I was going to make this the third Rewind with a title referencing the hit classic (yes, I just said that) “Friday” by Rebecca Black, but I figured it’d be better not to simply for the sake of all of you – you’re welcome. I say that now but I assure you it’s going to happen sooner or later because it’s fun and the feedback has been just as fun.

The latest Seasonal Events are now available in Gran Turismo 5, featuring five expert level challenges touring a selection of the game’s most scenic locations in the stylish and crafty Mini Cooper. Cars are limited to a maximum of 450PP and Sports/Hard tires or less.

For those of you scratching your heads, wondering where you recognize this week’s title or why there’s this strange sense of familiarity coming into this week’s Rewind after having read just the title, then I’ll tell you: Gran Turismo 2. “Now Is The Time”, performed by The Crystal Method was one of the many tracks featured in the game and was perhaps one of the most fluid music tracks in the game. It could mesh in with any track, with any car, under any circumstance and it would seemingly make the moment that much more intense.

This week’s Seasonal Events are accompanied by the introduction of the new “Overtake Challenge”, which places you in three different vehicles with the objective being to overtake as many vehicles as possible on a specific section of the track. Caution is advised in these new challenges as crashing or running off of the track will result in immediate disqualification.

The lengthy history of the Gran Turismo series has resulted in a lot of obscure titles and other memorabilia over the years, making it very popular with collectors worldwide.

Since GTPlanet reader Joel Hadar first discovered this abandoned circuit in Iowa held a striking resemblance with Gran Turismo’s Deep Forest Raceway, the old track has found itself in the spotlight once again.

It’s finally here, after more than four months of rest and anticipation the 2013 Formula 1 season is about to kick off, in fact for the more fussy among us it could be argued the season has already begun, what with the inaugural weekend having begun today with practice sessions 1 and 2 earlier. The opening race—considered to be the real beginning of the season by those of us less fussy—kicks off this Sunday at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. Judging by the looks of things it’s going to be a fairly close season.

The latest Seasonal Event challenges are now available in Gran Turismo 5, featuring NASCAR. Cars are limited to a maximum of 650PP and Racing/Hard tires or less.

This weekend will mark the merging of ForzaPlanet and GTPlanet into one cohesive being, henceforth known as “ThePlanet”. I’m only kidding of course, as a great deal of you will already be aware that GTPlanet will remain GTPlanet but with even more bits. A never ending well of potential is how I would reference the upcoming merger. Of course it’s nothing like a law firm where the names can be partnered, because then you’d have Planet-Planet and that’s just confusing for everyone involved.

The latest round of Time and Drift Trial Seasonal Events are now available in Gran Turismo 5, featuring vehicles from the Dodge brand, one of which being the Viper SRT10 ACR.

“Deep Forest Raceway” has been a popular staple in every major Gran Turismo game released since 1997. It has long been considered and classified as an entirely fictional circuit, created by Kazunori Yamauchi and his team at Polyphony Digital.

SCEE CEO Jim Ryan has made new comments which may support Vice President Michael Denny’s statement that Gran Turismo 6 is coming to the PlayStation 3 console.

Before anything else, before I even advance into my usual introductory diatribe I want to preface the entire Rewind with wishing the late and great Carroll Shelby a belated happy birthday; he would have been 90 years old this past January. For those of you (and I’m one of them) who are of the opinion this entry isn’t long enough, fear not because we’ll revisit the subject in May where I’ll put together a lengthier tribute.

As the news spreads that Gran Turismo 6 may be headed to the PlayStation 3, sparked by SCEE Vice President Michael Denny’s recent comments, the situation is gathering more attention and investigation by larger media outlets.

Note the “Performance Difference Bonus” applies, so more credits will be awarded for using a slower car below the maximum allowed PP value.

An audio snippet of SCEE Senior Vice President Michael Denny suggesting Gran Turismo 6 will be released this year on the PlayStation 3 has been published by Silicon Republic, the website which conducted the confusing and controversial interview with him last week.