All eyes of the gaming world are on Cologne, Germany, as Sony holds a massive three-hour long press conference today.  The star of the show is widely rumored to be a new “PS3 Slim”, designed to replace the PlayStation 3 at a lower price point to drive sales.  However, three hours is a terribly long time to talk about just one new device, and we’ve heard that Gran Turismo 5 news will also be coming out of the show.  Nothing is guaranteed, however, and it would be wise to not expect too much to be revealed about GT5 before GT PSP hits store shelves on October 1st.  With that said, it would certainly be a great opportunity for Sony to reveal another trailer for the game while committing to solid a release date.

Here’s a little something to make you smile while we wait for Sony’s press conference at GamesCom on Tuesday…  Gran Turismo 5 got some unexpected promotion on one of the most-visited websites in the world.  The problem, of course, is that website was MSN.com – wholly owned and operated by Microsoft.  The MSN editors are apparently unaware of the heated rivalry between their parent company’s own Forza Motorsport series and GT, and to make matters worse, they misspelled “Turismo” in the headline.  Of course, it didn’t take long for word of the ‘mistake’ to hit our own forums, and Galvanise at NeoGAF managed to grab this screenshot.  Good catch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsmO1_6SMkc

After a pricing mistake launched Gran Turismo 5 to the top of Amazon.com’s UK sales charts, the web’s largest retailer announced today that it will be cancelling all those pre-orders for the game.  Here’s the email sent out to everyone this morning who had their copy on reserve:

It’s not unreasonably pessimistic to say that just because a car is in Gran Turismo PSP, it may not be in Gran Turismo 5.  It’s been debated in our forums at length, and we won’t have a definitive answer until we can directly compare the car list from each game.  However, things look a bit brighter when you consider this recent interview with Kazunori Yamauchi by French gaming site JVN.  When asked about the “interactivity” between GT PSP and GT5, he responds:

Pricing for Gran Turismo PSP in Japan is raising a few eyebrows after a German website connected the dots, revealing the PSN download version is considerably cheaper than the UMD disc.  The UMD will cost ¥5,480 (€40, $57), while the download will be just ¥4,400 (€32, $46).  Curiously, the game is also going to be released one week later (October 8th) in the Land of the Rising Sun than the rest of the world (October 1st).  Of course, there is no guarantee if the variable pricing structure will also be applied to the United States and Europe, but it just might explain the unusual pre-order promotion which revealed Lamborghini and Bugatti’s arrival to the series.

Don’t tell anyone, but GTPlanet has learned the tentative release date for Gran Turismo 5 through an unofficial but extremely reliable source.  Since the date has not been officially published and Sony could still change it at their leisure, we will not be saying anything specific to keep from eating an unhealthy dose of crow.  What we can say, however, is that a 2009 release is almost certain, and the much-publicized Amazon.com date of December 29, 2009 is incorrect.  As it stands at the moment, it is likely the official date will be announced at GamesCom Cologne during Sony’s August 18th press conference.  Stay tuned for more information, and remember: he’s making a list and checking it twice…

Here it is, folks: your first look at the official box art for Gran Turismo PSP.  As you can see, it features Chevrolet’s hottest Corvette ever, the ZR1.  Kazunori Yamauchi himself selects the car to appear on each game’s cover – what made him pick the ZR1 to receive such prestigious recognition?  As it turns out, he’s spent quite a bit of time hanging around the ‘Big 3’ in Detroit, taking a particular fondness for American muscle cars in the process.  His latest interview with Motor Trend revealed his new-found fascination with the culture of the U.S. automotive industry:

With the quickly falling price of GT5 Prologue continuing to drive sales of the little game, many folks who have been holding off are finally picking it up.  Despite its small size, however, it still manages in-depth gameplay – the intricacies of which can be daunting for even experienced players.  To help out, GTPlanet user Conquerer put together this impressive, comprehensive walkthrough that leaves no stone unturned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV4L5GZ_1B4

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