One of the biggest rumors circling around the gaming community is that there will be two versions of the venerable Gran Turismo franchise for the PlayStation 3.

The source of the information was an alleged interview with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi in the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. Based on that interview Gran Turismo will be arriving in stores in two distinct forms. One to be called Gran Turismo HD: Premium and one called Gran Turismo HD: Classic.

The Premium �version� of the game will use the full graphics capabilities of the PS3 and will also include 30 cars and two courses. Gamers will have the option to buy more cars or courses later. There will also be one particular mode that will not include the usual Gran Turismo gameplay of winning races and earning cars and medals.

The Classic version, on the other hand, will allegedly came with no cars or courses and will basically be the demo that was made playable during the recently held Electronic Entertainment Expo. Based on the interview, the 750 cars can each be downloaded for 50 to 100 yen � about $0.43 to $0.86. While the 50 race tracks can be downloaded for 200 to 500 yen ($1.72 to $4.30) each.

Understandably, many gamers are up in arms over this exploitation of the concept of microtransactions. Even though there are certain benefits to microtransactions (publishers can get additional revenue, while gamers can choose what additions they want to put in their games for a fraction of the price, this kind of interpretation of microtransactions can be potentially harmful not just for the concept itself but also for Sony as they can be seen as money hungry with no concern for what is fair to gamers.