Since the debut of the PlayStation 3, gamers have been teased over and over again with images of a new Gran Turismo game. Around Christmas 2006, gamers were able to download Gran Turismo HD, which was supposed to just give us a taste of what was to come – and it sure did. With amazing graphics, although the cars and tracks were limited, the game left us wanting more.

Unfortunately, Gran Turismo 5 seems to be the Duke Nukem Forever of the PlayStation 3; the game keeps getting delayed and as of this writing, the game won’t be available into 2009 at the earliest. What is a hardcore PS3 racing fan to do? Play EA’s NASCAR 09?

Um, no.

Instead Sony continues to tease with the release of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, which can be considered a “prologue” if you will to the upcoming real release of Gran Turismo 5. Instead of the regular $60 price for the game, Sony was kind enough to sell it to you for $40. However, don’t go looking for a discount when GT5 releases, we’re sure you’ll still have to pay another $60. What is unique about this game is that, like Warhawk, you don’t have to head out to the store to buy it – instead you can just download it from the PlayStation store (although it is a hefty almost 2GB download).

When you start up the game, the first thing you’ll notice are the graphics. They are flat out spectacular. Once you’ve purchased a vehicle (I started off with the VW GTI, because I’m a VW fan), the ‘attract’ mode shows your car in various locations around the world, such as Germany. It’s a pretty cool “Epcot” sort of tour that focuses on your car – however make sure you check out the amazing backgrounds.

Once you get started, you can completely skip the hard copy manual that comes with the retail game – it is completely useless. Sony has decided to focus on the online manual instead (which makes sense considering the number of people downloading the game). The online manual is definitely the best way to find out how to play the game.

At the main game screen, you can check out the latest news (very helpful, especially if you’re trying to figure out why every online game is closed – you have to clear your cache). There’s also a feature called GT-TV, which unlike, say, Project Gotham Racing which shows other cars that raced, you’ll see new movies around the GT5 world – such as interviews with the developers of the game. It’s an interesting way to get information across to the gamer.

As far as gameplay options go, there aren’t a whole lot – you can race online, enjoy an arcade race, or take part in single player championship races. Your choices of tracks are limited to six. As you progress, you get the usual mirror courses and there are variations of those tracks, but really you’re talking about only six core tracks, which is a big disappointment. On the plus side, one of the tracks is my personal favorite, Daytona International Speedway—you can race on the regular NASCAR track or the road course, which is very nice.