GT5 recieves U.S. pricetag and release date

Chicago (IL) – Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, likely the most important game for the Playstation 3 so far, has received a launch date and a price tag.

According to a post on the Playstation Blog, GT5 Prologue will be released in North America on April 17. The game will be available for $40 on Blu-ray disc as well as a $40 download from the Playstation store. Sony said that the Blu-ray disc will include a “behind the scenes HD video”. Called “Beyond the Apex”, the offer “access to the folks at Polyphony and give some background on how they are able to create such a realistic and beautiful driving simulator”, Sony said.

Prologue, of course, should be considered as a downsized version of the full GT5 game, which still has yet to receive a release date. The Prologue, expands on the GT5 demo, which was released in December 2006 as a free download. The demo included just a handful of cars and one race track. According to the GT5 website, Prologue will include 50 cars and five racetracks, including Fuji Speedway, Suzuka Circuit and Daytona International Speedway. There’s a new dash view and online multiplayer capability. GT5 Prologue will run at 1080p resolution at 60fps.