While it may seem seem like just yesterday that we first played Sony's love note to console gear heads in Gran Turismo, it was actually ten years ago ... a realization that made us feel incredibly old as Sony and developer Polyphony Digital announced that the sim, that first got its license in December 1997, has shipped more than 50 million units across the globe.

This figure, of course, includes the recently released Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which according to Sony has shipped out more than 2 million units. The company is playing coy, though, as to whether this number includes just physical products or digital downloads over PSN as well. We'd like to extend our hand and congratulate the series for making it this far, but unfortunately it didn't stop between the two yellow lines on the pavement so it's going to have to go back to the start and try again.

It's been over three years since we first sighed 'awwwe' to Polyphony Digital's plans to develop a kindly, gentler racing simulation with the kid-friendly Gran Turismo for Boys. Now series mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi has come forward about the project, and in a recent CVG interview commented that Gran Turismo for Boys is still coming, though perhaps as an included feature in Gran Turismo 5 rather than a standalone game.

Gran Turismo for Boys was first revealed in November 2004 by Yamauchi as a way to hook preteens on cars, sort of like candy cigarettes, but since then there's been little said about the effort beyond the occasional footnote to let the world know that the project hadn't been run over. Tykes shouldn't get too excited yet, however, as Yamauchi admits that his team is currently spinning wheels working on GT5, and have little time to spend on side projects. Still, with the game's release about a year off maybe he'll find time to include the child dedicated feature -- and keep us from throwing a tantrum.

You know times have changed when the top three spots in Japan's software sales chart are no longer occupied by traditional fare, but rather a miasma of Mario mini-games, a balancercise board and a glorified automotive demo. Gamasutra runs down last week's top ten, highlighting Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 Prologue which made its debut in third position with approximately 116,000 units sold. Professor Layton bully, Wii Fit, found itself parking off in second position with 124,000 units after having switched places with Mario Party DS and its 180,000 attendees.

Nintendo proved the overall wii-ner, with six first-party titles accounted for in the chart -- in fact, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was the only game not to be found on the Wii or DS. The two systems are expected to enjoy continued good fortune in the hardware sales chart due for release tomorrow.

This is your virtual car. (Points to car) This is your virtual car with its textures' reflectivity bumped up to 500%. (Points to own finger reflected from car's bumper) Any questions?

In watching new trailer for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which debuted during last night's Spike VGAs, Joystiq's own Griffin McElroy made a strange and unintentionally philosophical observation: can mechanical objects cross into the uncanny valley? Can a computer-generated car be so detailed that it edges too close to reality and minor differences become glaring issues? Judge for yourself; the video is embedded above.

During TGS, we had the opportunity to visit the studios of Polyphony Digital and meet with the man behind the Gran Turismo series, Kazunori Yamauchi. We had just finished watching a demo of their video-on-demand GTTV service – which was announced during a Japanese-press only event at TGS the preceding day – and got to poke around their studios (check out Gamespot's fancy video tour) before sitting down with the man himself. We talked about GTTV (of course), the current status for Gran Turismo on PSP, how they reached the elusive 1080p goal, and if their PSP/PS3 connectivity ideas are any better than a rear-view mirror.



Thanks for taking the time to meet with us and show us the game and your studio. It's very much appreciated. Could you explain the rationale behind releasing GT5: Prologue before releasing the full Gran Turismo 5?

So there's basically two reasons behind GT5 Prologue. First one being, as we move with the franchise to a new generation of hardware, the PS3‚ and trying to extract the maximum out of it and being comfortable, it's already taken us three years to get to a point where we're almost happy with what we're delivering on the system.

A newly announced collaboration between Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Polyphony Digital and BBC Worldwide will see the broadcaster's popular motoring show, Top Gear, distributed through Gran Turismo TV. The online channel, expected to launch on the PlayStation Network during 2008, will host 40 downloadable episodes of the Jeremy Clarkson vehicle snobbery-fest.

An added bonus resulting from the agreement is an in-game replica of the Top Gear Test Track, bound for the PS3 installment of Sony's driving sim, Gran Turismo 5. You'll be able to experience "every white knuckle, hairpin turn," whether or not you're rambling into a camera about how the unnervingly attractive car makes you feel. If you haven't done so already, you can coax the Japanese PSN into giving you the GT5 Prologue demo while you await the final game's release.

OK, try to keep up with us. This is Game 3.0 at it's finest. So, you know Gran Turismo 5 right? Well, there's this thing called Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. GT5P is a demo for GT5, not to be confused with Gran Turismo HD, which was a demo for ... we don't know, how big the PS3's brain is or something. OK, so it was recently revealed in Famitsu that GT5P will be released on Dec. 13 in Japan, though no release date has yet been set for the U.S.

"But wait," you say, "I thought that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was coming in October!" Well, sorry to disappoint you, prom king, that's apparently the demo of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. So, to recap, the demo for the demo (that's not the other demo) will be out in October, but the demo itself will be out in Dec. 13. Glad we could clear that up. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got to go punch a crippled kitten.

Auto industry tome Car and Driver made the trek out to Japan for a feature on Gran Turismo creator Polyphony Digital studios in its August 2007 issue. Among the obsessively detailed descriptions of the Polyphony offices and some ridiculously simplistic analysis of the console wars, the article managed to squeeze in a few details about Gran Turismo 5 from creator Kazunori Yamauchi. Among the salient news:

• Programming detailed car models on the PS3 is a ridiculously time-consuming process. "For Gran Turismo 1, one car was one day's work for one man," Yamauchi said. "For GT3, one car was one man's work for 30 days. For GT5, one car is one man's work for 180 days."
• Since programming 700 new cars for GT5 would take the Polyphony team five years, the game will launch with what the article calls a "a much smaller collection," with downloadable updates to follow. This seems to somewhat confirm earlier rumors of a focus on downloadable content for the GT series.
  
• Yamauchi said the PS3 is powerful enough to handle in-game car damage , but implementing it realistically would require "double the work" in physics and artistic modeling. So will it make it into the game? As the Magic 8-Ball might say, signs point to no.

While comments from Sony seem to indicate a vague Spring '08 release for GT5, the Car & Driver article speculates that Sony might have to indulge Yamauchi's artistic temperament, "even if it pushes Gran Turismo 5's release date to the end of 2008 or beyond." We just hope the game doesn't get shoveled over to the PS4, or worse, end up in perpetual vaporware development like Gran Turismo Mobile.