Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is a developed by and published by for the . Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is a precursor to .
The game has sold 5.09 million copies worldwide, making it the second highest-selling PlayStation 3 exclusive title after its successor, .
This game introduced the ability to race with up to 16 cars at once to the series. According to game developer , the 's has also improved from previous Gran Turismo games.
New to the series is the realistic in-car view feature. It includes functioning , , reflecting , and real-time in-car lighting effects, such as shadows. Players driving with either the control pad or the steering wheel can look left and right in the cockpit of the car by using the . This function can be mapped to other buttons on the controller if preferred. Any PlayStation 3 - compatible steering wheel works with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Three viewing modes show the car from exterior angles. The fourth, called "cockpit mode", includes the driver's perspective from the interior of the car looking past the to the track and is available only for "premium" cars.
The Spec II update brings Drift Mode (similar to that of ), car tuning adjustments, and head to head two-player racing offline.