Vice City in Japan

Following strong sales of the original Grand Theft Auto 3 in the Japanese market, Capcom announced via the latest issue of Japan's Famitsu magazine plans to bring Vice City to the market.

The game doesn't have a release date or price, but that didn't stop Famitsu from giving it a three-page spread at the front of its "Special Report" section. The magazine even gave the game space on the cover (although the text wasn't as big as that used for the new Dynasty Warriors spin-off).

GTA III arrived in Japan September 2003 and managed to sell more than 300,000 copies before the year ended. This number, while a fragment of the sales the game managed worldwide, is pretty high for a foreign developed title that doesn't feature bandicoots and isn't packed in with the PS2 system. In fact, at number 32, GTA III was the highest placing foreign title on Famitsu's top 100 sales list for 2003.

Sales of Vice City should determine if gamers in Japan actually found the violence-action ("violence" is the theme for the game, according to Famitsu) of the original intriguing or if they were just wondering what all the fuss was about.

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