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Gran Turismo 4 finished

Polyphony Digital's labour of love comes to an end, and cars meet runners in new Japanese bundle pack.

Sony Computer Entertainment held a party in Tokyo yesterday to celebrate the completion of Polyphony Digital's long-awaited Gran Turismo 4, which is set for release in Japan - and, apparently, in North America - this December.

The finished game now features some 700 cars, including a number which haven't even been released by their manufacturers yet, which is significantly more than the originally promised 500 - but as expected, it does not incorporate any online play, which will ship in a seperate Gran Turismo product in 2005 instead.

Along with the announcement of the game's completion, Sony has also revealed a rather unique bundle which will be sold in Japan - with the firm teaming up with Nike to provide a limited edition GT4 bundle featuring Gran Turismo branded Nike Shox trainers.

The bundle, which costs an astonishing 33,600 Yen (€243), features a copy of the game, a Nike t-shirt, the aforementioned trainers, an unlockable "Nike One" concept car in the game (you need an EyeToy to unlock this, as the process involves taking a picture of the back of the box with the camera while playing GT4) and a padded black aluminium case to carry the lot in.

The limited edition set - which costs significantly more than a PS2 console - is actually genuinely limited in availability, unlike most such sets; only 1,000 are being manufactured, 250 each of four different shoe sizes.