Jordan Greer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1FF8_0mAOA

A “demo” that has sold more than 3.3 million copies will be added to the PlayStation 3’s “Greatest Hits” library on June 16, along with several other popular titles which have “reached a significant sales threshold”.  Thus, GT5 Prologue continues the decorated history of the franchise, with each worldwide release attaining “Greatest Hits” status.

It’s been quite a roller coaster as we wait for confirmation regarding Gran Turismo 5‘s appearance at next week’s E3 2009.  Things started out good, when our own Amar212 shared some cryptically optimistic information regarding an E3 announcement, but hopes were dashed when Sony’s biggest franchise was missing from their lineup for the show.  Today, we’re back up again, with encouraging words from an apparently reputable French PlayStation magazine, PSM3.

Citroen continues to promote their popular Citroen GT with increasingly high-profile events.  Just last weekend, Polyphony Digital’s real-life concept car helped kick off the infamous 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, and was on public display during the entire event.  This is the first of several appearances for the car across Europe – coming up next, it will take part in the driver’s parade of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and will attend the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

If you’ve lamented about missing the GT Academy, relax – you could be the next Lucas Ordoñez!  A new article in Top Gear explains the competition, and if you’re a regular reader of GTPlanet, it won’t tell you anything you don’t already know.  However, in the last paragraph, the author mentions an exciting bit of information from Nissan’s own Darren Cox:

You don’t have to decrypt any secret messages for this tidbit of news!  Coming straight from Kazunori Yamauchi himself, weather changes and night racing can be expected soon.  GTPlanet user MGR managed to dig up the following interview with Yamauchi-san, conducted by Audi.  It’s part of the Audi R8 Meets Gran Turismo 5 mini-site and documentary, which gives two professional drivers the opportunity to compare the R8 in both the real and virtual world (also check out the video – including footage of the Nurburgring Nordschleife running in GT5: Prologue – on GTPlanet’s YouTube Channel).  Unfortunately, the video is in German, but Yamauchi’s interview is in print and can easily be translated.  In addition to dynamic weather and lighting, he also reiterates the inclusion of damage.  Here’s what he had to say…

A rumored list Sony’s list of games to be presented at E3 2009 has popped up, and it has a lot of people talking – not for the games that are on the list, but for the game that is not: Gran Turismo 5.  We have anxiously been waiting for what Sony has called one of their “biggest events in the past 11 years“, and many legitimiate sources have hinted that GT5 and Gran Turismo Mobile for the PSP would both be making an appearance at the show.  Of course, it makes sense, given the fact that it has been so long since we’ve heard any news about the development from Kazunori Yamauchi, and the next big game show (Tokyo Game Show) doesn’t hit until September.

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:

Congratulations to GT Academy winner Lucas Ordoñez!  After competing in the 24 Hours of Dubai, the gamer-turned-racer is back in action for the first race of the GT4 European Cup at Silverstone, where he and teammate Alex Buncombe scored a podium finish in their RJN Motorsport Nissan 350Z.

The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place!  Heavy rumors about the PSP2 were just released today by gaming site 1UP, and Gran Turismo Mobile popped up on their radar.   Hardware details will remain sketchy until the system is announced at E3, but we do know that the original PSP’s UMD media format will be dropped in favor of software downloads.  From 1UP’s article:

Since steering wheels first became popular accessories for racing games, the search to find the best way to use them has been ongoing.  Over the years, we’ve seen lots of creative solutions from just about everyone (including Sony!), and lots of different products have attempted to fill this niche market with varying degrees of success.  While everyone else was making noise, though, one company has spent the last 5 years quietly developing and refining their own high-end racing seat.  So, does the VisionRacer VR3 take the lead?  Read our full review to find out…

Alba, a long-time creative character in the GTPlanet community, has maintained a slick, free GT5 Prologue PS3 theme for the past few years.  The latest version was just released, and it’s looking better than ever!  All you need is a USB drive and 60 seconds to get this running on your own console – grab both red and blue versions of Alba’s theme via our download mirror below or directly from his website, follow the installation instructions, then head on over to his forum thread and say thanks!

Earlier today, Amar212 dropped an odd bombshell on the GTPlanet Forums, posting a cryptic message full of hidden details about Gran Turismo 5.  Before you continue, have a look at Amar’s post for yourself.  It’s an exciting, well-crafted read that you are sure to enjoy.  If you’re still lost, keep reading for our careful analysis of each main point – and why you should believe them…

The engineers at Digital Foundry have used GT5 Prologue to demonstrate one of their new video performance analysis tools.  As you can see in the clip above, their software graphs the frame rate at a given point in time while marking each torn frame.  They cite all of the criticism that the game has received for “tearing”, yet their objective results show the game performs exceptionally well.  Another revelation: frame rate is cut down to 30 FPS during the “pre-race drive-by”, with lots of torn frames.  Once the player gets control of the car, the game rockets up to 60 FPS, with no obvious explanation.  Watch how the FPS is, otherwise, only really affected when  other cars are in very close proximity.

This head-to-head shootout between GT5 Prologue and Forza 2 by the Inside Sim Racing guys caused quite a stir in our forums last week, and it’s worth posting here for those of you who missed it.  Needless to say, the latest GT game didn’t fare quite so well, partly due to the fact that it wasn’t able to provide the features, size, or scale of a complete title.  This has put some GT fans up in arms, and you can argue that some of the evaluated criteria wasn’t appropriate.  That aside, their critiques are honest.  More than anything, though, the review spotlights what features Gran Turismo 5 needs the most in order to stay competitive.

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.

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!

There may be a hint of sensationalist link-baiting in VG247’s latest headline about Gran Turismo 5 – indeed, you can’t help but wonder why they didn’t mention these comments by SCEA Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller in their article last month.  Regardless, his additional comments reinforce the important notion that the GT series is coming to platforms other than the PS3:

The GT Academy Experience is about to jump off the internet and on to the airwaves via Dave, a men’s television channel in the UK.  The 30-minute episodes are set to air on Saturday nights at 7:00 PM, starting today (April 4, 2009), but no word yet on exactly how many shows you can expect.  Dave has already posted videos from the event that GTPlanet put together back in February, so the show will probably be put together from that footage.  Nevertheless, if you’re in the UK, check it out, and don’t forget to enter to win the PlayStation 3 that Dave is giving away to promote the show.

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