Yamauchi: GT5 is "basically complete"

By Tom Bramwell Published 14 October, 2009

But he's still tweaking.

Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi has reiterated that the only thing holding up Gran Turismo 5 is his perfectionism.

"All the basic stuff is complete, but we're trying to give everything that little bit extra at present," he told Famitsu in an interview translated by 1UP (thanks VG247).

"We could release it any time we want, really, but I want to have that classic GT-style 'did we really have to go this far?' feel going. I want to go way beyond gamer expectations."

That echoes what Yamauchi told Eurogamer at E3, when he said: "It's at a point we can release it any time we want, but we can always keep working on it. It's very important for us to make sure everything is done perfectly and everything is done in detail."

The man behind Sony's proud old real driving simulator also told Famitsu that people playing the PSP version of Gran Turismo will be able to export their car collection into Gran Turismo 5 once it's released.

That, of course, will happen in March 2010 in Japan, and hopefully not longer after that in Europe.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (58) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • SeesThroughAll #1 2 years ago

    So, really out in March, then? We hope.

  • Johnsters #2 2 years ago

    Good god, if this was normal project that met all the milestones and the requirements (which I guess it has), the project manager would be having kittens with this much scope creep - esp as it was scheduled for a much earlier release!!!

    Edited by 1 at 14/10/09 @ 08:32

  • AhSoul #3 2 years ago

    Yeah there's definitely a point where you're polishing for the sake of polishing, for little noticeable benefit.

    If it's done just release it and move on to something else :)

  • Concrete #4 2 years ago

    If this reviews well, I will be buying a PS3 to play it on. I'll be buying Forza 3 in the mean time, but still looking forward to GT5.

  • Widge #5 2 years ago

    With this sort of statement, the game has to be bang on. The gameplay engine etc is a given, we're talking no rough edges on AI, campaign mode, the online etc....

  • youhavenomail #6 2 years ago

    So between now and March, can we still hope for some red shells to make it any fun?

  • George-Roper #7 2 years ago

    Sounds like he doesn't have much confidence in it, TBH. GT has had it's day. It's a dinosaur, compared to what else is on the market now, in terms of richness of features. Players no longer want just a shiny exterior with little substance and by substance I don't mean 3 months worth of pointless car tweaks...

  • Johnsters #8 2 years ago

    @donnie080208
    Just because they announced Forza at E3, doesn't mean they couldn't have been working on it for some time before.
    Also, they could have been using the previous game engine and so a new game could be easier to release.(speculation on my behalf as I don't have the facts)
    I like the look of Forza, more my type of racer, shame I don't have an Xbox.
    If GT5 is taking a long time to develop, then I hope it's worth waiting for. Also I wonder how much dev time was eaten up by the PSP version?

  • JahB #9 2 years ago

    I wonder how much dev time was eaten up by the PSP version?

    not much. that's pretty much porting the PS2 code (sans the career mode) and possibly making new car models.

    i'm on the verge about this game, because i desperately want it to be good, but after all this time and with the new competition, PD will have to work some kind of miracle

  • linea #10 2 years ago

    woo hoo! only another 2 years to wait!

  • rhubarbandcustard #11 2 years ago

    Honestly, just release it and patch it later if necessary.

    Regardless of when this is released I shan't buy Forza 3 despite the rave reviews.

    Sim driving games should be played with a steering wheel and Microsoft's is just plain shite - it's a game breaker.

  • beastmaster #12 2 years ago

    Perhaps they could release it but may want to hold back to let Uncharted & Heavy Rain take the spotlight & the sales?

  • Antaios #13 2 years ago

    This is taking such a ridiculously long time by now I'm starting to lose interest. Also, I'm becoming more sceptical every time I read statements like this. This better be one hell of a game then. Finish the bloody thing already.

  • M_of_the_sys #14 2 years ago

    They should have just never mentioned it.

  • asharkman #15 2 years ago

    They had to mention it. Sony always talk about their big games way WAY before they're released.
    Compare when they released details of killzone compared to when MS released details of Gears of war.
    Same with forza 3, that had a 5month advance warning as apposed to GT5 5years or killlzone 2 years.
    It's the hype machine in overdrive.
    No doubt it's probably going to be a great game, it'd want to be, but how many great games have their been
    since they announced it?

  • freakzilla #16 2 years ago

    Its understandable to a degree, PD have done the design for the GT by citroen car, made GT PSP, PS3's architecture being a bit of a bitch to work with and the fact that they have to make a brand new engine. On top of which they are making 3 times the number of cars are T10 (on both PSP and PS3 versions).

    Even then 5(?) years to make a game is just silly, Sony have been doing this a lot (KZ2) , it's just not economical.

  • thegamesthething #17 2 years ago

    Perhaps they can use the time to add some AI. Though it would then lose that GT feel he was talking about.

  • Bigglesworth #18 2 years ago

    It's bad enough when the media creates unrealistic hype about a game, but this is the developer! Seems he's just setting himself up for a fall :(

  • Arwin #19 2 years ago

    They should have released it earlier and do additional crazy extras as DLC. Though I guess a lot of people buying GT don't ever even go on the internet (would have been a good way to change that though!).

