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The Gran Turismo brand once again made a strong showing last weekend at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Trackside banners could be seen all around Circuit de La Sarthe – most notably at the chicanes down the  Mulsanne straight.  Sony also continued their strong support of the Pescarolo Sport racing team’s Peugeot 908 LMP car, in the quickly-becoming-classic light blue/green/white livery that you probably remember from GT4.  Polyphony Digital’s Citroen GT also made the rounds this year, (supposedly) doing a honorary lap around the circuit (still waiting on pictures of that) and appearing in a local driver’s parade.

(Photo by Brecht Decancq.  Thanks to DaveTheStalker for the Mulsanne screen grab, too.)

Welcome to GTPlanet’s live coverage of Sony’s E3 2009 press conference!  After months of anticipation – and complete silence out of Polyphony Digital – expectations are running high for some type of major announcement regarding the Gran Turismo series.  We already know that Gran Turismo Mobile is going to be announced, but questions still remain about Gran Turismo 5.  What’s going to happen?  Watch this box below over the next few hours to find out!

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This is it – the day Gran Turismo fans around the world have been waiting for!  At 11:00 AM PST, Sony will announce many of their upcoming games to the world at E3 2009!  GTPlanet will be providing exclusive, live coverage during the event – focusing only on new information regarding the Gran Turismo series. Watch our home page for a continually updated blog post, providing up-to-the-minute announcements as they hit the showroom floor.  Of course, our forums are sure to be quite busy throughout all of this – pay special attention to our dedicated Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo Mobile sections!

Once again, the press conference is set to begin at 11:00 AM PST in Los Angeles.  That’s 2:00 PM EST (New York) and 6:00 PM GMT, or 7:00 PM BST (London).  To see when this is occuring in your specific time zone, check this list.  See you then!

Most of you are familiar Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo’s competitor on the Xbox platform.  Just a while ago, the first information about the next game in the series, Forza 3, was released -- and instant comparisons, criticisms, and critiques have been flowing in from around the web.  The game will include 400 cars and 100 tracks, and is finally going to include “cockpit view” -- something that’s quickly becoming a must-have for modern racing games.  The most interesting new feature, thought, is an “HD Video Editor”.  Think of it kind of like a replay editor, or full-motion photomode.  Your videos can be uploaded to the web and shared with your friends, although the details on this aren’t completely clear just yet.  Regardless, it’s an exciting and ambitious new feature that would also be welcome in GT5.

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A new study by CIS Insurance and endorsed by the British government has uncovered a remarkable link – people interested in automotive video games and television shows like Gran Turismo and Top Gear are much more likely to break the speed limit.  It accuses such media of creating a “cachet of excitement and glamour around speeding”,  which presumably translates into death and destruction:

David Neave of Co-operative Insurance, which compiled the report, said: ‘Games, TV and films have fuelled the increase in speeding. [...]  The Fast And The Furious and Top Gear are devoted to speeding and targeted at a younger audience who are more likely to be encouraged to speed.’

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick endorsed the findings, saying those who speed ‘play Russian roulette with their lives and those of others’.

Granted, this isn’t the first time the racing genre has come under attack.  A similar study in Australia from late last year found that “video games kill driving skills” because they “increase [young driver's] complacency and their indulgence in risk-taking behaviour.”  Other research in the UK pitted driving games against violent first-person shooters.  The result?  Those who played driving games recorded much higher levels of agitation and aggression.

Of course, the studies seem to forget that correlation does not imply causation.  Who can say that reckless drivers are not more attracted to racing games first?  Who can say that an already irresponsible gearhead is suddenly more likely to be in an accident after watching Jeremy Clarkson thrash the latest Pagani Zonda around a test track?  Just don’t be surprised when your local politicians cite these very studies as justification to put more laws on the books…

This is a little far-out, but it’s worth mentioning that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has filed a new patent which demonstrates the PSP being used to remotely control a car.  As you can see, the RC vehicle has a camera attached to it, and the images are sent wirelessly back to the PSP.  According to the patent, ““a user may control the car [...] so as to spy on their friends… then upload the stored video images to a website.”  Of course, this is an idea we’ve all probably had since we were little, and it’s been done many times before.

What makes this different is the patent’s mention of “augmented reality zones”, which allow you to define space in the real world in which the vehicle is allowed to operate.  In other words, you could literally build a track in your living room or backyard, without having to worry about driving outside of those boundaries and in to more dangerous territory (like the end of the driveway or the top of the stairs).  The patent goes on to mention the inclusion of computer-generated objects visible via the PSP’s screen.  This isn’t as far-fetched as it seems, considering that Sony has been developing the similar Eye Toy technology or several years now.

Other sites that have picked this up are quick to mention what a cool feature this would be Gran Turismo PSP, but let’s be reasonable: that is extremely unlikely.  Indeed, the Gran Turismo brand is probably too “sacred” to be used with the first generation of such a product at all, but it might sneak its way in to the long-rumored Gran Turismo for Boys that Kazunori Yamauchi keeps talking about…

It’s not much, but the image above is our first look at the Gran Turismo Café at Twin Ring Motegi circuit which just opened a few weeks ago.  Thanks to Johnny for sending this in – he managed to dig it up from a random Japanese blog.  This picture helps the original sketch make more sense – now we just need a peek at the inside…  If you can take pictures of the café yourself, or if you can find some other shots, please send them our way!

UPDATE: Thanks to our reader, Firas, for another new picture!

UPDATE 2: Thanks again to Firas, who managed to dig up the first picture from the inside!

Don’t bother checking your calendar – this isn’t another April fool’s joke!  

Polyphony Digital is moving into the restaurant business with the launch of the Gran Turismo Café at Twin Ring Motegi race circuit in Japan.  Opening just last week, the “exterior, interior, and even the staff uniforms have been decorated in the image of Gran Turismo, and there are additional items added to the already popular menu lineup as well.”  We don’t have any pictures of the actual place yet (if you’ve got some, please let us know!), aside from the provided logo and sketch.  The press release also mentions three GT5 Prologue “play booths”, but you can’t help but wonder if these copies have an HD version of Motegi thrown in…  It’s a little odd, but it’s cool to have the first permanent, public location branded around Gran Turismo.  Begin your pilgramige now.