[Sony]

According to the Gran Turismo creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, GT Mobile will feature all of the tracks from GT4 with an updated car list to include 800 semi-customizable cars. Yamauchi has said that they are trying to keep the game under 1Gb due to the internal memory rating of 16Gb on the PSP Go and will be available both as a download for buyers of the new UMD-less PSP Go as well as a traditional UMD for existing PSP owners. It sounds like we might just have to get back into mobile gaming come October, that is, if Yamauchi isn't pulling our leg. Check out the screen shots below.

[via GTPlanet]

Live at the E3 Expo, Kazunori Yamauchi released two new puzzle pieces to his highly-polished Gran Turismo series. The first? Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3, a direct competitor to Turn 10 Studios just-released Forza Motorsport 3. Packed with active weather effects, night racing and damage modeling, Yamauchi promises GT5 will be the most realistic Gran Turismo game yet. The addition of both NASCAR and WRC licenses is an interesting surprise and will likely bring fans of those racing series games to a unified GT racing platform. A release date will be announced later today.

But the biggest surprise was Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital finally releasing the long-awaited Gran Turismo Mobile for the Sony PSP portable system. Packed with 800 semi-customizable cars and 35 tracks as well as the ability to trade and race with others over the PSP's ad-hoc connectivity. GT Mobile looks to be the overall winner of the two by offering true portable Gran Turismo gameplay and will be released in October. [gtplanet]

GTPlanet is also featuring an interview with Gran Turismo creator, Kazunori Yamauchi in which he reveals that the upcoming Playstation 3 racer will feature both active weather effects, night racing and the previously confirmed, damage modeling. Expect the virtual racer, Gran Turismo 5, to be the largest and most realistic entry in the series yet with a release on the PS3 expected later this year. Until then, we'll have to get our grubby hands on our overpriced copy of GT5: Prologue. [via Audi, GTplanet]

Electronic Arts has come a long way with the Need For Speed series since its 1994 debut on the 3DO game system. They've partnered with Slightly Mad Studios, developers of the enthusiast PC racing sims, GT Legends and GTR2 for the newest release, Need For Speed: Shift. We're told to expect a heightened sense of realism as opposed to the more arcade racer-feel of the last few games in the franchise.

How will they do it? The new title will focus on on-track racing rather than the tuner, street-racing crowd out of a desire to put a little heat on upcoming games like Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5. Both are seen as more "realistic" than what the Need For Speed franchise has become.

So what should we expect from gameplay? Shift will provide gamers with an involved racing experience with fully modeled cars including highly detailed interiors that will be accurate down to the little touches like radio knobs and the Corvette's heads-up-display. The visuals are impressive, as evidenced by the above images, but we're curious to see if that level of detail is truly carried through to the final product. Performance attributes will be highly detailed as well, meaning that big rear-wheel-drive, front-engined V8 cars will handle much, much differently than smaller, lighter, more nimble cars like the Lotus Elise.

We're looking forward to a little competitive racing and it might even get us to re-up our XBOX Live Gold accounts, that is, if our 360 stops showing us the dreaded "Red Ring of Death." You'll be able to get a copy of Need For Speed: Shift in your greasy little mitts for either the PC, XBOX 360, Playstation 3 or the PSP in the Fall of 2009.

[via EA]

Sony brought in Ferraris, a yellow Lotus and Godzilla himself to an underground car park in London decorated like a real pit lane. The party included a live DJ, bars and, of course, arcade-style simulators running the demo of the highly anticipated game. A competition was also held looking for the top driver. Drew Forster took home the prize that included a trophy and two tickets to the Le Mans 24-hour race this summer. We're great at games, so we're sad we missed it. [Reuters]

Lexus:
Lexus brought a video game setup that made me do a double-take. It wasn't big, gaudy or flashy, but it was a great partnership. Lexus had three driving simulators set up running the highly anticipated Gran Turismo 5 Prologue that's due out in mid-April. Since it was obviously a Lexus partnership, the only vehicle available to try was the Lexus IS-F. You'll get my first impressions on the game later, but it was unique how much Polyphony, the developer of the Gran Turismo series, put into this event. The first day of the show, the simulator was running a custom-build platform (meaning the developers sent out a special copy of the game just for the show), but Polyphony managed to overnight Japanese retail builds of the full game to be used on the simulators. A groggy representative told me he was up until 3 a.m. waiting for the retail build and setting up the simulators to properly work with a PlayStation 3 and the Japanese game. That a lot of midnight oil for a cross-marketing opportunity.

Saleen:
Saleen didn't have the biggest or most prominent booth at the New York Auto Show, but there was definitely a strong presence, at least from the video game perspective. Saleen and Rockstar games recently announced a partnership for Midnight Club Los Angeles. This game is slated for a third or fourth quarter release this year. However, Rockstar was happy to have a setup that allowed everyone, even our intrepid senior editor, the opportunity to play the game and showcase the exclusive partnership with Saleen right now. This was one of the more interesting video game integrations because Rockstar pulled out all of the stops to get the game to the show and promote both their new game; the Saleen Mustang S302 Extreme was also the star of the game. The game looks pretty good, and will probably keep people hanging around the Saleen booth. Obviously, the better a car comes off in a game, the more likely it is that the excitement embodied in an automotive brand will rub off on gamers.

Subaru:
Subaru has been at it with the video games for quite some time. This year, as at many past trade shows, they featured triple-screen simulators running Gran Turismo 4 Prologue. There were three simulators available, and a decent sized area of the Subaru booth was roped off to accommodate waiting lines. Subaru seems to have figured out that the game both keeps people hanging around the booth and, because it showcases the WRX STi, reinforces Subaru's devotion to motorsports. We're not just for hippies in Vermont and families in Berkeley, the message seems to be. We're down with speed and handling as well.

Toyota:
Toyota deployed a slightly different gaming setup to promote its big pickup truck. The Tundra Game had the look and feel of Paperboy and served as more of an advergame than something that was legitimate fun. Nevertheless, it shows that Toyota went to the effort of hiring designers and developers to create something game-like to include in the Toyota trucks booth, thereby catching a ride on the trend.

Volkswagen:
VW brought a nausea-inducing game. A driver's seat and steering wheel were attached to platform that spun around as the unlucky participant piloted a GTi. Spinouts could have induced vomiting. Note to the board of directors: You've got to play this video-game gambit right—causing potential customers to retch isn't the way to go.

State Farm Insurance:
State Farm brings their driving simulator to almost every show. It's a full-sized rig that sits on actuators, mimicking all of the bumps and bruises of real-world driving. Also included in the booth were three individual driving simulators running the Nascar 2003 game, unfortunately. State Farm continues to promote driving safe, but it doesn't seem to know that there are some new games out there. Oh well,"A" for effort, and for being something of a pioneer in this trade-show sub-genre.

Jeep:
The Jeep booth boasted two Nintendo Wii setups, running a skateboard game. There's no explanation why, but it seems that the Jeep booth is so boring that event-planning staff figure they need Wiis to keep people entertained. There's a sub-trend here, as Wii seems to show up in a lot of boring media-oriented contexts these days. I guess journalist have a lot of free time to perfect their Guitar Hero skills.

Conclusion
It's apparent that auto-related video games can be a big part of any enthusiast's life, so I'm happy to see Polyphony and Rockstar go balls to the wall by getting involved in the auto industry and recognizing the natural cross-branding and promotional opportunities at trade shows. And I would like to see more companies getting involved. How about Logitech setting up a booth demonstrating the wheels and pedals that they offer? What about seeing some of the other big racing-game developers? Burnout and Forza are a couple racing series that seemed to be absent from the show.

Sure, the L.A. Auto Show will never replace E3, or at least what used to be E3. But the video game industry is definitely beginning to link itself more closely with the auto industry—and the car biz is recognizing that hooking up with the massively profitable-game industry can provide it with a variety of marketing opportunities. Car shows tend to be about actual experiences; you finally see the cars in the flesh, as opposed to in photos or on videos. But this actual experience is fairly static, because the vehicles don't do anything except sit there and look pretty. Bringing them to life in a virtual realm can only help.

What we know about the GT5 is that it's super realistic looking, it'll have the Nissan GT-R, the track from Top Gear and us scrounging for a few hundred bucks.

Top Gear has hooked up with Sony to make our iconic test track part of Gran Turismo 5. And as an office with the permanent distraction of a Playstation 2, race seat, force-feedback wheel and a copy of the current GT4, it's the best news we've had since Alonso missed out on the F1 championship.

The latest iteration of the GT series will also be fully online - and, alongside lapping the TG circuit, players will be able to download classic episodes of Top Gear via a dedicated motoring channel called Gran Turismo TV on the Playstation network.