More information has been released about Gran Turismo 5 ahead of the November 2nd release date.

The first up is the fact GT5 will include an optional hard drive install to run the game more effectively. Kazunori Yamauchi (Polyphony Digital CEO) revealed the news via his Twitter account, which says that to run the game, you’ll need just 256 MB, but for a ‘smooth play experience’ he’s recommending the install which requires 10 GB free. That’s one of the biggest memory requirements for any Playstation 3 game, and you might want to check you’ve got the space free before the game arrives!

Gran Turismo gets management mode:

But if you make the space available, you’re getting a lot of game. It’s been revealed that in addition to the standard racing game, there’s also a B-Spec ‘Management Mode’ which will allow you to train and manage an AI driver to lead them to pro racing. You can nurture or intimidate the drivers during practice run via a heads up display with a range of commands to issue as they tackle a course.

You can ask them to speed up, match pace, overtake over drivers and slow down. And if you overload them with orders, they may end up in a panic or ignoring you altogether.

Forza Motorsport 2 had an interesting method of training an AI driver by following your own driving performance, but this was dropped for Forza 3 – could this prompt the feature to return in the future?

Shorter wait for Gran Turismo 6:

Yamauchi revealed work is already underway for Gran Turismo 6 at Gamescom 2010, and that the new kart racing element was actually planned for the sixth instalment in the series – but was moved up to Gran Turismo 5 after it was leaked.

The promise is that you won’t have to wait as long for Gran Turismo 6. Building GT5 was about creating a whole new operating system, but GT6 will be like building new applications on top of it.

Gran Turismo back as the best?

Since the last full Gran Turismo game, the best console racing game has been Forza Motorsport on the Xbox. But those of us who rushed out to grab the first Gran Turismo game on the Playstation when it was first released can remember the revolution that occurred in terms of graphics and handling combining to create what was then the ultimate racing game.

The time taken to deliver GT5 has been of epic, and almost comical, length, but with the amount of cars, tracks, kart racing, track creator and rpg modes, it seems like Gran Turismo will again be king.

Not pre-ordered Gran Turismo 5 yet?

Different Gran Turismo Packages:

Collector’s Edition: Game, Custom-etched keychain, 1:43 scale model of the Nissan GTR Spec-V, 300 page book, voucher for 5 DLC cars, Certificate of Authenticity.

Signature Edition (Exclusive to Europe/Australian): Steel case, book, Gran Turisimo wallet, 1:43 scale Mercedes Benz SLS, voucher for six ‘Stealth’ cars and more.