If you’re reading this site, you probably know Gran Turismo 5 is a big deal for the PlayStation brand, but we can’t often quantify that into numbers. Data collected by marketing research agency OTX GamePlan, however, gives a peek into stats you know Sony is taking into careful consideration. According to their latest survey, 33% of people who plan on purchasing GT5 don’t yet own a PlayStation 3 console to play it on. In other words, if GT5 sells anywhere close to GT4’s 10.9 million copies, there will have to be several million consoles out the door along with it. For a system that sells around 10 million units per year, that would be healthy increase. Without a solid release date for the game, though, those consoles could be sitting on the shelf for a while…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGZfMhZQp5Q

Our friend mimaximax continues pumping out videos from his copy of the GT5 demo! His third update includes a batch of clips featuring the Lexus Weds Sport IS350 on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, and it’s looking as good as ever. Enjoy!

Thanks to the mysterious mimaximax, we’ve got five new videos that you definitely do not want to miss. Fortunately, he’s focused on cars we haven’t seen very much, including the Petronas TOM’s SC430, ARTA NSX, and the Yellow Hat Supra. You’ll even recognize Sebastian Loeb’s face in an in-car replay. But enough with the text – start watching these videos!

As the mysterious GT5 demo has been making waves over the past week, two more interior replay videos have surfaced. Similar to the Subaru Impreza WRC driver and co-driver animations that we saw earlier this month, both show the Toyota FT-86 Concept on Tokyo R246, but from slightly different angles. Thanks to all who sent these in!

As we’ve known for a while now, Gran Turismo 5 will include two different damage models – one for production cars, another for “race” cars. “Race” cars will show significant deformation and will have detachable hoods and doors, while production cars would show little more than paint scratches.

First things first: two independent sources have privately confirmed to me that the GT5 Demo Collection is real, and the original whistle-blower lherre has backed up his announcement with more screenshots. This collection is also providing a closer look at things we only got to peek at during the shows where these demos were originally featured.

The GT Academy finalists took their first step on the road to the grand prize, when Italy’s Luca Lorenzini and Frenchman Jordan Tresson took to the track at the Snetterton circuit in a pair of identical Nissan 370Z cars. The pair recorded 10th and 11th place finishes respectively in the 750 All Comers event but, more importantly, secured valuable signatures that will assist them in their bid to qualify for an ‘International C’ race licence.

According to an Italian gaming site, a Sony representative at last week’s Game Developers Conference informed them the company was looking to release Gran Turismo 5 in October of this year. While GT5 received little attention at the show, Sony’s marketing vice president, Peter Dille, re-affirmed the game would release this year. Of course, October also fits nicely within the “fall” release window mentioned by European Sony executive James Armstrong last month.

Three high-res screen shots have just been released, which appear to complement the most recent new trailer for the game. I’m particularly impressed by the interior lighting of the car, with all of the SLS AMG’s buttons and knobs lit accordingly. Something else to look for: the “Tentative” street names on the road signs… Thanks to “deep_sky” for picking these up first!

GT5 received brief mention at Sony’s large press event at the Game Developers Conference 2010 today. While the focus of the show turned out to be Sony’s new motion controller, it was “confirmed” the company’s biggest racer will be released in 2010. Of course, for anyone who’s been paying attention, this isn’t exactly a surprise, but it should calm any lingering fears that remained after the game’s Japanese March date was postponed.

This definitely isn’t the first lap we’ve seen of Tokyo R-246, but it is one of the fastest. With the notoriously fast GT Academy 2010 finalist Daniel Holland at the wheel, this clip is considerably more fun to watch than most of the others – and it sounds pretty good, too. Thanks to CoolColJ for digging this up!