Gran Turismo 5

With a release date of November 2 and over a 1,000 cars in its garage, Gran Turismo 5 is finally ready to hit the streets. Ride along with us as we run down the details.

Polyphony Digital and Gran Turismo mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi was on hand at E3 to run through some of the features in Gran Turismo 5, and here's a quick rundown of just some of what you can expect.

Cars: The game contains over a 1,000 cars, and they are broken down into two categories: Standard and Premium. There are about 800 Standard Cars and 200 Premium, and most of the cars you've come to love in previous GT games are in the Standard category, so you know that the Premium-branded ones are truly special. How? Well, the Standard cars don't have fully modeled interiors like the Premium ones, and although they can be damaged, the Standard cars don't show the level of damage detail as the Premium ones. That's not to say that their cockpits don't look good or they don't damage, just not to the same extent. Frankly, it's a little disappointing to hear, but we'll have to wait and see more of the game to truly judge the differences between the two.

Yamauchi showed comparison shots between a Premium car and its real-life counterpart, and the difference was shockingly negligible. Cockpits were exact down to the electronic wiring and panels, and the engine bays and brake calipers were stunning. All of GT 5's cars have their undersides modeled since the game allows for car rollovers.

3D: I played Gran Turismo 5 in 3D, and it looks pretty good. The sense of speed isn't awesome, but then again the GT series hasn't traditionally been a leader in this category anyway. The game also supports a combination of 3D and head tracking if you also have a PlayStation Camera. This means the camera pans around the cockpit as you move your head.

NASCAR: One of GT 5's big new features is the NASCAR license, and today Yamauchi announced the first nine drivers and their cars in the game: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch,  Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, and Carl Edwards. Yamauchi says that there should be more drivers announced, but one unfortunate detail emerged. The game will not support a full 43-car field or allow you to hit all the tracks on the NASCAR circuit. You can, however, take a stock car out onto the other courses if you like.

Personally, I'm disappointed that NASCAR's inclusion into Gran Turismo 5 isn't full-featured enough to make GT 5  a substitute for the lack of a NASCAR-licensed console game. Is something better than nothing?

Photo Mode: GT 5 upgrades its Photo Mode by not only letting you take photos in races, but through a sub-mode called Photo Tour. Here you can place your car in one of five locations including Gion in Kyoto, San Galgano Italy, and the Red Bull Hanger 7 in Austria. You pick a spot from within these locations, and from there you can walk around the environment on foot to get a customize angle from which to shoot pictures of your car. The camera you use to take pictures has also been upgraded, letting you zoom, focus, and manually change other settings as if you were dealing with a real camera.

Online: The game's online portion goes beyond just 16- player online racing by giving every player an online Lounge. Here you can race, watch races, and talk to your friends via text chat and a bulletin board system. You and your friends' profiles will log all your accomplishments, and any racers you've befriended will automatically appear on the right-hand side of the screen.

Effects: Apart from adding damage, GT 5 will have effects like debris and collision sparks, and the game as a whole has day to night changes. High- and low-beam headlights will be on the cars, and some even have a flasher setting that lets you let cars ahead of you know that you're going to pass. Horns have also been added.

Yamauchi says that the game will be content complete at Germany's GamesCom convention in August, so we should be hearing more about GT 5 as the summer goes on. Stay Tuned.