GT5 gets stunning weather and X1 trailers, new screens and details

Sony's released the GT5 weather and X1 Prototype trailers it showed in its TGS press conference this week. To say they look "good" is like saying, "Nicolas Sarkozy is having a difficult month."

A ton of new details were released on the racer in addition to the new media, as you can see on the PS Blog.

My Home

Speaking in Tokyo this week, Polyphony's Kazunori Yamauchi detailed in full some of the game's new features, including the My Home section revealed in Sony's TGS presser yesterday.

My Home makes up three elements of the GT5 experience - GT LIFE, Profiles and Community. Yamauchi was only touching on the Community aspect for now.

He said the big main Community feature was to privately communicate and race with your friends online, although there are other parts to it, such as mail, user-created courses, photos and a bulletin board. You'll also be able to gift cars, as well as car parts, to your friends via the service.

Yamauchi confirmed these functions can be accessed on the internet.

Another part of the Community side is My Lounge, where 16 friends can meet up and hold races online. Rules for the lounge can be changed by the host, with races being held in either A-Spec or B-Spec, which Yamauchi detailed to press last month at gamescom.

Also confirmed was a special mode in Community, known as Remote Racing: you can direct an AI driver in public to race against your PSN friends via your web browser. In Remote Racing, you can also watch the race, but you aren't able to command him like you would in B-Spec mode.

Once the race is over, your driver would have gained experience while you're away from the game.

Red Bull teams up with Polyphony for X1 Prototype

Polyphony also announced new additions to the car line-up, including the 1989 Isuzu 4200R, Citroen GT, 1962 VW Samba bus, 1944 VW Kubelwagen and 1942 VW Schwimmwagen.

But the biggest reveal was the X1 Prototype, developed in conjunction with Red Bull Racing and its chief technical officer Adrian Newey, who's designed many world championship winning F1 cars for Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull itself.

According to Yamauchi, the car was built so that it "throws aside all rules and regulations," and is built to be "the fastest racing car on land."

It's p**sing down

Polyphony also confirmed the addition of an all-working weather system in GT5. Yamauchi said the implementation will make for a better experience when combined with the day-and-night cycle, as well as other effects like lightning and fire smoke.

He also confirmed it won't be included for every course, but will be mostly focused on those that hold endurance races.

Laguna Seca returns with old friends

Yamauchi said that several fan favourite tracks from GT's history will be making a return to GT5, such as Laguna Seca in the US, as well as Sarthe 2009 and the Trial Mountain Circuit.

GT5's Japanese release date of November 3 was announced this week in Tokyo.