Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has announced the kick-off of the PlayStation and Nissan Gran Turismo 5 Prologue competition with the launch of the GT Academy website. The competition is open to the UK & Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany & Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It spans eight months and will allow the two best drivers to race the Nissan GT-R in the real world. If you are in any of those regions (US GT fans are out of luck on this one), sign-up for the contest by registering your PLAYSTATION Network sign in ID (PSN ID) on www.gtacademy.eu.
Here are the competition details from SCEE:
Stage One: www.gtacademy.eu – 2nd June 2008 for seven weeks:
The first phase of GT Academy will take place online with a giant Gran Turismo 5 Prologue tournament on PLAYSTATION®Network. The competition will run for seven weeks and to enter, players must register their PLAYSTATION Network sign in ID on www.gtacademy.eu. The next time they play GT5 Prologue online they will be able to race in the GT Academy Time Trial where they will compete to be the fastest around the Eiger Nordwand track in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z.
Stage Two: National Final – July 2008:
The fastest 20 drivers in each country will be invited to a national final to compete head to head on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The three fastest drivers from the final will win a seat at the…
Stage Three: GT Academy at Silverstone – 25 August 2008:
The virtual gives way to tarmac as the fastest three drivers from each country travel to Silverstone, the home of British motor racing, to take part in the GT Academy – a real-life driving competition on the track itself. Competitors will not only have to prove their driving skills in a Nissan GT-R but will also be tested for their mental and physical skills in a series of tests.
The two fastest drivers from Silverstone then have the chance to enter a four month training programme to earn their racing licenses and take part in a real life race in a fully race prepared Nissan 350Z at the 24 Hour endurance event in Dubai in January 2009.
From SCEE
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Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is now available for purchase and download from the PLAYSTATION Store. The GT5 Prologue download will cost you $39.99, the same as the retail Blu-ray disc, and will take 1.9GB of your hard drive space. If you’re thinking of getting the GT5 Prologue retail Blu-ray disc to save yourself some hard drive space, it won’t be the case. PLAYSTATION 3 gamers that purchased the Blu-ray disc of GT 5 Prologue are reporting about 5.3GB of hard drive space is taken by the game (which includes the HD video). The GT5 Prologue manual says 5.3GB of space is required for saved data.
From the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Manual: “Saved data for PLAYSTATION 3 format software is saved on the system’s hard disk. The data is displayed under “Saved Game Utility” in the Game menu. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue requires at least 5300 MB of space for each data file. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will create not just Game Data and Save Data, but Replay Data and Driving Data, as well. These types of data are not included with Game Data and Save Data.”
There’s a bonus “Beyond The Apex HD” video included on the retail version, which apparently can’t be deleted from the PLAYSTATION 3′s hard drive. Space was saved on the download version by keeping the GT TV video on a server (see more details here on PSU), so that helps in the reduced size. The download version of GT5 Prologue also notes: “You must login to the PLAYSTATION Network each time to play this game.” That may be a negative for some as well.
Space on the PLAYSTATION 3′s hard drive seems to be getting more precious as more games are released. PLAYSTATION 3 games that require 3-5 GB of game data installation can quickly consume the PLAYSTATION 3′s hard drive space. Especially if you are one of the 40GB PLAYSTATION 3 owners. So make your decision on which version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue wisely! Which version did you get and why?
UPDATE: The Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Manual can be viewed here.
GranTurismo 5 Prologue will be available for download (4,500 yen, about $40) from the Japanese Playstation Network or on Blu-ray disc (4,980 yen, about $45) this week. More details have been released on the online content and cars available. The game will included 37 playable cars, with 5 courses and 10 layouts. Game modes include Arcade Single Race, Arcade Time Trial and Race Events. GT5 Prologue will support 480p through 1080p and runs at 60fps. The required amount of HDD space is listed as being more than 5121 MB. There’s also the online visual content provided through the new Gran Turismo TV. The default videos include "First Impression LANCER EVOLUTION X" and "Tokyo Motor Show 2007." Check out the full breakdown of cars and courses here. Additional online features will be coming on December 25, 2007.
Read more details on GT5 Prologue here at the official website. GT5 Prologue will be coming to the US in February 2008. See a video trailer of GranTurismo 5 Prologue below.
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