Ever since its debut last year for PlayStation 3, Gran Turismo 5 has been enthralling race fans.  However, we've heard for months now that the series was going to get some sort of expansion through downloadable content, though Sony has remained mum on said rumors.  Now, thanks to the series creator, CEO and racing mastermind Kazunori Hamayuchi, those big changes look to finally be coming this October.  But what are they?  And are they enough to keep up with Microsoft's upcoming Forza Motorsport 4?

Sony’s Grant Turismo franchise continues to shift into high gear. The 3D racing game for PlayStation 3 has sold 6.37 million copies worldwide through the end of 2010. That brings the franchise total to over 63 million units sold globally. While those numbers don’t match the 100 million-plus sales Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed franchise has experience, EA rolled a lot more titles into retail than Sony has over the years.

When top drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch hit the new asphalt at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500 and the start of the Sprint Cup Series, they’ll be joined by a whole new field of virtual drivers and pit crews. After a few years of no video games, NASCAR continues to expand into new gaming opportunities. Last year, Sony and Polyphony Digital offered NASCAR racing in Gran Turismo 5. This year, Activision introduces NASCAR The Game 2011. Now, NASCAR racing revs onto Facebook through a partnership with Cie Games, publisher and developer of the Car Town social game. The goal is to give millions of racing enthusiasts an entirely new way to experience auto racing.

Sony has seen cumulative worldwide sales of the Gran Turismo franchise exceed 60 million units as of December 6, 2010.  This remarkable sales figure was achieved in just 12 years and 11 months since the Japanese launch of the first title in the franchise, Gran Turismo, in December 1997. The genre-defining racing and car-life simulator has been released on PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP over the years. GT5 introduces stereoscopic 3D gameplay to the mix. Check out this exclusive video interview below.

The wait is finally over. Gran Turismo 5 races into stores nationwide, available exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and for the first-time ever in stereoscopic 3-D. Developed by Polyphony Digital, Gran Turismo 5 brings the world's most realistic and comprehensive driving experiences to fans in one of the most highly anticipated games of all time. The game’s producer talks about the new racing simulation in this exclusive video interview.

While Joey Logano and the No. 20 GameStop Toyota raced to a fourth place finish in the Lone Star State for the O'Reilly Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway, the real news for gamers is what Logano said about Gran Turismo 5 in a press release. Logano, who is featured along with his car in the new NASCAR portion of GT5, said he was looking forward to playing the final version of the game later this month. Logano has played early versions of the game during development and worked with Sony on the NASCAR portion of the game, along with drivers like Jeff Gordon.

Just in time for the storied Daytona 500 in February 2011, Activision and independent game developer Eutechnyx are bringing NASCAR The Game 2011 to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. After EA Sports drove away from its exclusive NASCAR game license a few years ago, gamers have had no new NASCAR options. Sony has incorporated NASCAR and its top drivers into Gran Turismo 5, which comes out in November. Check out this exclusive video interview about that game below.

(Reuters) With 3D movies boosting both audience experiences and box office coffers, videogame publishers are following Hollywood's lead and developing 3D games to immerse players more into virtual worlds. Game makers like Sony Computer Entertainment, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Take-Two Interactive, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will unveil stereoscopic 3D video games at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles next week where over 45,000 game industry professionals check out the big titles of the next year.

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) - Blatant disregard for oncoming traffic and speed limits will get you into serious trouble on the road, but drivers seeking similar thrills can indulge in a fleet of new racing video games due out soon.

LAS VEGAS -- A large portion of Sony's booth at CES 2010 was occupied by sit-down driving simulators featuring Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5. The PlayStation 3 game was even shown in 3D at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Jo Garcia takes the game for a test drive in this exclusive interview.

Riding on the media frenzy surrounding CES 2010, a new report shows that gamers are buying boxed copies of games over digital downloads. Hit titles like Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 broke retail records last year. According to Games Acquisition Monitor, a quarterly report from market research company The NPD Group, 90 percent of all paid console videogame acquisitions in the third quarter (Q3) of 2009 (July-September) were in the physical format, while 79 percent of games acquired for all other platforms which include portable, PC/MAC, mobile and smartphones, were in the physical format*. 

LAS VEGAS -- At CES 2010 Sony had sitdown racing simulators running Gran Turismo 5 at its massive booth. Jo Garcia interviewed Sony on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show about the much-anticipated racing tame. Check out the exclusive video below.