Contrary to their recent success together, Nintendo and Rockstar Games' partnership didn't get off to the best of starts.
Whilst there's certainly never been any serious bad blood between the two, sales for Rockstar's titles on Nintendo systems were never exactly strong.
Although the critical reception for Rockstar titles such as Max Payne on the Game Boy Advance and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars ranged from decent to incredible, the family-friendly market Nintendo had cultivated led to disappointing sales numbers in the long run.
So perhaps in light of that, the recent news that two Rockstar-led titles that were developed for Nintendo systems were ultimately cancelled should come as no surprise - but it doesn't stop the news from hurting.
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As revealed by Time Extension last Friday, two former Rockstar employees divulged that a Game Boy Advance version (supposedly in development by Rockstar Leeds) of their criminally overlooked 2005 beat 'em up The Warriors was scrapped very close to its completion date.
One of their sources was quoted saying "...We finished the game. It was actually f**king fun to play. But there it sits never to be released because that’s when the PSP was gaining momentum and we weren’t really seeing good returns on Nintendo."
The same source also stated that another beloved Rockstar title, Bully, almost saw its way to the Nintendo DS. According to the source, the DS version of Bully was ultimately canned soon into development - possibly as a result of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' poor sales on the same platform.
They told Time Extension "We had Bully on the DS. Right away Chinatown Wars, we did Bully. The same thing. Top down and everything."
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Time Extension did however note that whilst they were able to mostly confirm the existence of Game Boy Advance version of The Warriors after speaking to other sources, they had less luck corroborating the same claim for the DS version of Bully - although one other Rockstar source noted that it was certainly "plausible".
These days Rockstar have seen a lot more success with the Nintendo Switch than they ever did with previous Nintendo consoles, if recent ports for titles such as L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption are anything to go by.
Still, considering GBA version of The Warriors was reportedly so close to completion, it is a shame it'll never see the light of day.
Unless of course, Nintendo and Rockstar fancied releasing it on the Nintendo eShop? Would be a waste not to, right folks?
Topics: Rockstar Games, Nintendo