Filed under: Toys
Top Gear Test Track to appear in Gran Turismo 5
In addition to announcing a collaboration with the BBC Worldwide that will make episodes of Top Gear available through Gran Turismo TV on the PS3, Sony has also revealed that the famed Top Gear test track will also be playable in Gran Turismo 5! Coupled with news that the 40GB PS3 will soon be available in the U.S. for $400 (making it the cheapest Blu-Ray player you can buy), the muscle car of gaming consoles just got a lot harder to resist. How could one resist a black plastic box that plays Blu-Ray discs and lets you imagine yourself as Jeremy Clarkson driving around an abandoned airfield screaming "It's Brilliant!" – all for four hundred bones? We're in, bring on the virtual Stig.
[Source: Joystiq]
PRESS RELEASE:
Gran Turismo® and BBC Worldwide to collaborate on best-selling racing game series Gran Turismo®
Top Gear to provide content for download via GT TV™
Tokyo, October 24 2007 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) and Polyphony Digital, Inc., the creators of the best-selling racing franchise, Gran Turismo®, today announced a collaboration with BBC Worldwide that will allow BBC's Top Gear programme to be downloaded through Gran Turismo TV (GT TV™) on PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™).
GT TV, a dedicated online channel packed with the latest news and content from the motoring world, will launch worldwide on PLAYSTATION®Network in 2008. BBC Worldwide will provide 40 episodes of Top Gear, the award-winning BBC television series about motoring for download.
In addition, the Top Gear Test Track – the track featured each week on the show, where host Jeremy Clarkson and the Top Gear team test the latest cars – will be replicated in Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) on PS3. For the first time in a racing game, players will be able to burn rubber and experience every white knuckle, hairpin turn on the Top Gear Test Track for themselves.
"We at Polyphony are great fans of the world's best motoring programme, Top Gear, so we're delighted to be collaborating with BBC Worldwide to deliver Top Gear content via Gran Turismo," said Kazunori Yamauchi, President, Polyphony Digital, "We're sure that players will be as thrilled as we are when they get the chance to put their own driving skills to the test on the Top Gear Test Track in GT5, as well as enjoying classic episodes of Top Gear via GT TV."
Simon Danker, Director, Digital Media, BBC Worldwide commented, "BBC Top Gear is the world's number one motoring media brand and we're thrilled to make it accessible to Gran Turismo gamers. We continue to explore different avenues to share our content with an expanding audience, and are delighted to participate with Polyphony Digital in the launch of this exciting new opportunity."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
T. Munday 1:43PM (10/24/2007)
I wonder if it will be a true representation of the track? The TG Test Track is a cross-over track where a small section is used twice, the bit before Chicago and then after Followthrough, I think. If it is still a cross-over, it probably means no racing will actually happen on it...but hey, it's a test track, so no worries.
Someone wanna buy me a PS3 and GT5? No? Dang.
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ron1587 5:56AM (10/25/2007)
If it's not something they're claiming, then I doubt it. It takes hella work to get it right, just ask the Forza developers.
Here is the sat map of the Top Gear track:
http://wikimapia.org/88342/
naggs 1:51PM (10/24/2007)
awesome
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james f. 1:56PM (10/24/2007)
I dare say this is the FIRST reason I've found to buy a ps3 thusfar. Since the fiull game won't be out for a long while I'm content to wait.
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emil 3:12PM (10/24/2007)
gives me a reason to dust mine off
letstakeawalk 3:59PM (10/24/2007)
I love my PS2 and the GT series, but I was on the fence and even considering a Wii. Not anymore! Blu-ray, here I come...
darth 1:57PM (10/24/2007)
sounds good to me
Just got finished on The GT Prologue Demo and they unveiled the Subaru STI and the Nissan GT-R
the game is great fun and very real so this game is probably going to be one of the first great Playstation 3 games
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zamafir 2:06PM (10/24/2007)
Yup Yup, I'm amazed at what a porker the IS-F is, and curious how they managed to get the physics down with the car not currently released. That said, the GT-R and 135i have provided me with hours of entertainment. GT5 is everything a true fan could possibly want
naggs 2:31PM (10/24/2007)
i just hope its not still 'the real understeer simulator'
when i cut the wheel and floor a viper, it should spin like a top, not understeer into the wall
Woo 2:01PM (10/24/2007)
That is sooo cool. Now, buying PS3 just to get GT5 will be worth it.
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nissanfreak87 2:03PM (10/24/2007)
I can't afford a PS3 right now!
College tuition is Rubbish!!!!
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paul34 2:04PM (10/24/2007)
Actually, Jeremy likes saying
POWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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Dan Parmelee 2:06PM (10/24/2007)
This is such a cool idea! Now people will get a chance to compare themselves to the Stig.
Top Gear did the show comparing Laguna Seca in Gran Turismo versus the real deal in an NSX...found that the video game made you drive a lot quicker.
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nissanfreak87 2:29PM (10/24/2007)
because if you crash at 150 in the game, you don't die.
Being in a simulated world makes you much braver, as Clarkson learned.
James 2:29PM (10/24/2007)
Right, because chances are you won't go balls out on a racetrack in real life. Not to mention the g-forces. Games like the GT series are good to learn the nuances of each racetrack, but they are bad representations of actual lap times for enthusiasts/amateurs.
chris 11:06PM (10/24/2007)
And the fact he used a Honda NSX-R in GT4, a car that in real life has similar performance to a 996 911 GT3, and used a far, far slower Acura NSX when he was at Laguna Seca.
Chad 2:17PM (10/24/2007)
That's pretty funny.
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Jon 2:27PM (10/24/2007)
Now I have to seriously consider buying a PS3.
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ermax18 2:31PM (10/24/2007)
Or you can run the TG test track today using rFactor on the PC:
http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=Top%20Gear%20Test%20Track
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ermax18 2:47PM (10/24/2007)
Heh.. here is a funny video of the track with in rFactor with Clarkson's voice dubbed over it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SvUGQVTJk0
Yes.. this is real footage from the game. rFactor has a very nice interface for exporting videos of replays. This one was made with FRAPS however.