LONDON — Industry leaders Playstation and Nissan have teamed up to create an innovative competitive driving test where participants battle for quite the prize — a four-month race training program and a spot on the Nissan team for the Dubai 24-hour endurance event, driving the sporty 350Z.
The competition is called the GT Academy, and participants will first partake in a preliminary round playing GT5 prologue, the pre-released incomplete version of Gran Turismo 5, in an online tournament hosted on the Playstation Network. It will continue to offer additional elimination-based competitions on and off the racetrack, and will last eight months, culminating in the winner's entry into a training program.
"The academy brings the real and virtual worlds of racing together and is the ultimate test to see if virtual drivers have what it takes to race in a competitive environment where there isn't the option to play again," says David Reeves, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
Nissan and Playstation hooked up initially when Nissan worked with Gran Turismo's developer, Polyphony Digital, to help perfect the game's very realistic driving simulation. Their roles were reversed in 2007 when Nissan asked Polyphony Digital to help design the interface for the onboard computer of Nissan's latest supercar, the GT-R.
Gran Turismo Prologue has already sold more than 1 million units since launching. Would-be competitors must register via their PS3s before the first round of GT Academy goes live at the end of May. It is unclear when the long-awaited fifth installment of Gran Turismo will be released, and it might not even be until well after 2009.
What this means to you: Start exercising your fingers and practicing your driving skills to compete for a spot on the coveted Nissan racing squad. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
The competition is called the GT Academy, and participants will first partake in a preliminary round playing GT5 prologue, the pre-released incomplete version of Gran Turismo 5, in an online tournament hosted on the Playstation Network. It will continue to offer additional elimination-based competitions on and off the racetrack, and will last eight months, culminating in the winner's entry into a training program.
"The academy brings the real and virtual worlds of racing together and is the ultimate test to see if virtual drivers have what it takes to race in a competitive environment where there isn't the option to play again," says David Reeves, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
Nissan and Playstation hooked up initially when Nissan worked with Gran Turismo's developer, Polyphony Digital, to help perfect the game's very realistic driving simulation. Their roles were reversed in 2007 when Nissan asked Polyphony Digital to help design the interface for the onboard computer of Nissan's latest supercar, the GT-R.
Gran Turismo Prologue has already sold more than 1 million units since launching. Would-be competitors must register via their PS3s before the first round of GT Academy goes live at the end of May. It is unclear when the long-awaited fifth installment of Gran Turismo will be released, and it might not even be until well after 2009.
What this means to you: Start exercising your fingers and practicing your driving skills to compete for a spot on the coveted Nissan racing squad. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
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