Gran Turismo PSP stuck in gravel trap

[wraggster]

More info on the Gran Turismo Delay from CVG

Famitsu has reported -- after an interview with Polyphony Digital -- that the release date for the PSP version of Gran Turismo 4 has been put back indefinitely.

Originally mooted to appear in Japan in Spring 2005, it sems that gran Turismo: Mobile Edition has fallen victim to the curse of the PSP, which has recently been dogged by reports of low sales for UMD movies and has been spectacularly outsold in most territories by Nintendo's DS.

Gran Turismo: Mobile edition is, of course, one of those games that could single-handedly boost sales of Sony's handheld -- the prospect of head-to-head battles around the world's finest racing circuits via WiFi is an enticing one indeed. But it seems we'll have to be patient. Perhaps the launch delay is a function of Polyphony Digital diverting resources to the first PlayStation 3 Gran Turismo? We can but wait and see.

[elamar]

There is nothing wrong with the PSP it's sony.
Sales would increase if sony would stop holding back.
Ad better flash,pdf support, start ps1 emulator now,
not in the future. Every thing is wait wait. Why not
let developers make aftermarket upgrades and hardware. Maybe when sony gets off its high horse
and let the people play watch an see sales increase.

[benn]

what a crock of sh*t.
that game would single handedly be responsible for PSP sales outstripping DS (for 1 week at least).
but WTF do Sony care. if you are a PSP owner like me then you need to face a grim reality. that pretty much nothing is going to happen on time over the next six months and there will not be any BIG games either. EVERYTHING is focused on the PS3 launch. the sad thing is that if they actually made this fecking game when they were supposed to (over a year ago) then they would not have this overlap and we would be racing the crap out of it today!
it is the same with finaly fantasy series. the total backbone of Sony Hardware sales for the last 2 generations. EVERYONE is screaming out for a PSP version - even a remake of FF7 would keep us happy. what do they do? nothing.
Sony are crazy. they could sell out overnight if they marketed it right and launched the right games but they are just so n00b in the way they are handling this!

[philage]

Would Sony even release the game if it was ready with all the recent firmware hacking ? If they release it when thier is a newer firmware, without any known exploits, they will sell more. It will also be another reason for people to upgrade thier firmwares just to play this game.

Sony have a lot on thier plate right now so it comes as no suprise to me that it is delayed.

[MaxSMoke]

Is there any shortage of PSP racing games? I don't understand what the big deal is. I never cared for Gran Turismo on the PS1 or the PS2. It would hardly make PSP's fly off the shelves in any greater quantity then they are now.

And what's this BS about the DS outselling the PSP in all territories. Last time I checked, the PSP is still selling pretty darned well in the US and selling HUGE in Europe.

In fact, there's only *ONE* place on Earth that the DS is selling really well, and that's Japan. And you want to know what one of the top selling games for the DS is? Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop! Which is, perhaps, one of the LAMEST games on the planet!

Well a few noob Blogger twits seem to like casting dispersions on the PSP, clearly they aren't grasping the big picture.

The PSP is a new system making headway into an established market, and it's doing quite well. It's certainly making better headway then the PS1, back when it was only a year old. Back when the PS1 was new, Sega Saturn and the Nintendo 64 seemed to dominate the market, and the PS1 struggled to find new games. The Nintendo 64, just like with the DS now, only got by with 1st person development and a tiny handful of 3rd party titles. The Saturn flat-out died. And the PS1 not only rose to dominance, but spawned the massive success of it's sequel, the PS2.

So, pardon me for saying this, but pull your heads out of your butts. The PSP is doing very well. And a word to all of these Naysayers of the PSP, looking for a bit of publicity by jumping on the PSP Doomsday bandwagon; BLOW ME. The PSP's shark has yet to jump, and in the long run, there isn't enough 1st party Nintendo games on earth to keep the DS's head above water forever.

[felonyr301]

maybe to you gran turismo is not your cup of tea but there is a big group who would run to the store to get this game on the go its like the best thing customizing cars that mimics reality and not some fake ass $#@! like need for speed and you can do it anywhere.

[mcvader]

Gran turismo 4 mobile was supposed to be the showcase for the PSP, the only game that requires 333mhz (I could think of a bunch tho), it was supposed to push the PSP to the limit and really show the world how the DS is a piece of scmidt in comparison.

