Gran Turismo 5: Prologue

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In case you missed Amar212’s thread, you can now view in-game rankings directly on Polyphony’s Japanese web site.  Of course, the language barrier is an issue, but as Amar pointed out, basic functions can be easily discerned thanks to English track logos, buttons, and table headers.  Click on a user’s name to see the details about the time, or click on the Course name to only show times from that circuit.  It provides a quick way to check on the standings even while you are away from your PS3, and hopefully provides a look at future online functionality.  Thanks for the heads-up, Amar!

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The October update to GT5 Prologue was made available for download just a few hours ago, and although it does not include highly anticipated features, it has just enough surprises to keep things interesting.  First of all, three new cars have been introduced: the Citröen GT, the Ferrari California, and the Lotus Evora.  Each can be purchased now for 1 million, 300,000, and 100,000 credits, respectively.  The difficulty of race events has been “adjusted” along with an increase in prize money awarded.  Other changes include Time Trial penalty adjustments, bug fixes, and new game physics.  The update is brand new, so impressions are just now forming in our GT5 Prologue forum.  Grab the update and share your two cents!

The long-shrouded Citröen GT, developed jointly between the French car maker and Polyphony Digital was finally unveiled today at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.  After all the teasing, it doesn’t disappoint, and so far has been well received by both the press and GTPlanet users.  More importantly, we can confirm that the car will be available in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, so we’ll all be driving it before long.  Official word on the powerplant is hard to come by – expect some type of hydrogen/electric technology outputting upwards of 646hp.  According to these screen shots released by Polyphony, the car went around High Speed Ring in 1’01.570, and hit 212 km/h downhill on the Eiger.  What do you think?  Do you like the concept, or would you prefer Polyphony focus more on Gran Turismo 5 development?  Sound off and join the conversation in our forums.

A pleasant surprise from Polyphony Digital today – a new update to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is coming in the “first part of October”!  Details have yet to be disclosed, but all indicators point to an update in line with what we saw last August.  The download itself will be around 116MB in size, ruling out the inclusion of vehicular damage.  Other hotly anticipated new features, such as private race rooms and voice chat, could still make the unlikely cut.  The most probable addition will be Polyphony Digital’s Citröen Concept Car, the unveiling of which is (conveniently) set for October 2nd at the Paris Motor Show.  Regardless, all of your car settings will be lost after this update is downloaded, so grab one of our Quick Tune Record Sheets and save all your hard work!

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Who could have imagined that a “demo” would be one of the year’s best selling PlayStation 3 titles?  Marketing research company NPD Group today released U.S. sales data for each console, and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue landed a spot in the PS3’s top 5.  This is fantastic result for the game, especially when you consider the ranking does not include PSN downloads.  While our recent poll indicated that most GTPlanet users bought the hard copy, it would still be interesting to see what the actual numbers look like…

Our own chief race organizer, Sphinx, has started things off with GTPlanet’s first officially-sanctioned GT5 Prologue race competition!  We begin with a run of the 1960 Art Morrison Corvette at the Daytona Speedway Road Course with “professional” physics.  The competition actually takes place within the S4 event in the game, so tire selection is pre-determined.  Other tuning options, however, are completely up to you.  Just remember to save your replay at the end of your best time, and have fun!  This competition is only open to GTP_Registry members.

Thanks to GT5 Prologue’s new method of online time and replay verification, we are beginning to see the rise of legitimate competitions endorsed by business and “old media”.  This time, Australia’s Tarmac magazine is fueling the fires of the age old rivalry between the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and Subaru Impreza STi.  It’s simple enough to participate – just set your best time at London and upload it to the game’s online database.  Then, enter the competition and see if your time holds up.  The fastest drivers of each car will receive either a Mitsubishi or Subaru prize pack.  However, there does appear to be an oversight in the rules, as the use of Professional or Standard physics is not specified.  Tarmac editors posted on our forum that “it’s up to the driver”, but this seems a bit preposterous considering the vast differences between the two modes.  Either way, give it a go, and be sure to use your GTPlanet Registry PSN tag!

