We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches.

We’ll have more information for you in the near future.

If you’re a true racing fan, you know that Nürburgring is a world-renowned racing complex in Nürburg, Germany.

It’s known for being extremely challenging, a grueling testing ground for even the most seasoned race drivers and the most highly tuned performance cars. It’s home of various world-famous races including the Nürburgring 24 Hours race, and used as a testing ground for bleeding-edge performance cars by companies like GM, Dodge, Nissan, Lexus, and Ferrari.

In the words of Mr. GT, Kazunori Yamauchi himself, “For a car enthusiast, the Nürburgring is the equivalent to what places like the “Eiger Nordwand” or “Mount Everest” means to a mountaineer. There is that special allure about it that you just can’t explain in words.”

Nürburgring is definitely a favorite among GT fans, and I’m excited to share with you that Gran Turismo 5 will feature its three courses: the Grand Prix course, the Nordschleife, and the Nürburgring 24 Hours course. As you can see from these screenshots, these courses have been beautifully recreated. Check out the other five brand new screenshots here.

And if you happen to be in Germany this weekend for the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race, you’ll be able to check them out on a brand new GT5 demo we have on display there to commemorate this world-famous race event.

We’re getting close to E3, so be sure to watch the official GT website and the PlayStation.Blog here for the latest news on Gran Turismo 5.

This demo was specifically designed for the GT5 Time Trial Challenge to challenge racing fans to master every straight-away, corner and bump of the track. We want to use this demo to find out who are the best racers in both the US and Canada. We also created this demo to showcase the realism of the brand new physics engine which is constantly improving before GT5 releases.

As Gran Turismo fans know, our GT games let you select between standard or professional driving physics and adjust a multitude of driving assists, but to make this a real “challenge” for all you racing fans, the GT5 demo has professional driving physics, and many of the assists are disabled. But don’t worry. Even if this demo seems challenging, you’ll be able to turn on some of those extra assists and enjoy GT5’s 950+ cars, its new and improved online racing, and several other features we have yet to disclose when it comes out.

One thing you may have been wondering since the announcement two weeks ago is which track you’ll be competing on. Well, as suggested by the prizes, you’ll be racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway course, on a special road course layout of this historic track, stunningly re-created as only the masters at Polyphony Digital can. And as you can tell from the screenshots (visit the official GT website for the full gallery), it looks gorgeous. And it’s fitting that the competition is set on Indy, because the fastest US player and fastest Canadian player will win VIP packages to the 2010 Indianapolis 500 next May.

There will be two time trial events available when you boot up the demo, both featuring the Nissan 370Z. One event will put you behind the wheel of the car in its stock configuration, and the other lets you drive a tuned version with reduced weight, tires with more grip, and more aerodynamic body parts. The tuned version drives and handles a little better, so you’ll want to start with it to get a feel for the game and to learn the track. When you’re ready, take the stock 370Z for a spin, but be careful to watch your throttle or you really will be going for a “spin.”

And of course the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge is your entry method for a chance to win round trip airfare and hotel accommodations for two (winner and guest) to attend the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, a.k.a. the Indy 500, in May. Each winner also gets a VIP package that includes two all-access passes for Carb Day (final Indy 500 practice, pit stop competition, special concert festivities, special event car rides in the 2010 Indy 500 event vehicle), all-access passes to the garage, pit area, and Victory Lane for pre and post-race celebrations for the race, and two VIP suite tickets to enjoy the race. The fastest players from both the US and Canada will represent their fellow GT fans at this exciting historic race. That’s a pretty sweet way to spend a weekend.

That’s about it. I look forward to seeing you all competing for that top spot down to the wire on January 25. Look for me competing against your time, if I make the top tier. My PSN ID is skebe. Good luck!

Keep an eye on the PlayStation Blog for more Gran Turismo updates this week.

For more on Gran Turismo for PSP, check out the new GT website.

New Vehicles
All three vehicles and manufacturers have special ties to Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital. They will be added to their respective Dealership areas in GT5 Prologue.

GT by Citreon – The “GT by Citroen” concept car is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between French automaker Citroen and Polyphony Digital. The formal debut of the vehicle took place yesterday at the Paris Motor Show, coinciding with the release of today’s update to the game. A video of the “GT by Citroen” can be viewed in HD within Gran Turismo TV.

Check out the screenshots below and for photos, follow this link.

The two other new cars are the Ferrari California and the Lotus Evora. They are a lot of fun to drive. For a look at these sexy vehicles, check out the images below.

The GT by Citroen is available for 1 Million credits; the Ferrari California will go for 300,000 credits the Lotus Evora for 100,000. Piece of cake, right?!?

