Gran Turismo PSP Clinging to Life

Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi tells Kikizo the PSP version of the game is still coming but only once the PS3 audience is built.

One of the first games used by Sony to promote the PSP was a portable version of Gran Turismo. That was around the time of Gran Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2. Since then there's been a lot of action on the console front, though not nearly as much for the portable. But, as the creator of the series tells us, Gran Turismo for the PSP still lives.

Speaking in an interview with Kikizo, Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi said that the game isn't quite dead yet.

Yamauchi said that the team at Polyphony was first finishing work on the debut Gran Turismo game on the PS3 before thinking about the portable version. "Right now we're targeting GT5 for next year, maybe later in the year next year. PSP version will come following that," he said.

Yamauchi said he first wanted to establish a player base on the PS3 before rushing off to do other things, adding: "Currently our objective is to make sure we have a strong core on PS3 before we go on to PSP."

Before all that, though, PS3 owners will be able to get a taster of the new console effort in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a slice of the game that will be released at retail and on the PlayStation Network starting later this year.

Look for much more from our time with Kazunori Yamauchi, including the Gran Turismo creator's views on Microsoft racer Forza 2, in our full interview with the developer, coming later this week only on Kikizo.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo