GT5’s Online Community Features Let You Track Friends’ Progress

Jordan Greer · · 157 Comments

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:

“My Lounge is GT5’s hub from which you’ll access all of GT5’s new online features. Hit the Community tab and you’ll pull up a bulletin board filled with your latest stats and your recent mail from friends and other players. You can browse through your friends’ bulletin boards and check their progress on and offline, and send out mail and challenges. My Lounge supports voice chat for up to 32 players and lets you host 16-player online races or spectate on races in progress, as well as watch the GT-TV VOD service and race replays.”

Thanks to all who sent this in!

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Comments (157)

  2. rpr101

    i liked how in GT4 you can notice a pretty significant difference in a cars performance if the oil was very dirty. and thus is it would call for an oil change to bring its performance back up to its regular state.. and i hope they keep that in GT5 which im pretty sure they will. hence the service part.

  5. WesWelker83

    I just hope the online penalties are a little more intelligent as well as the in game AI. and NO LAGGING!!! in gt5p it’s like just the cars have a 4 per second frame rate lol

  8. LoneWanderer

    It’ll be next to impossible to get a platinum trophy in this game. I may only get half of them lol.

  11. twinspark24

    Offtopic
    What I want now is the trophy list. I presume this will be Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 difficulty

  12. magicayrton

    I’m liking the used cars menu, like in previous iterations, Just wondering which goodies will be available.. will some vehicles require cosmetic or even mechanical repair for a cheaper price?

    Also in servicing, will there be a 3D rolling road??

    :D

  18. Maxiboy

    Whats the special icon to the left of licences? I looked at ir originally and assumed it meant special races, then I was saw the special events icon.

  19. XanaviR34

    Jordan jou take my comment away. again @nemenses Holland is a country. Its a nikname for the Netherlands. Its insulting when jou say that.

    1. NicknameOrNot....

      Oh lord, if we start letting unoficial nicknames count has countries, we’re going to have to change alot of maps and then promptly ban them from use by minors for explicit language.

  22. Team_MoFF-No2

    GT5 is by far the most interesting Game I’ve ever waiting on, and then F1 2010 from Coddie :P

  25. Gamer GT5

    Wow GT5 actually have a used car dealer! awesome just like the previous GT’s. Hopefully GT5 would probably have the new McLaren MP4-12C featured in the game.

    1. Nemesis

      If I rember correctly voice chat (which would obviously mean mic support) and private races are confirmed. It’s in one of the articles on this site if I’m not mistaken.

  31. maxpontiac

    I don’t believe I have ever wanted a video game this bad.

    I also have a feeling that after next month, the anticipation is going to get worse.

    2. MontyP

      I wish that would hurry up has well. Always wondered what the end of the world would look like. Besides, the interest charges on my new TV start about the same time has end of days. Eat that creditor…

  33. slim

    Instead of GT Life..I read GeT a Life LOL..sorry maybe its cuz i just woke up, but that cracked me up laughing lol.
    Anyways, we will all loose our lives starting Nov 2nd!!!

    1. MontyP

      Not just you. I think it’s the slash in the graphics behind “GT Life” that plays a mind trick on you when you glance at it.

  35. viejaloca

    Wouldn’t it be sick to have a monthly online endurance race where you show up with your friend and take shifts driving? That would make life alot easier.

  40. OPM_Nath

    Hey all, it’s Nath from Official PlayStation Magazine.

    Glad you enjoyed the story. Couple of things though. The old story you’ve linked to about Indy cars is actually from the US edition of Official PlayStation Magazine, made by an entirely different team. I think calling our track record into question is wide of the mark.

    Second thing is you’d have probably noticed this if you’d not for some reason omitted the quotes we took directly from our interview with Kazunori Yamauchi, which appeared in the magazine directly above the section you have cut and pasted. “What’s really unique about the online GT5 is what we call ‘My Lounge.’ You can gather here, and you can actually watch other people race from this room.”

    1. Jordan

      Sorry, I didn’t realize this was the UK version of the magazine and have updated the post accordingly. I’m in the US and don’t have access to the original article. As was mentioned, the un-edited quote used above came from here.

    3. Team_MoFF-No2

      Now this is Orsm quote “My Lounge.’ You can gather here, and you can actually watch other people race from this room.”

      A seat in the VIP lounge on the track as spectator would be even more interesting.. Damn :O) just think if we all could be sitting viewing GTplanets Final championship on a track, as spectators ( If you are not sitting in one of the cars of course haha)

  41. XanaviR34

    He @Jordan have you heard about the dagger gt. 2000bhp and go,s from 0 to 100 in 1,5 sec. can you believe that. ha i dont. seen it on autoweek.

    2. GasolineJunkie

      I think that was one of the more exciting parts of the game. Hope they come back. I just don’t wanna have to wait a minute and a half until I can race.

  44. Yaycandy69

    i remember reading somewhere on here that there will be exterior customization like hoods and spoilers. maybe that is in the GTauto for parts

  45. Jorgy

    I think this is fake. All too coarse, this is not the style of Polyphony.

    As an example the thick round on subtle buttons on the left.

    1. Me.Switch

      As far as i know this is official. There may be some minor changes but this is not a “fake”. Imo this is looking excellent and i hope online will work solid there will be a huge rush for online racing after GT5’s release.

    5. ElieTheBear

      fake ? not the style of polyphony lol .. who are you !!? you know polyphony that well that you ve not seen this picture in the polyphony website ?!? what a comment !

  47. lado

    I like this new front page “my home” it looks cool, it has a strucutre and we can see where we can tune our cars or have test drives or that stuff. :D The garage symbol is on the left. hmm i hope we can park our cars in huge hangers like we´ve seen in some trailers, where the cars are posed next to each other.

  48. tvensky

    sounds great, cant wait to invite my friends and race together with chat, while my music playlists are playing with 1000 cars to chose from, and hopefully alot of tracks :) with the stig behind the wheel.. this would be amazing :D

  49. Marcus

    Why is there two dealership places in the online mode. Surely you would only need a used dealership if you were going to sell cars over the internet.

    1. lado

      It says “my home” this isn´t the online mode, this is the main page if you start the GT world mode. :)

  52. KilzoneStrife

    Kaz will tell us all the info in the world of GT5 and STILL I guarentee we’d discover more awesome things when we get the game! Makes me sad that Im writing exams through the whole of November :(

    1. Nemesis

      That would be a nice feature to have. Probably quite hard to implement since the recieving party would need exactly the same parts as you do.

    3. Sasek

      Naah! there should be something like this, maybe on game server, an option to send setup for people on lobby list.

  55. blackjack

    I’ve been hanging out for some more info on the MP experience and this just more confirmation about the online features I’ve been hanging out for. Can’t wait for private track days with my mates.

  56. Urielxx

    YES!!! Now this is good news!! Enough with the stupid cockpit view

    this news are actually news

    Thanks Jordan keep good news to us every day:) until Nov 2 & ill be thanking GTPlanet for all this.:)

    2. Organ-Donor

      @Tokyo
      Alot of different features have been in alot of seperate racing games, but GT5 takes all the features from numerous games and pulls them all into one package. Of course online play is standard now days, but the level that GT5 is taking it sounds superior and more indepth compared to alot of the most popular online games out now.

    3. Team_MoFF-No2

      @ Tokoy-Drift that is what is happening in the game world, @ organ Donor take a deep breath, I’m not so sure about what you are saying, I need the game before i can agree with you, because several things already looks to me, like a middle way of things.. But I agree that is could be like that..

      ETC: The WRC Rally Part ( Looks great, but isn’t Rally as we know it, but we still need to wait before we can be sure about that, Rallying isn’t in the game as we know it.. ( Rally IS with a Co-driver Racing From A to B, Rally Cross is more then one car on the track, so for what we know, It Isn’t Rally, But Rally Cross That GT5 has and with out any kinds of natural Bumps on pits or what ever that can make your driving demanding. (sad really)

      So for now that Part is a Big Lowdown for me, because that is one of my favourite racing styles WRC Rally Style

    4. Maxiboy

      @Team_MoFF-No2
      When they add WRC, NASCAR, F1, theyre not setting out to make an entire WRC game fit into Gran Turismo 5 (theres already games for all of the above) what they are doing is adding elements of these styles into Gran Turismo. I mean I never heard anyone complaining when they added a ford V8
      Supercar into the game, but didnt add the other cars from the race series or all/any of the tracks from the series. Just be glad that your new GT game will have even more aspects to it, and if you want the full wrc line-up/track list, go and buy WRC.

    6. Frank

      Even if you don’t believe GT will end up having totally original features (which it will), those which it will have or already have that other games also have mean something else entirely and uniquely, to GT5.

    7. Nemesis

      @Maxi: I agree with your statement. However PD does market it as if WRC is a big part of the game while it doesn’t we have yet to see a real rally stage as in real life. I don’t really care driving on a closed dirt criquit or on a dirt road with multiple stages it doesn’t matter as long as it’s fun.

  58. Andre

    To me Multiplayer mode is most important part of GT5, because i don’t like race with stupid AI drivers.

    3. FlareKR

      @ Geo_212
      So true in GT5P, could never win a race without cheating because of 12 year olds smashing their invincible bricks on my ride, and then going through the dirt, those little bastards! Oh I can’t wait till damage is online, that’s why they’re not in GRID or DiRT (speaking of I still gotta sell em both, GT5 is gonna replace them, literally).

  59. Nemesis

    I’d like to know what types of online races can be set up. If a championschip can be setup. Can multiple races be active in a single lounge at the same time? So you can have a private lounge where each person who has access can setup his/her own race.

    One feature I’m hoping for and probably isn’t going to be there is the option to drive with 2 players on one PS3 while attending the same online race. My wife likes to drive a race or two herself and it would be nice to be able to drive in the same online race together.

    2. bobajase

      I really hope it’s got 2 player replay with an option for full screen , not as much fun to watch in the split screen replay , really miss that from the old Gran Turismos

    4. FlareKR

      Online split-screen is always so much fun! Like Warhawk, but it’s drving instead of shooting. I still think that Warhawk is the best multiplayer shooter, maybe GT could do the same (would be so much more worth my $100 on the collector’s edition).

  61. thewabel

    What about the GT Auto button i see. looks like we the get Tuning, Parts and Service. ….A service(?)…Maybe theres more effects to the cars the more you drive them. An enchanced version of GT4’s oil change facitily (Now you can change the oil fiter!)

    2. tvensky

      hope there are much more than this, in GT4 that was funny :D in the bad way.. esspecialy the spinning car wash :D lol..

    3. BLADErunner80

      I liked the spinning car wash, was a little bit of fun nicely injected into the game.

      What would you prefer for GT5, bikini girls in heels getting soapy then rubbing themselves all over the car?? wait maybe that could be fun too! ;D

  63. GT_Prologue5

    Yeah, if I had 35,000,000, I’d be driving a McLAren F1.
    But maybe he was just taking it for a spin lol

    1. Bernd

      Maybe, the McLaren isn’t for sale, and you have to achieve something, to earn it/win it as a prize.

  66. Maxiboy

    Wow 16 players online racing? Sounds pretty awesome. Also sounds like it will be easy to weed out the NFS racers with poor racing etiquette.

  67. Racer 6c

    That all sounds very interesting. I like the sound of being able to ‘connect’ with fellow players beyond just a multiplayer session. Being able to issue a challenge and spectate races also sound like fun.

  68. Jakemania

    The online lobby sounds pretty neat. Do you know if they are still planning on having customizable music for the game?

    2. Jakemania

      Thanks Jordan… I remember that being announced from that post but no one seems to have mentioned it recently. Just making sure it was still gonna be in ;)

    1. redragon95

      maybe he’s tuned it to the max, maybe an engine swap or race tune:D or maybe his favorite car is an st:D

    5. caasimun

      do u think we will get extra cash for buying GT5P? coz they might…hope they do, i dont wanna start with the usual MX5

    9. MihaiF355

      @Caasimun, your comment gives you away as a 12 year old lil bitch….part of the magic of granturismo games is that you start with little money and work towards your dream cars…..you know like in real life??? Im sick of all these peple “hoping” that they can carry over credits…..

    11. aelange

      Here, Here, mihai! I’ve decided not to transfer all of my GT5P credits and cars to the full game until I have enough cars in my garage to play with. Considering I’ve already spent hours on the Prologue cars, it’s time for something new and fresh. GT is suppossed to be a challenge; learning the lines of a track on a slower car is much easier and builds up the skills for the better cars, it makes perfectly good sense!

    12. funrun

      @caasimun I hope this is the case I don’t want to spend years collecting Cr. only to end up where I left off with Prologue as well as GTPSP I have over 600 cars, I think it’s only fair this transferring will be implemented. Even with that there are so many expensive race cars to buy that it would take years to get them all.
      @Mihai Nobody is stopping you from experiencing the full magic of gran turismo, just start from scratch and spend a lifetime to get your dream car. I think I’m a little past that age and just want to have fun with good races online. Playing online has changed everything about GT, forget about missions and AI nonsense, no fun anymore.

    13. Hentis

      @MihaiF355

      Just because you dont agree with his comment there is no need for name calling. “PART OF THE MAGIC OF GRAN TURISMO”, as you put it, is also to benefit from a game save from previous versions thus in a way rewarding people who are loyal to the game franchise over the years. Now is there anything wrong with that?
      Its people like you that really do need their atttitude to be readjusted.

    14. Hentis

      The online / community area of the game certainly does look very inviting. Whetther I will be spending enough time in it is the million dollr question.

    15. Goshin2568

      It’s japanese. They add 3 zeros to the end to make it closer to Yen, their currency. So really it’s only 35,000 cr.

    16. FlareKR

      @ MihaiF355
      Some of us don’t have the fricken time to spend hours in front of our TVs and race rice-$h!ts for 3 months until we get an actual car to race. Some of us have lives to live. Some of us just want to drive cool cars. If you want to start out with $h!t, that’s great for you, a lot of us want the other magic of the GT series; driving cars we will never drive in our lives.

    17. PhilmanGT

      I personally love starting out with miatas. they are wonderful cars. Its too bad many people cant enjoy them for what they really are.

    19. Maxiboy

      Well all of you who want to just go out and race supercars from day one … there IS a little feature called arcade mode where there are a number of cars to choose from, if you want more, work for them.

    20. Frank

      @Funrun
      Why would PD allow people to transfer cars from an inferior simulator to a superior simulator? nonsense, the process of acquiring changes completely due to it being a superior simulator . This also implies that progressing through the beginning stages of the game is a chore, which is contradictory to PDs intentions as a game developer.

      @Funrun,FlareKR
      You’re forgetting that the point is to not start from scratch, get your dream car, and then to race online. The beauty now is, to start from scratch with other people. This is the new ‘magic’, and is in everyones best interests, not some. The mainmost point is who are the best drivers, which is evident in any class of cars. After that the concern is, what are the best cars.

    21. Bernd

      @goshin- Haha, just stumbled over your “it’s japanese, they
      added 3 Zeros…”, immediately thinking of aerial combats :D

    22. funrun

      Well being able to to transfer you car collection was rumored at one point, and I’m not sure how this will play out. When you have played the GT or other racing sims (or have real life experience) for years these first license tests and so on are rather a pain in the neck, because it is just doing something you’re way beyond anyway, so having done this in Prologue is already enough. Having more cars than others who just bought GT5 starting from scratch is not an advantage when playing online it’s only an advantage of a greater selection and not having to do everything over again (for the n’th time). I agree that the best drivers can be evident in any class of cars, and that you won’t get the most out of a full out race car unless you have worked your way up to it.

    24. P37Mac

      Each to their own… The fact that you guys are disagreeing with each other as to how to play the game is testiment to PD’s developing skill. Every gaming style is catered for!

    25. Frank

      The licenses are a pain in the neck? Oh no you shouldn’t say that. They are a glorious pain in the neck! How much time I wasted on them when I had to do something more important… In fact I hope there are more of them, and I hope they more mechanical and regimented than ever before, but most of all, more challenging. All this will make it feel fresh and new and important.

      I see the appeal in having many cars so you can feel the whole GT universe open to you all at once and I think it its a pretty valid approach. But it’s also nice to savour the moment as you acquire progressively better cars.

      And no, PD will not cater to everybody!>_< We'll see which side they choose for us.

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