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.

To those who like lists and/or charts, then be prepared for the latest release of Chart Track UK's Top 40 software sales. The one that rose above the sales competition was Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Find out what games made in the list by heading over to the 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.

It looks like the recent Gran Turismo 5 updates have perked up attention in Japan too. Famitsu's most wanted ending July 19 indicates that aside from stalwarts like Dragon Quest IX, MGS4, and Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360, PS3), Polyphony Digital's much-anticipated racing game for the PlayStation 3 finds itself among the list's top 20.

Another game that appears to have caught the population's eye is Imabi Kisou. The title's reportedly a horror game, although that's the only detail we know for the moment. And since we jotted it down in Japanese, we'd really appreciate it if the more Nihonggo-literate patrons here could let the guys know on what Imabi Kisou means in plain English.

1. Dragon Quest IX (NDS, Square Enix)
2. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Square Enix)
3. Biohazard 5 (PS3, Capcom)
4. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3, Konami
5. Monster Hunter 3 (PS3, Capcom)
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, Nintendo)
7. Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360, Microsoft)
8. Animal Crossing (Wii, Nintendo)
9. Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII (PSP, Square Enix)
10. Devil May Cry 4 (PS3, Capcom)
11. Final Fantasy IV (NDS, Square Enix)
12. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS, Nintendo)
13. Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends (PS2, Koei)
14. Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3, Square Enix)
15. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo)
16. Halo 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft)
17. Gran Turismo 5 (PS3, Sony)
18. Ash (NDS, Mistwalker)
19. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (NDS, Level 5)     398
20. Imabi Kisou (PS3, Sega)

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.

Like a dispensable bit player on E.R., the team behind Wired has declared Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 4 Mobile dead at exactly 2006 A.D. According Wired's GameLife section writer Chris Kohler the game that was "the strongest argument to buy the PSP" is nothing more than "one of the most egregious [gross] examples of vaporware ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public."

"Vaporware" is a term for a software (or hardware) extravagantly hyped by its developer before its release but never actually makes it to the market. There are a number of reasons why companies figuratively manufacture vaporware:

• To see how consumers react to the announcement (if the reaction is blah, the project is dropped)
• To draw attention from other similar products (consumers may wait for the vaporware rather than buy an already existing competitive product)
• To improve a company's stock value

Sometimes the product becomes a victim of its own hype. You know, if it looks too good to be true it's probably vaporware.

We don't know what really happened to Gran Turismo 4 Mobile. But if you're seeking some sign that the game is not vaporware we can only direct you to the world's favorite source of instant info, Wikipedia. Its list of cancelled computer and video games does not yet include Gran Turismo 4 Mobile.