PS3 "still not enough" for GT - Yamauchi

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 8 November, 2010

What?

Gran Turismo creator Kaz Yamauchi reckons the long-awaited fifth game in the series – still without an official release date – was restricted by the capacity of the PlayStation 3.

Don't be shocked - the Polyphony boss reckons every PlayStation he has worked on has "restricted" him, including the PS3.

"Software has to be created under the restriction of the hardware," he told the latest issue of Esquire UK (via CVG).

"With each new PlayStation, the vessel has become bigger, but it's still not enough.

"With Gran Turismo 5 we've made it as clean and beautiful as possible within the confines of the space we're given - but of course there's a lot more that we want to put in."

Amazing scenes. At this point we expect Gran Turismo 5 to bring peace to the world and end poverty when it's eventually released, which, by the way, Sony says will be before Christmas.

Last week Yamauchi revealed that work on the next instalment, Gran Turismo 6, had already begun.

"It's not something that we can talk that lightly on," he said. "It took 2000 days to get all the ideas that went into GT5.

"It's just too early to be talking about GT6."

2000 days is five-and-a-half years, by the way.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TheTrueSpin #1 2 years ago

    Yamauchi, shut up and release your game. This has become an embarrassment. By talking all this BS you are setting yourself up for a massive fall. Unless GT gets almost perfect scores across the board, you will be a laughing stock.

  • Emmit_Assassin #2 2 years ago

    A bad workman blames his tools. Quit complaining and get on with it FFS. I suppose that's going to be the reason its taken so long to develop?
    Funny how a million and one other developers don't moan about it.
    Edited by Emmit_Assassin at 08/11/10 @ 08:14

  • TheTrueSpin #3 2 years ago

    What a ridiculous statement. Of course you are limited by the hardware - so is every other developer. However, not every develop has the luxury of an apparently unlimited development period and unlimited financial support from Sony. As I said, unless this game is the perfect racing game it claims to be, Yamauchi might have damaged GT's reputation forever.

  • simon50 #4 2 years ago

    How exactly can he get on with it, the game is finished and being manufactured already.

    Some people just have to be angry at something. Nothing wrong with what he's saying, it's just kind of obvious really. Let the man have aspirations. Just remember without his bold ideas there wouldn't be Gran Turismo at all.
    Edited by simon50 at 08/11/10 @ 08:20

  • Emmit_Assassin #5 2 years ago

    Don't think that because one man has had an idea, that no one else had it. If Yamauchi didn't do it, someone else would have. Aspirations are all well and good, but taking twice (if not 3 times) as long as anyone else in the industry to make a game is just bad practice and annoys people. Promise the world and deliver or forfiet your career. Mind you, I suppose Molyneux gets away with it all the time...where the hell is my tree, Molyneux?!!!!!!!
    Edited by Emmit_Assassin at 08/11/10 @ 08:28

  • TheTrueSpin #6 2 years ago

    @simon50

    To be honest, it sounds like he is trying to say "it's not as good as I wanted it to be, but it's not my fault, it's the PS3". It seems like damage limitation, before the game has even released.

  • WiseGuy #7 2 years ago

    Maybe best to push it back a bit, possibly to coincide with the release of the PS4...

  • FutureDave #8 2 years ago

    Um, guys, the game is gold. So he has nothing to 'get on with'.

    As for the article, it goes without saying that hardware will always limit the developer when it comes to realistic games. The skill is in how you distribute that realism within the confines of the available processing power. This isn't his strength - GT always seems to have features that didn't get a fair share of the pie. Flat trees, lifeless trackside detail, no damage, poor AI etc.

    So let's hope GT5 isn't just realistic looking cars, and has more an overall refined feel. Then he can ask for more power...

  • nasanu #9 2 years ago

    @TheTrueSpin

    Not all of us are insane. Producing a racing game with production values of a quality not yet seen is hardly an embarrassment. GT5 is the game GT fans have been waiting for. Weather, damage, beautiful sim physics, full online features... This game could not possibly damage the GT brand.

    It is your comments that are the laughing stock.

  • Malek86 #10 2 years ago

    Maybe he should duct tape two PS3s together.

  • BuddyChrist #11 2 years ago

    I could fix this world up easy- if I wasn't restricted to this mere human form....

  • orangpelupa #12 2 years ago

    Wow!! awesome news :D
    so this mean Yamauchi will consider moving from Sony's Console to GT6 for PC. Wow.

    On pc he will get a lot bigger "vessel" than he got in PS3 "vessel".

  • orangpelupa #13 2 years ago

    Wow!! awesome news :D
    so this mean Yamauchi will consider moving from Sony's Console to GT6 for PC. Wow.

