BBC's Top Gear to be Available Worldwide on PS3

In an unusual marketing tie-in, Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that it will make available full episodes of hugely popular BBC automotive television series Top Gear, syndicated in North America by BBC America, to PlayStation 3 owners through PlayStation Network starting some time next year. Forty episodes of the show will be downloadable worldwide through Gran Turismo TV, a new PSN channel named for Polyphony Digital's long-running racing series. No prices were given, although reports on a recent issue of Japanese publication Famitsu indicate that in Japan the episodes will be sold at a relatively low cost. Gran Turismo 5 is not set to release until at least mid-2008, but this year will see the release of the appetite-whetting downloadable-or-retail Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, recently revealed as supporting up to 16 players online. A demo is currently available through the Japanese PSN. The game's full release, set for December in Japan, will include a virtual version of Top Gear's well known test track, Hammerhead turn and all (playable The Stig likely not included). "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," said Polyphony founder and avid motorist Kazunori Yamauchi.