With things like cheap gas and the value of a dollar slowly being taken from us, it’s good to see that somebody wants to give us something. For the US release of the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Polyphony has thrown in features the Japanese version didn’t get.

There’s a drift mode that judges drivers on three parameters, there’s two-player, split-screen racing and there are new events and challenges for racers online and offline that can support up to 16 racers simultaneously. Plus, there’s a new track, bringing the total to six. And for us, that means there’s a new list of excuses we’re going to need to come up with when people start asking “Where have you been?” and “You look tired — were you up late last night?”

In case the cars, tracks and gameplay aren’t enough, Winding Road has a new trailer video of the GT5 Prologue featuring a fair bit of Ferrari action — and that’s never a bad way to start the week. Follow the jump to see the complete list of tracks, and check out our updated hi-res photo gallery of the prologue below.

[Source: AutoBlog]