According to the software list on the Polyphony Digital website, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has sold more than 3 million units since being first released in Japan on the 13th of December 2007.
The game has sold the most in Europe followed by America.
January 7
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III TrailerIf you havent already bought Gran Turismo 5 Prologue we suggest you go out and buy it because you could probably get it cheap now that it’s been out for a while. Below is a trailer of the latest update, dubbed at Spec III.
The new crash damage system that is in development for Gran Turismo 5 is proving troublesome according to Kazunori Yamauchi, CEO of Polyphony Digital. The game creator is apparently still in talks with some of the car manufacturers including Ferrari, to allow their cars to be subjected to crash damage. The head of ‘Ferrari Challenge’ developer ‘System 3′ said earlier this year that convincing Ferrari to put damage on the cars was a “big challenge”.
After news broke a while ago that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will get patched to feature a damage system, this is what it could look like.
Is this real or fake?
October 11
Gran Turismo for PSP still comingFor some of our readers who where worried and wondering if Gran Turismo would still be coming to the PSP, we have some news for you. Only it’s no release period/date.
Shuhei Yoshida said to Eurogamer.net that the game is still in development.
It seems Polyphony Digital is working on this project but because of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5, the PSP version got a backseat until they were properly done with the PS3 versions.
October 3
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue update availableThe Playstation.Blog has notified everyone that a new update is available for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. This update adds three new cars, a number of gameplay and performance enhancements.
So, what are the new cars?
GT by Citreon
The “GT by Citroen” concept car is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between French automaker Citroen and Polyphony Digital. The formal debut of the vehicle took place yesterday at the Paris Motor Show, coinciding with the release of today’s update to the game. A video of the “GT by Citroen” can be viewed in HD within Gran Turismo TV.
The other two cars are Ferrari California and the Lotus Evora. The GT by Citroen is available for 1 Million credits; the Ferrari California will go for 300,000 credits the Lotus Evora for 100,000.
GamePlay Enhancements
- Penalty system
- Race events are also being updated, with tweaked difficulty levels and increased earnings for winning a top spot
- Improved responsiveness when using the wireless controller
- Improved sound volume balance for sound effects and music for a better racing experience
- Drift Trial races have also been changed to feature a rolling start.
No word on how big this download is. Check out the Playstation.Blog for more information.
August 29
New update to Gran Turismo 5 PrologueAccording to PS3 Secrets a new update to Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is available to download. There is no official changelog but after investigation here’s what’s happened.
- New AUDI R8 car has been added
- New scenario for your car parking (the main menu)
- New music has been added to the game
Not a huge update, at least it’s something. Can’t wait for the bigger updates.
An update for Gran Turismo 5: Prologue will be released on the 1st of August 2008. It is expected that it will take the users experience to the next level.
The heart of the update is the ‘Gran Turismo TV’ the in-game automotive media channel. You’ll be able to watch free and pay-per-view programmes including Top Gear.
Whether you’re in the mood to tour Ferrari’s factory in Italy with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, or to be insulted by Jeremy Clarkson talking trash about your favorite cars, or even sitting down to watch some mad Japanese race drivers play ‘car soccer’, there is a variety of choices for all types of car fans. Gran Turismo TV is housed within Gran Turismo 5 Prologue so access and videos is all in-game!
Here’s some key points in this update:
- For the first two weeks only, we are providing all pay-per-view content for at a discounted price of $.99! It’s a good way to get a taste Gran Turismo TV. The HD content we shoot for our exclusive stuff looks pretty amazing. Following the initial two-week period, content will start at $1.99. So start downloading away!
- Be sure to check the full content list for a full content list, as we will be adding new programs on a regular basis.
- Gran Turismo TV will also include new features that allow viewers to fast forward, rewind, and move between chapters when viewing video content.
- Viewers can download up to 8 episodes simultaneously and pause individual downloads.
There are some in-game fixes including; penalty judgments, more tire choices for Time Trial and improved physics during collisions between cars during online races.
Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony Digital boss said that he’s currently concentrating on expanding Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and that the Blu-Ray version of Gran Turismo 5 might not hit before 2010.
