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.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has announced the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack listing, exclusive to the US region. To accompany the announcement, two video trailers of GT5 Prologue were also released. See videos of Weezer’s Automatic Remix and The Mars Volta’s Goliath Remix below.
Exclusive Tracks to North America:
Weezer – “Automatic” (LA Riots remix)
The Mars Volta – “Goliath” (EL-P remix)
Justice – “Let There Be Light”
SebastiAn – “Dolami”
Kavinsky – “Testarossa Autodrive” (SebastiAn remix)
DJ Shadow – “LOVE LOVE”
Does it Offend You, Yeah? – “With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)”
The Earaches – “Not the Kind of Man I Am”
Thin Lizzy – “The Rocker (Richard Evans Mix)”
The Klaxons – “Golden Skans”
Friendly Fires – “On Board”
Pride Tiger – “Let ‘Em Go”
International Tracks also on the North American Soundtrack:
Masahiro Andoh – “Moon Over The Castle” (Gran Turismo 5 Prologue version)
Nittoku Inoue – “Road Star”
Nittoku Inoue – “100,000 R.P.M.”
Nittoku Inoue – “Get Away”
Nittoku Inoue – “V12”
Nittoku Inoue – “Kill Switch”
naomee – “Vanish From Angel”
naomee – “Sky High Mountain Breeze”
naomee – “Twieky 4”
Daiki Kasho – “Surv1v3”
Daiki Kasho – “Edge of the World”
Daiki Kasho – “Flow”
Goose – “Check”
Goose – “3T4”
Goose – “Everybody”
Backdraft ft Tor – “Off The Wall”
Alloy Mental – “We have Control”
Reverend & The Makers – “The Machine”
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available in April for $39.99 on Blu-ray Disc (BD) and as a download from the PLAYSTATION Store.
From SCEA
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Here’s some of the latest screenshots released by SCEA, in anticipation of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue’s release. The screens are looking pretty slick, some almost photo-real.
See 26 of the latest GT5 Prologue screenshots here.
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be released on 4/17/08 (US). The game will be available for $39.99, via the Playstation Network as a download or on Blu-ray disc at retailers for $39.99. The retail release will include an HD video feature, “Beyond the Apex.”
GT5 Prologue will come with 60 vehicles, support 16-players online, runs at 1080p and 60 fps (frames per second). Remember, it’s a prologue to the full Gran Turismo 5 release, which will be coming eventually.
UPDATE: Added the full list of vehicles to be included in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue below.
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. The retail release includes a bonus “Beyond the Apex” video, covering the development of GT5 Prologue. See some screenshots and the cars to be included 
also debuts this week. Nintendo gamers will finally get to experience the former PS2 exclusive game, complete with Wii Remote controls. There is also a new Wii peripheral you will probably be seeing around, the 
. It’s another way to free up the Wii Nunchuk cord from the Wii Remote.
