Gaming

Before Kazunori Yamauchi created the first Gran Turismo, he began his career with a title known as Motor Toon Grand Prix. Produced by “Polys Entertainment” (later to become Polyphony Digital), it’s a cartoon racing game featuring 8 karts and 10 tracks. Sony has just announced the game’s availability for download as a “PSOne Classic” on PSN for $5.99. So, if you want to see how it all really got started, grab the 251 MB download and give it a go.

Mercedes-Benz continues to take full-advantage of its newfound affiliation with the Gran Turismo series with cross-promotions and online games, and this may be the best yet! Visitors to the Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey, UK get a chance to drive the SLS on GT5’s Nurburgring Nordschleife, recording an official time. The three fastest drivers (along with two more contestants randomly selected from the top 100 times) get to drive a real SLS AMG on Mercedes-Benz World’s test track.

One of the new features in Gran Turismo 5 I’ve personally been looking forward to is head-tracking. Unless you’ve got the luxury of playing racing games on three screens, the ability to look into and through the turns – just as you should do in real life – provides a considerably more immersive experience. GT5’s head-tracking was first shown in limited action at E3 2010, but it was reportedly difficult to use because of surrounding conditions the PlayStation Eye had to deal with. According to a recent article from the Official PlayStation Magazine, however, the functionality isn’t perfect. Quoting the magazine from this article at CVG.com:

Sony UK has announced a special event known as “PlayStation BETA”, to be held for a select group of gamers on July 30th-August 1st in Birmingham. It’s basically a chance for members of the public to try out the company’s biggest upcoming titles, and you guessed it: Gran Turismo 5 is on the list. Here’s the press release:

Sony’s showing off GT5 and several other big upcoming titles at a private media event on Tuesday night, and one of the editors of the company’s official PlayStation Blog has opened the floor for questions. From his post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibi9cLBlFy8

A few more interesting quotes have emerged from the GT5 article in the latest “PlayStation: The Official Magazine (UK)”. According to Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony Digital has essentially future-proofed the game’s 200+ “Premium Cars”:

New (though minor) details about Gran Turismo 5’s online community features have apparently been discussed in the latest issue of “PlayStation: The Official Magazine”. Via SystemLink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd0fscJeyxg

If you watched all the coverage from E3 2010, you’ve probably seen some of these shots before – but, as usual, I’m posting them up again here in their original, watermark-free, 18-megapixel glory so you can take in every detail. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8padDk9ZakE

Thanks to gamer28 for digging up this short-but-sweet interview by AOL Autos with Kazunori Yamauchi, as he discusses the role that hybrid cars will play in Gran Turismo 5. Most notably, he also mentions you’ll be able to “tune” hybrids – with the recommendation of turbo-charging the new Honda CR-Z which will be featured in the game.

The Gran Turismo 5 Collector’s Edition was announced at E3, but now it seems that may not be the only special version of the game Sony has plans for. Speaking in an interview with IVG, head of Sony Computer Entertainment India Atindriya Bose clearly discloses that there are “two collector’s editions” in the works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1OZCwRGFUA&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7pxuKUkX0

InsideSimRacing.tv has just published their extensive Gran Turismo 5 E3 2010 Special Report, filling more than half an hour of footage with their detailed impressions and thoughts on the demo featured at the big show. It’s a refreshingly detailed look at the latest build of the game by “hard-core” sim racers, as they discuss everything from physics, to head-tracking, to 3D gameplay – it’s the best impression of the demo you can get short of getting your hands on it. Thanks for the GTPlanet shout-out, guys!

If you’ve been closely following the news over the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen some of these images before – but not at this resolution. The detail that lies in these 5760 x 3240 shots from GT5’s “Photo Travel” mode is remarkable, and they make for great desktop wallpaper! To see some of these locations in motion, don’t miss the short video clip below.

French gaming site JVN noticed a recent update to Gran Turismo 5’s product information on Sony Computer Entertainment France‘s press site: it shows a release date of November 24, 2010. The website requires French media credentials for access, but GTPlanet Forum user jujub was able to independently confirm the news by sharing the screenshot that you see above. As many of you know, the November 2nd release date for the United States was announced E3 2010, but Sony has been quiet on specifics for other regions – most notably Europe. Until an official statement is made (most likely at at Gamescom 2010 in Germany, August 18th), this is our most reliable indication of the company’s plans.

Before my Inbox completely melts down, I will reluctantly share this news. A blog called “iGameReport” claims to have emailed Polyphony Digital SCEA in an attempt to clarify the notion that Gran Turismo 5’s “standard cars” will not have interior view. Here’s a portion of what they say Polyphony’s SCEA’s response contained:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfvfkXO8CY#0m30s