Polyphony are going to be adding new cars, tracks and features to Prologue. The one we’re most looking forwards to is the new damage system – first time ever in Gran Turismo.
Yamauchi also stated that the long gone Gran Turismo Mobile for the Playstation Portable is not actually gone, its still actively in development but won’t be released until after GT5.
A new Gran Turismo 5: Proglogue update will be available on the 1st of August 2008. Whats good about this update is that it will include, for the first time ever in Gran Turismo, a damage system. The update will weigh in at around 233MB.
Here’s the full list of additions and fixed:
Improvement in Download Speed
- Improvements in download speeds for online updates and content
Gran Turismo TV
- Start of PPV (Pay Per View) service
- It is now possible to fast forward, rewind, or move between chapters when viewing video content.
- It is possible now to have up to 8 simultaneous background downloads running at the same time.
- Individual downloads can now be paused or resumed.
Distribution of Expansion Data
- Instant distribution feature of My Page backgrounds added
Race
- Improvements in penalty judgments
- Improved physics during collisions between cars in Online races.
Time Trial
- The tire selection in Arcade time trials changed from “S2” fixed, to “N1-S2”
Ranking
- It is now possible to display top lap times in all courses in a list.
- Improvements in the user interface
Common Vehicle Physics
- Improved controllability when using S1-S3, and R1-R3 tires.
- Changed calculation rules for performance points.
Option
- Added [Standard Definition (SD) Display Size] in [Display Settings]
- Moved the [Temperature] unit setting from [Network] to [Units]
- Added Expansion Data settings and Advanced Download Option settings in [Network]
Sound
- 6 BGM tracks added
Online race network specifications changed
- Added port 5658 to the ports used in Online races.
Other
- Players matched in Online races now added to the [Friends] → [Players Met] menu within Playstation 3.
- The time and score from replays of time trials, drift trials, and distributed demo replays are now displayed after their replay. For distributed demo’s, the Online ID is also displayed here.
- Manual updated
An interview with Gran Turismo’s designer Kazunori Yamauchi revealed that all of the car manufacturers will make its way into Gran Turismo 5 including Porsche.
Here is a snippet of the interview:
“OPM:Which manufacturers do you still dream on including? Porche?
KY: I can’t really go into detail at this point, but by the time GT5 comes out I think we’ll have most – no, all of the major manufacturers.
OPM: SO, come on..Porsche?
KY:Probably.
Not only that but Yamauchi gave an update on the damage system that could be included in a future update for Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.
Yamauchi said:
“OPM: Exciting! So how are you getting on with damage modelling so far?
KY: It’s not actually difficult, but there are a lot of different factors, like how many cars are going to be able to race at the same time once we’ve included the damage. There’s going to have to be adjustments made – when you crash at over a certain speed there’s no way you can drive it anymore. So the level of damage applied to the car will be dampened so that you can still have fun.”
Its looking good so far for GT5.
Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that the Gran Turismo franchise has broke the 50 million barrier as of April 30th 2008. This was achieved in just over 10 years after the first Gran Turismo was released in December 1997.
Producer of Gran Turismo, Kazunori Yamauchi said:
“Initially, Gran Turismo was an ‘alternative’ racing game, kind of an outsider in the genre”
“And we made it thinking that it would be okay as long as it reached out to ‘the select few who would agree with us.’ So this figure — 50 million units — is simply astounding. If you go to a game store and look for a particular package, and pay for it at the cash register, though the time may be very brief, it still takes at least 3 minutes or so. It’s simply mind boggling and hard to believe that this has been repeated 50 million times all around the world in the last 10 years. I would really like to thank all the fans who have supported the Gran Turismo series over the years, for all their passion and love of the game. We’d like to continue making every effort to create cutting edge, high quality games, so that we don’t disappoint anyone’s expectations.”
Click through for full press release.
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue features a fast car, a very fast car, the Ferrari F2007 Formula One car. But your gonna have to pay a whopping 2 million credits to drive this beast and for those that havent seen the F1 in action on GT5 below are some videos just to get you motivated and raise the cash to buy the thing.
Cockpit view around the Suzuka.
Replay around the the High Speed Ring.
I haven’t yet to buy this car but i’m currently saving up!