The father of Gran Turismo cites PS3 development as reason for the PSP game's absence.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue screenshot

Gran Turismo fans have been hoping and praying for new info on Gran Turismo for the PSP ever since it was shown as Gran Turismo 4 Mobile back at E3 2004. Info has been scarcer than the Wii at Christmas, but it seems that hope isn't lost.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com yesterday, Gran Turismo creator and Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi reconfirmed that the famous driving series will arrive on PSP. It looks like we'll be waiting until next year though.

"We're hoping to have it out by next year, during next year," stated Yamauchi-san. "A lot of our efforts have been consumed by the amount of effort it takes to develop on PS3, so hopefully we'll be able to rebalance it next year."

So there you have it. The dream is still alive. 2009 can't some soon enough.

For more on GT5 head over to our full interview with Kazunori Yamauchi, in which he talks about how Prologue helped development of GT5, the visuals of GT5 and if he plays other racing games.