From a very surprising yet highly reliable source, we’ve got the most likely and realistic Gran Turismo 5 release date!  Sony’s chief executive in southern Europe, James Armstrong, revealed in a statement to Spanish newspaper El Financiero that we can expect the game to arrive (in Europe, at least) Christmas 2009.  Here’s the full translated quote:

For next year, the chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment for southern Europe said that they are developing a new game thriller, in which the player may be designing their own history, and the new version of Gran Turismo, which will arrive at Christmas.

This would provide for a late summer release in Japan, and late fall/early winter releases in the United States and Europe.  From a sales perspective, it would also provide the PlayStation franchise with a major blockbuster release heading into next year’s Christmas season.  What do you think?  Join the discussion in our Gran Turismo 5 forum!

Christmas is just around the corner, and with ‘Black Friday’ already behind us, the shopping season is in full swing.  But what do you get for that discerning GT fanatic in your life who already has everything?  Have no fear - GTPlanet is here to help, with a list of unusual, inexpensive, and unique Gran Turismo gear from eBay that they would never expect under the tree.  If you’re the fan in question, email your friends and family a link to this post to make your not-so-subtle suggestion…

• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Windbreakers
• Nike’s Gran Turismo Driving Shoes
• (Original!) Gran Turismo Vintage Poster
• GT Logo Keyring (with what looks like a tiny AE86?)
• GT2 Japanese ‘Chill’ Soundtrack
• GT4 Reflective Sticker Set
• GT4 Baseball Cap
• GT5 Prologue PS3 ‘Skin’

As we reported a few days ago, a GT5 Prologue “booth” was available in PlayStation Home to Japanese account holders.  Marky264 gave us plenty of great screen shots, but many people have been curious to see how the game “works” from inside the Home environment.  Our own chief online racing organizer, Sphinx, delivered the goods and posted this video that walks through the entire process.  Enjoy!

On a side note, I’d like to wish a happy Thanksgiving today to all of our readers!  I am thankful so many of you choose GTPlanet every day for your Gran Turismo news.

If you’ve played Gran Turismo 5 Prologue online in the United States recently, you probably remember the Tanner Foust Competition event.  It was a time trial around London in a Nissan 350Z, and the fastest driver as of November 2 won a trip to the Red Bull Drifting World Championship competition with Tanner himself.  The winner turned out to be Gregory Russell of Maryland with a time of 1’00.711.  Check out these pictures from the event, and read Gregory’s write-up of the whole experience right here.  Congratulations!

Those of you who have received invitations to Sony’s PlayStation Home service - listen up!  GTPlanet user Marky264 discovered that if you create a Japanese profile on your PS3 (learn how to do that here), the Tokyo Game Show 2008 “booth” becomes available.  Once inside, you’ll find the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue ‘racing pods’ that we first saw early last month.  Once aquired, they can be placed in your virtual ‘home’, and will surely play an integral role in private online race events in the future.  Learn more about how to find the racing pods and the TGS booth in Marky’s forum thread.

Gaming site IGN was at SEMA this year for the unveiling of the 2008 Gran Turismo Awards, and they caught up with GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi for a few questions.  Like most ‘mainstream press’ interviews (and nothing like Ahmed’s), the questions are not very pressing, and very little is revealed.  Still, it’s worth checking out.  Video after the jump…

Attendees to last month’s Downshift Session 2008 were treated to a spectacular sight: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue running at 3840 x 2160 pixels (that’s 4 times normal HD resolution) via a Sony SRX-110 projector fed by 4 separate PlayStation 3 consoles!

Polyphony Digital and Sony also showed off a copy of GT5 Prologue running at 240 FPS (Frames Per Second) on a television powered by new FED (Field Emissions Display) display technology.  Considering that high-end video games (like GT5 Prologue) run at no more than 60 FPS, it is difficult to imagine what 240 frames per second actually looks like, but it must be pretty impressive:

The frame rate of a single PS3 is 60fps, or 1/60 of a second, but by having four PS3’s draw an image four times within this 1/60 of a second, a frame rate of 1/240 of a second is made possible.

You can see the shocking difference of this high frame rate Gran Turismo immediately when you see the screen. It is as though you are following a real world event happening right in front of your face with your own eyes. Any and all flickering in the movement of the vehicle, in the smoke from the tires, etc. are completely gone, and you are almost tricked into believing you are watching something in real life. The guests at the event were baffled by the quality of the image, and stared in amazement at the screen.

It would be interesting to learn more about the software modifications that allowed the PS3 systems to communicate and synchronize with each other, but this is the extent of the technical detail provided by Polyphony Digital.  Regardless, the event was a great success, with plenty of artists, musicians, and celebrities in attendance (the Gran Turismo Edition Lotus Exige that we saw a few weeks back was also there!).  Read all the details at Polyphony’s website, or check out more photos from the event below.

Jeff Staple recently spent some time at Polyphony Digital, and snapped some interesting shots of things going on around the company’s headquarters.  The images give us a peak at the new Mercedes-Benz C63 in development, virtually confirming it for the next game.  We’ve also got our first look at Gran Turismo 5’s Tsukuba circuit through the windshield of the new BMW Z4 M Coupe, a wireframe model of the Nissan 370Z’s guage cluster, a Maserati Spyder undergoing sound testing, and two other currently unknown vehicles.  Less revealing images documented the hard-working and seemingly cluttered atmosphere of the offices, providing an intimate look at what it’s like to work on the GT series.  Join the discussion in our forums, and stop by Jeff’s blog to see all of the pictures!

GTPlanet member Ahmed Al Azmi’s interview with Kazunori Yamauchi has really been making the international press rounds.  Just yesterday, Ahmed was cited in the latest episode of Inside Sim Racing, where they discussed his experience and the important bits of information that were gleamed from his time at Polyphony Digital.  ISR broadcasts weekly shows dealing with the sim racing world, although they typically focus on the PC market.  Regardless, thanks for the shout out, guys, and keep up the good work!  If you want to see more, check out their website at InsideSimRacing.tv.

We’ve finally got some official photos from the 2008 Gran Turismo Awards held at SEMA last week.  Apparently, the JR Rocha’s winning G37 was painted black since he posted pictures of the vehicle on his blog.  We also have the winners from the other categories - all of which were in the running to be included in the next game.  Here’s how the awards break down:

• Best Japanese Import and “Best in Show” - JR Rocha’s 2008 G37
• Best Truck/SUV - John Wargo’s 1938 Chevy Pickup
• Best European Import - Robert Gal’s Volkswagen Concept Car
• Best Domestic - James Shipka’s 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Rally Sport (”Big Red”)
• Best Hot Rod - Jason Lavigne’s Factory Five Racing 1933 Hot Rod

After seeing some of the other entrants, there are sure to be some comments on Yamauchi’s final choice.  What do you think?