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Gran Turismo 6 GT Academy competition begins next week
Sony will launch its sixth annual GT Academy event next week, giving superior Gran Turismo 6 players the chance to put their skills to the test on a real-world racetrack. As in previous years, GT Academy players compete to enroll in a three-month driver development program, with global champions earning a spot on Nissan's NISMO race team. Judges in Europe, North America, and Germany will each pick a single winning driver to enter the program, and this year marks the first time GT Academy qualifying events are available to players in Canada. GT Academy online qualifying events will begin in-game on April 21. [Image: Sony]
Gran Turismo 5 'Academy Edition' racing to stores on September 26
This fall marks two years since Polyphony Digital's latest Gran Turismo screeched onto retailer shelves, and four years since the company partnered with Nissan on its GT Academy. As a result, the developer's celebrating with a special edition release of Gran Turismo 5 – "Academy Edition" – replete with the various car packs released since the launch in 2010.More specifically, you'll also get Polyphony Digital creative lead Kazunori Yamauchi's fancy Nissan GTR that he raced in real life during the most recent Nurburgring 24-hour race. If you bought it in real life, it'd cost like a trillion dollars, so this is probably the best way to get access.When the "Academy Edition" of Gran Turismo 5 launches this September 26, it'll cost €29.99/£19.99. The game doesn't have a price or launch date in the US just yet, but we expect to hear more on that front in the coming days.
Sony: GT Academy round two ruined by cheaters, won't count
Sony's GT Academy competition, which was intended to provide the world's best Gran Turismo 5 players with a chance to win a spot as a real race driver using their virtual driving skills, has hit an ugly speed bump. The game's publisher has announced that the second round of the five-round tournament is being stricken from the records -- and the third round delayed -- because some participants were taking advantage of flaws in the game in order to achieve seemingly impossible lap times. Specifically, cheaters were able to cut corners on the Rome and Madrid courses without being penalized by the game for doing so. Rather than reward the cheaters or end the competition entirely, Sony has decided to allow everyone who participated in round two to proceed to round three. Developer Polyphony Digital says that it's working to fix any potential exploits before conducting the third round of races, but can't put an ETA on the completion of the patch. That being the case, the planned start of round three on February 14, 2011 has been delayed indefinitely. We're glad that the competition is (hopefully) being made fair for everyone, but have to admit that it would have been pretty funny to see one of the "winning" cheaters cutting corners on a real race track.
GT Academy competition to be featured in Speed Network reality show
Not only are the best Gran Turismo 5 players getting a chance to be professional racecar drivers, but they're gonna be on the teevee, too! The competition, which started up this month, is turning into a reality show on the Speed Network next year. When the finals start up in March of 2011, the last 32 contestants and their travels and travails will be filmed for the show as they go through the last of the contest and the race training process. It's not mentioned whether or not the contestants will have to perform stunts on a desert island, live in a house together while under the watch of cameras 24/7, or give roses to each other but we'll just assume, since it's a reality show, that all of those things will happen. We also wonder which contestant will be the plucky, charismatic racer that eventually becomes a D-level celebrity.
GT Academy returns, best Gran Turismo players become professional racers
Think you have what it takes to be a real professional racer? If so, you'll want to enter in this year's GT Academy. The tournament challenges Gran Turismo 5 players to take on a series of online time trial events. Over the course of five weeks, players will compete to record the fastest lap times, and the top 128 players per region (four regions total) will move on to the second round, one step closer to the grand prize: an opportunity to join a real racing team and compete in a real race. Registration begins next week, December 6th. But even if you're not a racing expert, you should consider registering just to score some digital swag. Each week, players that compete will get a free digital download, regardless of your ranking. So don't be ashamed to drive like a grandma on the virtual course. No one's going to judge you, we promise.
Gran Turismo 5 'Time Trial' demo races into one million European households
Sony sent out a press release this morning stating that across "15 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand," one million gamers have downloaded and played the Gran Turismo 5 demo. The demo -- which is available on PSN up until January 24 -- allows players to tear around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a Nissan 370Z to set a lap time, with the top 20 players from select regions earning a chance to join the GT Academy. It's the second gameplay tease for Gran Turismo 5, the first being the oft-praised GT5 Prologue, and shows us that, surprisingly, people want to play this Gran Turismo 5 game. Who woulda thunk it?