    We'll have to wait and see until the final game comes out, but right now I feel they'd have been better off with a DLC route.

  • b00n #20 2 years ago

    I wonder if they had that feeling with GT PSP or not. If they did, then it doesn't bode well.

  • cianchristopher #21 2 years ago

    Hmmm, it took these guys 4 years to release GT on the PSP - and we all now how "well" that turned out ;-)

    This guy is setting himself up for a fall (as others have said), and with the way he's built it up the game would have to get 100/100 on Metacritic just to live up to expectations...

    It'll get a 7/10, and then the internet will explode!
    Edited by 1 at 14/10/09 @ 09:56

  • ybfelix #22 2 years ago

    They had a massive CHARGED beta program since LAST year, it's called GT5P, no other racers can afford such luxury. Shouldn't anything wrong fixed by now?
    Edited by 1 at 14/10/09 @ 10:05

  • Mkwone #23 2 years ago

    You spend this long on a game and it just has to be perfect otherwise it's going to get slated.

    It's going to have to step upto the plate big time to be seen as a worth while. I like the GT series, spent many hours on it.

    But we've moved well past having hundreds of gorgeous cars. it needs to offer more. I hope it can do that.

  • dr_shambles #24 2 years ago

    Hope there's no screen tearing. Oh and some AI opponents that actually feel realistic.

  • jonsaan #25 2 years ago

    EG 7/10 confirmed.

  • Zomoniac #26 2 years ago

    Well hopefully the delay is because he listened to the criticisms about the damage modelling and AI offered when it was made publicly playable a few months back. Hopefully. In reality, that's all done, and he's now making sure the protrusion of the car badges are accurate to the tenth of a millimetre.

  • Pasco #27 2 years ago

    "Same with forza 3, that had a 5month advance warning as apposed to GT5 5years or killlzone 2 years."

    Killzone 2 was *cough* demonstrated at E3 2005 and came out late February 2009. That is more like 4 years than 2.

    Then again, the Uncharted and Resistance and Ratchet games were on time. Alan Wake takes centuries to materialize. So it's not a difference between Microsoft and Sony but between specific teams.

    "but how many great games have their been since"

    ...there...

  • Marshall2008 #28 2 years ago

    As long as it is actually 'finished' unlike the PSP version which feels like the first 10% of an actual game :(

  • BritishBlue1 #29 2 years ago

    I think what he means by "polish" is that they're working on the car damage. Which is just as well because I fucking hated the bumper car effect in Prologue where people simply used the vehicle in front as a braking device, this was the reason why I sold it really. I can't wait for Gran Turismo 5.

  • aidey6 #30 2 years ago

    Well Turn 10 have managed to release to full Forza titles this gen, whilst PD released Prologue, now ok the cars are shiny as ever and it's 1080p, but apart from increasing the number of cars on track, barely much has changed since I played GT2 tbh...

  • NotSoSlim #31 2 years ago

    Guess they are getting the engine as perfect as they can which should in theory shorten next game dev and release!!

  • BritishBlue1 #32 2 years ago

    "This is true, and it's quite telling how PD are now taking their cues from Turn 10."

    If you have any sources to support such rambling nonsense then feel free to point them out...

  • Jay-ITFC #33 2 years ago

    "We could release it any time we want, really, but I want to have that classic GT-style 'did we really have to take this long?' feel going. I want to go way beyond testing gamer patience."

    Fixed.

  • tachometer #34 2 years ago

    It's a pretty bad sign that he's still not happy with it, judging by what happened with GT4 I would say a Q3/4 2010 release is on the cards. Think about it, who releases a major game in March? Not gonna happen

  • ybfelix #35 2 years ago

    @BritishBlue1 : so you'd rather them NOT learn from other developers' achievement?

    @tachometer: GTA4?

  • NotSoSlim #36 2 years ago

    God of War is coming in March!!

  • Caspar_Esq. #37 2 years ago

    The new DNF! And you know it!

  • NotSoSlim #38 2 years ago

    Think we will get it in April to allow god of war a release window

  • Shotaro #39 2 years ago

    Vapourware

  • AusFreelancer #40 2 years ago

    This is basically completely overdue....and poly you better have the Bathurst track included for us Aussies (Best. Race track. Ever.)

  • Rizob #41 2 years ago

    Frankly, with Forza 3 out in 9 days they can take another 10 months for all i care. If the game hasn't had a drastic overhaul with the handling and sounds since GT5P, then i probably wont bother with it. The only thing that's keeping me interested right now is what they do with the WRC license.

  • jefranklin18 #42 2 years ago

    I've said it before: I would like to see the AI livened up so that other cars than me spin out, lock up, etc. I am tired of being the only one that comes off the track. I will probably get it anyway, I find the engine tweaking options in Prologue to be limited.

  • Miths #43 2 years ago

    I agree with those who have already said the same - with a statement like that they sure as hell better not screw up the AI. It needs to be vastly improved over the scripted dummies in GT5P (not to mention the completely brain dead on-rails cars, I won't even use the term AI, in GT4).
    Hopefully they've improved further on the damage model since the videos they've shown as well, but that's still far less important than the AI.

