Why bother paying for marketing of a Grand Theft Auto game, when you can just get a million inflammatory headlines published in newspapers the world over? This would appear to be the thinking of Rockstar, with the developer apparently having opted to include a drug-dealing mini-game in GTA: Chinatown wars for the family-friendly DS. This, at least is what Rockstar's Dan Houser has said will happen in the upcoming game.

We have contacted Rockstar in London to see whether or not dealing cocaine, E and weed as part of the DS game is in fact true.

According to Edge, this little feature will enable players to shift heroine, cocaine, weed, ecstasy, acid and downers. Doing so will get you tonnes of in-game moolah and experience on the black market, according to the magazine.

Rockstar has been wanting to provide such a feature in a GTA game for a while, it would seem. "We wanted to have a drug-dealing minigame in lots of the GTA games", said Rockstar VP Dan Houser. "We played with it a little in Vice City Stories, because it worked really well juxtaposed with the main story.

"It works well with what GTA is, with driving around the map, and it gives you another thing to think about - another layer or piece of the puzzle to keep you motivated."

It's not just some disposable little side-distraction, either. "It does intersect with the main story", he said. "And things you learn from it work with the story, but it mostly runs on its own."

Quite how this sits with Nintendo in Europe is summed up by this response to SPOnG today, "In terms of checks and approvals - I'm not able to share the development process with you as this is a confidential process.

"Nintendo DS users range in age from 5-95 and as such there is a wide range of age rated content available for all ages and tastes on the DS platform.

The game will receive the appropriate age rating from PEGI and if necessary the BBFC to determine its suitability based on its theme and content whatever that might be."

Nintendo in the USA, however, is a different matter. Had Rockstar's Manhunt 2 not been downgraded to an 'M' rating (from and 'Adults Only' rating) in the US, Nintendo would not have allowed the game to be published on its platform, demonstrating that it is prepared to ban what it considers to be overly mature content.

Let the tabloid headlines roll in...

^{Source: Edge via CVG}