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.

Were you one of those people that skipped Prologue to wait for the full version of Gran Turismo 5? Get ready to wait. In an interview with Joystiq, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi stated that the full version of GT5 "might not even roll out before 2010." Instead, Prologue will continue to be expanded upon, with additional cars, tracks and features. In fact, a new update is planned for the "near future." The big question we have though is: will it be free?

Perhaps Gran Turismo 5 would wrap up production a bit sooner if Yamauchi and crew wasn't so adamant about filming an entire series for Gran Turismo TV. Have fun driving those Ferraris Yamauchi ... while the rest of us wait years for your next game.

Gran Turismo TV will feature full high definition original content, such as racing events from around the globe, exclusive first peak into Ferrari's headquarters, and programming like the D1Grand Prix and BBC's Top Gear. They will also offer pay-per-view programs. Available on GT5 Prologue via the PSN on August 1st.

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.

When the demo of Codemaster's newest racer was released at the beginning of the month, it was mostly to praise and positive feedback. Now as the month ends and GRID is almost on store shelves, Atari has announced that the game's demo has now been downloaded over a million times. If other demos that "went platinum" are any kind of indication, GRID is set for success.

Codemaster's previous racer, DiRT, sold well initially, but never broke one million (at least in the US), so with a shift to an arcade style of racing and a customer base downloading the demo in large numbers, GRID could be the next online racer to see million-plus sales. Considering the recent debate surrounding the game, the community seems to be well aware of the game, so what of it readers? Will you be buying GRID come next Tuesday, or will Ninja Gaiden 2 be the major purchase of the week?

North American sales for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue pale in comparison to Europe's numbers; however, SCEA is still very much pleased with the results. NPD numbers showed that 224,000 copies have sold at US retailers, making the game the sixth best selling game overall and the second best selling PS3 title for April.

Considering that GT5 Prologue marked the first time for a pre-full game Prologue title to hit North America, the game actually sold well. Also, the statistics have yet to take into account sales from the PSN version, so the numbers could possibly be exponentially higher. For those of you who just can't get enough number crunching, here are some other interesting stats: Polyphony Digital's website reports that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has shipped 550,000 units in North America, 300,000 in Asia/Japan, and a massive 1,380,000 in Europe.

Sony also expects that Gran Turismo 5 will do even better. "I don't think that these NPD sales fully represent the true anticipation for Gran Turismo 5," said Stephanie Yoshimoto, a SCEA senior product marketing manager. "GT5 will have a much larger overall scope that will inherently attract a larger, mass market audience."

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.

It's been a long two weeks, hasn't it? But finally, finally we can get our hands on it. That one piece of content we've been looking forward to ever since it was announced. No, not Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Nor Warhawk's new expansion, Operation Broken Mirror. We're talking about "Still Alive" for Rock Band! Here's the full release list:

• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue ($39.99)
• Warhawk: Operation Broken Mirror expansion pack ($7.99)
• Warhawk "Booster Combo pack" ($11.99) -- contains Operation Broken Mirror and Operation Omega Dawn
• Rock Band DLC (listed after the break)
• UEFA Euro 2008 demo (free)
• Warhawk Operation Broken Mirror trailer (free)
• Condemned 2: Bloodshot "Making Of" video (free)
• Haze "Mantel Corporate Vision" video (free)
• This is Vegas announcement trailer (free)
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue "Friendly Fires" video (free)
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue "Beyond the Apex" (free)
• Two Warhawk themes (free)
• Lair "Mokai" theme (free)
• Pineapple Express movie trailer (free)

Don't forget a load of content also went up on Tuesday, when the store launched. We're glad to see the PSN Store getting content again. Don't forget we've listed all the yummy new Rock Band downloadable content after the break. So what will your first purchase be? GT5:P, Operation Broken Mirror or "Still Alive"?

If you're not content to pick up Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in stores on a fancy Blu-ray disc, Sony has uploaded the game on their shiny new PlayStation Network store. The download will set your hard drive back at least 1.9 GB and your wallet $40 (same price as retail).

While not initially available on the PSN version, you can download the intro and ending films at your leisure to view (the latter unlocked only after beating the game, natch). However, a documentary on the series, "Beyond the Apex," appears to be exclusive to the Blu-ray version for the moment.