Racing fans who were expecting this year's release of the handheld version of Gran Turismo 4 Mobile will be sadly disappointed. Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi explained that due to the amount of time spent on the PlayStation 3 project for the series it was highly doubtful whether the PSP release of the popular racing title will be rolled out this year. You can find out more about what Yamauchi had to say in our full article.

Bit of bad news for those of us expecting some Gran Turismo joy on our Sony PlayStation Portables - it seems the series may not be making its way to the handheld track anytime soon, with signs pointing to Gran Turismo Mobile's cancellation. Check out the details in the full article.

Now that we have some hints on when the upcoming PSP's Gran Turismo Mobile will come out, which is after Gran Turismo 5's release, we are left wondering about what we can expect from the game. Gran Turismo franchise creator Kazunori Yamauchi gives a small hint, and you can check it out in the full article!

We've reported before that a PlayStation Portable outing for the Gran Turismo series - known before as Gran Turismo 4 Mobile - is still in the works, but apparently fans will have to wait until Gran Turismo 5 is completed for Polyphony Digital to actually start development.

In an interview with Joystiq, Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi outlined some of the PSP-PS3 connectivity ideas that they're considering for Gran Turismo on the PSP. One of these is letting people view replays of their racing experiences. Another is actually letting PSP owners race against somebody playing on a PS3. Said Yamauchi:

Even though the visual qualities will be different depending on which hardware they're on it would be nice if we could allow for that. Technically, we think we should be able to.

Yamauchi also mentioned a race manager feature - something that was included in Gran Turismo 4 B-spec. Here's what Yamauchi said:

You don't even need to steer the controller, you just set the car and let it go; you're managing it. Another example would be the PSP would be your management tool: give it input and give it instructions and the car would continue on with the race.

It's all just ideas, and until Gran Turismo 5 hits the streets, we probably won't be hearing any more about Gran Turismo title for the PSP, but the possibilities are quite interesting. More updates as we get them.

A lot of people have been waiting for Polyphony Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment's Gran Turismo 4 Mobile on the PSP. Yes, there are great racing games like Burnout Dominator, but many gamers have been demanding more racing games to sate their need for speed. Unfortunately, GT4 Mobile may not be out until next year.

EBGames, one of the leading distributors of video games in the US, has listed the game's pre-release copies to ship only on January 1 of next year. It's been said that other sites such as Amazon UK have listed the game for a later date, like March 30. This leads to a little confusion considering other sites such as Yahoo shopping and others have set the game for this year (or maybe they just haven't updated their site yet).

That said we have no other choice but to wait for Sony's official statement on when this game will be announced. However, considering the issues they are dealing with now, their response may come later rather than sooner. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates in Gran Turismo 4 Mobile for the PSP.

Thanks to Networkgamer for the heads-up on this one.

A few month's ago, QJ blogger Gino D, promised that we'd give you future updates regarding the supposed release date of Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 4 Mobile for the Sony PlayStation Portable. Of course, why wouldn't he, given the game's Duke Nukem: Forever - esque history of changing release dates. As promised here's an update. QJ reader, Networkgamer alerts us of something interesting going on over at the EBGames site.

As of this writing the EBgames listing for Gran Turismo 4 Mobile looks like so:

 

Oh well, a move from from July to November ...sigh. We're betting that a few months from now, we'll get word of another schedule change. Of course, you can't discount the possibility that EBGames is just yanking on our chains ...or something. Since there isn't official word yet, we'll tag this as a rumor for now. As always, we'll keep you informed as soon as more info is made available. Stay tuned.

Probably known as PSP's most anticipated "on-again-off-again" racing title is Gran Turismo 4. At its best, the game's release date seems to be ever-changing; at its worst, some have even already given up all hope and say it's been cancelled.

Time to pump some fuel back into your souls. In their official website, EBGames has notched GT's release date on July 2 of this year. It's been a long time coming, and maybe a lot of you guys are now jumping for joy that finally the finish line is just down the stretch.

However, due to not having any confirmation whatsoever from Polyphony Digital and Sony themselves, we're going to have to toss some salt over this and hang the "Rumor" sign on the handbrake. If you've been able to wait for two years now (the game was announced back in 2004), then a 5-month wait until July is more than bearable. Updates in the future? You bet.

Being religious Gran Turismo fans here at QJ, we can't help but feel like yo-yo's with the news that GT4 Mobile hasn't been cancelled. With the news of the GT4 Mobile release date being slated as 'indefinite', many fans of the series have simply assumed that the game was cancelled. Developers Polyphony Digital has "categorically denied" rumours circulating around the gaming community that the title has been cancelled.

Some websites had taken a translation of a Famitsu article as evidence that GT4 Mobile had been cancelled, although we at QJ kept to the facts and said that the game had an 'indefinite' release date. "We can categorically deny all speculation which suggests that PDI is not developing a GT franchise game for the PSP," the developer said to Eurogamer today.

"In fact, we've reached the stage where a GT4 equivalent runs on the PSP hardware. However, our main focus at present, is the development and release of a GT title for the PS3 platform. Once this has been completed, we can return to, and jump-start, development for the PSP version. In regards to release dates and details, we'll be making further announcement, at a later date."

Although the Gran Turismo port to the PSP hasn't had the most smooth of transitions, it's still nice to hear that a GT title will eventually come to the PSP - we hope. Who knows, you may be better off waiting for the firmware update with the PSX emulator for PSP and play classic Gran Turismo on that.

For some reason, Gran Turismo just ain't revving up as it should for the PSP. According to Famitsu, the game developers Polyphony Digital have confirmed that the game's release date is still indefinite as of press time.  Originally, the plan was to release it in Japan during Spring 2005.

This latest delay, which is not exactly new, will not only disappoint awaiting fans, but will also probably affect the PSP. This update is considered to be the latest in a number of blows coming PSP's way, following several movie companies' decision to stop producing UMD Videos for the handheld.

Nonetheless, most fans don't think the delay signifies any deep trouble for both the game and the PSP. After all, other GT titles also took a while before being officially released. Here's hoping the game is worth the wait.

Remember when people could use the PSP's once anemic game library against you in console flame wars? Well thanks to games like Lumines, Exit, Daxter, Syphon Filter, Mega Man Powered Up and Burnout Legends (to name just a few) that argument no longer holds much water. If however, you hear someone beginning to pipe up, you can simply point them in the direction of this little list of promising future PSP titles. Yum!

Read the entire article after the jump!