Gran Turismo 5 – No Crash Damage, Possibly Out Late 2008

Kazunori Yamauchi, (pictured right), head of Polyphony Digital and the genius petrolhead behind the mighty Gran Turismo series, has gone on record to state that Gran Turismo 5 may not be released until late 2008. He's also gone on record to state that the game will NOT contain crash damage on launch.

In an interview in the latest issue of leading US magazine, Car and Driver, Yamauchi also talks at length about Polyphony’s studio and the demanding, creative culture behind the game, revealing that some devs on the team have cots with sleeping bags under their desks to take power naps.

GT5 is currently scheduled to be released in Spring 2008 but Yamauchi reveals that Sony is giving them as much time as they need and that the main thing is that he wants it done right.

Yamauchi also reveals that for GT1, one car was one day’s work for one man, for GT3 it was one man’s work for 30 days, and for GT5 one car is one man’s work for 180 days!

Additional cars, content and game upgrades will also be made available as downloads following the game’s release. One of the most revealing things here is that crash damage – while not being included in the game initially – may well be made available as a future downloadable upgrade.

According to the mag, “Yamauchi never intended GT to appeal to a mass audience. He believed only a real otaku, or hobby fanatic, would take the time to explore it’s many nooks and crannies. Indeed, the first version was altered for the U.S. market to make it more accessible.”

The original game was tweaked by Taku Imasaki for American buyers by speeding up the game by 25%, changed the gravity so cars flew longer, and added the instant-play option. Apparently, Imasaki’s changes didn’t win him many friends at Polyphony.

^{source: Car and Driver magazine}