Gran Turismo 5 demo races to PSN on December 17
2004: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy comes to an end (winning 11 Academy Awards in the process), John Kerry runs for US President and whales explode. Oh, and Gran Turismo 4 releases on PS2. Five years later, the public is finally able to get their hands on Gran Turismo 5 with the first non-Prologue demo. The downloadable demo will be available on both the European and American PSN on December 17th. In Europe, the demo will allow players to enter the "GT Academy Time Trial" contest, in which the top 20 players from select countries will be eligible for a chance to enter the GT Academy. The GT Academy training program will prepare the ultimate GT fan to compete in the European GT4 Cup in a real race-spec Nissan 370Z. In America and Canada, the winner of the time trial will get a trip to the Indianapolis 500. Sure, these are tantalizing grand prizes -- but we're more excited to see that GT5 is becoming a real game. Now, how about a release date? %Gallery-71410%Source - GT Academy 2010 Launches December 17th - PlayStation.Blog.EuropeSource - PlayStation.com - GT5 Time Trial RulesSource - Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge Announced
GT Academy is now live - go get your race on
Registration for the Gran Turismo Academy is now open. Simply login to the official registration website with your PSN ID and then follow the onscreen instructions. Once this is done you should immediately be able to enter the GT Academy Time Trial section in the in-game online menu. Get one of the twenty fastest times in your country and you will be moved on to phase two. Keep winning and you might end up driving a real Nissan GT-R at Silverstone racetrack. Check out our previous post for further details about the competition, including prizes and end-dates for each of the individual phases. Good luck!
Start your browsers: GT Academy now live
Really real driving simulation news now, with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan launching GT Academy, the competition that will put two of Europe's best Gran Turismo 5 Prologue players inside rapidly moving hunks of metal. If you happen to live in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway or Denmark, and have always wanted to go hurtling around a track at terrifying speeds, now's your chance.The GT Academy website is already up and running, with the first, seven-week long stage of the competition following on June 2nd. You'll have to register your PSN ID on the site during that time and set your fastest lap around the Eiger Nordwand track in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z. Following that, you'll need to come out tops in a national final held in July, and finally, avoid crashing on the real life Silverstone track in August. Easy peasy.
GT Academy competition dated and detailed
Sony is announcing today that the Gran Turismo Academy competition, unveiled during PlayStation Day, will be opening soon as well as detailing exactly what will take place over the coming months. The official website is now open for all prospective competitors to check out and registration will be taking place soon. The competition is open to residents of the UK & Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany & Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark and the first phase, which begins on June 2nd, will last for seven weeks. During these seven weeks players can register their PlayStation IDs on the official site, which will give them access to the GT Academy Time Trial within Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Players will then compete to be the fastest around the Eiger Nordwand track in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z. The twenty fastest racers from each country will go on to phase two, the national finals, which begin in July. These players will then be whittled down to just three per country, who will go on to the final phase: the real world GT Academy at Silverstone on the 25th of August.The final phase is a real life driving academy. "Competitors will not only have to prove their driving skills in a Nissan GT-R but will also be tested for their mental and physical skills in a series of tests." So make sure you know your stuff. As if that wasn't exciting enough, the two fastest players at the track will go on to complete a four-month training course for their racing license and then race in the 24 hour endurance event in Dubai in January 2009. With a prize like that, it's definitely worth a punt. We'll let you know exactly when registration opens; in the meantime, get practicing.[Via Press Release]
Gran Turismo 5 competition will put winners in a real race
Umm ... is this really a good idea? Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan seem to think so, having announced "the ultimate competitive driving test" in the form of "GT Academy." The eight-month long European competition will see two obsessive Gran Turismo 5 Prologue players win a four-month training programme to "earn their racing licenses" and, consequently, discover that the ol' mid-turn bump-and-go isn't advised in real life. Following the training, the winners will be granted the opportunity to drive a Nissan 350Z in a 24-hour endurance race in Dubai in January 2009. To get your foot in the door of GT Academy, you'll first have to keep it planted on a pedal as you face "a series of elimination-based competitions on and off the racetrack." Before that, you'll have to qualify in an online GT5 Prologue tournament on the PlayStation Network, details of which will arrive when GT Academy goes live at the end of May. We wish the entrants the best of luck and remind them that the damage modeling in real-life, 80000p racing is totally awesome.
