The new Sony PSP Go was just recently announced at E3 now it looks like more good news is on the way, Gran Turismo for the PSP! Father of the GT series Kazunori Yamauchi recently held an interview with Edmunds regarding GT Mobile and Gran Turismo 5. From the recent interview Yamauchi revealed that GT Mobile will feature every track from GT4, yes even the Nurburgring Nordscheife, and that the mobile Gran Turismo game for the PSP is a stepping stone for new GT players to get into the GT series. He also said that there is no decided upon release date for GT5, no surprise. Polyphony is also working on keeping the game below 1GB in size because the new PSP Go holds 16GB and no longer used UMD discs. Unfortunatlu there are no aftermarket parts available in GT Mobile, but that won’t stop me from getting the best racing simulator for the Sony PSP.

[Source: The Racing Line]

Rumors about the Sony PSP Go have been swirling over the last few days, well now Sony has made it official. Sony announced their new portable handheld gaming device at E3 today. It features a 3.8-inch LCD, 16GB of internal storage space, built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a case that is about 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter then the original PSP 1000. The biggest change is the lack of UMD, which is where most of the weight reduction might have come from. Games will be loaded onto the new Sony PSP Go via a Memory Stick Micro slot or downloaded over the PlayStation Network. Don’t worry about the current PSP going away however, Sony announced that games will still be developed for the PSP with UMD still. The PSP Go will also have improved music features with a new auto-playlist called Sense Me (kind of like iTunes Genius) as well as a new video deliver service that will be released. The new Sony PSP Go will be released on October 5 in North America and November 1 in Japan for about $250.

-Ray

Official images of the Sony PSP Go have been revealed ahead of its scheduled launch at E3. It appears many of the rumors regarding the new Sony PSP Go were true, it’s UMD-less and a slider with about 16GB of memory. No price has been revealed but it is expected to ship in fall.It is also rumored that the PSP Go will not be a replacement for the PSP 3000 as of yet and will sell along side it for now. The features of Sony’s new PSP Go handheld gaming device are as follows:

• 16GB flash storage
• Less than half the weight of the current PSP
• Bluetooth
• No UMD drive
• Memory Stick Micro

-Ray

Sony unveils improved PlayStation Portable

By YURI KAGEYAMA – 1 day ago

TOKYO (AP) — Sales are improving in Japan for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Portable handheld video game machine, and a beefed up version with a clearer display is expected to add momentum, a senior executive said Tuesday.

The portable game machine faces tough competition from Nintendo DS — the handheld machine from the Japanese manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games. Nintendo also has a big hit in the Wii home console that’s battering Sony’s PlayStation 3 in sales.

The revamped PlayStation Portable with the improved liquid crystal display and a built-in microphone will go on sale Oct. 16 in Japan at the same price of the previous model 19,800 yen ($180), said Shawn Layden, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan.

The machine called PSP-3000 is also being promised for the U.S. and Europe next month.

Layden said the PSP was gaining popularity in Japan, nearly doubling in sales for this year’s first eight months compared to the previous year. People are increasingly using it to listen to music, watch video and access the Internet on the go, he said at a Tokyo hotel.

“The PlayStation Portable can be called a PlayStation Personal,” he told reporters. “It has become a lifestyle tool for owners.”

Sony also unveiled a service planned for later this year in Japan that will allow several PSP machines to play games together, even if they aren’t in the same room, by connecting to the Internet through PlayStation 3 machines. Layden said details will be released later.

Competition among game makers is intensifying ahead of the year-end shopping season.

Sony has sold about 41 million PSP machines globally — 10 million in Japan. Nintendo has sold 77.5 million Nintendo DS handheld devices worldwide, nearly 23 million in Japan.

On top of that, Nintendo has scored success with its predecessor GameBoy series, selling more than a 100 million GameBoys cumulative worldwide.

On Monday, price cuts for Japan were announced for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 home consoles. The Xbox 360 has been struggling in Japan, a market dominated by the locals, Sony and Nintendo.

Microsoft doesn’t disclose how many of the cumulative 20 million Xbox 360 machines sold worldwide were Japan sales. But it is widely viewed to be fewer than numbers sold elsewhere.

The Wii console has been popular, selling 29.6 million worldwide so far. PS3 sales have lagged at fewer than half of the Wii at 14.4 million.

Also shown Tuesday was footage from game software planned for the PlayStation Portable later this year, including “Gundam Vs. Gundam” from Bandai Namco Games and “Dissidia Final Fantasy” from Square Enix Co. Both are part of a game series that are extremely popular in Japan.

- Geoff

[Source: Associated Press]