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"Chinatown Wars is performing in line with AAA titles that have come to our platform like Spore or LEGO Star Wars," Nintendo's vice president of licensing Steve Singer sold MTV Multiplayer. "Those games went on to have very different life-to-date sales numbers."

For those who doubt those claims, Singer has an ally in GameStop, as spokesman Chris Olivera told MTV News, "We've seen a solid lift in sales of Chinatown Wars following the launch of the DSi and believe that the product will continue to enjoy a long life at our stores as the buzz around the new handheld gaming experience continues to grow."

As for why Chinatown Wars perhaps didn't meet expectations in the first place, the audience seems to have their own interpretations. In our own comments, for example, a number of readers cited piracy as the number one reason for the low numbers. MTV Multiplayer got a similar reaction, with others saying that it wasn't "as big or not as visually stimulating as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation GTA game."

Well, the last is pretty much a given for any handheld GTA game. In the meantime, Singer remains firmly behind Chinatown Wars.

"I think strategically, [GTA] is a very important game because it helps send the message that great M-rated content can come to the platform and will find a home."

We'll see whether things manage to pick up for the latest GTA in the April NPDs.