First Gran Turismo®5 test-drives featuring the new SLS AMG to take place across dealership network
 
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Mercedes-Benz are offering consumers the chance to test-drive the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG – virtually – via Gran Turismo®5 for PlayStation®3 (PS3™). Gran Turismo® is the world’s best selling driving simulation game, acclaimed by motoring aficionados for its ability to give a taste of the real thing, driving the finest cars in the world on some of the world’s most challenging tracks.  Starting in May 2010 customers can visit their local Mercedes-Benz dealership for an exclusive taster of the forthcoming title – a one-track demo featuring the new model at a specially-installed PS3 unit.  The sampling activity marks a new stage in the partnership between developers Polyphony Digital and Mercedes-Benz that has already seen the SLS AMG picked to star on the game’s cover when the title arrives in stores this year.
 
“This activity with Mercedes is one element of the close partnership we’ve forged with them while developing Gran Turismo 5,” says Kazunori Yamauchi, President at Polyphony Digital. “The Gran Turismo franchise has always been about working hand-in-hand with the biggest and best marques in the motoring industry to create an unparalleled level of realism and the digital drive of a lifetime.   Taking GT5 into dealerships is the next step in the marriage of virtual experience and real driving.”
 
“We’ve worked very closely with PlayStation and Polyphony Digital to recreate the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in Gran Turismo 5 – and we’re thrilled by the result,” says Anders Sundt Jensen, Vice President Brand Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars. “From the gullwing doors to the sporty, cockpit-like interior with its performance steering wheel – the car could barely look and feel more realistic. We’re delighted to have this digital version of the SLS AMG next to its real-life counterpart in our dealerships –  it will give many thousands of people the chance to have the drive of a lifetime.”
 
Consumers who head for their local dealerships will get to play a special, one-track demo, featuring the SLS AMG on the iconic Nürburgring, with both car and track recreated from real-life, down to the finest detail, with state-of-the-art mapping and image capture techniques.  And, while they’re there, they’ll get to check out the real-life SLS AMG in all its glory.
 
Five-time DTM Champion Bernd Schneider also has driven the SLS AMG in Gran Turismo 5 and tested the performance and reality of the simulation.
It was he who accompanied the Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi during thorough tests on the Nürburgring Nordschleife."
 
The culmination of ten years of developing ultra-realistic driving experiences, hand-in-hand with the motor racing industry, Gran Turismo 5 will let gamers prove themselves on the world’s most famous racetracks, behind the wheels of more than 950 cars. Arriving later this year, it’s set to be the drive of a lifetime.