  • Shotaro #44 2 years ago

    I know i'm going to get shot down in flames for this, but in NFS Shift it is nice that the AI reacts to each other and bash into one another and cut each other off and not just stick to the same racing line, it feels pretty immersive and you always have someone lapping at your heals, GT became to clinical; if you don't get a corner at the exact mph at the correct angle you either go in too slow and are over taken or go in too fast and crash

  • Pasco #45 2 years ago

    >>This is true, and it's quite telling how PD are now taking their cues from Turn 10."

    >BritishBlue1
    >If you have any sources to support such rambling nonsense then feel free to point them out...

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/turn-10-p olyphony-checked-out-forza
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/turn-1...[/link]

    What now, Mr. Blue?

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #46 2 years ago

    Here's how I see the dev of GT5 played out.

    Sony were absolutely adamant that this game be the 1080p showcase for the PS3 - no matter how long it took. So PD went off and with lots of time and bare metal programming managed it. Brilliant.

    THEN...

    They looked at what GRID and more recently Shift and F3 had achieved and realised that they essential had a beautiful looking GT4.

    So now they're trying to make it a next gen game to go along with the next gen graphics and they're struggling. When you've really pushed a system (and anyone that says that GT5 isn't pushing the PS3 is naive) you're gonna find it damn hard to now try and add in car damage and proper AI.

    I can't see (from GT5p and GT5 previews) why else it would be taking so long.

  • SAH1977 #47 2 years ago

    GT5 isn't being produced for gamers, the target audience is car enthusiasts, the people who appreciate the attention to detail.

    Forza 3 is a solid sim, but it's scope is firmly last gen, there is no attempt to progress beyond the canned damage system, or implement the likes of weather, day/night cycles and features such as head tracking.

  • man.the.king #48 2 years ago

    @donnie080208

    "what does the guy want a medal?"

    Your post, compared to your past posts (or rather, previous innumerable attempts at trolling), was pretty level-headed, surprisingly (except for the part where you just had to bring in a 360 game - can't you stay sane for once?).

    So, for once, a "+" from me.

  • Yaz #49 2 years ago

    SAH1977 wrote "Forza 3 is a solid sim, but it's scope is firmly last gen"

    Sorry but that's complete nonsense, and I think if you were actually being honest here, you would know that. :|

  • Yaz #50 2 years ago

    evilfoxhound wrote "Some points of interest: "New ai", "New physics engine" and "started from scratch""

    Thanks for that link, it's got me salivating. :)

    I really do hope the AI has been improved overall (which has always been my main problem with GT).

  • man.the.king #51 2 years ago

    @Pasco

    "http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/turn-1...
    What now, Mr. Blue? "


    It seems you missed the part where EG states that this is a claim from a Turn 10 dev (and not an independently verified fact). Anyway, here's what EG says about it: "That's according to Turn 10's Che Chou, who wrote in his E3 aftermath blog". Anyway, never let the facts get in the way of a fun story, is what I say! :).

    For what it's worth, however, I would say I happen to agree with ybfelix's post that there is nothing wrong with checking out the competition.
    Edited by 2 at 14/10/09 @ 20:14

  • zedzee #52 2 years ago

    They're just waiting for Forza 3 to come out, so they can scramble back to the drawing board with "oh sh*t, we never thought of THAT" coming out of their mouths.

    I don't believe that we will see much improvement from this scope creep that we're seeing. I think GT5 has many more features in it, which means more things can go wrong. Bet you there'll be a glitch almost immediately after it's been released.


  • Les #53 2 years ago

    Like I said in the Forza thread, there was a time when I loved this type of game. But after Burnout 3 (and MotorStorm) I just can't get that excited about it anymore. Those games are ridiculous but, to me, infinitely more fun. I got GT5P on release (as it was so cheap on play.com) but I haven't played it even once...

  • zedzee #54 2 years ago

    Yamauchi-san once said that Sony forces their hand by making them release Prologues, followed by the full game. He also felt in that interview that they'd released far too many GT games for the PS2 and Ployphony didn't really want to release GT2 or any Prologues for that console. Then for the PS3, they were 'forced' to plug the gap of the PSP with the HD version etc. etc.

    So, should they have released Prologue for the PS3? Frankly, I'd rather have had it released for the dry well that is the PSP catalogue!

  • SeesThroughAll #55 2 years ago

    So, should they have released Prologue for the PS3? Frankly, I'd rather have had it released for the dry well that is the PSP catalogue!

    Somehow, I have the impression that they did plan to release it to the PSP before, originally. No idea why.

  • Quixz #56 2 years ago

    He is feeling the heat after seeing Forza3's 9.something scores that's all :)

  • sonmi451 #57 2 years ago

    hope they include that El Capitan track. it was superb in GT4.

  • pmamba45 #58 2 years ago

    Every game needs a polish so it's not finished until it's finished. If it's to be released after unacceptable amount prospondments, I'll believe it when I hear it's gone gold then i'll place a preorder.