Gran Turismo 5 Prologue gives car and graphics enthusiasts the perfect showpiece for their HDTVs, a eye-melting visual experience that showcases near photo-realistic vehicles expertly tuned to offer exquisite performance. It also serves as the appetizer to the main course, Gran Turismo 5, as a way to get your GT fix before Sony graces us with a true sequel. And while the game looks glorious in 1080p and running at a blistering 60 frames per second, we can't help but notice that despite all of the bells and whistles that we played it before. Whether or not you consider that a bad thing all depends on what you demand from your racing games.

In terms of features, Prologue seems less stacked than some of its predecessors, with a paltry five tracks (including Eiger Nordwand, a London City Track and Suzuka—all reversible) and 40 plus cars from manufacturers Ferrari, Lotus and Nissan, all of which almost mirror their real-life counterparts. On further examination, however, this isn't terrible, considering it gives the series' developer, Polyphony Digital, the opportunity to eliminate the boring cars and deliver the ones most gamers want to drive. As for the tracks, five is pathetically low, but the game makes up for this with several features, the most noteworthy being online multiplayer for up to 16, a first for the franchise. This of course comes with online leader boards which ups the value exponentially, as the desire to compete for the best times will no doubt keep wannabe drivers tilting their analog sticks for months.

My Garage is another attractive option. It lets you create a custom profile that other gamers can view, thus allowing you to chat it up with other car enthusiasts or share dirty messages. And if you drool over automobile programming, there's Gran Turismo TV, Sony's way of delivering programs from around the globe, for an undisclosed fee, of course.

Rumble support is a welcome addition, and the game responds wonderfully to Sony's new SIXAXIS controller. It's nothing you haven't experienced before given the available technology, but considering its absence in the current SIXAXIS, we're glad to see it return.