It has been just over a year since Gran Turismo 5 was released to the public, after many delays and issues affected the titles release. Now according to an article over at T3.com Sony has announced it is to release a follow up title called Gran Turismo 5 Spec II. Before you get excited it is not a brand new Gran Turismo title that has escaped the rumor mill.

The release will see the original Gran Turismo 5 game with a selection of various post release add-ons all on a single disc. Basically gamers will get the full GT5 game along with the version 2.00 update that was first released back in October. It was also feature the Complete Pack DLC that was also released in October of this year.

At the moment the only release date information that Sony have revealed is for Japan, which will see the title arrive in the country on February 2nd 2012. It will be priced at 4,980 yen, which is around $64 or £40. The game will be shown off later this month at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it is not thought the game will reach the US or UK before March at the earliest.

Are you bothered if Sony releases Gran Turismo 5 Spec II in your area?

More About: Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo 5 Spec II, Sony Playstation 3

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We previously gave you full details on the incoming DLC in our last report here, but due to unknown circumstances, the update has now been postponed until October 25th as confirmed by Sony on the official US PS Blog.

It now means that you’ll get the new GT5 content on Battlefield 3 launch day, but that’s not all. If you purchase the “Complete Pack” by November 7 which consists of the Course pack, Paint pack, Racing Gear pack and Racing Car for £9.49 / $11.99, Sony will be throwing in a few freebies to compensate gamers for the added delay.

Along with the items mentioned above, you’ll also get a GT Academy dynamic theme to download and a GT5 in-game Honda NSX GT500 Stealth Model to use as well. Considering that these items are completely free, we doubt US owners of Gran Turismo 5 will have little to complain about, especially with a brand new car to drive around and show off to everyone online.

The question is though, will you still have enough passion to play GT5 with Battlefield 3 launching on the same day? A lot of gamers will want to start ranking up as much as possible, so GT5 may get pushed aside as second place.

If you’re interested in seeing the rest of this week’s PlayStation Store update, head to the US Blog here for a full rundown – there’s one or two highlights there including a Need for Speed: The run demo and also a Payday – The Heist demo.

Will you be purchasing the new content for Gran Turismo 5 on October 25, or is it all about Battlefield 3 launch day for you?

More About: Battlefield 3, Gran Turismo 5, sony

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Those that do not want to purchase the Complete pack bundle, which contains all of the extra downloadable content including the Course pack, Paint pack, Racing Gear pack and Racing Car pack for a discounted collective price of £9.49 or $11.99, have the choice of choosing from each of the four packs individually as Eurogamer explains, they can be purchased separately at a separate price for each.

The Course pack costs £3.19 or $4.99 and includes five new layouts and two new tracks – Kart Space, with layouts I and II which are also available in reverse and SPA-Francorchamps featuring weather effects. The Racing Car pack costs £6.29 or $7.99, this features fifteen new cars including three new racing karts, a line-up of uniquely tuned touring cars and the Red Bull X2011, the next generation model of the X2010 ultimate racing machine.

Then there’s the Racing Gear pack which features ninety new items for the cost of just £1.59 or $2.99. These features include new equipment from Simpson and Alpinestars, an official Gran Turismo racing helmet as well as a collection of twelve more suits and helmets, eight of which belong to famous NASCAR and WRC racing drivers. The final pack is the Paint pack which also costs just £1.59 or $1.99. It contains a hundred new colors across ten themes from bright shining colors to chic subdued tones.

Which DLC pack will you be downloading come October 18th?

More About: Gran Turismo 5, sony

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Let’s start with what we think are the most significant changes. You can now save your game during a race, navigate a more responsive user interface, take advantage of new interior views and you have the ability to save multiple car settings. We are also told that users can control the weather change feature and when watching-back replays you can now rewind and fast forward.

As usual there are lots of fixes “under-the-bonnet” (excuse the pun), however we think you will be most excited to hear that the Logitech G25/G27 Steering wheel is now supported and there are more cars to race with (the Nissan GT-R N24 Schulze Motorsport and almost a dozen 2011 model NASCAR cars).

When racing you should now noticed that your foes have improved AI, not only this but the physics engine should bring more realism to the game. You can see some of the less impressive changes cover at DualShockers – let us know if you spotted a change which was not listed in the patch notes.

The patch itself may take some time to download today as the servers are taking a hammering at the moment, if you experience any major problems be sure to leave us a comments below.

Note: We have just received all of the juicy details regarding some DLC packs which are headed to GT5, come back later for all of the info!

More About: gran turismo, Gran Turismo 5, sony

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You have to wonder what kind of setup they had to get such a mod to look like this; the game looks astonishing? I know what all you Forza fans are thinking, but once you watch the video and take in the “visual fidelity” you will see just what GamingBolt is going on about.

We are told that this is an ENB mod and that it is running on the latest PC; but we have to wonder if GT5 would look as good on the PS4 or Xbox 720? We ask this because that game will be a few years old by the time these next-generation consoles come to market, much like GT4 is now, and that shows that it still has a lot too offer for modders.

We cannot see that they will ever match that kind of detail or color correction, showing that if you want a game to show off every little detail, then you need to go with the PC, Battlefield 3 is proof of that. Now console fans will not like that, and will come out attacking how playing on their PS3 or Xbox 360 is far simpler than mashing away at some buttons. Keep an eye out this weekend, as you might be able to get the Red Bull X2010 without completing all events.

