Autoblog

Nunez's ride this week...

We Autobloggers chat on AIM all the time. Imagine a text-only version of the podcast, only 100 times more scatterbrained (who knew this was even possible?) and you'll get the general idea. So anyway, here's an exchange between The Neff and myself from earlier this afternoon, in which he hits me with a solid uppercut using his Brass Knuckles of Perspective. I think they may have bits of dead Alero cast into them.

Neff: Chris Grant from Joystiq got Sony to send us a review copy of GT5 Prologue
Neff: Arriving Tuesday
Nunez: You are such a d**k
Neff: Okay Mr. RS4
Nunez: HAHAHAHA
Neff: At least the car in your driveway right now is real
Nunez: I want to drive a PRETEND RS4, too!

Let the online play begin. What Neff doesn't tell you is that he -- at this very moment -- is writing up something that makes the (undeniably, ridiculously badass) RS4 press car parked out in my driveway seem like a Kia Optima. But you'll have to wait until Monday to read about that. Oh, and as it happens, I can't drive a pretend RS4 in GT5 Prologue when it arrives this week, anyway. I'll have to make do with the real thing.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be dropping April 17th in the U.S., both as a downloadable game from the Playstation Store and on actual Blu-ray disc. We reported last week that damage modeling, long missing from the Gran Turismo series despite being featured in many of its competitors, was for the first time being considered, and today we have word from Gran Turismo head Kazunori Yamauchi that it could come as a downloadable feature for the game as early as this fall. Gran Turismo games have always set the standard for racing sims, but the lack of physical damage to the cars when buddy bumping on a back straight or flying grille first into a barrier have held them back. In fact, smart players can use the lack of damage to their advantage by heading into turns without breaking and bouncing off the wall. Hardly the perfect line, but it gets the job done on those particularly difficult courses. Thanks for the tip, Brad!

[Source: PS3 Fanboy]

Click above to watch the video

We love our Xbox 360s here at Autoblog. We really do. But lately we've been thinking about trading in for a PlayStation 3. The cause is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, the temptation only intensifying with every screen capture, new feature and list of drivable cars that crosses cyberspace. We recently brought you news of the Ferrari F2007, Kimi Raikkonen's championship-winning Formula One race car, being available in the new game. Today we bring you a video of said F2007 lapping the Suzuka circuit in Japan.

For those not familiar, well... you should be: Suzuka is one of the most famous race tracks in the world. It's owned by Honda and, on the grand prix set-up, features a unique figure 8 configuration with an overpass. The Japanese Grand Prix moved to the Fuji Speedway (owned by arch-rival Toyota... uh-oh) while Suzuka is undergoing renovations, but is due back on the calendar for next year when Raikkonen will undoubtedly try to beat his own lap record that he set there in 2005. Until then, GT5 will give you the chance to beat Kimi's time in his own car. Check out the (admittedly crude, but exciting) bootleg video after the jump.


[Source: GTPlanet]

Click above to view more screenshots of the Ferrari F2007 on GT5

The beauty about driving games like Forza 2 and Gran Turismo 5 is that they give us (yes, even us here at Autoblog) the chance to drive cars we otherwise couldn't get anywhere near. The latest virtual joy ride to hit the news cycle is the Ferrari F2007, the very same Formula One car that Kimi Raikkonen drove last year to the drivers' title and – with a little help from teammate Felipe Massa – the constructors' championship, as well.

According to the latest information posted on the official Playstation blog, the F2007 will be among the many exciting new cars available for your gaming pleasure in the new GT5 Prologue. The championship-winning racer in officially sanctioned rosso livery will be available for 2 million game credits from all Ferrari dealerships on Gran Turismo 5, so start earning your points as soon as you get your hands on the game. Then spend your sleepless nights trying to beat Kimi's laptimes. Until then, keep the dream alive with the screenshots in the gallery below. Thanks for the tip, Peter!

[Source: Playstation.Blog]

click above image to view video

If you watched last night's Video Game Awards on Spike then you saw were among the first to see Digital Polyphony's new Gran Turismo 5 Prologue trailer. If you missed it, however, we've got the vid for you right here. Once again, the graphics are simply stunning. Whether watching the new Nissan GT-R whiz by or staring at a race-prepped BMW Z4 in the pit garage, there's nary a pixel out of place. Though we all know the Playstation 3 is a graphical powerhouse, few games have really shown off the console's potential. This one will, if it ever gets released. And this is just the prologue! We're still a good era away from the full game's actual release.

