New Gran Turismo 5 screenshots show that even a smashed-up race car daubed with gigantic garish advertisements can look great in Polyphony Digital's PlayStation 3 racer.

Gran Turismo 5 is scheduled for a March release in Japan, with no word yet on when the rest of the world will be treated to its racing thrills, spills and sponsorship deals.

"'Better than reality' -- yeah, that's one way of putting it," said Gran Turismo 5 creator Kazunori Yamauchi in describing his game during a recent interview. "We seldom have the opportunity to see what we consider 'reality' under the best and most aesthetically pleasing conditions."

Who knew that Gran Turismo would take a step forward not only in graphics, but in the philosophical debate over reality itself? Ponder the nature of existence, young Sartres, while gazing upon the following brand-new video game screenshots.

Turismo fans have been waiting a long time, with only Prologue and some screenshots to console them. All we can offer is more of the latter, an October batch released by Sony today.

The game arrives March 2010 in Japan. As for elsewhere, we still don't know. I'm sorry.

Polyphony Digital's long-awaited Gran Turismo 5 will arrive in Japan come March 2010, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan announced at a Tokyo Game Show event today.

North American and European release dates for the PlayStation 3-exclusive racer are still unknown, though you shouldn't expect the game to race into those territories before Japan. But hey, given that PlayStation 3 software is typically region free, those willing to go so far as to import should be playing in March, regardless of physical location.

Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 3 are both celebrating the new Ferrari 458 Italia with trailers, offering an interesting comparison between the upcoming racers.

Turn 10's Xbox 360 exclusive Forza 3 goes first as it arrives first, on October 27 with a demo hitting this Thursday. The 458 will be released for download this holiday season.

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Polyphony Digital's 458 Italia from Gran Turismo 5 is next off the line... Read more

Even when releasing the very first official screenshots of Gran Turismo 5, Polyphony Digital manages to continue say little on the PS3-exclusive racer by showing its menus.

Gran Turismo 5 will hit the PlayStation 3 at some point--Polyphony Digital founder Kazunori Yamauchi said way back in in 2008, "That might be 2009, or it might be 2010." If you have a hankering for more than menu shots, check out this year's E3 trailer.

The E3 trailer for Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5 trailer shows an assortment of race types in a multitude of cars in some absolutely gorgeous environments.

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It doesn't, however, show a release date for the PlayStation 3 racer. "That might be 2009, or it might be 2010," said Polyphony Digital founder Kazunori Yamauchi last year.

The fifth full-fledged entry in Polyphony Digital's racing simulation series Gran Turismo may not hit PlayStation 3 until 2009 or 2010, according to studio founder Kazunori Yamauchi.

"There's no plans in the works for GT5 yet--that might be 2009, or it might be 2010," Yamauchi told IGN. "But we're totally focused on getting the updates through for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and that's all we're focused on."

Prologue is set to gain several new features, including vehicle damage and video content, later this year. Released in North America this past spring, the $39.99 Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is meant as teaser to the eventual Gran Turismo 5, packing 60+ vehicles and six tracks.

As for the long-awaited PSP edition of Gran Turismo, originally announced in 2004, Yamauchi informed Joystiq that the portable version is likely to arrive after GT5.