Gran Turismo 5 probably coming to US, EU in early 2010 - Polyphony

Polyphony Digital certainly hasn't won any races in bringing its latest installment in the PlayStation-exclusive Gran Turismo franchise to market. Announced at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo at the same time Sony unveiled the PlayStation 3, the game has languished largely out of sight from the public eye, though the studio did release the pared-down Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 2008.

As part of this year's Tokyo Game Show, Sony and Polyphony at long last attached a release window for Gran Turismo 5, saying the realistic racer's launch in Japan should come in March 2010. Now, it appears as if Gran Turismo 5's rollout in other regions won't be long after, according to series creator Kazunori Yamauchi. As part of a presentation to the press over the weekend, Yamauchi said the game's North American and European launch should closely follow its Japanese release.

"I don't think it's going to be that much later in the US and Europe," Yamauchi said. "This is based on our production schedule. The reason why the dates for the US and [European] regions are not decided yet is because their marketing is still discussing their issues. It shouldn't be too far off from [the Japanese] date for the other regions as well."

As part of his presentation, Yamauchi also laid out Gran Turismo 5's ambitious offerings, stating that the game will feature more than 950 cars, 20 locations, and 70 variations of tracks from which to choose. The notable game designer also said that those who unlock vehicles in Gran Turismo PSP--which launches alongside the PSP Go later this week--will be able to transfer them for use in the PS3 game.

For more information, check out Yamuchi's presentation, as well as GameSpot's previous coverage of Gran Turismo 5.