Gran Turismo 5 Hitting Europe in 2009 (PS3)

[fitbabits]

Not content with stiffing Europeans on the delayed release of the PlayStation 3, it seems now that Sony has no intention of releasing the eagerly awaited Gran Turismo in 2008, instead sticking to some time in 2009.

Check out videogamer.com (http://www.videogamer.com/news/23-02-2008-7598.html) for the gory details:

In an email sent to customers, GAME, a leading retailer of video games, has confirmed Gran Turismo 5 won't be released this year, with European PlayStation 3 gamers having to wait until 2009.

"The legendary "Real Driving Simulator" Gran Turismo 5 is heading to PlayStation 3 in 2009, utilising the uber-console's raw horsepower to generate an unrivalled level of realism," states the GAME email.

The email does, however, promote the March 28 release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which will be priced only £19.99. This early teaser will feature five tracks and 40 cars, plus 16-player online racing.

Gran Turismo 5 currently has a tentative 2008 release date in both Japan and North America.
Ouch. I guess that's the thanks Europeans get for their undying loyalty to the PlayStation brand.

[Baron Samedi]

You mean, "get for their undying loyalty to gaming in general."

[fitbabits]

You mean, "get for their undying loyalty to gaming in general."

Nope, I don't. It's been proven time and time again that Europe has some kind of approbatory relationship to PlayStation.

[ElectricMonk]

They'll have forza 3 out by then (assuming they're working on it)

[NightRain]

If history proves anything we won't see GT5 released anywhere until 2009. GT3 and GT4 were both released more than a year after the release of their Prologue versions, I can't see why GT5 would be released any quicker since they say it is taking them longer to make GT5 then the other version before it.

My guess is spring 2009 for NA/JAP and Fall 2009 for Europe

[bKangy]

Europeans enjoy getting a raw deal.

[Johan]

Sucks to have national health insurance, a 35-hour workweek, a month or more of vacation, and apparently nothing to do!

Oh...I mean, it doesn't suck!

[DarkDaY]

Sucks to have national health insurance, a 35-hour workweek, a month or more of vacation, and apparently nothing to do!

Oh...I mean, it doesn't suck!

OO canadaaaaaa.......nice up here being your hat, now wanna take a shower and wash that grease out of your hair for us?

Forza 3 will be out by then thus raising the bar... silly guys.

[Deadend]

OO canadaaaaaa.......nice up here being your hat, now wanna take a shower and wash that grease out of your hair for us?

Forza 3 will be out by then thus raising the bar... silly guys.

Turn 10 could start Forza 3 today and have it out by then. And it would be the better game.

[Johan]

OO canadaaaaaa

I'm a teacher. I have all of that, and more! :D

[51|RandoM]

Whichever country gets it last will end up being the country with the best version. Only people who need to worry are those who are going to die before the game comes out.

[Norse]

Whichever country gets it last will end up being the country with the best version. Only people who need to worry are those who are going to die before the game comes out.

Ok, lets hope North America don't get the game until 2010 then so you can have the superior version.

[Jack B]

I'm starting to believe Forza 3 may be out at about the same time as GT 5.

Forza 1 was released in 2005, Forza 2 in 2007 and Forza 3 could be in Spring of 2009. Forza 2 took almost exactly 2 years, so that would put Forza 3 in May 2009. GT5 needs to exceed the bar set by Forza 2, but they're taking so long to release it, that they may need to exceed the bar set by Forza 3. I never imagined it would take so long, that Forza 3 could be out at the same time.

Either way, I'm excited for GT5, but these delays aren't good. I should definitely pickup Prologue in March. It should hold me over.

I'm still hopeful for a GTR on the 360 in the meantime, but it's on hold.

[oldjadedgamer]

It's really amazing that this game is taking so long considering that GT3 was released in the PS2's first year.

[Siraris]

Maybe you can explain to me why you write your posts like you do, fitbabits. Like Sony is sitting around purposely delaying their games for Europe because they feel like it. I personally have never dealt with business overseas, but my fathers company has dealt with manufacturing products and shipping them all over the world, and it can be an absolute nightmare. If you factor in the sheer nightmare of dealing with licensing of all the cars in Gran Turismo, and then trying to deal with those licenses in 20 different countries, it's no surprise that things get delayed in Europe.

