Starting May 1st, Rockstar Games Social Club will be hosting GTA: Chinatown Wars week, and giving owners of the DS title a chance to grab a rare vehicle for in-game use. Obviously, this will only be available for a limited time, with the offer expiring at 11:59 PM May 7th.

What is this new vehicle, you may ask. Well, it’s the coveted ‘Bulletproof Hellenbach.’ Chinatown Wars has been all the rage for DS owners this year, and with the addition of a bulletproof vehicle, I feel certain that the pedestrian populations of those virtual streets are in dire peril.

Rockstar also rolled out a new lineup of downloadable papercraft models exclusively for Social Club members to print and assemble, and they’ve enhanced the popular ‘Rampage Tracker.’ I expect that if this type of promotion pans out, we’ll see a lot more online tie-ins for games, both handheld and console.

So, what do you need to do to grab your very own near-invincible set of wheels? All the detailed instructions can be found after the break.

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Remember the thrill of getting that long-coveted video game system for your birthday when you were younger? A 16 year old in Lake Wales, Florida experienced that thrill this year, at least for a few minutes.

His mother, Jodi Wylke, decided she wanted to play a little joke on her son. She knew he wanted a Nintendo DS, so she bought him one, but held it back until after he had opened another present, a copy of Guitar Hero for the DS. After she let him get good and bewildered, she handed over the DS, new in the box. At least, that’s what she thought.

When the boy opened the box, he found a handful of rocks wrapped in a Chinese newspaper instead of the handheld he was expecting. No, this wasn’t an extension of the prank, the box was exactly as his mother had purchased it from the local Wal-Mart.

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As if Nintendo doesn’t have enough of our money after the recent launch of the DSi, they’re bringing another DS to American shores. In a press release this morning, they announced a new green DS.

Apparently, Nintendo is aiming this DS model squarely at your mom. According to their press release, “The new bundle will be available on May 3, which just happens to be a week before Mother’s Day (hint, hint).” In keeping with this idea, the new green DS will be bundled with a carrying case and a copy of Personal Trainer: Cooking.

You can check out the full press release, as well as photos of the packaging and questionably attractive carrying case, after the break.

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Capcom announced today that Neopets Puzzle Adventure has shipped for the Nintendo Wii, so if you have been waiting on this, run to the store now and pick it up. It has been available for the PC and Nintendo DS for a few weeks now, but finally Wii owners can get in on all the puzzle actions just like everyone else.

Neopets Puzzle Adventure is an easy to play, single and multiplayer puzzle game for fans and casual gamers alike, and lets players create and develop one of 12 Neopets characters by completing quests, playing mini-games, and battling others. Players will travel through three Lands of Neopia with more than 150 quests, while collecting “PetPets” for special abilities.

The Neopets game board itself resembles a chess board, while the gameplay takes the principles of Reversi and Go, and adds new twists where the goal is to turn all of the chips on the board to your Neopet’s color.

Key features

• Neopets Puzzle Adventure will generate codes that can be redeemed for unique items on the Neopets.com website
• Choose and customize one of 12 Neopets to be your central character in the story
• Travel through three Lands of Neopia as you experience an epic story with more than 150 quests in the single-player game
• “Co-operative” and “Head-to-Head” multiplayer matches
• Collect 150 “PetPets” for extra abilities and earn 30 special Awards for completing missions
• Collect over 300 items, recipes and treasures, many of which can be equipped on your pet to provide useful bonuses

Atlus U.S.A. has announced that fans of classic, western-style first-person role playing games will soon be able to experience The Dark Spire for Nintendo DS come March 10, 2009. The game is an exploratory RPG which includes character development where parties will be assembled, stats will be rolled, items, weapons and armor shall be equipped, and monsters will be slain. Sounds like an RPG alright.

In the game you can choose to play using the “modern” interface, while others may opt for the “classic” mode, which could bring forth some sensations of nostalgia as it supposedly will remind you of RPGs of days gone by. Either way you choose, having the choice of two different styles to play from sounds pretty interesting.

The storyline of the game tells the tale of a powerful archmage named Tyrhung who resides in a tower of mist and shadow and holds in his possession a jewel of great worth and power. A group of adventurers decide they want to conquer the tower and claim the treasures within.

More information about The Dark Spire can be found below or by visiting the game page on FileFront.

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Today Ubisoft announced a publishing agreement to release the special edition of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for both the Wii and Nintendo DS. Game titled Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director’s Cut willbe building on the original game with a new narrative added to the first story along with new puzzles, and animated facial expressions drawn by Dave Gibbons–the artist behind the comic book and upcoming movie, Watchmen.

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director’s Cut starts with the player in control of a Parisian photo-journalist Nicole Collard, who witnesses the murder of one of Paris’s richest and most influential statesmen. During her investigations, which feature exclusive new locations, Nico meets an American named George Stobbart, who is involved in the theft of an ancient manuscript. Together, they are drawn into a conspiracy rooted in a long-forgotten medieval legend.

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director’s Cut is scheduled for release on Wii and Nintendo DS in March 2009.

(Thanks: VG247)

EA Mobile sent us a nice little email this morning letting us know that the company has released SimCity for both the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now, gamers who like the Sim games can take it on the road where while in a traffic jam, sitting on the commode or just bored during that sakes meeting they can construct, manage and even destroy their own dream city, all from the palm of their hand.

“SimCity for the iPhone and iPod touch takes mobile games to a whole new level,” said Adam Sussman, VP Publishing Americas and Asia for EA Mobile. “Easy to learn, a lifetime to master, it’s one of the largest mobile games ever produced, providing our customers with hundreds of hours of great gameplay.”

Users of either device can build an entire metropolis and incorporate contemporary landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Washington Monument into your city. Like the PC game, if you strike the perfect balance between industrial and residential zones to keep your city thriving, your citizens will be happy. Ready to start over or indulge even more in your god complex? Then just tap the screen to call in a disaster and watch UFO’s rain destruction upon your city’s foundation.

You can get SimCity from the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or by visiting EA Mobile online.

Game stop is offering cold hard Liberty City cash to gamers pre-ordering Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. All takers will get $10,000 in-game Liberty City cash as well as access to the entire arsenal from the start of the game.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be hitting shelves March 17th but pre-orders have already begun. The Chinatown Wars upgrade is a GameStop exclusive offer.

Maybe it’s just my dirty dirty mind, but when I heard the first “Mature” game had been released to the iPhone app store, my first guesses involved strip poker or some puzzle-solving game that yielded pictures of naked women as a prize. However, that’s just not the case. Instead the first age-restricted game on the iPhone store is a port of an Adult Swim title. Right now, for $4.99, you can play Amateur Surgeon on the go and with a touch screen. The game is essentially parody of the Trauma Center series, except instead of playing as an effeminate doctor with professional tools at his disposal, you’re a pizza delivery boy with a pizza cutter. That’s probably where the “You must be 17 years old to purchase this game” tag comes in, since the game does involve some blood and gore. Of course, that five bucks is really just the price to play the game on your little Apple device, since it’s been available to play for free on Adult Swim’s website for quite awhile now.

After months of very little information on their upcoming DS title, GTA: Chinatown Wars, Rockstar has finally pinned down a release date for the game. It is now set to be released on March 17th in North America, followed by a March 20th release in Europe. Then we’ll get to see just how well the franchise translates over to the DS, though early previews have indicated that it actually translates over quite well. Besides which, it’s Rockstar doing a GTA game. Give me an uzi, a car, and some innocent bystanders, and my needs are met already.