Waving the Green Flag on the PSP/DS Battle

When it comes to the upcoming handheld war, the first salvos between Sony and Nintendo have already been fired, and Sony is using Gran Turismo 4 as one the primary weapons in its PSP arsenal. Responding to comments from Nintendo PR chief Yasuhiro Minagawa that Sony's upcoming handheld system is "not a game machine", Sony's Ken Kutaragi replied with a barb of his own:

"People who want to play with Pikachu will need Nintendo's new-style DS machine," he said, "but those who want to play our racing game Gran Turismo 4 will need a PSP, right?"

Certainly no one can argue with Kutaragi's logic but, with the latest spate of bad news surrounding the newest PS2 Gran Turismo iteration (delays in Europe and the removal of online play), one can't help but wonder if we'll see the popular racer on the PSP any time soon. After all, the game was a no-show at this year's Tokyo Game Show and, beyond a few rolling demos, there's next to no concrete information about the handheld version of the game to be found.

At the very least, handheld racing fans will have to wait until the system launches in the U.S. before we get our mobile GT4 fix. Given the series' track record of delays, however, it may take much longer than first expected for Mr. Kutaragi's comment to prove true.