Back in March of this year, we first learned that Polyphony Digital and Citröen were going to collaborate on a “virtual” concept car to make an exclusive appearance in the Gran Turismo series.  Since that time, Polyphony has been dropping hints to remind us of the project, but the images and videos amounted to little more than artistic looks at the in-game circuits.  Today, however, our very own alexwrc uncovered a mysterious upload to photo-sharing site Flickr from user “GT by Citröen”.  Sony regularly uses Flickr to upload high resolution screenshots, and alexwrc confirms this is certainly the real deal.  We will share more photos as they become available…until then, enjoy the teaser!

Just a reminder to those of you who have yet to submit a time for the GTPlanet Registry Qualifier – the deadline has been moved up to this coming Sunday, September 14, 2008 at midnight GMT.  Remember, a GTP_Registry tag will be required if you want to compete in all future GTPlanet racing events, and the registry will be closed to all new members for one full week following the deadline.  Click here to review all the details about the qualifier, and be sure to send our On-Line Racing manager, Sphinx, a kind word of appreciation for all of his hard work!

Many GTPlanet members made it into the GT Academy’s final rounds, and we have anxiously awaited to hear the results from Silverstone.  Today, thanks to a heads-up by our own dark_ruffo, we can confirm the two winners are Lucas Ordoñez of Spain and Lars Schlommer of Germany.  These two lucky and highly skilled drivers will now continue their training for the 24 Hours of Dubai race in January of 2009.  Congratulations to both of you!  If you’re reading, please stop by our forums and make yourself known!  Of course, even those who won’t be driving in Dubai had an amazing experience, as reports have begun trickling onto our message boards as all the competitors arrive home.  Grandi, of Finland, has been posting details and fielding questions about the experience.  The drivers were pushed to their limits, with tests ranging from physical exams and karting endurance races to piloting a 350Z, Caterham 7, R35 Nissan GT-R, and open-wheeled formula car in nasty weather conditions around the famous British circuit.

There are some pretty impressive cockpits for driving simulators out there.  You can spend hundreds on a commercial option, or put in time for your own DIY project, but few compare to what Ahmed Al Azmi got his hands on last week.  Ahmed, winner of the GT5 Prologue Middle East Challenge, finally took delivery of his prize: an official “racing pod”.  The impressive structure, used by Sony all over the world to show off Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at shows and launch parties, is made of steel, glass, and a Recaro racing seat.  As if that wasn’t enough, Sony threw in a brand new 40” Bravia, PlayStation 3, and Logitech Driving Force GT.  Finally, Ahmed went the extra mile, modifying his pod further with a Logitech G25 and inverted pedals (hinged from above, just like a real car), making this one of the most unique, best looking, and well-built racing cockpit we’ve ever seen.

If you’re too cheap to take advantage of the 99¢ programs on Gran Turismo TV, be on the lookout for some new content headed your way.  According to the press release, a Top Gear “intro” is available now, containing highlights of the show.  It’s free, so go ahead and take a look.  Polyphony is also publishing the in-game video of the new Ferrari California, but if you’re a regular GTPlanet visitor, you saw it a month ago.

The GTPlanet PSN Registry has quickly grown to be the largest organized group of racers in the online world of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue with more than 412 members.  More importantly, it’s going to be the most important set of credentials that you can have when private race rooms come along this fall, as a requirement to compete in officially-sanctioned GTPlanet online events.  In anticipation of this, the Registry’s organizer, Sphinx, is dividing members into separate divisions based upon their performance in an official qualifying time trial.  The new divisions will allow online racers to enjoy much more competitive races with each other this fall, and will give you a good idea of where you stand with the rest of the world (or would that be…the ‘Planet?).

The August 1st update to Gran Turismo 5: Prologue brought quite a few changes.  Although there were many undocumented features, the new peer-to-peer downloading option for Gran Turismo TV is the one with the broadest implications.  Basically, it allows others to download programs directly from your PS3, using your internet connection’s upload bandwidth.  This can help downloaders, as it eliminates the bottleneck generated by the traditional client/server network architecture while alleviating some of the distribution and hosting costs for Sony and Polyphony Digital.  Here’s the official description from GT5 Prologue’s Network Options page: