GTPlanet

After a few weeks of waiting, Ad-Hoc Party is finally available, for free, to everyone around the world! Watch the video above to see a quick demonstration with Gran Turismo PSP, then head on over to the new “official” GTPlanet lobby to start racing: World G1, Lobby 1. If you’re in the mood for a quick event but the lobby is quiet, leave a note in our official GT PSP online racing forum thread to organize a quick game. Enjoy!

Since GTPlanet users first picked up on the fact that you’d be able to play Gran Turismo PSP online with Ad-Hoc party, one tiny little thing has been holding people back: it was only available in Japanese via the country’s PSN Store. Needless to say, this language barrier prevented many from giving it a shot, leaving those who did with a limited selection of opponents.

That should be changing, though, as Sony has finally announced Ad-Hoc Party is coming to North American and European PSN Stores this month (the exact date hasn’t yet been released). With more users, online racing events in our forums should really start to pick up! Just make sure that you can connect your PlayStation 3 to the Internet directly to your router via an Ethernet cable, however, as the Ad-Hoc Party software will require exclusive use of the system’s wireless connectivity in order to work. Stay tuned for another update as soon as this is available for download.

In what first appears to be a dry interview, closer inspection reveals an interesting tidbit from Yamauchi about the multiplayer functionality in Gran Turismo PSP.  As we already know, up to four players can compete wirelessly via the PSP’s ad-hoc wireless mode.  That’s cool, but there’s more to it than that -- GT PSP will be one of the first games outside of Japan to take advantage of the little-known Ad-Hoc Party application.

First released in Japan late last year, Ad-Hoc Party is a free application downloaded to your PlayStation 3.  Once running, your PSP connects wirelessly to your PS3, through which you can play games with your friends over the Internet.  It’s an interesting, decentralized method of bringing online play to PSP titles without requiring game developers to implement the additional functionality or maintain server infrastructure.  The implications of online play for GT PSP are huge, adding lots of depth and fun to a title that some hard-core players had dismissed.

Sony representatives have already confirmed that Ad-Hoc Party is coming to the United States, so keep an eye out for more information about the software in the coming weeks and months.  For now, check out the Japanese video above for a visual explanation of how the Ad-Hoc Party application works.

Thanks to FoolKiller and Shokz for pointing this out!