The beleagured BBC has struck a deal with Polyphony Digital that will allow the developer to make episodes of Top Gear available through the Gran Turismo (GT) TV media service.
The move will mean that 40 episodes of the programme - showing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's vehicular exploits - will be available for download via the channel, which is set to launch on the PlayStation Network sometime next year.
Getting BBC content onto the PS3 is certainly a coup for Sony, especially given that Microsoft has yet to get its act together with a video on demand (VOD) service in the UK.
"We at Polyphony are great fans of the world's best motoring programme, Top Gear, so we're delighted to be collaborating with BBC Worldwide to deliver Top Gear content via Gran Turismo”, Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi stated. Who knew that a bunch of chaps who seem like your Dad's oddball mates had such global appeal?
The BBC is also allowing Polyphony to include Top Gear's famous test track to be included in GT5. Could this be the move that convinces middle-aged Dads up and down the country to rush out and buy PS3's in balding droves?
The Gran Turismo series has featured in Top Gear before, with Clarkson having tried to beat his time speeding a real Honda NSX around the Californian Laguna Seca race track with the same car in the game. He was faster in the game, if you were wondering.
Alas, GT5 still looks to be a long way off, with a vague mention of a 2008 release having been made by Sony. In the meantime, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue should be out by the end of the year.
The move will mean that 40 episodes of the programme - showing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's vehicular exploits - will be available for download via the channel, which is set to launch on the PlayStation Network sometime next year.
Getting BBC content onto the PS3 is certainly a coup for Sony, especially given that Microsoft has yet to get its act together with a video on demand (VOD) service in the UK.
"We at Polyphony are great fans of the world's best motoring programme, Top Gear, so we're delighted to be collaborating with BBC Worldwide to deliver Top Gear content via Gran Turismo”, Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi stated. Who knew that a bunch of chaps who seem like your Dad's oddball mates had such global appeal?
The BBC is also allowing Polyphony to include Top Gear's famous test track to be included in GT5. Could this be the move that convinces middle-aged Dads up and down the country to rush out and buy PS3's in balding droves?
The Gran Turismo series has featured in Top Gear before, with Clarkson having tried to beat his time speeding a real Honda NSX around the Californian Laguna Seca race track with the same car in the game. He was faster in the game, if you were wondering.
Alas, GT5 still looks to be a long way off, with a vague mention of a 2008 release having been made by Sony. In the meantime, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue should be out by the end of the year.
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Comments
realvictory 24 Oct 2007 12:39
1/3
Boring news for most people, but for GT fans and people who like cars, excellent news.
tyrion 24 Oct 2007 13:31
2/3
realvictory wrote:
Boring news for most people, but for GT fans and people who like cars, excellent news.
This is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest pieces of news ever. But only if they do it right. The have to license the Stig's power lap times and the star in a reasonably priced car lap times and use those to pre-populate the online leaderboard for the top gear track.
Also, imagine having Stig-produced ghost car performances to download over PSN? They could gather telemetry from the power laps and have the cars and lap recordings ready to download on the Sunday night. Watch the show then spend the rest of the week trying to beat the Stig.
Never mind "middle-aged Dads up and down the country" - Top Gear is on of the most-watched TV programs in the world with an absolutely huge bittorrent community. This single feature, if done right, could double the sales of GT5 and give a huge boost to PS3 hardware sales.
deleted 25 Oct 2007 00:00
3/3
tyrion wrote:
realvictory wrote:
Boring news for most people, but for GT fans and people who like cars, excellent news.
This is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest pieces of news ever. But only if they do it right. The have to license the Stig's power lap times and the star in a reasonably priced car lap times and use those to pre-populate the online leaderboard for the top gear track.
Also, imagine having Stig-produced ghost car performances to download over PSN? They could gather telemetry from the power laps and have the cars and lap recordings ready to download on the Sunday night. Watch the show then spend the rest of the week trying to beat the Stig.
Never mind "middle-aged Dads up and down the country" - Top Gear is on of the most-watched TV programs in the world with an absolutely huge bittorrent community. This single feature, if done right, could double the sales of GT5 and give a huge boost to PS3 hardware sales.
Couldnt agree more, although its unfortunate that clarkson has found yet another media route to stick his head in.
PS: top gear did a story a few years back reviewing GT2 if anyone remembers funny how things go in circles.