Caution: I'm pissed. This article is going to be a severe rant, brought on by 6 years of waiting for a game that I may never actually have in my home. So yes, go ahead and vote this article down, saying I'm just upset and whatever else... because it's true.
Do you remember Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec? Spending hours upon hours upgrading your car to become the greatest racer in the world? How incredibly wonderful the graphics were, and how you couldn't see it ever getting better? Then Gran Turismo 4 was released, and while not quite as epic as 3, it was still far ahead of it's time. Just when we never thought it could get better, this glowing announcement from Sony in 2006 came upon us like a flash from the heavens.
That announcement: Gran Turismo 5.
Since that E3 2006 press release, we have heard interviews from Yamauchi in 2008, more announcements at every E3 following (especially in 2009), a prologue game release to whet our appetites, and the hardest thing of all: I played it at E3 2010 in glorious, mind-numbing 3D.
Originally slated to be released in March 2010 (in Japan), it missed that deadline. Sony came back to say it would be released on November 2nd, 2010 in Europe and North America, November 3rd, 2010 in Japan, and November 4th, 2010 in Australia. This news at E3 couldn't have been any more exciting, with hundreds of people changing their preorders to make room for this long awaited gem.
Well, bad news folks. Once again Sony has delayed the release of Gran Turismo 5. To when you ask? That's a great question! All they are telling us is "this holiday season". Several publications, including ourselves, have followed up with them to confirm "this holiday season" meant by the end of 2010. Their response? Not necessarily. UPDATE: Sony has announced the release will be before Christmas. They are claiming that there needs to be some added polish before release. The question I have for you is: when is enough, enough?
If you're anything like myself, you just want this game to be released already. I'm to the point now where I just don't care anymore. I'm more than jaded at the fact that Sony thinks they can constantly push the release date back on this game, under the assumption that we, the customer, will still buy it as if nothing happened. If other popular games were delayed as frequently as Gran Turismo 5, there would be a huge drop in retail purchases and a lot of really pissed off fans.
I hate to say it, but I hope this happens with Gran Turismo 5.
Here's what Sony had to say about the recent delay:
"We sincerely apologise to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches."
Something needs to be done about this blatant disrespect for us gamers. I'm so sick of having the golden carrot hanging in front of my face, only to never be able to catch it. Sorry doesn't cut it in this situation, and I hope that I'm not the only one that feels this way.
While I realize there is nothing consumers can do, we can definitely make a fuss about it. Simple moves like waiting a few days after luanch to buy the game, or emailing Sony and Polyphony Digital will go a long way. I realize that neither Sony nor Polyphony Digital necessarily owe us anything, and that I am being fairly whiny in this editorial, but I hope I am speaking for the masses here. They need to stop making promises they can't keep. It's tainting both the game and the development team behind it in my opinion.
So I leave you with this. Are you as fed up with the bullsh** as I am? Also, when the next "release date" is announced, will you believe it reported to be released before Christmas, should we believe it? Will you go out and buy this on release? Let us know in the comments below.
China didn't make enough of them "little cars" for the CE edition so PD delayed the release.