GamePlay Enhancements
We’ve also added some great new gameplay enhancements to continue to improve the racing experience in GT5 Prologue. This includes changes to the penalty system; specifically, during Time Trial events, speed penalties have been removed, and instead incurring such a penalty now invalidates the lap time for that particular lap. Race events are also being updated, with tweaked difficulty levels and increased earnings for winning a top spot. Additionally, improved responsiveness when using the wireless controller, and improved sound volume balance for sound effects and music for a better racing experience. Drift Trial races have also been changed to feature a rolling start.

Disclaimer Note Here: Rankings, arcade time trial times, drift trial records, as well as vehicle-specific quick tune settings and custom key layouts will all be reset with the new update. Replay data created before the second update will no longer be viewable after this update. To confirm the version you have before updating the game, check the in-game manual.

That’s it for now, folks. I’ll see you on the track….

On Friday, August 1st, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue owners will receive a significant update that will take their racing and automotive experience to a new level.

The heart of this update is a new line-up of exciting automotive programming for “Gran Turismo TV”, our in-game automotive media channel. Gearheads will enjoy a host of new free and pay-per-view programming, including “Top Gear“, UK’s premier car entertainment program, and Japan’s “Best Motoring” video magazine, dedicated to the pursuit of the pleasure of driving.

Whether you’re in the mood to tour Ferrari’s factory in Italy with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, or to be insulted by Jeremy Clarkson talking trash about your favorite cars, or even sitting down to watch some mad Japanese race drivers play ‘car soccer’, there is a variety of choices for all types of car fans. Gran Turismo TV is housed within Gran Turismo 5 Prologue so access and videos is all in-game!

A few other notes about Gran Turismo TV for you to keep in mind:

• For the first two weeks only, we are providing all pay-per-view content for at a discounted price of $.99! It’s a good way to get a taste Gran Turismo TV. The HD content we shoot for our exclusive stuff looks pretty amazing. Following the initial two-week period, content will start at $1.99. So start downloading away!
• Be sure to check the full content list for a full content list, as we will be adding new programs on a regular basis.
• Gran Turismo TV will also include new features that allow viewers to fast forward, rewind, and move between chapters when viewing video content.
• Viewers can download up to 8 episodes simultaneously and pause individual downloads.

Personally, I would like to find some American content to beef-up the roster. What do you think? We welcome any suggestions you may have.

In addition, other gameplay enhancements come with this update, like fixes in penalty judgments, more tire choices for Time Trial and improved physics during collisions between cars during online races (YES! We’ve been carefully monitoring players behaviors online and all your comments on the forums.)

Stay tuned for more updates on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in the future. See you online!

Amongst the thousands of questions asked, let’s tackle a few to start: first, this is indeed the Scuderia Ferrari F2007; second, that is the actual Ferrari red as sanctioned by the Ferrari team; and last but not least, the Ferrari F2007 will be available at all Gran Turismo Ferrari dealerships for 2 million game credits.

With slick graphics, a 2.4 liter 90-degree V8 engine and the amazing physics of a F1 vehicle, the Ferrari F2007 is truly a beauty. Driving it is an adrenaline-pumping, hair-standing, goose-bumping experience… I hope everyone gets to experience this “God Mode within Gran Turismo”. Over the last couple weeks we’ve been driving this car in our offices every single day, with the volume cranked up… there is nothing more soothing than the high-rev scream of the Scuderia speeding down the Fuji straight…

More to come on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soon. In the meantime, check out these new screen shots.

I’m blogging today with some awesome news! Today SCEA released more information about the North American version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, scheduled for launch on PS3 in April. These new details include the full vehicle roster, the track list and some cool additional features. You can read all the nitty-gritty details in the press release, but here is a brief summary and some new screens shots. Enjoy!

Summary of differences between Japanese version and the American version:

• A whopping 30+ additional vehicles (compared to the Japanese version), including tuner cars from Amuse, Mine’s, etc.
• Another track to race on: an all-time favorite in the series – frantic and chaotic High Speed Ring!
• In Drift Mode, measure your drifting technique based on driving line, angle and speed within scoring zones on the course
• With the Quick Tune feature, adjust your vehicle’s settings including power, weight, tires and suspension
• All new set of online and offline race events and time trials to jump into, win, and unlock cars/features
• With Logitech’s new Driving Force GT racing wheel, you can adjust brake bias, traction and damper settings on-the-fly like they do in real-life with Formula One and rally cars. GT5 Prologue will support DualShock 3, too!

There will be much more info coming on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soon, but in the meantime, enjoy these crisp, new screenshots!