San Francisco (CA) – We are convinced that Gran Turismo 5 will be the single most important game for the Playstation 3 and even if the game isn’t ready yet and Polyphony will be selling more or less a demo version in April, here’s at least the first serious accessory for the title.

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GDC 2008 H.264 Video of the Logitech Driving Force GT wheel 

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Called the Driving Force GT, the wheel comes with full Force Feedback support, a feature that wasn’t included on first-generation PS3 controllers. It includes a special small wheel-knob that is used to control the brake bias between front and rear axles as well as suspension setup on-the-fly.

Interestingly, the wheel is the result of a cooperation between Logitech and Polyphony Digital, the developer of the Gran Turismo game. This is all of course, part of a run up for the official Gran Turismo 5: Prologue release in North America on April 17 (shipping on April 15). Yes, it has 37 cars five racetracks, but it still is to be considered as a pre-release of the full GT5 game. In that view, we believe Sony is brave to charge its customers $40 for what is essentially not much more than a demo version of GT5.The race tracks will include Suzuka Circuit, Fuji Speedway, Daytona as well as Eiger Nordwand (used in the original Gran Turismo HD demo) and London City.   

Representatives from Polyphony Digital did not comment about the release of Gran Turismo 5 itself, but went on to discuss the features of GT5: Prologue. But if we remind ourselves that it took Polyphony one year to take Gran Turismo 4: Prologue to the full GT4 A-Spec, than we can assume that GT5 will not be available for at least another year.

The Driving Force GT will be priced at $150. It will be up to you to decide whether the GT5 demo (sorry, Sony) can justify that expense.