SCE plans Gran Turismo awards
But won't release GT4 Prologue outside Japan.
Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that the inaugural Gran Turismo 4 Awards will be taking place at SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Market Association) car show in Las Vegas next week, where Polyphony Digital director Kazunori Yamauchi will be on hand to present various awards to impressive new cars.
The awards, which will be announced on the evening of November 4th at the Ghostbar in Las Vegas' Palms Casino Resort (er, for the benefit of those in the area!), will recognise cars in various categories; Best SUV, Best Japanese Import, Best European Import, Best Domestic Automobile, Best Hot Rod and Best in Show. The winner of the to-be-prestigious Best in Show award will be incorporated into Gran Turismo 4.
Meanwhile, SCE in Europe has confirmed that the GT4 Prologue demo disc announced in Japan last week will not be released in Europe or the US, which won't come as much of a surprise to gamers familiar with the various fringe versions of GT over the years, such as the numerous manufacturer-specific demo versions totted up for showrooms and other events. "We can confirm that GT4: Prologue will be a sneak preview disc released solely for the Japanese market in time for their holiday season," a spokesman told C&VG this week.
Gran Turismo 4 recently slipped from a Christmas 2003 release date to early 2004, with no specific information yet available on when Yamauchi-san's latest auto-opus, the first in the series to feature online multiplayer racing, will be completed.