We're not sure whether
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is meant to be a demo, a hype-builder or some sort of mid-development cash-in for
Gran Turismo 5 (probably all three), but we
do now know that it will be made available in America on April 17th. The game can be purchased on a retail Blu-Ray disc or as a PSN download, just like
Warhawk. Whichever way you buy it you'll be paying the same - $39.99, though the Blu-Ray version will come with a HD behind the scenes video titled "Beyond The Apex".
The 60+ cars included can be raced online with up to 15 other people. Polyphony Digital will be holding official online races and Gran Turismo TV will allow you to watch motoring shows from all over the world via the PlayStation Network. Not bad for a demo, even if it does cost $40.
{ Jan 29th 2008 at 8:37AM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Aggie CEO @ Jan 29th 2008 9:14AM
so ummmmmmm yea.....
Clearly I won't be paying $40 for this.....
I hope Gamefly realizes that and order like 10,000 copies so it wont be a big hold on them......
HAAS599 @ Jan 29th 2008 9:14AM
Im glad I bought the asain version. I could not have waited till April. I'll still buy the english version. I hope my gamesave will work with it!
Pete @ Jan 29th 2008 9:43AM
If the Asian version of GT5 comes out before the US version, and you buy it, and then also buy the US version, you will have spent $200 on a game and its demos.
HAAS599 @ Jan 29th 2008 11:49AM
i spent 60 USD after shipping for the asian and 40 USD for the us version thats 100 bucks. its a win/win. I am happily entertained with this games infinite replay value and my money goes to sony and PD. two companies I am happy to support.
gt is my favorite game and being able to play it since christmas in HD online in a ferrari is well worth it.
its not like I paid 1,000 bucks for a PS3 when it first came out or anything.
myself @ Jan 29th 2008 9:18AM
ill get it!
AnyColourYouLike @ Jan 29th 2008 9:30AM
I'll for sure be picking this up.. just hope the day of im not too lazy to go get the BD version just for the extra video and the snazzy box.
unless the pressure of a midnight update on PSN gets my credit card out:-|
Steve Childs @ Jan 29th 2008 9:46AM
Just why the hell is the PSN version the same price as the Blu Ray version?
That's just sheer profiteering by Sony :(
The PSN version has no distribution costs (bar bandwidth costs), so really this should be quite a bit cheaper, IMO. Say $25 instead of $40.
Charging the same for both is a rip off. Thank god I can get mine from play.com for £17.99!
CM @ Jan 29th 2008 1:13PM
Isn't £17.99 like $36 USD anyway? Then you are paying shipping too...
Anyways.
That aside, I agree that the PSN download should be about $10 cheaper or something ... much like Warhawk did. I am also not sure that I will be able to spend $40 on a large GT5 demo, but we will see what I say when it is talking to me in the store.
Steve Childs @ Jan 30th 2008 2:46AM
@CM - yeah, I realised that after posting it! d'oh! Just shot my own argument down.
But the point still exists, it should be cheaper on PSN. btw, the £17.99 was inc pnp, so its not actually too bad. However, if the PSN version was £15, then it would be better (the £17.99 is a discounted price, it should be £24.99)
Byron517 @ Jan 29th 2008 9:42AM
Regardless of what you guys may think 40 bucks is fair! Look at what your getting!! 60+ cars and online to up to 15 players!!! Look at Burnout Paradise which is a FULL VERSION!! It only has 75 cars and 8 players online!! Sure it's an awesome game *must buy for PS3 it looks crisper and runs smooth!!* But that's another hot exclusive for the PS3 and of course you know the graphics/gameplay/funfactor of GT is top notch!! So frankly put I think 40 bucks for this game is a steal!!
TinyTim121 @ Jan 29th 2008 4:06PM
Your comment has made me decide to purchase prologue. I was gonna wait till the full Gran Turismo 5 package comes along, but yeah, 60+ cars, 16 player online, GTTV.
Makes you wonder if this is just the demo how immense GT5 will be =D
Kruegmeister @ Jan 29th 2008 9:55AM
The PSN Version is the Same Price for One Reason.
So Sony does not upset the retailers like Gamestop, etc.
Dan Davis @ Jan 29th 2008 9:59AM
Why can't Polyphony/Sony release the cars/tracks not in this version as DLC later on down the road (pardon the pun)? I also wonder if save progress in the Prologue will be transferred to the *full* version?
watcher @ Jan 29th 2008 10:03AM
Why so late? It seems to me that Sony Japan has some ridiculous timed exclusive on everything PSN related.
Sony's Strategy makes no sense comes to PSN releases. The game was released in Japan back in December. This game shouldn't have taken more than 2 months to hit other PSN stores. Sony is always giving Japan the Royal treatment and in turn Japan repays this by worshipping the Wii. REALITY CHECK SONY: You make most of your PS3 money overseas! This attitude is one of the main reasons why the PS3 is having such an uphill battle.
I had plans to buy GT Prologue, but considering the fact that it won't be here until April, I might as well wait for GT5. I see no reason to buy this for 40 bucks for this only to buy the full blown version for another 65 dollars a few months later.
Sony needs to get the message that crapping on your biggest customers (Especially Europe) is only going to burn down the foundation they're trying to build. PSN stores need to work together and release content simultaneously. Don’t anger your customers by favoring one region over another.
HAAS599 @ Jan 29th 2008 12:28PM
GT5 is more than a few months away.
I wouldn't be surprised if it came out this same time in 2009.
