Or, as SCEA producer Taku Imasaki puts it on the PlayStation Blog, "NEW CARS!!" He's very excited. Wouldn't you be too, if a free update to Polyphony Digital's Real But Not Real Enough To Crumple Up Your Ferrari Driving Simulator enabled three new rides and a host of gameplay tweaks?

When you next load up Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, you'll be able to download the "GT by Citroen" concept car (pictured), the Ferrari California and the Lotus Evora. Gameplay enhancements introduced by the update include alterations to the penalty system, race difficulty levels, wireless controller responsiveness, sound volume balance and Drift Trial races, which will now feature a rolling start.

A word of caution, however: "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." That's the price of Prologue progress, we suppose.

Really real driving simulation news now, with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan launching GT Academy, the competition that will put two of Europe's best Gran Turismo 5 Prologue players inside rapidly moving hunks of metal. If you happen to live in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway or Denmark, and have always wanted to go hurtling around a track at terrifying speeds, now's your chance.

The GT Academy website is already up and running, with the first, seven-week long stage of the competition following on June 2nd. You'll have to register your PSN ID on the site during that time and set your fastest lap around the Eiger Nordwand track in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z. Following that, you'll need to come out tops in a national final held in July, and finally, avoid crashing on the real life Silverstone track in August. Easy peasy.

Umm ... is this really a good idea? Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan seem to think so, having announced "the ultimate competitive driving test" in the form of "GT Academy." The eight-month long European competition will see two obsessive Gran Turismo 5 Prologue players win a four-month training programme to "earn their racing licenses" and, consequently, discover that the ol' mid-turn bump-and-go isn't advised in real life. Following the training, the winners will be granted the opportunity to drive a Nissan 350Z in a 24-hour endurance race in Dubai in January 2009.

To get your foot in the door of GT Academy, you'll first have to keep it planted on a pedal as you face "a series of elimination-based competitions on and off the racetrack." Before that, you'll have to qualify in an online GT5 Prologue tournament on the PlayStation Network, details of which will arrive when GT Academy goes live at the end of May. We wish the entrants the best of luck and remind them that the damage modeling in real-life, 80000p racing is totally awesome.

Sony announced today that SingStar for PS3 will finally cross the Atlantic on May 20. That little bit of information was buried deep inside a press release about Sony America's presence at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

Coachella revellers will have the opportunity to try out SingStar and upload their embarrassing renditions of songs to the intertubes, that is, if they're not too busy viewing demos of Little Big Planet and playing some Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Sony America will also host the "TMO Tone Def Party and SingStar Lounge" on Saturday night.

Since we all know Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe can't agree on a single thing (see: GPS, PlayTV, 80GB PS3) it should come as little surprise that they're releasing two 40GB PS3 bundles, neither of which have the words "metal" or "gear" or "solid" anywhere on them. So there's no 80GB MGS4 bundle, but there is a GT5: Prologue bundle reportedly dropping March 29 and a Blu-ray bundle – including Spider-Man, 300, and Casino Royale –dropping March 19th.

Both bundles will retail for €399, the same price the 40GB PS3 is currently – a great deal to be sure, though bean counters may consider three Blu-ray discs a decidedly better deal than GT5: Prologue. Either way, they're both "free." Check out a pic of the Blu-ray bundle after the break.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Today on PSN a double dose of Rock Band tunes finally squeezes its way through the pipeline, bringing with it a mess of Guitar Hero III tracks. If toy instruments aren't your forte, consider investing in some new cars for ProStreet (how can you resist a bimmer for a mere $2.50?) or shed those pads and wrap your arms around a real man in the free NFL Tour demo. That, or sit back and watch be jealous that Japan is actually playing GT5 Prologue.

Euro folk can peep this week's "surely not" offerings over on PS3 Fanboy. Full details of the US update are posted after the break.