More Vice City Stories chatter

Rockstar is keeping quiet about the possibility of a PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, despite seemingly relentless rumour and speculation. Having already featured (albeit briefly) on the American ratings board ESRB website, before being pulled, the game has now shown up in the PS2 section of the PlayStation.com website. And been pulled. Rockstar has since said that it won't comment.

That's not to say it's not happening. After all, there are plenty of reasons why Rockstar would choose to keep quiet. Obviously their investors take a big interest in the series, with mother-company Take-Two's fortunes often swinging on these sorts of confirmations and denials. As well as its existence, Rockstar would want to get a price point (budget? full? what?) and a release date absolutely aligned before telling the stock market anything.

It's also possible that the game is in development quietly, or is easily portable, but that Rockstar hasn't decided to do it, and is wavering between positions. After all, Grand Theft Auto IV is due out this October on next-generation formats, and with limited time to take care of a current-generation Vice City Stories release, the publisher may prefer to hold off so as not to risk cannibalising sales.

In any event, it's clear they're uncomfortable speculating, so we'll be sure to, er, continue doing that for them. What about you lot? Any particular thirst for Vice City Stories on PS2? Who knows, they might be reading.