Gran Turismo 5

For Immediate Release

London, 21 ^st December, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that an exclusive competition for owners of the Gran Turismo®5 Signature Edition will go live at 09:00 GMT on Monday, 27 December 2010. The racing competition will see the ultimate winner get their hands on a brand-new, real-life Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG worth €180,000. With 15 regional winners from across 22 countries set to benefit from a stint at the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event, the winner of the spectacular gull-wing, 6.2 litre supercar will have to demonstrate to the judges that he, or she, is best placed to handle the SLS’s 571hp that delivers acceleration of 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 317km/h.

The limited-release ‘Signature Edition’ of Gran Turismo 5 included a number of exclusive and collectable items, both virtual and real, but the voucher code contained in the GT5 leather wallet is the key to entry to the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG competition. To enter the competition, owners of the Signature Edition should  make sure they have downloaded all the latest updates to GT5. Then  they will need to redeem their voucher code via PlayStation®Store on their PS3™ and register their details on Gran-Turismo.com[1].

Once they have completed these steps they will be able to access the Signature Edition Challenge from within Gran Turismo 5. The Challenge takes place in Gran Turismo 5’s innovative B-spec mode – where players take the role of team director with their own AI drivers doing the racing. The Challenge is being held over a series of five races on different circuits. The choice of B-spec mode opens the competition to more than purely the fastest GT5 racers, and there will be no limit on the number of times entrants can complete the races.  In-game leaderboards for each region will display the top 50 race times for each circuit, as well as the top 250 combined times across the five races.

Entrants with the fastest total time from each region[2]at the closing time (23:59 (GMT) on 31 January 2011) will be invited to take part in the second phase of the competition – the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event where winners from each international region will compete against each other in a series of real driving challenges under the scrutiny of judges. Points will be awarded for each challenge with the winner taking home the stunning SLS AMG.

Gran Turismo 5 has shipped 5.5 million copies worldwide since launching on 24 November, but limited copies of the Signature Edition were available throughout the 22 countries participating in the competition, with the majority being snapped up on launch day. With the SLS AMG featuring on the cover of GT5, it was a natural progression for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Mercedes-Benz to develop the Signature Edition Challenge, a manifestation of PlayStation®3’s (PS3™) brand promise that ‘the game is just the start’.

Commenting on the Signature Edition Challenge, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi said: “We have enjoyed a brilliant working relationship with Mercedes-Benz throughout the production of Gran Turismo 5 and the stunning prize that they have offered for this competition is a testament to that. I am particularly happy that we have developed such a balanced challenge which both newcomers to the Gran Turismo brand, and more experienced racers, will find equally enjoyable.”

ENDS

About the Gran Turismo®  Franchise

With more than 60 million units shipped worldwide, the award-winning Gran Turismo® franchise for the PlayStation® , PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®3 and PSP (PlayStation® Portable) is regarded as the best and most authentic driving simulator ever created due to its true-to-life graphics, authentic physics technology and design. Since the inception of the Gran Turismo franchise, famed creator Kazunori Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital Inc. in Japan have revolutionized the racing category as we know it today. His offerings provide the most realistic driving simulation in the industry and a unique medium for automotive manufacturers to showcase their products.

Gran Turismo®5 was released on 24 November, 2010 and sold 5.5 million units worldwide in its first two weeks on sale. The ninth installment of the world’s best-selling racing franchise features a completely new physics engine for an improved feel for steering during turns and drifts, delivering a more intuitive driving experience than ever before.  The gamealso features an impressive line-up of more than 1,000 licensed cars from the world’s top manufacturers.  Other innovative features include stereoscopic 3D support, real-time car damage, dynamic weather effects and a deep online and community feature set where players can race online with up to 16 competitors through PlayStation®Network.  With the widest scope and depth of gameplay options in the Gran Turismo series, Gran Turismo 5 offers users an entertainment experience that is only possible on PS3.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, 41.6 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level.  Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 147.6 million systems worldwide.  Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 64.2 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market.  With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, more than 60 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 1.25 billion items have been downloaded.

More information about PlayStation products can be found at http:/www.playstation.com/www.playstation.com"> www.playstation.com.

PlayStation, the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

About the Mercedes Benz Driving Event 2010/2011

The AMG Driving Academy was set up to give keen drivers the opportunity to hone their sports driving skills under professional guidance and to experience unforgettable events with like-minded enthusiasts. The programme offers a wide selection of events which allow ambitious sports car enthusiasts to improve their car control and further enhance their driving safety. Participants are able to experience the exceptional performance of the SLS AMG in numerous events at which the super sports car is either made available by the AMG Driving Academy or can be hired. In addition to the diverse programme held on European

race tracks, the AMG Driving Academy is also able to provide American sports car fans with tailor-made race track training sessions, for example on the Laguna Seca Raceway in California.

Details of AMG Driving Academy and event dates can be found at www.mercedes-amg.com/driving-academy.

[1] Entrants must be 18 or over, resident in a participating country, hold a full driving licence and be in good general health. Other eligibility criteria apply. Full terms and conditions are available at www.gran-turismo.com

[2] Regions shall comprise one or more participating countries and the number of entrants that will qualify to stage two will vary per region as follows. 1. UK & Ireland – top 2 entrants; 2. Germany & Austria – top 2 entrants; 3. France & Switzerland – top 3 entrants; 4. Portugal & Spain – top 2 entrants; 5. Italy – top entrant; 6. Finland, Sweden, Denmark & Norway – top entrant; 7. Greece, Czech Republic, Russia & Poland – top entrant; 8. Australia & New Zealand – top 2 entrants; 9. South Africa, UAE & Saudi Arabia – top entrant.