Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is the most recent title in the series, having helped kick-start PS3 sales in the UK back in March.

"Initially, Gran Turismo was an ‘alternative’ racing game, kind of an outsider in the genre and we made it thinking that it would be okay as long as it reached out to ‘the select few who would agree with us'," series creator Kazunori Yamauchi said.

"I would really like to thank all the fans who have supported the Gran Turismo series over the years, for all their passion and love of the game. We’d like to continue making every effort to create cutting edge, high quality games, so that we don’t disappoint anyone’s expectations."

Codemasters has confirmed that its first F1 titles will be available on all formats rather than just the PlayStation 3 (a la Sony), stating that it will use the publisher's EGO Engine, as seen in Colin McRae: Dirt and the forthcoming Race Driver: GRID.

"As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with Formula 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion," Rod Cousens, CEO of Codemasters, said in a statement.

"Formula 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host Formula 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack."

Speaking to the BBC, Hirai said that the PS3 will be around for many years to come.

"We've only really begun to scratch the surface with PlayStation 3 but I am confident that given the long life-cycle we have planned for the machine we are going to have a very good install base in all of the major territories,” he said.

"I am very confident that after the 10-year lifecycle we will have the install base that we are looking for and that is obviously to be in the leadership position."

(Source: Next-Gen.biz.)

Speaking to VideoGamer.com, Reeves said he expected that the downloadable content would hit PS3 at some point anyway.

"Well I think you probably will see [GTA 4 DLC on PS3]," Reeves told the site. "It's just that a deal obviously was struck between Microsoft and Take Two to do that, and if that's what they want to do, I think that's the last shot they have."

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft has also claimed that the title has boosted 360 hardware sales by 54 per cent, with more than 2.3 million gamers playing GTA IV on Xbox Live in its first week.

Sony has released no such statistics, though smaller sales are to be expected given the format's smaller userbase on both sides of the Atlantic.