Sony

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing in Las Vegas this week, and Sony is using Gran Turismo 5 to show off the capabilities of their upcoming $24,999 84” 4K Ultra HD TV.

Polyphony Digital has announced they’ll be showing off a special version of Gran Turismo at Sony’s “Dramatic 4K Experience” in Japan.

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

According to several users in our forums, Sony has started sending out surveys inviting participants to “Help Gran Turismo 5 Stay on Top of Its Game”. In addition to basic demographics, the questions are focused around your progress in the game, how much you’ve been playing it, and which in-game events you enjoy the most. The invitation email goes on to say “your opinions may change the way new games are created”.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the PlayStation 3’s security has been completely cracked, allowing unfettered access to the console’s software, files, and games. Unsurprisingly, GT5 has been an active target for hackers taking advantage of the compromised system. Their first major accomplishment involves a way to easily duplicate game-saves between different PSN accounts (sorry, I won’t be providing any source links for information on how to do this).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mi_xKz3WLw

Those of us here on GTPlanet aren’t the only ones who like the Gran Turismo series – it’s a pretty big deal for Sony, too. While speaking in an interview with MCV UK, Sony Worldwide Studios’ European VP, Michael Denny, confirmed GT’s importance to the company while defending the its lengthy development cycle:

Remember the outraged city of Siena, which was preparing legal action against Sony because the city’s Contrade flags appeared around GT5’s karting track, Piazza del Campo? There was some concern and confusion regarding what the eventual outcome would be, but the solution fortunately turned out to be quite simple: the offensive flags were removed and Siena’s cultural heritage “protected”…  As reported by Corriere Fiorentino:

Gamescom 2010 is finally here, and it’s time to kick things off with Sony’s official press conference! The show actually starts at 7:00 PM CEST – check this table to convert that to your local time zone, or keep an eye on this countdown timer. Gamescom isn’t quite as big as E3, so live video streams are a little harder to come by, but thanks to your news tips we do have a few to watch. In case they don’t work, simply fall-back on these live-blogs in the links below.

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:

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The biggest game show of the year is finally upon us, and there’s a lot to suggest that Gran Turismo 5 is finally set for its big debut! Here’s a quick overview of exactly what’s going to happen over the next few days:

This isn’t so much “breaking news” as it is “peace of mind”: Sony has prominently featured GT5 on its special E3 2010 website (click and drag the page to view the top left corner). This is, of course, a pleasant change from last year, when Sony actually requested the press not ask Yamauchi about the big game during interviews for what are now obvious reasons. E3 kicks off with Sony’s press conference at 11:30 AM PST on June 15th. As always, I’ll have everything you need to know right here, updated by the minute on the (hopefully) big day…