Prior to the SEMA show, all exhibitors are invited to submit their car for consideration by a select panel of distinguished judges, who pick the top car in each of five different categories, including “Best Domestic,” “Best European Import,” “Best Hot Rod,” “Best Japanese Import” and “Best Truck/SUV.” Judges consist of various respected automotive journalists, and judging for each category is based on the judges’ choice for cars that exhibit a strong balance of performance and style. After the five category winners are chosen, Yamauchi selects his favorite to receive the coveted “Best in Show” prize. This year, the winner of the “Best Japanese Import” went to JR Rocha with his custom 2007 Infiniti G37. The “Best Truck/SUV” honor was presented to John Wargo for his 1938 Chevy. The “Best European Import” award was given to Robert Gal this year for his Volkswagon Concept car. The “Best Domestic,” award was given to James Shipka for his 1967 Chevrolet Camero Rally Sport “Big Red.” The final category, “Best Hot Rod,” was awarded to Jason Lavigne for the Factory Five Racing 1933 Hot Rod.

To celebrate the best of the SEMA exhibitors, PlayStation hosted an awards ceremony last Thursday night at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. With drift and rally superstar Tanner Foust emceeing the ceremony, Yamauchi presented the Best in Show award to JR Rocha for his Infiniti G37. Yamauchi selected JR Rocha’s car for this prestigious honor because of the passion and dedication that went into making it. JR, and every other Gran Turismo fan, will be able to drive a virtual recreation of his G37 in a future installment of Gran Turismo. Following the ceremony, party guests were treated to a special live performance by hip hop superstar Ludacris, with rock legends Tommy Lee and Dave Navarro helping bring the set to an exciting close. Post-performance music was played by DJ Z-Trip. It was quite a show!!

That’s it for now. We’re already looking forward to discovering next year’s hottest car at SEMA 2009!

Those of you who missed out on a chance to snatch a beta key from us last week, this one’s for you! If you’re still itching to get into the awesomely fun LittleBigPlanet beta, head over to USA Today Online, which is offering up the last of the available beta keys (15,000 to be exact – sounds like how many e-mails we got last time!). Just click the purple button that reads, “Do you want to test drive the game?”

While you’re there, check out the great LittleBigPlanet story that ran in yesterday’s newspaper. Lots of good info and interesting quotes from the good folks at Media Molecule. Good luck, and see you – and your creations – online!

The BD version will offer added value with an exclusive behind-the-scenes High Definition (HD) video feature called “Beyond the Apex”. This video will offer some awesome access to the folks at Polyphony and give some background on how they are able to create such a realistic and beautiful driving simulator. We’ll have more information on GT5 Prologue leading up to its launch in April, but until then, check out this video:

Basically, it creates a rhythm action experience with whatever music you chose on the go. Every game experience will be different from the last, varying as much as your music collection. Biggie? Radiohead? Sinatra? It all plays great! When you start a song, simply react to the on-screen musical and visual cues, pressing the PSP’s buttons in harmony with the music to score points.

There are three single player game modes and two multiplayer modes (both competitive and cooperative). Multiplayer modes can accommodate up to four players connected via Ad Hoc communication.

Head over to the PC Store to check out Beats for yourself. Beats is available for $4.99.

Check out this video for a taste of what GT Awards is all about.

Industry experts scan the show floor and judge all the entries to select “Best in Class” winners for the following five categories: Best Hot Rod, Best Japanese Import, Best European Import, Best Truck/SUV and Best Domestic. From there, Kazunori Yamauchi carefully examines these “Best in Class” winners to select the BIG ONE – Best in Show.

Check out the category winners from this year’s GT Awards below:

The winner last night at the 2007 GT Awards was a 2007 Audi TT submitted by Marcel Horn. It is a beautiful car and we are all very excited about driving it (very fast) in a future GT product.

Also, check out this image below of last year’s GT Awards winner, a 1960 Corvette that was playable in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at Tryst last night. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is set to continue blurring the lines of racing simulation and reality – it looks amazing! Just think: the same amount of data used for an entire car in GT4 is now used for just one headlight in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. WOW!

Following the awards ceremony, guests were also treated to an outstanding live performance by Chris Cornell. He rocked the crowded house with a set that no one will soon forget.