Pipe @ Jan 29th 2008 6:13PM
Well im not sure if you'd notice but most of the time gamers in Europe have it worst. They usually come in last regardless of what console it is on. So i really wouldn't be complaining if i we're you
Ghaleon @ Jan 29th 2008 10:30AM
It's not that you get a decent amount for $40, it's that you're going to buy the full version for $20 more in just a couple months, so your $40 is just a soon-to-be-worthless stopgap disc. But then people do buy Madden for $60 every year :(
It's not just Sony -- if Nintendo tried this with Smash or something it'd be retarded too. Sony should give you at least 1/2 credit toward the full ver.
Neil @ Jan 29th 2008 10:50AM
$29.99 would have been a better price, but still Polyphony might end up with my money all the same.
davebo @ Jan 29th 2008 10:52AM
I'll agree that the game will probably be $40 worth of fun, my problem is that you have to subtract those cars, tracks and fun from the full version when it comes out. If I got the game in April, I'd probably play it so much that'd I'd get kinda tired just of the game dynamics themselves, so adding more cars and tracks for the full version wouldn't be fun enough to warrant re-buying because it still "feels" like the same game. I'm just going to wait so I get it all at once and it doesn't get stale. I wish there was a recycling plan for all the prologue discs that'll be utterly worthless once the full version comes out. :P
theb1rdm4n @ Jan 29th 2008 11:59AM
I'll probably buy this game, but its just unfortunate that it was pushed back such that it comes out right before GTA4.
HAAS599 @ Jan 29th 2008 12:00PM
I'm glad its 40.00 bucks. only people that are fans of the series will own it and that makes for better online racing. i would hate to have a bunch of 5 year olds trying to race or people that just think its fun to ram people online.
PD isnt trying to sell millions of copies of this game.
DMeisterJ @ Jan 29th 2008 12:25PM
This game has almost as much stuff in it as it's full priced counterparts. A definite buy when I get mine.
supergm007 @ Jan 29th 2008 12:36PM
also 17.99 GBP on play.com looks as if the RRP for it is 24.99 in the UK
Eddie @ Jan 29th 2008 12:36PM
Yeah, I'll buy it. But not the download, or my poor lil' 40GB HardDrive will be overwhelmed!!
HardwareGuy @ Jan 29th 2008 1:59PM
Still waiting for that Gran Turismo PSP 3 years later...
brettjr @ Jan 29th 2008 2:11PM
I'm still deciding. The game has only five courses which are all underwhelming, the carlist lacks many of the cars I want to play with. But most of all....most of all, I know I'm buying GranTurismo 5 which includes everything this one has. So they basically got me to pay $100 for a game. I can't say this is a bad business move on their part, but as a consumer I should think twice.
Too bad they obviously won't give details when GT5 is actually released so that you can decide by figuring how long you have to wait. I hate to scream conspiracy but I'm sure the game could of been out very soon.
finelicker @ Jan 29th 2008 3:03PM
As someone has already said, the delay in getting this to other territories is shocking.
I have no idea how these people think, but someone, somewhere, needs a good kick up the jacksy. This is one of Sony's big guns, you'd think they'd at least have translated the jap demo by now.
But nooooooo, it takes 6 months to translate some japanese.
Not impressed.
justme @ Jan 29th 2008 3:18PM
stop calling it a demo it's a prologue!.. look it up in the dictionary may'be then you understand what it is.
Glen @ Jan 30th 2008 3:45AM
I believe finelicker was referring to the Gran Turismo Prologue Demo that Japan had last year. Not that Prologue was a demo. Got to had it to PD for effectively getting people to pay twice for effectively 1 game. But its so dam good that I'll probably do it!
GT.
justme @ Jan 30th 2008 1:47PM
it wasn't against finelicker, but i think GT5 will be very different from prologue. Prologue is GT4 only upscaled and with some new car models and menu options and functions..(understatement) GT5 is a new game. Nobody has seen GT5, just prologue and what they said is that it's made from GT4. Or do you really think GT5 isn't gonna have glass in the window? prologue doesn't have that you know..so. The tracks now are no way close to what it's gonna be.
DrunkRaba @ Jan 29th 2008 6:41PM
Its going to take THAT LONG? Its been out in Japan for over three weeks already, good lord this sucks.
xrich @ Jan 29th 2008 9:06PM
How long of a gap of time has there been between the release of previous GT prologues and the full GT version? A couple of months? a year? I'm inclined to just wait for the full version if the full version is gonna be coming by next Christmas.
Watcher @ Jan 29th 2008 9:13PM
@Pipe
Lol! I guess you forgot to read the part of my post where I said "(Especially Europe)" I know the pain Sony is putting Europe through I'm "complaining" for us all. I've decided to just wait for GT5. PS3 won't be short of heavy hitter titles this year. I can wait.
Alex @ Jan 30th 2008 12:10PM
Will it have damage or just another boring GT game?
I really hope a lot has changed since the last GT games. I nearly fell asleep a few times playing the last one and is hardly the racing game of choice anymore.
If this demo drops to $20 or so, I'll pick it up. Maaaaaybe $30. But $40 is freakin ridiculous.
mark @ Mar 12th 2008 1:27PM
Hi ive just created a japanese psn account and am thinking about buying gt 5 prologue and have a few questions.
1. what is the language is it in japanese or english.
2. how much money do i put in my wallet the game is 4,500 yen
3.can i use any psn account to play it or do i have to be signed into my japanese account to play.
4. how good is the game and is it worth getting (i loved gt4).
thanks to anyone in advance for answering my questions :)