Hello all, I've been eagerly anticipating having GTA Chinatown Wars in my iTouch, only to have it still unavailable a week after release in Singapore. Are any of you having this problem with your own countries? And do any Singaporeans have any information? Because my current hypothesis is that the censorship boards are acting up again, but I really doubt it because I've seen big ads for the PSP version on bus stations. I'm not really in touch with the news lately, because I've been on a school trip in a place void of internet. So, does anyone have any info on the situation, or is it just never coming to Singapore? If that's the case, then I'm going to jailbreak.
According to Rockstar there are working on making it available on all countries since the Regional laws are different.
let me make a correction: another reason to hate the government. but courteous people? definitely not. you should see the disgustingly selfish behavior when the train comes.
Yah I know. I live here. If it's being advertised openly for the PSP, then the regional laws can't possibly be platform biased, right?
Hello. I am from Singapore, and a big fan of Grand Theft Auto and the iPhone. The release of Chinatown Wars on the iPhone has interested me greatly ever since they announced it about September last year, and while I also bought both the DS and PSP versions, I would also like to support Rockstar a third time by buying it off the iTunes store. It is a great game and I feel the sales do not live up to it. However, as we should already know, Beaterator was also not released in the SG iTunes Store region. Rockstar claims it is due to regional laws - http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/2010/01/21/2821/asked_&_answered_-_re_red_dead_redemption_l.a._noire_rockstar_san_diego_and_more. Right now it is only available in US, Europe and Australia. It won't come so soon, so you probably should jailbreak, as I have done so. You should jailbreak to 3.1.2 via blackra1n - that should do the trick. It's good to know there's another Singaporean out there on the same boat! I hope they release it on our regional store soon so we don't have to resort to piracy, really.
Haha yup. Good to know I'm not the only one. But I'm wondering, how are they having problems with regional laws if their ads for chinatown wars for the PSP are all over the bus stops?
Apparently Take Two has an office here in Singapore (hence the recent spike in advertising for GTA: Episodes from Liberty City and Chinatown Wars). The DS and PSP versions are not region-restricted, so they can distribute it here easily. For media goods (physical), the MDA just assesses it and gives it a rating like any movie or game, which is a simple procedure. For internet-based goods, however, it seems like the law is really prohibiting companies from selling products in Singapore (examples will be the iTunes music store, Amazon MP3 store, Rewards sites, Netflix, etc.). I don't think it is Rockstar's fault - Apple cannot even sell music here via the iTunes music store as they would have to perform licensing!
I bought two versions of GTA: CTW, and nothing is stopping me from buying a third copy. The only barrier is the App Store. Other than for review's sake, I haven't even gotten around to playing it on the iPhone. Piracy, if we want to define it, occurs when a sale is (theoretically) lost when a potential customer chooses to opt for a cracked/community-distributed version than the original. In my case, there is only one version out - the cracked version - thus there would be no sales lost. Theoretically, I would be a potential customer. But since it is not sold here, whether or not I want to buy it, there is no way Rockstar can receive profits since it is impossible to buy it here.
That's true, but I think piracy is piracy. Maybe you should just wait while Rockstar tries to sort out their problems with the NZ app store.
Either way, singapore is a screwed up country whereby if the government can't put a tax on it, consumers can't have it.
If that is a problem, I shall not discuss about this any more. If Apple will release even some free apps on all App Store regions, people would not have to resort to these ways to get their app.
