand and by piracy," yet still is the dominant game among its class, all time.
"As of February 2010, Chinatown Wars' unit sales in the US represented nearly 50 per cent of the unit sales of all M-rated DS titles in the history of the platform," Feder said. "I am very proud of Chinatown Wars."
Feder added that "The commercial performance of Chinatown Wars has certainly suffered at the hands of piracy," saying the industry must address the problem "especially in the handheld market.
Feder's numbers go back to February, so they don't account for the March release of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey . Another M-rated DS game, Dementium II isn't out yet. Crime Scene also came out in February, so it's not clear if that figures in. Chinatown Wars having half the sales of a market sounds impressive, but when that market is comprised of as few as seven titles, shouldn't it be even more?