It’s a question that’s becoming one for the ages: when will Gran Turismo 5 finally go on sale?!
Japanese gamers have come the closest to a resolution—they were supposed to be getting behind the wheel this March—but earlier this week Sony Computer Entertainment announced an indefinite delay for the racing game. The setback brings Japan in step with North America and Europe, where gamers have been coping with a noncommittal release date since SCE first announced GT5 at E3 back in 2006.
So really Sony, when is GT5 coming out? Maybe March 31st, the date listed on Amazon.com? Or how about Nov. 1st, the date that Gamestop lists on its website? According to the SCE representative I contacted, both of these dates are false and “Sometime in 2010” continues to be the official release date.
Which leaves us to ask one more burning question while we’re impatiently waiting to play GT5: how much is too much when it comes to striving for perfection and realism in a game? Whatever this amount is, surely Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo’s finicky, sweat-the-details developer) left it in its rear-view mirror a really long time ago. True, they’ve thrown PS3 owners a bone by serving up Gran Turismo HD in 2006 and Gran Turismo Prologue in ’08. But these were essentially demo reels.
For the final version of GT5, Polyphony is reportedly aiming for 1,000 cars that accelerate, brake, roll, and rev just like the real things. If releasing the game a year ago would’ve resulted in a Real Driving Simulator that simulated a little less realistically with fewer cars, I’m sure many fans would’ve cut that deal in a heartbeat.