Rockstar has just announced that Grand Theft Auto- Chinatown Wars will be spreading from the Nintendo DS to the PSP later this year.

They’re going to be upgrading the fantastic game a bit to give it sharper, widescreen graphics, new lighting effetcs and animation, and brand-new story missions. The game will be available both on UMD and as a downloadable title through the Playstation Network.

“We’re proud to extend this truly unique handheld Grand Theft Auto experience to PSP and offer a downloadable version of Chinatown Wars for PSPgo,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “Rockstar Leeds has shown incredible talent in creating games that raise the bar in terms of depth and innovation on portables, and with Chinatown Wars we have a rich, fast-paced, and incredibly addictive entry into the series.”

The game didn’t sell nearly enough copies on the DS, perhaps because the market wasn’t ready for a mature (read: violent) game, perhaps because people wrongly believed that a GTA title couldn’t even work on the system. Now at least more people will be tempted to try it out, and while the touchscreen controls will be missed it’s nice that this seems to be a director’s cut of sorts.

Expect it to hit sometime this fall.