14 DAY TRIAL // Sony, as the publisher, and Polyphony Digital, as the developer, have announced that they are releasing something that might be considered a demo of the upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive Gran Turismo 5 on December 17. The content is officially called Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge in the United States and GT Academy 2010 in Europe.
Sony is not very clear on what the new offering really represents, saying that it is “powered by Gran Turismo 5's brand-new physics engine” and that “this is a downloadable time trial featuring new content from GT5 not GT5 Prologue.” Sony is also saying that “this time trial is a section of a track from the forthcoming GT5 game.”
In Europe, the GT Academy concept will allow players of the game to test their skills and, if they display real talent for driving, they will be invited to an elite group of 20 who will be taken into the GT Academy 2010 and will be offered a chance to drive for a real life racing team. In the United States, the best time trialer will be invited to attend the 500 Mile Race in May, 2010 by Sony.
Gran Turismo 5 is set to be released in May 2010 in Japan and the developer is saying that it will also arrive in North America and in Europe a few months later. It will be a monster of a game, featuring about 1,000 cars that can be raced.
There are 20 tracks included in the title, with variations used to get the number of stages raced to about 70. For the first time in the Gran Turismo series, full physical damage of the car will be simulated. The development team at Polyphony Digital has estimated the cost of the game as high as 100 million dollars.