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Gran Turismo 5's European special editions offer two levels of luxury
Sony and Polyphony Digital, both bolstered by their newfound ability to set a final (for real!) release date for Gran Turismo 5, have taken the initiative to reveal not one, but two special European editions of the game. The "Signature Edition" somewhat resembles the U.S. "Collector's Edition," and includes a fancy metal case, a miniature SLS AMG 1:43 model car, a USB flash drive, a wallet, entry into a contest to win a Mercedes Benz, vouchers for 11 DLC vehicles, a key fob, an art book, a driving strategy mini-magazine and an extravagant €179.99 price tag. (What are you going to put inside that wallet?) If your magic, golden goose has failed to produce the fungible assets required to purchase this particular special edition, you might prefer to spring for the €79.99 "Collector's Edition," which includes a slip cover, some art cards, the DLC vouchers, and the driving magazine from the loftier edition. Think of it this way -- if you do decide to go with this less-special special edition, then you could also say it comes with a crisp €100, which is the best bonus ever.
Name this song, get your name in the Gran Turismo 5 credits
How would you like to get your name in the credits sequence of the most frequently delayed video game in the history of mankind? That'd be quite a claim for you to lord over your friends, wouldn't it? Achieving this level of fame is simple -- all you have to do is give a name to the English version of the song used in Gran Turismo 5's E3 trailer. If they pick yours, you'll get a mention in the "Special Thanks" portion of the credits. You can listen to the song and check out the rules for the contest on the game's official site. You can also give the track's lyrics a once-over, though this might just serve to further confuse you. With vocals like "To your abusive ways // The cracks have opened up to the core // Is there anywhere to go from here now? // Sick with the lies consuming our souls," we're thinking about submitting the title "Holy Crap, This is the Most Depressing Racing Game Ever."
Gran Turismo 5 flips over two new trailers
Firmly adhering to the "better late than never" philosophy, Gran Turismo 5 is more than glad to show off its new crash physics system in one of two new videos released by SCEA. At last, the "real driving simulator" can finally simulate really bad driving!
Take a tour of Top Gear's test track in Gran Turismo 5
Fans of Top Gear are undoubtedly well-versed in the automotive show's test track -- mostly because it's featured in every episode. Regardless, you haven't seen it in Gran Turismo 5 yet and courtesy of the Top Gear blog, you now can. We've parked the video past the break, feel free to give it a look-see. Oh, and try not to be too harsh on the guy driving in the video. Like us, he's probably totally shocked to see other drivers on the track at the same time as him. %Gallery-71410%
Gran Turismo 5 includes track editor, weather and go-karts
Sony may have dropped a few details about Gran Turismo 5 (like a release date) at its E3 presentation, but it was saving the real news for an even bigger event: Cue random interview on the UK PlayStation site with Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida. In this interview, Yoshida casually confirms the existence of unannounced elements in the racing sim, including a track editor and go-karts. For every individual driver, Yoshida says there is " a driving experience to suit, whether that is taking on the Top Gear test track, chucking cars around stunt arenas, go-karting, creating and sharing your own track or intense head-to-head races." Elsewhere in the interview (and just as nonchalantly), Yoshida references some " new game-enhancing graphical effects, such as damage, night racing and weather." Damage has already been confirmed and weather rumored. Of course, we aren't totally sure Gran Turismo 5 is a real game yet, and if it is as imaginary as it seems to be, you can say pretty much anything is in it, like: "Gran Turismo 5 will feature Crocodile Mile racing." See? There's as much proof for that feature that we just made up as there is for anything else, and that will be the case until the game is released. [Thanks, P]
Visual overload: Sony's core E3 PS3 lineup
For some, Sony's E3 press conference wasn't filled with too many surprises. However, its lineup at E3 was still rather impressive, featuring some high-profile sequels like LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, inFamous 2, and the return of Twisted Metal for PS3. Check out trailers for all of Sony's first-party traditional (non-Move) PS3 games at E3 2010 after the break.
Take a spin through a scenic Gran Turismo 5 gallery
1000 cars, 20 tracks, head-tracking (via PlayStation Eye), NASCAR, World Rally Championship, Super GT, two player split-screen, 3D, YouTube uploads, custom soundtracks and PSP connectivity. To say that Gran Turismo 5 is packed would be an understatement. This new batch of E3 media certainly looks pretty, but the real question is: will it be worth the wait? We'll all find out in November.
Gran Turismo 5 coming November 2, 2010 (seriously!)
