Gran Turismo 4: Prologue Edition recalled

TOKYO--Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has announced a disc exchange for customers affected by controller bugs in the "prologue edition" of Gran Turismo 4, which is currently on sale in Japan.

According to the company’s news release, gamers using two models of Logicool steering wheels have experienced two problems: first, the accelerator doesn’t go to 100 percent, and second, after turning, the wheel cannot be returned to center (turning the controller wheel doesn’t affect the onscreen steering). Sony has invited gamers experiencing this problem to mail in their game discs for a replacement.

Logicool is the Japanese name for peripheral maker Logitech and the affected products are the GT Force and the GT Force Pro aftermarket steering wheels for the PS2. SCEJ is treating this issue as a software problem, so there is no indication at this point that these wheels will have problems with other games, or that U.S. market Logitech products will be affected. Moreover, SCEJ’s news release confirms that this bug does not affect standard Dual shock controllers.

Currently, there are no plans to release Gran Turismo 4: Prologue Edition in North America. The full version of the game is due out in April 2004.