Nintendo DS gamers will be treated to their first taste of Grand Theft Auto in the early half of next year, developer Rockstar has confirmed.

GTA: ChinaTown Wars will land in Europe in March

The DS title will be launched in Europe on 20 March 2009, but those pesky North American gamers will get their mitts on the game slightly earlier: on 17 March.

GTA: ChinaTown Wars will be based in Liberty City, rather than just off London's Leicester Square, and is described as an "entirely original" entry into the GTA game franchise.

Gamers will use the DS’ touchscreen to navigate their way through the sprawling environment, until they “uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate”.

A price hasn’t been announced yet.