Gran Turismo PSP

It’s not unreasonably pessimistic to say that just because a car is in Gran Turismo PSP, it may not be in Gran Turismo 5.  It’s been debated in our forums at length, and we won’t have a definitive answer until we can directly compare the car list from each game.  However, things look a bit brighter when you consider this recent interview with Kazunori Yamauchi by French gaming site JVN.  When asked about the “interactivity” between GT PSP and GT5, he responds:

Pricing for Gran Turismo PSP in Japan is raising a few eyebrows after a German website connected the dots, revealing the PSN download version is considerably cheaper than the UMD disc.  The UMD will cost ¥5,480 (€40, $57), while the download will be just ¥4,400 (€32, $46).  Curiously, the game is also going to be released one week later (October 8th) in the Land of the Rising Sun than the rest of the world (October 1st).  Of course, there is no guarantee if the variable pricing structure will also be applied to the United States and Europe, but it just might explain the unusual pre-order promotion which revealed Lamborghini and Bugatti’s arrival to the series.

Here it is, folks: your first look at the official box art for Gran Turismo PSP.  As you can see, it features Chevrolet’s hottest Corvette ever, the ZR1.  Kazunori Yamauchi himself selects the car to appear on each game’s cover – what made him pick the ZR1 to receive such prestigious recognition?  As it turns out, he’s spent quite a bit of time hanging around the ‘Big 3’ in Detroit, taking a particular fondness for American muscle cars in the process.  His latest interview with Motor Trend revealed his new-found fascination with the culture of the U.S. automotive industry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV4L5GZ_1B4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHycFocaOA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hiczWWlsJw

In a dash of bittersweet news, we can all collectively stop hoping for an “Update Available” message to appear one day when we fire up Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.  The game’s “US Producers”, Chris Hinojosa Miranda and Taku Imasaki confirmed that the team is now completely focused on getting Gran Turismo PSP and GT5 out the door in this Q&A session on the official PlayStation Blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrfTr6rBusk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0vcFE7Ezg