Gran Turismo is one of those great racing games that have a huge problem for a lot of people - unfortunately, it was only designed to run on game consoles. For example, since 1997, when the first game in the series was released, Gran Turismo managed to sell over 11 million copies, making it the best-selling PlayStation game! Gran Turismo 5 is - obviously - the fifth game in the series, but it seems gamers will have to take their time and play the Prologue version for another year...

Don't think about the wait, better think about the fact that this game is going to feature no less than 900 (yes, those are two zeroes!) cars, as well as to include the Top Gear Test Track. Now, let's get to Prologue, more a demo that allows you to get a taste of Gran Turismo 5, than a real, fully featured Gran Turismo game...

As Chris Hinojosa-Miranda, associate producer at SCEA says, "to further clarify, GT5 is still about a year away. You should just decide now to buy [Prologue], enjoy it, go online and race against anyone and everyone, rank number one worldwide, get the girl (or guy) and become the most popular kid in town. The end."

Anyway, since Prologue also has a pretty solid feature list for "nearly a demo," I am sure there is enough to do for those waiting GT 5...and if they finish playing Prologue, there's always a good idea to return to Gran Turismo, Gran Turismo 2, and the other two games released so far in the series, don't you think?

While a lot of racing games keep popping up, only a tiny fraction of them are worth playing, and when it comes to off-road racing, there aren't that many titles belonging to this category anyway... but those from Disney Interactive Studios set their minds on changing the off-road racing games landscape in the near future, with their upcoming title, entitled "Pure".

The screenshots available so far look great, but we'll have to wait and see if this game has that feeling and that "something" required to keep you in front of the Xbox, PS3 or PC for as long as possible, and make you always want more. Let's see what reasons may offer this game for those into racing...

"Black Rock Studio has established itself as a leading developer of racing video games and we expect to continue that heritage with the creation of Pure. [..]Pure combines the best features of both extreme sports and racing to produce an extraordinary and unique experience.", said Jason Avent, Black Rock Studio's game director.

Who can say he's not right? well, not me, at least not as long as I don't get to play a demo of this game, currently under development, an expected to launch later this year, for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, with support for up to 16-player multiplayer (this is a pretty solid reason to keep our eyes on it, apart from the screenshot at the beginning of the article...).

If there is one thing that will appeal to the patriarchal gaming community, that’s good looking females showing off, pleased by your superb gaming progress. It’s in the nature of man, geek and Latino lover alike to enjoy free style attention from the opposite sex, and the newest Need for Speed: ProStreet photo shoot delivers in full. The following material isn’t office-safe.

<-180x150 Small Rectangle - left->The scoop came via Polygamia, a polish gaming zine whose editors seem to have a very keen eye for Electronic Arts’ new promotion techniques. Our two beautiful nymphs are none other than the Sun’s Page 3 girls Amii and Becky. Microsoft tried a similar approach to things a while back, when merchandising the Xbox, but fresh meat is always wanted and double the trouble is double the fun. Sex symbols showing off near a wild Ferrari will do wonders for your business, regardless of what you’re selling. I can’t remember the last time I saw EA’s logo so close to such perfectly balanced pair of breasts though.

I always wondered how fellow gamers should look like and what differentiates one kind of player from another, but with Playboy and MTV releasing games for their target audiences, borders dim and slowly fade away. Take Need For Speed: ProStreet for example; are we going to find casual, hardcore and niche gamers interested in the title? Electronic Arts isn’t taking any chances and decided to advertise for everyone, that much is certain.

I’m sure Need for Speed: ProStreet is all worth it, but such cheesy and aggressive promotion tactics seemed a bit off when slaped on mainstream games. Times change and the return of John Riccitiello as EA CEO might herald even more changes in a company which got numbed down over the past years. At least promotion for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 racer shows us a face EA kept well hidden in the marketing back offices.