    On pc he will get a lot bigger "vessel" than he got in PS3 "vessel".

  • spazmo #14 2 years ago

    Context.....

  • Negotiator #15 2 years ago

    So even exclusive developers are complaining about the PS3 and its lack of power, oh dear.

  • solidSnake04 #16 2 years ago

    the guy just wont shut up will he ? somebody kick him in the nuts please.

  • solidSnake04 #17 2 years ago

    @Biker_Bob
    is it ? ... or is it not ?

  • drxym #18 2 years ago

    Every hardware and every operating system has constraints and typically you code your program to fit within them. I can understand when you're releasing a car porn game that you want to push the system to the limits and sometimes you're going to fall short. At the same time the delays for GT have reached stupid proportions. This is a game which has been in development longer than the PS3 has been out. There is a time when you have to call things a day and I wonder how Yamauchi has gotten the latitude to buck the system like this. I get the impression from the mixed messages on delays that Sony had enough and said ship.
    Edited by drxym at 08/11/10 @ 09:15

  • StolenGlory #19 2 years ago

    Oh just fuck off you arrogant scrub.

  • Eraser #20 2 years ago

    TheTrueSpin is so right in what he says. All developers are limited by what the hardware can do. The trick is to get the most out of what the hardware offers. Sure, any development studio could create a game that would take 16 PS3's combined to run. There's no challenge in that. The challenge is to get that to run on a single PS3.

  • Miths #21 2 years ago

    "Release date has been revealed to being December 21st"

    I hope that's not the case - releasing it a few days before Christmas just as many of us are probably on our way out the door to visit family for the holidays, would be annoying as hell.
    Although if this really is the earliest it can be released I guess it's still better to have the game waiting when I get back home rather than having to wait until after New Year.

    By the way, December 21 is a Tuesday, so unless the game is getting a simultaneous world wide release (which does happen with some games of course) it doesn't seem like a likely date, as that would then mean a Dec 23 or 24 release if they stick to the most common European release days, Thursday and Friday.

  • djed #22 2 years ago

    Man, that's always been true. hardware people are so lame. Like, we can't make this processor go any faster so we'll just put a bunch of them together and say "LOOK! This hardware is twice as fast (or x3, x4 or whatever)!". Then we blame software when we don't feel the speed, because lol "you don't know how to write multicore applications? bloody newb!"....

  • Spekingur #23 2 years ago

    21st of December does not sound a like a realistic release date to anyone with a hint of business sense.

  • Red-Moose #24 2 years ago

    I think they should just focus on GT6 and not bother releasing GT5 TBH.

  • Goodfella #25 2 years ago

    He's known to be a perfectionist of the obsessive compulsive variety though isn't he?

    No platform will ever be good enough for him, and that includes the 360, Negotiator, you twat.

  • rivuzu #26 2 years ago

    Obnoxious.
    Edited by rivuzu at 08/11/10 @ 09:55

  • linksdad #27 2 years ago

    Yamauchi wishes he worked for MS!

  • miiiguel #28 2 years ago

    Once a again a PS3 game limited by the 360.

    When will we be able to see the powa of th3 cell?!

  • Caimbeul #29 2 years ago

    The handling of the time trial demo and Prologue and even GT4 lead me to be very worried about the handling in GT5. Hope I'm wrong and it looks stunning though.

    It was just nigh on impossible to drift... unlike in GT3.

    @ Miiiguel: Eh? Makes no sense at all!?
    Edited by Caimbeul at 08/11/10 @ 10:20

  • funkateer #30 2 years ago

    He's not blaming his tools, he's not complaining about PS3, you have to read this in context.
    He's just stating the obvious: *every* AAA games developer will sooner or later hit the limitations of the target platform. And that's great! That's how developers push the hardware.

  • asphaltcowboy #31 2 years ago

    Working on GT6? Why haven't Sony cut him loose yet?

  • rivuzu #32 2 years ago

    @Caimbeul
    From what I played of it at EG Expo... Nothing's changed. It's still just a dodgy poor arcade racer.

  • space_ace #33 2 years ago

    > Software has to be created under the restriction of the hardware

    No way. Really? :)

  • Zomoniac #34 2 years ago

    Stealth "brace yourselves for announcement of GT5 delay to PS4" comment.

  • Timbercottage #35 2 years ago

    If the PS3 is restricting you, make it for PC?

  • ybfelix #36 2 years ago

    Well, if a PC simulation game does get such resources it should be even more amazing

  • Plewt #37 2 years ago

    Here's a good article on this "news story".

    http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/11/did-the...

