When the PSP was first announced, one of the games that showcased the potential of the system was the next incarnation of Sony’s critically acclaimed Gran Turismo series, Gran Turismo Mobile. The PSP’s launch came and went and here we are, almost 4 years later with little to no new information to report on this game.
This lack of any update could hint that the game had been shelved but mid-way through 2006, series producer Kazunori Yamauchi told Famitsu that the game was still in development and would still be released on the PSP. Fast forward two years to the present and now it seems like the game reached the inevitable day where it has been canceled.
An IGN employee who had preordered the game recently received a call from GameStop telling him a bit of sad news, even though it seems a bit expected. The GameStop employee notified the IGN employee that pre-orders of the game have been canceled due to the fact that the game has been canceled, this information coming from the vendor.
Sony has yet to confirm truth to this rumor, but it is pretty safe to say that the title seems to be dead. Gran Turismo Mobile was supposed to be a direct port of Gran Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2. Although it could have possibly taken a while to come out, four years seems like a bit much especially when other direct ports have take much less time to release (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City & Liberty City Stories and Puzzle Quest are just a few games that were released within months of the other’s PS2/PSP release, and all were direct ports).
If this is the case and the game is canceled, it has hopefully been because the team has been focusing all their sights on the upcoming Gran Turismo 5 & Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.