PS3 Fanboy

Editor's Note: This review was published earlier, before the reviewer completed all the license tests. We pulled the review, acknowledging it was an inaccurate representation of the game. The reviewer has completed all the license tests and has provided a new, edited review.

Before gamers ever really got to play it, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was already slapped in the face with accusations of being nothing more than a glorified demo. Branded with such a stigma, many gamers had turned away from Prologue and decided to wait out until next year when the "real" GT5 races out. Are these people vindicated in their racing abstinence? Or are they missing out?

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue does continue the tradition of maintaining the most realistic driving sim out on the market. It does this with stunningly gorgeous visuals while at the same time playing like a charm. A rigid online mode does drag the title down a bit, but overall, Prologue will leave you well satisfied. This is one PS3 exclusive that'll definitely make you proud to be a PS3 owner.

If you're one of the people who wanted to get the Blu-ray version of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, we've got a special deal for you today, courtesy of Wal*Mart. Not only can you get the game, but you can get it bundled with the Logitech Driving Force Pro steering wheel thingamajig for a little under $100. Very little under $100. Still, taking the two separately and then comparing this bundle, it's a good deal and necessary for those racing game enthusiasts. Get on it!

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is now up and ready to be downloaded from the American PSN Store, and has been since midnight EST. The price of the game is $40 as well as 1.9GB of your precious hard drive space. Those of you who haven't picked up the, frankly, superior (and cheaper) Blu-Ray version can now go ahead and get your hands on the game without leaving your couch by utilizing the sexy new PlayStation Store. There's more to come from the Store later today and we'll let you know exactly what else is going up as soon as we find out.

Those who are rushing to play Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will have to shift gears when launching the game today. After yet another lengthy install, we found ourselves stopped by a required update. The patch is rather heavy, weighing in at around approximately 300-400MB. Do what you did with Devil May Cry 4: grab a sandwich.

There are tweaks throughout almost every aspect of the game, from online play, to rankings, to the single player events. The game does warn you that some of your save data may be affected by the update -- thankfully, for US players, this will be a rather moot point.

For a list of all the updates, check after the cut. Also, check out new images from our updated gallery.

While unlikely, Gran Turismo designer Kazunori Yamauchi talked about the possibility of the GT series moving to other platforms. Speaking to German site derStandard [translated by develop] he said: "It is very, very improbable that GT will comes out on another consoles [sic] ... But perhaps it comes to the PC. Particularly [for] the Chinese market."

We're pretty certain the coffers at Sony will keep the Polyphony team well-fed, and the incredible sales of GT, particularly in Europe, give little reason for Sony to make a non-PS3 version of the game. However, do these sales make up for the skyrocketing costs of development? According to Yamauchi, the development of GT5 cost fifty times more than the the very first PS1 GT. Perhaps a PC GT isn't such nonsense ...

[Via NeoGAF]

At 4PM PST (7PM EST), the US producers of Gran Tursimo will be available to chat with on the PlayStation Boards. You will need an account with PlayStation in order to participate. You'll be able to ask hard-hitting questions like "how awesome is your game?" and "boxers or briefs?"

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available at retail stores tomorrow, and on the PLAYSTATION Store this Thursday.

Even with a million pre-orders sold, Gran Tursimo 5 Prologue continues to light up the European sales charts. In both Spain and Germany, the PS3 exclusive rests as the top selling game, beating out strong competition from a variety of Wii, DS and PSP titles. In Sweden, GT5P was only beat out by the PS2 version of Guitar Hero III.

It goes to show how different each territory is when it comes to gaming preferences. The US version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue comes out this week on Blu-ray and on the PSN. Will it match the insatiable European demand for Polyphony's racer? We'll have to wait and see.

The awkwardly-named Gran Turismo for Boys was supposed to be a more kid-oriented version of the popular racing sim, giving male youngsters a small taste of the real racing simulator. In an interview with with Kazunori Yamauchi, the director noted that they're still devoted to making Gran Turismo for Boys "but we're hoping to make that a feature within GT5."

