I got back into town yesterday afternoon, tired after my whirlwind trip to the GT Academy finals in Orlando. GT Academy is unlike most video game tourneys in that it gives the contestants a chance to dramatically alter their lives. It’s more than just an oversized check or a new gaming rig – for a lot of the contestants it’s the fulfillment of a dream.

Head over to Bullz-Eye to read my full writeup of the experience.

Nissan was kind enough to bring me down to Orlando for the US GT Academy finals. Until this year, GT Academy had only run in Europe, giving virtual racers a shot at competing for a spot on Nissan’s GT4 racing team. I’ve had a chance to run around with Lucas Ordonez, the winner from the first season of GT Academy and even been behind the wheel of a 2012 Black Edition Nissan GTR, a Nismo 370Z and, just for kicks, the Nissan Juke.

It’s a strange experience to be among a group of aspiring racers whose experiences have been solely virtual to this point. They are definitely excited, but there’s also an intense level of focus. I’m not a Gran Turismo player by any stretch of the imagination, so listening to these guys talk about their races, picking apart switchbacks and hairpins and straightaway strategies, is like listening in on a discussion of chaos theory from a physics professor.

I’ll be watching the finals play out over the next several hours. This last round consists of several 4-man races that will narrow the field down from 24 racers 16. Those 16 will then undergo a series of tests to prepare them for a trip to the UK where they will begin the physical competition to determine the winner of GT Academy 3.

By the time I had watched thirty seconds of that video, I knew Nissan and Sony had done something epic. The two companies have paired up to offer the best Gran Turismo 5 drivers from around the nation a chance at becoming a real world, flesh-and-blood race car driver. Just look at those spinouts. I can’t wait.

Here’s a little clip from the press release:

GT Academy will challenge gamers and racing fans alike across the U.S. to compete in a series of online time trials in pre-selected Nissan vehicles in Gran Turismo 5. Throughout the course of the competition, participants will earn free digital content just for playing, as well as have an opportunity to win prizes for winning regional time trials. The top 32 virtual racers in the country will compete in the live national finals event scheduled for March 2011 to become one of 16 GT Academy finalists. The 16 finalists will compete against each other in a series of challenges, including behind the wheel of real Nissan race cars, for a chance to become a professional race car driver as the GT Academy winner for the U.S. The winner will have the opportunity to train with elite race car drivers at international tracks and race as part of a professional team.

It’s definitely an interesting concept. For more info, check out our post on the Bullz-Eye blog.