Finally. A Gran Turismo 5 trailer shown during Sony's E3 press conference ended with a fairly definitive end to the years of speculation, doubt and delays, displaying a November 2 release date for the game. At least, we think this is the final release date. We've been hurt so many times before.
Gran Turismo 5 releases a trailer
Sorry if the headline mislead you in any way No, the perpetually delayed Gran Turismo 5 still doesn't have a release date. Trust us, we looked! Unfortunately, it wasn't at the end of this new E3 trailer, either. Guess you'll have to make do with some incredibly gorgeous footage in the meantime.
Gran Turismo 5 'Nights' trailer is appropriately unlit, pretty
It's been a while since we last saw images from Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 -- at least ones that were capable of moving whilst being accompanied by high-octane trance music. Such moving pictures were released earlier today, likely in an attempt to remind us just how pretty the game really is. (Here's a refresher course: It's super pretty.) You can check out the trailer posted after the jump, but we suggest having some ninjas around when you watch it, because the music will totally make you want to fight some ninjas. More than usual.
NASCAR director calls Gran Turismo 5 the best NASCAR game to date
It's been nearly two years since EA Sports called it quits on the NASCAR franchise (a little less if you count NASCAR Kart Racing). NASCAR gamers are growing impatient and, for better or for worse, will have to wait for the perpetually-delayed Gran Turismo 5 to get their NASCAR fix. At the very least, fans can take comfort in knowing that Blake Davidson, managing director of licensed products at NASCAR, has incredible faith in the game. "They're going to do it better than anybody's ever done it before," he stated in a video posted on the PlayStation.Blog. "It's really the next step for us, it's the best depiction of what NASCAR cars are in any driving game to date." Certainly a bold statement, considering NASCAR is just one feature in the racer. According to Davidson, one of the reasons why NASCAR teamed up with Polyphony Digital is the recommendation of one of the sports most famous racers today. "Dale Earnhardt, Jr. himself actually came to us and said 'you really need to look at Polyphony Digital. They're a great developer, the best in the world at what they do.'"
Gran Turismo PSP helps series top 55 million units sold
We hate to be all Captain Obvious about it, but there's good reason the Gran Turismo series is still doing laps around the virtual track. People are voting with their cash, as the latest figures from Polyphony Digital show that Gran Turismo PSP has managed to sell 1.8 million copies. And through its success, it's hit one hell of a milestone for the Gran Turismo series at large. Here's the rundown of the franchise's success: The original Gran Turismo has sold 10,850,000 units Gran Turismo 2 has sold 9,370,000 units Gran Turismo 3 A-spec on the PS2 managed to sell 14,890,000 units Gran Turismo Concept Series sold 1,560,000 units Gran Turismo 4 "Prologue" invaded 1,350,000 homes Gran Turismo 4 has been a heck of an earner, selling 10,980,000 units Gran Turismo 5 "Prologue" brought the series to the PS3 by selling 4,650,000 units Gran Turismo PSP recently recorded sales of 1,800,000 units That brings the total to 55,450,000 units. It seems impressive enough -- over five million units sold in the last year-and-a-half ain't too shabby -- though there are some caveats. For one, the Gran Turismo series has been around for over 10 years -- much longer than any of its competitors. Secondly, it's been the definitive diehard simulation racing experience on Sony's consoles, effectively making it the only show in town. Finally, the series has over seven Guinness World Records. Basically, when you have the world record for "Largest Instruction Guide for a Racing Game," it's, like, a guarantee people are going to buy it. [Via GI.biz]
Forza 3 director on 60fps, Gran Turismo 5
VG247 has posted an interview with Forza Motorsport 3 director, Dan Greenwalt. Perhaps the most interesting bit is Greenwalt's explanation of why developer Turn 10 was so intent on making the game run at 60 frames per second. According to Greenwalt, racers that run at 30fps have "visual shuttering artifacts," which developers are forced to cover up with motion blur. This, he said, takes up GPU resources for other features. Beyond that, he noted that the 60fps benchmark was essential to the "feel" of the game and the responsive nature of the controls. "I'm sure you would get a similar response from Infinity Ward regarding Call of Duty," said Greenwalt. When asked what he thought about Gran Turismo 5, and whether he was looking forward to it, Greenwalt said that "all good game developers look at what their competitors are doing." He stated that he has been "a long-time fan" of the series, though he added, "At this point, after so many missed releases, it's nearly impossible to say what GT5 will be or when it will ship." That said, Greenwalt believes that Gran Turismo 5 will be "a good racing game." Not exactly "No game competes with us," is it? The interview also covers some interesting statistics, like the fact that players have driven over 1.1 billion miles in online Forza 3 races. Check out the full interview for more stats and insights on the game's development.
