Gran Turismo 5 Message Board older than one year ago

#fashion Now you can stay warm during those chilly nights filled with grueling license tests thanks to brand-new Gran Turismo-inspired fashions. The Gran Turismo Boutique is now open for business, selling tasteful, lightly branded tops for the clothes horse with a passion for horsepower. More »

#photomode Sure, you may be hard-pressed seeing the branding at all, but official Gran Turismo clothing was never going to be of the tacky-slogan-on-a-t-shirt variety. More »

FOSTER CITY, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) and Polyphony Digital Inc., in collaboration with Nissan North America, announced the final 16 contestants moving on to the last round of GT Academy, ready to compete for the opportunity to become a part of a professional race tea...

FOSTER CITY, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) and Polyphony Digital Inc., in collaboration with Nissan North America, revealed today the 32 contestants that have qualified for the final gaming round in Phase One of GT Academy. Finalists will race using select Nissan vehicles a...

More than 53,000 fans across the US registered for GT Academy. And after a few months of online time trials, we are now down to the nation’s top 32 Gran Turismo players (eight per region), who are now one step closer in making their dreams of becoming a race car driver with a professional team a reality. On March 22 and 23, these 32 finalists will take part in a live head-to-head competition at the GT Academy National Finals event at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.

During the National Finals Event in Orlando, the contestants will be divided into groups of four and will race in a series of live head-to-head races in Gran Turismo 5. Racing select Nissan vehicles, contestants with the fewest points at the end of each round will be eliminated until only the fastest 16 remain. The 16 finalists will advance to Phase Two of GT Academy, where they will compete against each other in a series of challenges, including going behind-the-wheel of real Nissan race cars, for a chance to become a professional race car driver and the official GT Academy winner for the U.S. The winner will then have the opportunity to train with an elite racing team and will work towards a debut as part of a professional team in a major endurance race.

In no particular order, the 32 finalists heading to Orlando are Carl Posey, Christopher Morton, Emerson Trimble, Ryan Gordon, Damian Gosztyla, Sean Johnston, Steve Driscoll, Brian Rice, Tom Carstensen, Kris Norris, Nick Fontana, Iliya Bridan, Connor Clifford, Kyong Oh, Gregory Russell, Darryl Sutherland, Christopher Roberts, Jason Miller, Matthew Wright, Phillip Arscott, Landon Harrison, Brett Jones, Glenn McGee Howle, John Wilding, Nick Tenhulzen, Jose Sebastian Cedeno, Andre Gomes, Rich Pratt, James Edwards, Bryan Heitkotter, Derek Dalton, and Brock Harrison.

Congratulations from Sony, Polyphony Digital, and Nissan North America to all 32 of these amazing individuals. The stakes are high. The competition will be fierce. Good luck to all of them.

Continue to check back here on the PlayStation Blog and the official GT Academy Facebook page for updates on GT Academy and the National Finals. For more information on GT Academy, please visit: http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/.

So, you're in the middle of the big race. In your sleek, modified land-rocket, you pour through the turns, inching out the opposing steel beasts while hurtling through space at half a football field-per-second. You're playing Gran Turismo 5, of course.

You catch the draft behind your rival and slingshot past the -- OH MAN! You're telling us all of Scrubs is on Netflix Instant Watch? Like, every single episode? Sorry, high-intensity driving action, but we're done here.

Fortunately, stoppping in the middle of a race won't have to mean losing your progress following an upcoming GT5 update. In a recent tweet, Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi said -- as translated by GTPlanet -- that a feature which will allow players to save in the middle of the game's lengthy endurance races is "currently under development."

Soon, friends. Soon you'll be able to watch all the Scrubs you want, and that unforgiving vehicular gauntlet will be waiting for you when you get back.

#ps3 The makers of Gran Turismo updated their real driving simulator for the PlayStation 3 earlier today, bringing with it a ton of fixes and features. It also included something for Gran Turismo 5's most serious players, multi-monitor support. More »

I am excited to confirm that we deployed a new functionality update for Gran Turismo 5 last night. Here are some of the new features and enhancements that have been added to the game.

Remote racing between friends to level up drivers

You can now set your personal AI drivers from B Spec mode in the game to be shared online for other players to challenge, and you can also host fully automated B Spec races (Remote races) that will earn your driver rewards and experience points. When you set up these races, you can either watch the race in real time, or save it to watch later.

If you’re not familiar with B Spec mode, it allows players to create AI drivers that you can coach and manage. They race real races in the game, and you can take the drivers through the full GT career mode.