    "It’s seemingly a practiced technique amongst some Western game journalists. Interview a well known developer, often through a translator, ask a couple of leading questions, then reap the benefits of a language and culture barrier in the form of a headline grabbing story along the lines of ‘The PS3 Isn’t Powerful Enough For Game X’, or ‘Game X Was Scaled Down For The PS3′."

    "Those selected quotes, taken out of context, with absolutely no frame of reference (or even the question asked to elicit said answer) are then used to substantiate the claim that the PS3 was ‘not enough’ to handle Yamauchi’s vision."

    "We need to play fair here, or risk losing opportunities in the long run. Proper, in-depth interviews or out of context headline grabbers – which would you prefer?"
    Edited by Plewt at 08/11/10 @ 12:34

  • GamesConnoisseur #38 2 years ago

    NOW I m more worried as suspiciously sounds lie a damage limitation by blaming PS3, if he had instead said something along the line of', it's tough job to meeting the very high expectation everyone had of GT5' then that would be a fair point. As expectations could be unrealistic as everyone would dreams or hopes that Poly can produce a platform limitations breaking miracle.

    But to say PS3 not good enough....... Yet everyone else in the industry doesn't complains!!!

  • TelexStar #39 2 years ago

    Someone should point this man to David Braben and games like Frontier Elite II. They were clever and utilised what they had to work with instead of moaning about how tight their diamond-encrusted shoes were.

  • Plewt #40 2 years ago

    Kaz moaning or doing damage control? Seriously, not sure which claim is the most bizarre. Some of you are completely clueless but I forgive you somewhat for falling for this shitty news article.

  • secombe #41 2 years ago

    @biker bob

    It may well end up being the release date, but you're suggesting it's fact. There has been no official confirmation as of this exact moment, so at best it's informed guesswork.

  • Lord_Gremlin #42 2 years ago

    You must understand that Yamauchi is a perfectionist. He wants to create absolutely flawless, perfect game, which is impossible due to philosophical laws alone. Because perfection is subjective.

  • Spekingur #43 2 years ago

    @Biker_Bob: It's not because it's a Tuesday. It's because it's the 21st of December. That's about 6 weeks from now. That would mean that they might have already started shipping the game. And put up adverts that it is coming out. It's just not happening.
    That is assuming a semi-worldwide release date (NA, EU & JP). If 21st is the date then they have successfully kept one of the most awaited console game under wraps (so to speak) for a while. Also, it is 3-4 days before the Holidays. They would never cut it so close to Christmas (especially since it does not allow for maximum amount games bought to be put in gift wrappings).

    Oh and "...because a shopping website says so..." is not a good enough reason. Dates are most often placeholders until official word is out. FYI, amazon.com has 31st of December as release date. Surely if it was 21st they would have changed it by now.

  • telboy007 #44 2 years ago

    "Once a again a PS3 game limited by the 360.

    When will we be able to see the powa of th3 cell?!"

    That was one of those ironic comments... right?

  • orangpelupa #45 2 years ago

    hmm, why so many comments got negative in this news....

    especially those with word/sentence like "PC", "every dev are working behind a hardware limitation"..

  • DrStrangelove #46 2 years ago

    lol what is happening here? Hate mail contest?

    I think it's fairly obvious that he just talked about future development in some interview, and he stated that he really wants to do even more than he was able to do with the PS3, without 'blaming' anyone or anything. They pushed the PS3 to the limit with GT5, and I think they did an amazing job, but that means of course they had to constantly concern themselves with the limits of current-gen hardware, all the time fiddling around with what to put in, what not to, what to improve how so that it just fits in. I think the constant need to find the best compromise takes up an awful lot of time, and can be quite frustrating if you're a perfectionist like Kaz.

    Imagine you have a packing case that's large but even though won't nearly house everything you want to pack in. So you have to put in as much as possible, by using every last millimeter available, repack it all the time to get a few more millimeters, and permanently having to decide what to put in and what not. Of course you wish you had a bigger case, and the prospect of having one that's twice as large next time is compelling.

    And for a car sim, you can never have enough processing power. The PS4 and Xbox 361 won't be enough either, but they will be able to do a lot more than what is possible with current gen.

  • ronuds #47 2 years ago

    Wow - he must be the only developer in existence who wants to create a perfect game!

    What kind of a horse's ass would say otherwise?
    Edited by ronuds at 08/11/10 @ 16:01

  • mattaius #48 2 years ago

    I own both consoles, and can honestly say to all those waiting for GT5 - try Forza 3 because it's effing amazing!!

    (only recently got a 360 for Trials HD - one of the best games of all time)

  • TrevSkyline #49 2 years ago

    Oh dear.....

    The GT5 launch date get's distracted by more BS by Yamauchi.