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Along with the press release above, we’ve just added 36 new high-resolution Gran Turismo 5 Prologue screenshots to our extensive gallery! The new images start here on page 7 and page 8, with some of the highlights below. Enjoy!

Sony has announced Gran Turismo 5 Prologue / PS3 bundle packs will be available in Europe on March 29th. If you haven’t already purchased a PS3, this will be a great opportunity to pick one up along with the new game. The real question: why are there no plans to bring this package to North American markets..? Of course, if you’ve already got a PS3, you can go ahead and pre-order your copy of GT5 Prologue at Amazon right now!

As you may have heard, Sony has recently launched their new “official” website for the North American version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Although we have already reported that there will be more than 60 cars in the U.S. version of the game, the number of tracks mentioned on the site has been raising a few eyebrows. To quote from the new site:

Compete on 6 tracks with 12 total layouts, including Daytona International Speedway®, London City, and Suzuka Circuit.

Really? In the current Japanese game, we have only 5 tracks and 10 layouts: Daytona SuperSpeedway, Daytona Road Course, Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka Circuit (East), Fuji Speedway F, Fuji Speedway GT, Eiger Nordwand (Forward), Eiger Nordwand (Reverse), London (Forward), and London (Reverse). Now, unless that was a serious typo on the official site, we have good reason to believe that a new circuit has worked its way into the game for the North American release. But what could it be…?

The only other new information is the confirmation that the Prologue is “fully compatible” with the Logitech G25 wheel, and they released some fresh screenshots for good measure. See them for yourself in our updated screenshot gallery with 9 new high res images from the game.

A well-written article about the level of realism found in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue has been posted over at Kombo. If you don’t have any experience pushing a real race car to the limits, Brian Alexander has done a good job of explaining what that feels like - and how no game will ever be able to compete with it.

“No matter how realistic a game is, it’s still just a game. The one thing Gran Turismo doesn’t accurately simulate is the terror of being in a race car. Gran Turismo will never make you push your personal limits as a driver because when things go wrong in GT5, whatever; you can just restart the race. When things go wrong in an actual race car, the end result is often catastrophic, and racers often find themselves pushing their personal limits of comfort, not the limits of the machinery they drive.

Gran Turismo will never be able to recreate the panic of going into a corner too hot, the hard clap of a bug splattering on your visor at 130 mph and blinding you, the sound of an engine screaming its way towards 10,000 rpm just inches behind your head, the anxiety of keeping your foot planted on the throttle through a turn you have never attempted flat-out, the whistling of wind through your helmet above 100 mph, the chatter of a locked-up tire under braking, the thrill of knocking out a smashingly fast qualifying lap, the agony of defeat or the frustration of putting a car into the wall. While online racing promises more passionate competition, these experiences are still reserved exclusively for the real thing.”

I couldn’t agree with him more. Despite the fact that it’s, um, not the real thing, Brian was thoughouly impressed with the latest iteration in the series. Check out his full article here.

After years of waiting, all of you lucky enough to own a Japanese copy of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue can download the latest update to the game and race head-to-head with one another! The only downside at the moment is the fact that your competitors are chosen at random and you can only choose from a pre-set list of live competitions. We can only hope that Polyphony Digital quickly looks at offering “private” races, preferably password-protected, that will allow serious racers to stick together in this new online environment. Please, Polyphony, please!

This past Thursday, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue was released to the Japanese public! We now have all the details of the new game, and many of GTPlanet’s own members have already gotten their hands on a copy. Click here to get the game for yourself, no matter where you live! The game is available both as a Blu-Ray disc and as a download from the Japanese PlayStation Store, but for now you must have access to a Japanese credit card and address before you’ll be able to buy a copy (the game is expected to release in the United States and Europe Stores in March 2008). GT5 Prologue contains 5 courses, available in 10 different layouts:

• Superspeedway - Daytona International Speedway
• The Road Course - Daytona International Speedway
• Suzuka Circuit
• Suzuka Circuit East Course
• Fuji Speedway F
• Fuji Speedway GT
• Eiger Nordwand (Forward)
• Eiger Nordwand (Reverse)
• London (Forward)
• London (Reverse)

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue also contains some of the most anticipated new vehicles of Gran Turismo 5, including the new Nissan GT-R and the new BMW M3. Check out the entire list right here! Stay tuned to our Gran Turismo 5 Prologue forum for all the latest updates as they happen, and check out the new screenshots and videos below:

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue Forum

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue Japanese Intro (HD Video)