These new Remote races are driven completely by AI Drivers, competing against each other, and the player does not have to drive the car themselves. This is a unique racing strategy simulation mode of Gran Turismo that allows you to enjoy races as you would in a live race broadcast on TV.

Supporting Remote Racing from the web browser

In “Remote Races” you can log in to the official Gran Turismo website using a standard web browser and your PSN ID, and start races, monitor progress and check results. You can basically play GT from anywhere, and level up your B Spec drivers any time.

Tracks made in Course Maker can now be used online You can now bring tracks you created through the simple Course Maker feature and upload them for use in your race lobbies for head to head racing.If you haven’t tried Course Maker yet, you can literally churn out challenging new tracks to race on, in a bunch of cool environments, by just tweaking a few settings. Advanced algorithms help generate unique tracks that are fun to drive on and can be saved and shared.

Car rental system among friends

You can now rent cars that your friends have set to “shared” status for online. This allows you to co-operate with your friends to advance in the game, lending or borrowing cars you need amongst each other, in addition to those you have acquired on your own. Haven’t earned enough credits for that sweet SLS AMG? Now you can just take your friend’s ride for a spin!

Multimonitor display compatibility

With new multimonitor support, now you can connect multiple PlayStation 3s and multiple monitors to create an ultra high resolution, wide angle field of vision for total immersion. By chaining either 3 or 5 PlayStation 3’s, connected in parallel via LAN, you can create a field of view that covers up to 180 degrees. Pair that with a racing chair and wheel controller setup, and you’re in racing heaven!

We hope that you enjoy these fantastic new features! The update also includes other smaller updates and tweaks GT fans are sure to appreciate.

We kicked off GT Academy last December, with more than 53,000 GT fans signing up to compete for a chance to become a pro race car driver. Now that the latest game update is live, we will be starting Round 3 of the online portion of the competition this coming Monday February 21 at 9 AM EST. Round 3 will run for one week and end on Sunday February 27 at midnight EST.

The top 512 players from Round 1, 128 per each of the 4 national regions in the US, will be competing for one of 32 spots at the National Finals event. The National Finals will be a live head-to-head event where the best 16 players will advance on to the GT Academy “boot camp,” where they will compete in real Nissan race cars, among other things. One winner will emerge from the boot camp as the GT Academy champion, and head straight into a rigorous training regimen to prepare for his or her debut race as a pro race car driver in a high profile endurance race, hopefully to take a spot on the podium.

You can keep up with the latest GT Academy news and check rankings and standings on the official GT website, and follow the program on Facebook.

Happy racing, and good luck to the GT Academy regional finalists!

If you prefer to keep a safe distance from your driving sims -- or consider them an adequate venue for expressing your obsessive, controlling nature -- you should have someone pop in your Gran Turismo 5 disc today. According to the official site, an automatically administered patch (bumping the game up to version 1.6) enables support for Remote Racing, a mode that allows you to manage drivers in B-spec races via the Gran Turismo website. You could be earning money at work right now.

In addition, the patch allows tracks from the Course Maker to be used in online races, which also dole out more experience points. Gran Turismo 5 v1.6 supports multi-monitor, multi-PS3 setups, and claims to have optimized the speed at which games are saved. It's a significant (and free) update, so be sure to have your assistant read the full documentation and report back to you.

#gt5 When you release a game of the scope of Gran Turismo 5, there are bound to be hiccups. And GT5 had some hiccups. A massive patch issued overnight will hopefully remedy many of those! More »

Kazunori Yamauchi discusses life, cars, and the Greek concept of mimesis.

#culturesmash This week, Japan's national sport was brought to its knees, hit with allegations of match-fixing. Some sumo fans were surprised, but after lingering questions over previous gambling scandals, some weren't. Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi sure wasn't. More »

Sony's GT Academy competition, which was intended to provide the world's best Gran Turismo 5 players with a chance to win a spot as a real race driver using their virtual driving skills, has hit an ugly speed bump. The game's publisher has announced that the second round of the five-round tournament is being stricken from the records -- and the third round delayed -- because some participants were taking advantage of flaws in the game in order to achieve seemingly impossible lap times.

Specifically, cheaters were able to cut corners on the Rome and Madrid courses without being penalized by the game for doing so. Rather than reward the cheaters or end the competition entirely, Sony has decided to allow everyone who participated in round two to proceed to round three. Developer Polyphony Digital says that it's working to fix any potential exploits before conducting the third round of races, but can't put an ETA on the completion of the patch. That being the case, the planned start of round three on February 14, 2011 has been delayed indefinitely.

