gran turismo

The debate continues to rage throughout this generation's console wars: Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3?

There are plenty of reasons to buy each, and they share a lot of games in common. The difference lies in the console exclusives.

Microsoft also has its fair share on the Xbox 360 (Left 4 Dead 2, Gears of War, Fable), but the lion's share of quality exclusive games are on the PlayStation 3. Many franchises you're no doubt just a tad familiar with: Uncharted, God of War. Others you might be less aware of: Flower, Heavy Rain. Collectively, these games alone are worth buying a PS3 for.… Read more

Wayne gets a ride in Tesla's newest electric car, BMW comes up with a new hybrid, Antuan races in Forza Motorsport 4, and Hyundai preps a mad Veloster for SEMA.

• Tesla Model S Beta 1: A glimpse of the future from the passenger seat

• Kia plans to introduce small EV by year end

• BMW unveils the 5-series hybrid

• Forza Motorsport 4 is a digital playground for car lovers (hands-on)

• Nissan building Juke-R super crossover*

Nearly a year after its release, Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3 is still getting huge updates based on fan feedback, according to Sony's official PlayStation blog.

Later this month, Polyphony Digital will roll out a big refresh to the popular racing title that boasts many noteworthy improvements. The best part is that the update will be free, and that the game is getting a price cut from $59.99 to $39.99 in the U.S.

All cars will now have an interior view, a feature previously only available for premium vehicles. There's also word of shortened load times (Gran Turismo 5 has one of the most epically long install times of any PS3 game) and improved menu response, which was a somewhat annoying issue previously when players just wanted to get into a quick race.

Another nice addition coming to GT5 is the ability to save progress during endurance races. In the past, events like the Indy 500 were very tedious, because if you shut off the PS3 you'd have to start over. NASCAR fans will also be delighted to see the addition of 11 cars from this year's season. … Read more

There will literally be hundreds of custom cars and tricked-out trucks filling the halls and parking lots of the Las Vegas Convention Center when the 2011 SEMA Show rolls through between November 1 and 4. (Don't believe me? Check out last year's coverage for a glimpse of the 2010 turnout.) This year, as in years prior, one of those rides will be digitally immortalized as part of Sony/Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo series of racing sims.

People exhibiting or displaying a car or truck at the 2011 SEMA Show can enter their ride in one of five … Read more

"You're not man enough!" barks a former SAS marine. "Throw your face in the dirt and crawl you little f*****!" These gentle words of encouragement aren't aimed at a young soldier, but at Phil Arscott, a 21-year-old student from Portland, Oregon, who's been flown to the UK for the finals of the inaugural American GT Academy.

The academy, now in its third year globally, is a competition that finds the best Gran Turismo 5 players from across participating countries and pits the final 16 head to head in real race cars in front … Read more

Fancy playing PlayStation 3 exclusive game titles such as Gran Turismo 5 on any iOS device? A company by the name of Pandaelf has recently cobbled together a system to deliver exactly this function.

The exact science behind the contraption is quite technical, but it basically utilizes a PC as the middleman between the Sony console and Apple product. Other major components include a keyboard, mouse, and capturing device connected to the console, as well as a custom-built version of the firm's everyAir software and an input interpreter running on the PC.

Pandaelf plans to release a fully customizable copy of everyAir in the future. Until then, check out the above iPhone and iPad demonstrations with in-game touch controls.

(Source: Crave Asia via Ubergizmo) … Read more

The PlayStation 3 doesn't have many marquee exclusive games this fall, but one its most-anticipated and delayed games has finally arrived on store shelves: Gran Turismo 5. The PS3 update to Sony's long-running hyperreal car franchise has endless vehicles and unparalleled physics, but can it compete with the faster, more action-packed racing games that have flooded the market since?

Scott: As racing games have evolved over the years, physics has gotten more impressive, controls tighter, speeds faster, and presentation positively hyperkinetic. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is the perfect example of the adrenaline-rush racer, a drift-crazy takedown-fueled game filled with rage and competitive social leaderboards. It's three shots of espresso mainlined in your eyeballs, and a heck of a lot of fun.

Gran Turismo, once the proud owner of the best-racing-gaming-ever title, is a different sort of car game altogether. If Sony's new Gran Turismo 5 were a war shooter, it would be The Thin Red Line of video games. Realism, patience, focus--and education. It's a meditation on automotive technology. No running from one event to another--instead, smooth jazz and a series of menus that look like they were taken from a car dealer's wall calendar. Is it uncool? Compared to games like Need for Speed, yes, but is that the point? GT5, a game that Polyphony has been developing for as long as the PlayStation 3 has been released, is a living car catalog, and as its name broadcasts, a "driving simulator."

To that end, it's also the only game of this generation brave enough to have you race a Honda Civic at 55 miles an hour. This game's not afraid to go slow, if slow means realistic. Speeds vary greatly--in bonus NASCAR races, the hyper pace feels shocking. Switch to a kart-racing mode, and the experience shifts again. Racing old Volkswagen minivans around the Top Gear test track is completely absurd, yet faithful to the experience. Braking is clumsy but necessary, just like driving a real car. … Read more

Maserati will show its race-inspired Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale at the upcoming 2010 Paris Motor Show. Taking its cues from the Trofeo GranTurismo MC and the race-winning GT4 motorsport, the GranTurismo MC Stradale will be lighter, faster, and more powerful.

The luxury coupe features a 450 horsepower engine, promises a top speed of more than 186 mph, and yet retains the same fuel economy (12 mpg in the city, 19 mpg on the highway) as the previous model. We'll have more pictures and information about this Maserati from the 2010 Paris Motor Show in a few weeks. It goes … Read more

The 25,000th Panamera Gran Turismo just rolled out of the Porsche assembly plant in Leipzig, Germany, the company said in a statement.

The milestone-setting vehicle is a Ruby Red Panamera sporting a 300-horsepower 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine. It will be delivered to a customer in the USA, the company said.

"The benchmark performance of our Panamera V6 models wins over our customers worldwide," said Bernhard Maier, Porsche's Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing. "Even in the USA, a country with a preference for V8 engines, they impress with their efficiency and sportiness. The Panamera combines … Read more