A couple of years ago as we were approaching the Holiday 2007 Season, Chris and I shared THIS POST highlighting the parental controls for the three major home consoles. We didn’t list instructions for the Nintendo DS because the system doesn’t have any. The reason is that for the most part, there weren’t any ESRB M-Rated North American NDS releases. Since then, a few have crept into the pool. Considering that there are close to 1000 titles domestically available, the dozen or so M-Rated titles have been of little issue. However, Rockstar North has changed that.

With the release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the DS has a Mature title that many will want to play (even though some probably shouldn’t). In fact, Rockstar Games’ site highlights THIS LINK to MetaCritic as proof that Chinatown Wars is “the best game to ever hit the Nintendo DS™.” I have clocked-in about 4 hours with the title at this point and I must say that their boast is not unfounded. This game is quite an extraordinary experience for the DS.

To give you a little taste, here’s the trailer for the game:
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There are two important messages that we want to drive home here:

1. GTA Chinatown Wars is a great game.
2. GTA Chinatown Wars is not a great game for everyone.

As an adult, I enjoyed the wry sense of humor and typical violence for which the Grand Theft Auto franchise is known. Within the first hour of gameplay, the writers had incorporated the “f-bomb” repeatedly, the protagonist had his masculinity questioned on an “exotic film” set, and the experience included hot-wiring cars, buying/selling drugs, and killing a dozen or so characters. And the use of the touch screen on the DS for creating Molotov cocktails felt like WarioWare gone really bad.

I can heartily recommend this title for those old enough in your family to know the difference between right and wrong and want to have a little fun without hurting anyone. However, keep in mind that if you have younger ones with access to the DS, this title cannot be locked out with parental controls. The DS doesn’t provide that feature.

Enjoy, but be aware!