We're glad that the competition is (hopefully) being made fair for everyone, but have to admit that it would have been pretty funny to see one of the "winning" cheaters cutting corners on a real race track.

#gt5 This year's edition of the GT Academy, a long-running competition that has now been turned into a TV show, is in a bit of a mess after so many people were caught cheating, the last round was called off. More »

How close does GT5 compare to the real thing? Toyota, Sony and Polyphony brought a number of journalists out to a driving event.

Test the Yaris and compare it to Gran Turismo 5 at this Toyota event.

It’s been one month since registration opened for GT Academy here in the US, and we are already at an unprecedented number of registrants. As of today, we are at an astounding (50,000) participants! So for those of you who have registered, thank you for making GT Academy a success in the US! And for those who haven’t registered yet – it’s not too late to be a part of the ground-breaking competition that may turn you into a professional race car driver.

Registration is open through the end of Round 1, closing at NOON EST on January 23, 2011. Registrants can enter the online seasonal events area within Gran Turismo 5 to compete in Round 1, which consists of three time trial events designed to test players’ driving skills and mastery of the tracks using Nissan vehicles.

At the end of Round 1, the top 128 players in each of the four national regions will move on to the next round, culminating in Round 4, the national finals, this March. Out of the national finals, 16 competitors will rise to the GT Academy finals, where one person will earn the chance of a lifetime, to become a professional race car driver.

Visit here to learn more and register for GT Academy before noon on January 23, 2011. You must be a legal US resident and at least 18 years old to enter. See here for complete rules.

Thanks again, and GOOD LUCK!

First announced at Tokyo Game Show last year, Gran Turismo 5's long-awaited Remote Races feature is finally gearing up for launch. A tweet from series head Kazunori Yamauchi confirms an "early February" release for the update.

Formally known as "Gran Turismo Anywhere," Remote Races allow you to control B-Spec races from a PC or mobile device by logging onto the official Gran Turismo website. You won't be able drive, but you will be able to issue commands during the race to a virtual racer that levels up (and down) over time. While not particularly engaging, it is a good way of earning money to use towards better cars in-game.

With the update arriving in early February, it seems Polyphony Digital is making good on its plans to release near-monthly updates for the PS3 driving sim. Update 1.05 came out in late December, and added 608MB of new features and tweaks. What else could be in store for 1.06?

Sony has a video comparing the real-life Nürburgring with its digital re-creation in Gran Turismo 5. It naturally features the amount of impressive detail work one would expect from a game that was so long in development.

#clips We know that Gran Turismo 5 looks realistic. The people who made the PlayStation 3 game wanted us to see how close they got. This is their racing game splitscreened with real life, on Germany's famous Nürburgring track. More »

Inside Sim Racing does not mess around. When the site got its hands on what it says is one of the first Thrustmaster T500RS units in the US (a.k.a. the official Gran Turismo 5 racing wheel), it made this epic unboxing video. Carrying a $600 price tag [Ed.'s note: Not a typo!], the peripheral is expected to ship in North America and Europe on January 5 ... which, coincidentally, is when this blogger's car payment, less than half the price of the T500RS, is due.

[Thanks, Chris]

#accessories Would you pay $600 for a more realistic Gran Turismo 5 experience? Thrustmaster has made the T500 RS racing wheel official, delivering new details and specifications on the accessory that costs twice as much as a PlayStation 3. More »

#gt5 Here we were, only earlier today saying not enough video games get into the Christmas spirit, and what does driving sim Gran Turismo 5 go and do? Get into said Christmas spirit. More »

#ps3 The real driving simulator just got a little more real, thanks to a big update to Gran Turismo 5. Weighing in at more than 600 MB, the GT5 update brings a long list of changes and welcomes the GT Academy. More »

Gran Turismo 5 is ready to go back to the shop for a major 608MB, version 1.05 patch. The update includes seasonal events, upgrades for winning races and save data backups.

Round 1 of GT Academy, the ground-breaking competition that will turn one Gran Turismo 5 player into a professional race car driver, is now open!

If you haven’t heard about GT Academy, it’s an online competition within GT5 that takes the top 32 players in the United States, based on time trial events, to a national finals event where they will compete for one of 16 spots in the GT Academy boot camp. At the boot camp, the finalists’ strength, stamina, mental agility, and driving skills will be pushed to the limits and beyond. Only one champion will ultimately go on to train to become a professional race driver and compete in a real endurance race. This unique competition will be documented in a GT Academy reality show that will air on the SPEED channel and PlayStation Network.