I am totaly convinced that GT4 is finished and has been for some time and that they are waiting for the whole exploit side of things to dry up before releasing it, damn lazy gits if you ask me, there has got to be a way of protecting the game from piracy without bloody fw updates.

All consoles rely on their franchises, imagine how badly the DS would have done if there was no Mariokart on it.

Releasing this game should have been their top priority at launch, what the PSP needs are games that are only availible on the PSP, look at GTA:LCS $75 dollars on PSP, and a month or 2 later you could get it on PS2 for nearly half the price, they may as well have not bothered with the PSP version at all as it wouldnt have helped sales much.

Are $ony getting advice from George Bush or something? sometimes I think that they just don't care about the PSP anymore

[Veskgar]

Something is fishy about this.....

Sony is either worried about something or waiting for something. Either way, I don't like it. Owell, PLENTY of awesome titles on the PSP now. No more slim pickings.

[havoc_012]

Is there any shortage of PSP racing games? I don't understand what the big deal is. I never cared for Gran Turismo on the PS1 or the PS2. It would hardly make PSP's fly off the shelves in any greater quantity then they are now.

And what's this BS about the DS outselling the PSP in all territories. Last time I checked, the PSP is still selling pretty darned well in the US and selling HUGE in Europe.

In fact, there's only *ONE* place on Earth that the DS is selling really well, and that's Japan. And you want to know what one of the top selling games for the DS is? Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop! Which is, perhaps, one of the LAMEST games on the planet!

Well a few noob Blogger twits seem to like casting dispersions on the PSP, clearly they aren't grasping the big picture.

The PSP is a new system making headway into an established market, and it's doing quite well. It's certainly making better headway then the PS1, back when it was only a year old. Back when the PS1 was new, Sega Saturn and the Nintendo 64 seemed to dominate the market, and the PS1 struggled to find new games. The Nintendo 64, just like with the DS now, only got by with 1st person development and a tiny handful of 3rd party titles. The Saturn flat-out died. And the PS1 not only rose to dominance, but spawned the massive success of it's sequel, the PS2.

So, pardon me for saying this, but pull your heads out of your butts. The PSP is doing very well. And a word to all of these Naysayers of the PSP, looking for a bit of publicity by jumping on the PSP Doomsday bandwagon; BLOW ME. The PSP's shark has yet to jump, and in the long run, there isn't enough 1st party Nintendo games on earth to keep the DS's head above water forever.

Actually retailers are giving up on the PSP too. Walmart and Target both abandoned UMD movies.
Gamers seem to have a while ago too. DS outsells PSP 5 to 1 in Japan. Both the DS and the DS Lite seperately have outsold the PSP. And the DS lite has only been out for 4 months. PSP has been out for a year and a half.

You do realize that the DS is the best selling system in EVERY country right? Not just Japan. And it reguarly out sells all systems (PS2 and PSP included) combined!! Did you see the top 10 selling games list last week in Japan? ALL DS GAMES.

And the DS has the best 3rd party support that Nintendo has gotten since the SNES. Pheonix Wright, Castlevania, Final Fantasy III, Trauma Center, Osu Tatake Ouendan. (And these are exclusives too.)

Why does the DS have great 3rd part support? Its becuase the games are realatively inexpensive to make. And the prohibitably expensive nature of PSP games keeps 3rd party original IP's to a minimum.

I'd bet that the PSP has MORE games than the DS. But the DS has more games that consumers want to play. A dozen GTA clones doesn't make a great system. The DS is filled with many great games. GTA:LCS is decent, but will you play it 10 years from now? Hell, is anyone still playing it 1 year later? DS titles like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros will still be fun 10 years from now, and they are games that we can show to the new generation of gamers.

As far as Nintendo not being able to keep the DS alive with first party games, I'd argue that nintendo has the best first party of any company. PSP just doesn't have games as good as Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros.

Almost every game that comes out on the PSP is available elsewhere, and 9 times out of 10 its better than the PSP version.

I could talk about crappy games on the PSP like 50 Cent: Bulletproof, but systems are remembered for their good games, not their bad ones. Too bad PSP seems like it will be forgotten rather soon.

[goofsterstud]

So

Daxter doesn't count? Cause I sure found it better then New Super Mario Bros.

I also Enjoy Ridge Racers more than I enjoyed Mario Kart.

But I really like Guilty Gear Judgment/Slash and Tekken. What does the DS have?