Jordan Greer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBAkGkzRqjs

Thanks to our team at Gamescom 2010 (and a new YouTube video uploaded by PlayStation Spain), we’ve got an early scoop on the contents of the latest Gran Turismo 5 demo on display – confirming some of the game’s most exciting new features. GT5’s new karting mode is revealed, along with the debut of the Autodromo Nationale Monza circuit! Andreas of InsideSimRacing also noticed that skidmarks are visible on the tarmac (see video above, though it’s not from Andreas), and a non-functioning “course maker” option was visible in the menus. He also wisely compiled a complete list of all the cars and tracks available:

Here’s the first batch of screenshots from Gamescom 2010. I’ll get higher-resolution images up as soon as they’re available. One interesting to note: the Lamborghini Miura’s unconventional headlights tilt upwards when turned on – an idiosyncratic detail which, as you’ll notice in the screen shot above, was not overlooked by our friends at Polyphony Digital.

Gamescom 2010 is finally here, and it’s time to kick things off with Sony’s official press conference! The show actually starts at 7:00 PM CEST – check this table to convert that to your local time zone, or keep an eye on this countdown timer. Gamescom isn’t quite as big as E3, so live video streams are a little harder to come by, but thanks to your news tips we do have a few to watch. In case they don’t work, simply fall-back on these live-blogs in the links below.

An unfortunate set of circumstances required me to unplug for a few days, and I want to get everyone caught up with the latest batch of news over the past week or so. Frankly, there hasn’t been much going on in the world of Gran Turismo, but all of that is about to change with GamesCom 2010 coming up next week! Several GTPlanet members will be in attendance throughout the event, and we’re going to have more exclusive coverage than ever before – watch for more major announcements on that over the next few days. For now, here’s a quick summary of what you did (or…didn’t) miss:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92mDRnjgwmc

The PlayStation BETA event I told you about was finally held this past weekend. GTPlanet reader Adam Lang was first on the scene, and has been kind enough to provide us with lots of videos and screenshots from the GT5 demo on display. Most notably, you’ll see a much-abused Enzo Ferrari show heavy damage to its front bumper, along with an Audi R8 and the MOTUL R35 Skyline JGTC car. He’s also provided a lot of (literal) screenshots of the demo, so you can get a higher-resolution look at gameplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB1UyZAV1Vo

Great news for our man Lucas Ordoñez (winner of the first GT Academy)! Lucas and his team, RJN Motorsports, have qualified their Nissan 370Z have first in its class for the Spa 24 Hours race this weekend. I’m not aware of any online live video streams of the race (if you find one, please share it in the comments below), but Lucas has promised me that he’ll be constantly updating his Twitter feed and his Facebook page directly from the paddock throughout the event. Good luck, Lucas!

Scans of the French PlayStation Official Magazine’s feature on GT5 reveal the magazine is weighing in on two of the game’s most exciting unannounced features. Most confidently, they’ve listed karting as a major category in the game and even included a small note on the track editor. Of course, the text is in French, but you can see all the scans for yourself right here.

Programmers from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Society of Automotive Engineers have found an interesting way to build “green racing” features on top of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Apparently, the system works by sitting between the steering wheel and the PlayStation 3, watching and recording controller inputs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=746uWpjd85w&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPg7dXCIqeU

As of July 24th, we’re now less than 100 days away from the launch of Gran Turismo 5 and sales already off to a great start, with pre-orders alone  holding the game steady in the top charts of the web’s largest retailer, Amazon.com. GT5’s already broken into the top 50 best-selling games on the site, and it’s dancing around the PlayStation 3’s top 10 list (these lists are updated hourly, making it difficult to pin anything down to a specific rank). It’s even more impressive when you consider this is only the Collector’s Edition we’re talking about here, which commands a $40.00 premium over the regular game.