Latest on Gran Turismo PSP

It's a good day to be a racing fan. In addition to first details on Gran Turismo 5, Polyphony Digital updated the official gran-turismo.com site with the latest on Gran Turuismo PSP. Much of the information in the update was already shared in interviews following the game's E3 announcement, but it's good to have it all in one place, and complete with screenshots.

As detailed at the site, Gran Turismo's PSP installment will offer over 800 cars. Included are some first ever cars for the GT series as a whole. The official site lists the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the Enzo Ferrari '02, the Nissan GT-R Spec V, the Lamborghini Countach LP400 '74, and the Lamborghini Countach LP400 25th Anniversary '88. This is just a partial list, though.

Players will be able to race on 35 courses with 60 layouts. In addition to courses from Gran Turismo 4 and beyond, the game will include classic courses like Nurburgring. Ricardo Tormo Valenciana Circuit, previously only available in Tourist Trophy, will make it into the game. Other courses shown at the site include Amalfi Circuit, Autumn Ring, and Tokyo Route 246.

The site also lists a gameplay first for the series. Until now, dirt and snow courses have limited the race to just two cars. The PSP version ups the count for these types of races to four cars.

Modes of play listed at the site include a mission mode, which serves as the "face" of the game. This mode is best thought of as mission races combined with license tests. Players take on a variety of missions to hone their driving skills and techniques. The mode is designed to be enjoyed by both first time players to the series as well as core players.

Screens of the mission mode (see above) show six different missions for each type of theme. Once you've selected a mission, you're taken to a mission briefing screen where you can press start to begin, or select to get an audio and visual tour of the mission.

A bit mysteriously, the site states that mission mode will offer "gimmicks" of some form for those who progress. While the site says that these gimmicks will make players happy, specifics aren't provided.

Outside of the mission mode, the game offers a solo race mode. This is split into Single Race, Time Trial, and Drift Trial modes.

Delayed start in Party Race mode.

Single Race puts you against three CPU opponents. To quickly get into races, you can select a "one make" option which sets your rival cars to the same vehicle as your own. During this mode, you can build up an AI driver by making use of AI Points that you earn by clearing races. These AI drivers can be later used in the game's ad-hoc racing mode.

Drift Trial comes from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Players can choose between Sector Mode, where you race over a section of the course, and Full Course Mode, where you drift through the course in its entirety.

The game's Ad-Hoc race mode offers four player local play via wireless LAN. There are three types of races on offer: Standard Race, Party Race, and Shuffle Race. Standard Race is a test of your driving techniques. Shuffle Race appears to force you into using specific cars -- the page doesn't provide specifics. Party Race adds delayed start handicaps to players based off their position in past races.

Jackpot Race

Also featured in the game's Ad-Hoc mode is Jackpot Race. When this is specified (it's unclear how this happens -- the official site just mentions Jackpot Race being declared at times), the rewards go up temporarily, allowing the winners to take in high earnings. During Jackpot Races, one player is declared "Lucky Player." This player, should he win, gets all the prizes to himself!

As with GT5, it looks like GT on the PSP will offer the system its definitive racing experience. October 1 is the big day, with the game being available at retail and in download form.