More About: Gran Turismo 5, PS4, Xbox 720

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Polyphony Digital said that they would do this for free in honor of the young German winning the title twice in succession. There are just five races left, and all Vettel needs is just one point to make it impossible for any other driver to win the title this year. His closest rival is McLaren’s Jenson Button; but he trails by 124 points. So you see what we mean by when Vettel takes the title.

However, we have seen in the past that anything can happen in F1, all it takes is for him to outbreak himself or fall victim to an accident that could leave him out for the rest of the season. We would not wish that on anyone, as the accident that Massa had left him off for some time. Also we have to remember the fact that Jenson will have to win every other race in order to take the title – something that will not happen.

By this Sunday Vettal should win his second title, so then you will have to visit gran-turismo.com, where they should then offer information about how to get this free upgrade. We know that you will never experience speeds of this on a racetrack, but it will still be a huge task to handle the Red Bull X2010, as it will reach speeds of just under 280mph and will be pulling 8.75Gs in the corners.

More About: Gran Turismo 5, Red Bull

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Penrose Tackie of the PlayStation Blog is reporting that the game can now continue to be developed and updated. The update adds new features and improvements to welcome players back to online racing. A few minor bugs have been ironed out, and it now has online event prizes.

Parts are now easier to purchase, and there is an improved AI algorithm for the opponent cars. In Championship mode players now have an easier way to pause and save their progress, and new music and racing gear has been added.

The latest version of the game should start downloading the next time the PS3 is connected to the internet. But if you are unsure if you have the update, go to the menu screen and press the Manual button which is found at the bottom of the menu screen.

At the top left of the index page you should see Ver. 1.10 which is the number for the update. If you do not see this number quit the game, and it will then be updated when you restart the game with the PS3 connected to the internet.

Have you seen the new features of the game yet?

More About: Gran Turismo 5, GT5, PlayStation Network

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Since this video surfaced at the start of the day, there were some questions as to whether this was a well made April Fools Day prank, but that certainly got put to bed, when we realised that Microsoft has started to take down these videos from YouTube with a copyright notice.

Obviously, this video isn’t intended for public viewing yet, actually it wouldn’t surprise us if this was something they were planning to show at E3. Anyway, the video shows the breathtaking new graphics for Forza 4, graphics which are certainly going to make Sony and Polyphony Digital take notice. The video makes a point to remind that this is actual in-game footage of Forza 4 that you’re seeing, which makes it all the more stunning in our opinion.

Microsoft claims to have ‘unmatched graphics’ with Forza 4, and reveal that the game will feature image-based lighting and photo realistic models, with one confirmed Kinect feature allowing you to open vehicle doors using your hands – a tad on the gimmick side, but we like it nevertheless.

More than 80 car manufacturers will be featured in Forza 4, with Microsoft claming that this is the biggest number seen in the racing genre to date. Another massive reveal, is that Forza 4 will feature 16 player races, which is twice the amount seen in Forza 3, that’s pretty impressive when you think about it.

We’ll add the video below, but don’t be surprised if it gets removed since Microsoft are on the warpath. If you manage to find it again on YouTube, let us know your thoughts on the graphics – is this the best racing game yet, or does Gran Turismo 5 still get your vote?

More About: Forza 4, Gran Turismo 5, sony

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However, according to a recent article by Kevin Schram over on the nexus404.com website (via Joystiq), Kazunori Yamauchi – the CEO of Polyphony Digital – has just revealed that gamers will soon have the ability to save the GT5 game during those all important endurance races.

The announcement came about after a Twitter user complained to Yamauchi that they just didn’t have the time to complete Gran Turismo 5’s lengthy endurance races. Kazunori replied by stating that in-race game saves are currently in development.

The upcoming feature is one that has been requested the most by fans of the Gran Turismo franchise. The Forza racing games (Microsoft’s equivalent to the GT titles) also feature endurance races, but these are considerably shorter at about 2-3 hours long.

As you can imagine there are a few people that have already complained about the upcoming feature, stating that allowing players to save the game in the middle of a 24-hour endurance race just defeats the object of the long lengths of the said races.

Are you happy that you will now be able to save the game during endurance races?

More About: Gran Turismo 5, Polyphony Digital

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Goozer Nation decided that this needed a closer look, as they too believe that there were far too many games like Guitar Hero on the market – Rockband being one example. There are many others that all do basically the same thing, and that is the same problem with many other games in many other categories.

Racing games have been singled out for good reason; there are only a few decent franchises, Gran Turismo, Need For Speed and Forza. We are well aware that there are other titles on the market, but these are the ones that have stood the test of time. Other games such as Blur, Modnation Racers amongst others try to add more features to a game in the hope of keeping you hocked.

This is what we have the issue with the most, when you think of a racing game you want to be able to choose a car, tune it up and get those settings perfect in order to beat the competition in a race. What you do not want is to try and race someone while trying to shoot at them to damage their vehicle – this is not racing, it’s something in-between.

It is hard to say how long we will have to wait until a truly great racing sim again, GameZone believes that we will not see another on the Sony PS3, and will have to wait until the release of the PS4. We cannot see that some how, but you have to understand what they mean?

Do you think that there is room for the amount of racing games, or will we start to see developers phase a few titles out?

More About: Forza 4, Gran Turismo 5, Need for Speed

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