A simpler version of GT5 would certain appeal to both boys and girls, no? Regardless, it seems like there are plans to make a much more mainstream-friendly version of GT -- for those who can't get enough auto-assist whilst driving.

[Via Joystiq]

How soon is "soon"? Well, sooner than we expected. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be getting a vehicular damage model, according to a new interview with IGN. This long-awaited feature will be made available as a download and could be available as early as this fall. Polyphony's Yamauchi said that, "maybe by Fall we'll be able to implement it."

[Via Digg, Image from FlatOut]

The European gaming community really, really loves Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. After a platinum pre-order and a stellar launch, the PS3 has been gaining quite a bit of traction. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Chart-Track's Dorian Bloch said: "PlayStation 3 sales went up by 14 per cent for week 13, after going up 73 per cent the week before."

We're certain that we can expect a similar sales boom after the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 as well. In comparison, Chart-Track noted that "Xbox 360 sales were down by 11 per cent." The effects of Microsoft's price drop were strong, but looks like the power of GT overshadowed the efforts of Microsoft's bargain pricing.

For those in love with sales and numbers, this generation of consoles is proving rather interesting. It'll be fascinating to see the effect GT has on the American market, when it launches in a few weeks time.

When you hear the word "soon" from Polyphony Digital, you have to interpret it as "in a year, or our next game" at the very least. Anyway, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi said they've been in talks with automobile manufacturers who initially "hated the idea of deformation, now they're slowly coming around to it ... We've still got a few to convince, but we will. Expect deformation in the very near future: very, very soon." Sounds almost too good to be true!

Yamauchi also talks briefly about Prologue, but it's nothing particularly new. He apologizes to fans for not being able to shovel out a full game all in one go, but we're fine with this set-up -- we want Polyphony to get the game to where they want it before releasing it.

Sony has released a statement regarding yesterday's European PSN update-that-never-was. "Due to last minute technical difficulties" the Store wasn't able to be updated (and still hasn't been), but they "are working to resolve these issues and will let you know as soon as new content is posted." Normally, this wouldn't really be an issue, considering the European updates are so poor, but yesterday was meant to be the PSN release of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Considering the game has already gone platinum on European pre-releases alone, we expect there are quite a few annoyed people out there who were planning on grabbing the download a day early.

Other expected releases include the Eye of Judgment expansion. Obviously, we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything. If you're feeling really impatient, however, feel free to go pick up the Blu-Ray version. With no idea about when the store update is coming, It could be a long day of waiting.

If you think you can get away with not purchasing Gran Turismo 5: Prologue because you're so sure that as soon as it's released, the whole game will get a release date a couple of months later, you're wrong. On a recent PlayStation Blog post, associate producer at SCEA Chris Hinojosa-Miranda responded to comments about the game, saying that "GT5 is still about a year away. You should just decide now to buy [Prologue], enjoy it, go online and race against anyone and everyone, rank number one worldwide, get the girl (or guy) and become the most popular kid in town." But what if we already are the most popular kid in town? What then, Mr. Hinojosa-Miranda?

The official Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack features a nice blend of indie dance rock, electronica, classic rock and brand new remixes from artists, such as Weezer, Mars Volta and DJ Shadow, and more. A brand new exclusive remix of Weezer's "Automatic" headlines the game's diverse soundtrack.

"The Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack gives fans the perfect audio accompaniment to high-octane racing from Daytona to Eiger Nordwand," said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA in a recent press release. "The edgy variety of music complements the pure adrenaline rush fans experience as they eclipse 200 miles-per-hour in the most authentic driving simulator around."

See the complete soundtrack, after the cut.

Will you download Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, or will you buy the Blu-ray disc? Well, you may want to go to your local retail store and pick up the physical disc version. "Beyond the Apex" is a video documentary that's exclusively available on the Blu-ray disc. This trailer is but a small taste of this behind-the-scenes feature, which talks to various folks involved with, and inspired by, the legendary driving simulation game.