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GT5 Prologue priced, dated and bundled for Australia

By Dan Chiappini on 12 March 2008

Tags: gran turismo | gran turismo 5 | prologue | launch | march | sony | australia | playstation | bundle | drift

Sony announces GT5 Prologue game and hardware bundle to tear up Aussie streets on March 27.

A Ferrari 599 making Ken Livingston angry on the streets of London

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue may prompt some to argue it's little more than a glorified extended demo designed to milk a few dollars from the franchise before the full retail product ships some time in 2009, but the proof will be in the sales when Prologue burns its way into homes across Australia on March 27.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is the first retail GT title to appear on the PlayStation 3 console, and will be available at both traditional bricks and mortar retailers as well as digital download through Sony's PlayStation Network for AU$59.95. Fans of the series looking to pick up a Blu-ray version on launch day will be able to get off the line slightly faster, as Sony has said the download option will be available on March 28 -- the day after discs hit shelves across Australia. There is some suggestion however, that downloads could come on line as soon as the afternoon of March 27, timed to overlap with the game's European launch on the same day.

To coincide with the launch of the latest instalment in the highly anticipated racing series -- which has sold almost 50 million copies worldwide since launching a decade ago -- Sony today also announced a new hardware bundle for the Australian market which would include a 40GB PlayStation 3 console, a single Sixaxis controller, and a copy of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for AU$699.95.

Although Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is only the precursor to GT5's full launch sometime next year, the game will give players the chance to thrash 71 different cars across six tracks (one more than the five tracks found in the Japanese version of Prologue that was launched in December last year), take part in 16 player online racing, and experience full high-definition 1080p resolution. Our version of Prologue will feature four new features: drift mode, which tracks and measures the driver's drifting technique; in-depth car tuning for power, tyre, and suspension tuning on-the-fly; new online race events; and an offline, two-player split-screen mode.

JaZoNy
18/03/2008 05:06 PM

Are you sure the Australian version comes with those extra features because i heard it was only the European one.

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Brad
18/03/2008 06:06 PM

Australian version is the European version

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tony34star
27/03/2008 10:30 AM

I will buy conquer and be world champion

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