Click here to watch the video after the jump.

[Source: Joystiq]

If it were a dessert, it would be Death By Chocolate. Since it's Gran Turismo 5, we're going to call it Death By Motorized Magnitude. Word is the full game will come with 900 cars -- or as The Count would say on Sesame Street, "Count dem, 900 cars, ha ha ha!" And one of those cars will be the Ford GT LM edition. Which could really count as five or six cars by itself, it's so bloody tasty.

The GT Prologue Demo will come with a mere 30 cars, but there are some tarmac toasters in there, one of them being the GT LM, as well as a smattering of other really fast but non-race cars. There's also a BMW 135i Coupe, convenient in case you wish to test it out on CG twisties before spending a heap of your very real money on the genuine article. As for tracks, word is that the Prologue could also add either Laguna Seca, Infineon, or (mouth ... watering ... must ... concentrate) the 'Ring. We sign up where?

[Source: GT Channel]

click above image for more high-res screen shots from Gran Turismo 5

Autoblog loves a good racing simulation as much as the next blog. At the SEMA Show in Vegas last week, John was doing AB proud on Forza 2 Project Gotham Racing 3 and just got nipped for some cool swank at the end of the day. As cool as we think games like Forza and PGR are, we've also been covering the prolonged debut of Playstation's newest Gran Turismo offering. While Gran Turismo 5 won't be available for a while, GT5 Prologue is available in playable demo form as we speak. Nevertheless, we eagerly devour new screen shots when they surface since not a single Autoblogger owns a PS3. (Hear that, Santa?) The graphics are just so freakin' fantastic. To that end we have been keeping watch on the Playstation website for updates. Well, while we were preparing for SEMA some new pics got posted. There are lots of new screenshots on the GT website where you'll also find new videos, including the Ferrari F430 being given the spur. We assembled a quick gallery of screenshots too, which include the STi and GT-R looking an awful lot like the production versions of those cars. Click away.

Thanks for the tip, Mike!

As previously reported, the demo of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available to download October 20th through November 11th for those of you lucky enough to be PS3-equipped. Now, we've got the details about what vehicles you'll be able to virtually flog while battling out with 16 other contenders around Suzuka.

Seven vehicles are available, including the BMW 135i, Daihatsu OFC-1 (?), Lexus IS-F, Mazda Atenza (Mazda6), Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR, Nissan GT-R and the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. As mentioned, only one track will be available: Suzuka.

Also of note, Sony has plans to unveil a new car between the 23rd and 25th, but it's anyone's guess what that could be. The maker of our favorite electronic crack will also be showing off its new free news service geared towards auto coverage and motorsports.

[Source: GTChannel]

For those of you who worship at the alter of Playstation, life is about to get more bearable. Its name is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (demo), and it will be available to download for free on October 20th. The move is an effort to keep thumbs from atrophying after the long hiatus between GT4 and the new prologue installment, due out in stores December 13th (at least in Japan).

The launch is coinciding with the Tokyo Motor Show, where a number of vehicles that have parts in the game will be revealed in the really-real-world the day before. Among the models already confirmed: the new Nissan GT-R and Mitsubishi Evolution X, plus 16 other manufacturers, including Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. Three new tracks are also set to make their debut in GT5, including Fuji, Daytona and Suzuka.

More is expected from Sony on the 23rd, so we'll try to keep you abreast between sake shooters and toro binges.

[Source: GTChannel]

Holy cow! This is going to be one fine looking game if it can come even close to half the realism of these trailers. The newest one we found on YouTube shows a few new vehicles and another dimension of realistic rendering. Sun and shade and even color shifting paint, all look so much like the real thing that it's hard to imagine it's not HD video you're watching. As we told you recently, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue should be in stores later this year. This latest GT game will also include Ferraris, as evidenced by the F430s shown in the trailers, though it turns out this is not the first time Ferraris have appeared in a Gran Turismo game. That small honor goes to Gran Turismo HD, which was released as a free download on The Playstation Store last year. The full version of GT5 won't be coming until at least the spring of 2008, however, so Sony is taking the interim step of releasing this smaller Gran Turismo 5 Prologue game to keep us interested. Although likely limited to a small stable of cars and limited track options, Prologue will reportedly allow online racing, which is another feature the GT series has gone without for too long.

See the YouTube video after the jump or the original at the read link.

[Source: Polyphony Digital]