Sony Europe: Don't worry, Gran Turismo 5 will be out before Christmas. Maybe. (We hope.)
The vice president in charge of "Southern Europe" (read: Spain, Portugal) at Sony Computer Entertainment isn't a man to mince words. No sir, James Armstrong answered his recent interview question from Canarias Al Dia on the subject of Gran Turismo 5's release date with rock solid certainty: "We believe that we will launch the product this Autumn, before the holiday, though this hasn't been decided yet" [our translation]. Alright, so Armstrong wasn't exactly 100 percent nailing down a date for the game that's been delayed more than a few times (Sony most recently pushed back its Japanese release to an unknown date). However, it is nice to see someone at Sony saying the sim might actually see release before the end of this console cycle. Oh, and in case you were wondering, he also puts doubt on the use of Sony's Motion Controller in the game, so at least we've got that knowledge to console us in the meantime. %Gallery-71410% [Via GT Planet, Videogamer.com]
New Gran Turismo 5 trailer shows Toyota FT-86 concept driving through your dreams
It's time for another edition of Expensive and Awesome Stuff That You'll Never Be Able to Do! Over at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2010, Polyphony Digital showed off a "GPS-track day unit," which is a little box with a card slot in it that you install in a very expensive car like, say, the Toyota FT-86G Concept, as seen above in the new trailer for Gran Turismo 5. That unit will then record your likely very expensive real-life run around a driving track like the famous Nürburgring lap, at which point you'll be able to pull a card out, plug it in your PS3, and then see the real-life run simulated inside the video game itself, where you can watch or even ghost race against it. It was also mentioned at the Auto Salon that there will be a 3D version of GT5 out "as soon as 3D TVs become available on the market," so presumably later this year. Thanks for watching! Next time on Expensive and Awesome Stuff That You'll Never Be Able to Do: land your very own helicopter on your very own superyacht. [Thanks, Steliosco!]
Yamauchi: Gran Turismo 5 uses 80% of PS3's power
If you're someone who loves themselves some arbitrary console performance figures, Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi has you covered. Speaking to VentureBeat, the Gran Turismo creator reckons the latest game in Sony's flagship racing series taps "about 80 percent of the processing power" of the PlayStation 3," adding, "the PS3 hardware has a very high peak performance. The better you manipulate it, the better it performs." That last quote sounds more like it's about an engine than a console, which isn't surprising given the amount of time Yamauchi spends behind the wheel of the actual supercars from his oft-delayed game. We seriously hope he's not aiming to use 100 percent of the system's potential -- we'd really like GT5 to come out before a child born today is able to drive a real car.
Gran Turismo 5 delayed in Japan, new date unknown
Sony announced that the Japanese release of Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed from its unspecified March date to an undecided future date, to be announced later. Sony apologized for the inconvenience, citing some kind of "circumstances" around the release date. No concrete information was provided about what exactly caused this drastic move. Things seemed to be looking up for Gran Turismo 5 for a while. Sony announced a March release for Japan and a tentative summer release for North America, sent out a very popular demo, and even revealed the North American box art design. But this latest move suggests that Polyphony's latest racer may not be as close to the finish line as expected. [Thanks, Copland and Niko]
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 is real enough for box art
Click for high-resolution box art. 2010 is totally the future. How can we tell? Gran Turismo 5 will actually come out. Half a decade after Gran Turismo 4, Polyphony Digital is finishing up a true successor to the self-described "real driving simulator." The evidence? Box art! Mercedes-Benz's gull-winged SLS AMG has the honor of gracing the GT5 cover. It's a terrific marketing decision, if only to trick Back to the Future fans into thinking this is a game all about time travel. (It's not, we're afraid.) Check out a brand new video of Sony's long-awaited PS3 racer after the break. %Gallery-81744%
Gran Turismo 5 dev says Sony targeting a 'Summer 2010' North American release
At a recent press event held for Gran Turismo 5, associate producer Chris Hinojosa-Miranda let slip that Sony is "eying" a Summer 2010 for the game on this side of the Pacific. Destructoid reports that Hinojosa-Miranda wouldn't confirm the possibility of DLC for the upcoming title, nor would he commit to there being any difference (content-wise) between the Japanese release this March and the eventual North American release. Allegedly "details are coming soon," and there's always that demo coming to PSN -- but we were really hoping for the early 2010 release that GT5 head Kazunori Yamauchi had teased a few months back. [Via Kotaku]%Gallery-71410%
