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It’s quite unbelievable, really. I bought my PSP in October 2005, preparing for the huge event that was to be Gran Turismo on a compact gaming device. Needless to say, I was let down, as were many, many other avid fans of the genre. Most people are fooled just once. Not me. I bought the PS3 special package that included GT5 Prologue, once again with the implicit understanding that a full version of the game would be released in a very short timeframe following that purchase. That was about two years ago.

There’s good news for those who still care to be excited about the Gran Turismo franchise. A preview of the final game for the PS3 was shown in August and a release date set for early 2010.  And today, after four years of waiting, Gran Turismo for the PSP has finally been announced!

Amazingly, the game will be available on a UMD, making it available to owners of older PSP models. Here’s the blurb from the official website:

Massive content including over 800 cars and 35 tracks with 70 layout variations, can now be enjoyed on the PSP “Playstation Portable” anytime, anywhere. That’s what Gran Turismo for PSP is all about.

Led by cars like the ’74 Lamborghini Countach LP400, there are many models making their first appearance in the series. As for the tracks, there is the popular Nürburgring, and a dirt track that can be driven by 4 players simultaneously.

There are many new innovations such as the single races where the player can nurture their personal AI driver, head to head racing using the Adhoc mode of the PSP, and trading and sharing of cars. The popular drift trials are also included in the game.

GT on the PS3 is absolutely awesome and one of my favourite titles on that platform. From the screenshots and the preview movie, the portable version looks just as good. I just hope that I can still find my dusty PSP in the cupboard somewhere…

and then, I hope it still boots up…

Sony’s Playstation Store was launched last week. Surprisingly, ZA is listed as one of the countries that enjoys support. Though the ability to download PS one games was initially rumoured to function only once a PS3 had been fired up, Sony seems to have changed its mind and has provided this portal to garner some extra revenue. The low sales figures of the PS3 may be to blame – it seems that the PS2 is still outselling its new sibling.

It is unusual to be able to register for a service such as this in ZA – normally, portals like this are rolled out in the US or Europe without making their content available to those outside of those countries. There’s hardly a wealth of content here, so once again that may be a possible reason. Registration is quick and easy. Browsing the catalog is accomplished in seconds. There is not a lot of content.

As I have no interest in purchasing an old title, I decided to test the store’s functionality by downloading a demo game. A special interface application is required to transfer the download to a USB-connected PSP. Windows XP only, so Mac and Linux-heads are out of luck. The download of the 8MB Xyanide demo was completed and the PLAYSTATION Network Downloader launched after I connected the PSP to nx8220. Indignantly, the application informed me that the present firmware version on my PSP was of little use and required an update.

For the ZA PSP 1004, the latest 3.72 firmware version may be downloaded here. It goes without saying that the primary enhancement is one relating to security. Sony needs to wake up and open up its platform…

Back to the process of downloading the demo file, as the version Firefox had in its cache for a couple of days seemed to have expired.

Then transfer the file to the PSP using the PLAYSTATION Network Downloader.

The demo works. Obviously, it requires some free space on the PSP‘s memory stick. The store presents a novel concept, but is hardly worth the effort considering the tiny library of games available in it. Maybe this is only the beginning and it is possible that more games and other media may be offered in future.