Payback has been doing pretty well on the iPhone as a Grand Theft Auto clone, but the real thing is coming soon, apparently — Rockstar Games says that they’ll be bringing the acclaimed DS hit Chinatown Wars to Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch platforms. Pretty big news, not only for GTA fans looking for a hijack-ing and crime spree fix (in this edition of the game, you can also deal drugs around the city, so that’ll be fun), but also for the platform as a whole, since this is yet another sign that big developers are thinking about the iPhone as a major handheld platform.

Chinatown Wars isn’t the only game Rockstar will be releasing on the App Store, either, as their PSP music title Beaterator is also set to make an appearance. Nothing has yet been said about exact date or price (though G4 has guessed Rockstar wlll aim higher than the premium somewhat-standard of $9.99). We’ll keep tuned to the police scanners for you.GTA Chinatown coming to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.