Round 1 is now open and runs through January 23, 2011. To enter, register at the GT website, then compete in the three online GT Academy time trial events. Your best lap time for each track will be posted to the rankings. Keep practicing, and if you beat your previous best lap time, your new best lap time will be posted and possibly move you up in the rankings.

All players who enter and race will earn rewards just for participating. A piece of free exclusive digital content will be awarded each week for the five weeks of Round 1 to everyone who logs in and races GT Academy events. Content includes exclusive PS3 themes and an exclusive GT Academy racing suit for PlayStation HOME. Round 1 prizes will be awarded after the close of Round 1.

Prizes will also be awarded for the top 20 national leaders (combined lap time) as of the end of each of the five weeks during Round 1, ending on January 23, 2011. The top 20 will each receive a Gran Turismo poster, the top five will each receive a Logitech Driving Force GT steering controller (plus a poster for being in the top 20), and the number one player will receive a Playseat Revolution (Gran Turismo 5 Edition) racing seat (plus a Logitech Driving Force GT steering controller for being in the top 5 and a GT5 poster for being in the top 20). However, if you win one of the prizes, you will be ineligible to receive the same thing in later weeks. So even if the same person maintains that top spot through all five weeks, four other players will have a chance to win one of the weekly 1st place prizes.

At the end of Round 1, the top 128 players per region will each get a voucher for Gran Turismo (PSP) and move on to round 2. The top 16 winners per region at the end of Round 2 will each receive a Gran Turismo 5 Collector’s Edition. And the top eight winners per region in Round 3 win seats at the GT Academy National Finals event for a chance at joining the GT Academy boot camp, where the grand prize winner will be determined. For more information about how the tournament works, visit the official GT Academy FAQ.

And with the arrival of GT Academy, Gran Turismo 5 has received a sizable update to add more content and improve the overall gameplay experience. Here are some highlights to look forward to:

• Seasonal Events
  The Seasonal Events area has been added to the main GT Life screen. From here you can participate in official online events that will be open for a limited time only. Each event has specific entry and race conditions, and completing events earns you rewards and experience points. Compete here to see how you stack up to the rest of the world on the global leaderboards in the time trials and drift trial events.
• Online Race Rewards and Experience
  When you complete a race in the [Open Lobby] or [My Lounge], you will now gain rewards and experience.
  
  Even if you are focused more on playing online, you’ll still be able to gain rewards and levels that you need to progress in [GT Life].
• Hot Car Dealer
  A new specialized dealership has also been added to the main GT Life screen, making it much easier to find popular and rare used cars compared to the standard Used Car Dealer.
• Distance Driven and Number of Wins in Online Races
  Your total distance driven online, and the number of wins you achieve in Open Lobby and My Lounge will now add to your Profile and Garage stats.
• Improved Rewards for Playing
  Earn increased rewards for winning races in both A-Spec and B-Spec mode through the end of January only. Now’s the perfect chance to rack up points, build up your garage, and get ahead in the game.

See you online in Gran Turismo 5!

#granturismo5 Not only a cute note, but a cute note and a smiley face. More »

Not only are the best Gran Turismo 5 players getting a chance to be professional racecar drivers, but they're gonna be on the teevee, too! The competition, which started up this month, is turning into a reality show on the Speed Network next year. When the finals start up in March of 2011, the last 32 contestants and their travels and travails will be filmed for the show as they go through the last of the contest and the race training process.

It's not mentioned whether or not the contestants will have to perform stunts on a desert island, live in a house together while under the watch of cameras 24/7, or give roses to each other but we'll just assume, since it's a reality show, that all of those things will happen. We also wonder which contestant will be the plucky, charismatic racer that eventually becomes a D-level celebrity.

#gt5 So, there's a reason the trailer for the US version of the Gran Turismo Academy looked so slick: the inaugural American leg of the competition is being turned into a reality television series. More »

Sony Japan is putting a special Christmas gift in the stockings of Gran Turismo 5 owners in that territory. From December 24 to January 31, Japanese GT5 drivers will be able to download a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640, a BMW M3 Coupe and a Jaguar XJ13 completely free for use in the game. The Lambo and the Beemer were originally included in the game's collector's edition, and the Jag was a promotional extra from Facebook.

The promotion is currently for Japan only, so you US and European players will have to live with the usual coal in your stocking. Maybe next year, try not being so naughty?