GTA: Liberty City Stories now official

LOS ANGELES--Today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe gave its continental comrades in the games press a sneak peak at a title unseen by their American peers. At its press event at Electronic Entertainment Expo, the UK-headquartered wing of Sony's game empire briefly showed a logo of and footage from Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PSP.

The unveiling confirms recent rumors that the game would indeed bear the title. Those rumors were backed up by the fact that libertycitystories.com was--until very--recently registered to Rockstar Games.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is the third portable entry in the wildly popular franchise, after Grand Theft Auto Advance GTA and GTA 2 for the Game Boy Color. Like its console and PC counterparts, the game will involve engaging in all manner of criminal mischief involving cars, guns, theft, robbery, murder, grand larceny, and the odd sale of massive quantities of narcotics. It will be set in its titular city, the New York-Chicago hybrid that was also the setting of Grand Theft Auto III.

[UPDATE] Shortly after the SCEE conference, Rockstar Games announced Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories officially, saying it will ship in the US and Europe "after" the PSP's launch across the Atlantic on September 1.

GameSpot will have more on Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories directly from E3 later in the week.