Think about it. The US and Japan are one country with laws that apply to the whole country. Europe isn't one country, it's dozens of countries, and so shipping a game to the territory isn't dealing with one set of rules, or even one set of languages.

We also have no idea when it's coming out in Europe, or even America or Japan for that matter. What if it comes out in December in the US, and January in EU? That's really fucking over the Europeans, huh?

It just baffles me how you write your posts sometimes. It's invariably not reporting news, it's almost like expressing a biased opinion about news.

[fitbabits]

Maybe you can explain to me why you write your posts like you do, fitbabits. Like Sony is sitting around purposely delaying their games for Europe because they feel like it. I personally have never dealt with business overseas, but my fathers company has dealt with manufacturing products and shipping them all over the world, and it can be an absolute nightmare. If you factor in the sheer nightmare of dealing with licensing of all the cars in Gran Turismo, and then trying to deal with those licenses in 20 different countries, it's no surprise that things get delayed in Europe.

Think about it. The US and Japan are one country with laws that apply to the whole country. Europe isn't one country, it's dozens of countries, and so shipping a game to the territory isn't dealing with one set of rules, or even one set of languages.

We also have no idea when it's coming out in Europe, or even America or Japan for that matter. What if it comes out in December in the US, and January in EU? That's really fucking over the Europeans, huh?

It just baffles me how you write your posts sometimes. It's invariably not reporting news, it's almost like expressing a biased opinion about news.
It's news. Just because it's bad news doesn't mean it's not news.

Your explanation holds no water when you consider that Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, etc. have all, at one time or another, released product worldwide simultaneously.

I'm of the belief that Sony treats the European market shoddily in comparison to Japan and North America - that's just my opinion. You obviously don't share my belief, so there you have it. It's not who's right or wrong, it's a matter of opinion.

I was born and raised in the UK and I got to see firsthand the way Sony regarded Europe.

[Deadend]

Maybe you can explain to me why you write your posts like you do, fitbabits. Like Sony is sitting around purposely delaying their games for Europe because they feel like it. I personally have never dealt with business overseas, but my fathers company has dealt with manufacturing products and shipping them all over the world, and it can be an absolute nightmare. If you factor in the sheer nightmare of dealing with licensing of all the cars in Gran Turismo, and then trying to deal with those licenses in 20 different countries, it's no surprise that things get delayed in Europe.

Think about it. The US and Japan are one country with laws that apply to the whole country. Europe isn't one country, it's dozens of countries, and so shipping a game to the territory isn't dealing with one set of rules, or even one set of languages.

We also have no idea when it's coming out in Europe, or even America or Japan for that matter. What if it comes out in December in the US, and January in EU? That's really fucking over the Europeans, huh?

It just baffles me how you write your posts sometimes. It's invariably not reporting news, it's almost like expressing a biased opinion about news.
At this point in time, the licenses should be secured, and they should have been world wide. Menu items should be translated. Localization should be complete, just waiting for the game itself to finish.

In this day and age, having a game come out more than a month or 2 after it's initial version means that your company was stupid, and did not plan ahead properly. Nintendo is the worst offender at this.

[J Arcane]

Anyone who thinks Forza is somehow serious competition for the Gran Turismo series is completely fucking delusional. The GT series has literally sold 10 times as many games as Forza has.

So before the usual yammering sets in, you may want to consider that suggesting such a bizzare scenario is basically like planting a big rubber stamp on your head that says "Xbox Fanboy".

[Morangie]

Anyone who thinks Forza is somehow serious competition for the Gran Turismo series is completely fucking delusional. The GT series has literally sold 10 times as many games as Forza has.

So before the usual yammering sets in, you may want to consider that suggesting such a bizzare scenario is basically like planting a big rubber stamp on your head that says "Xbox Fanboy".
So sales are the only measure of a games quality? J Arcane recommends 50 Cent: Bulletproof. You all saw it.

[Siraris]

It's news. Just because it's bad news doesn't mean it's not news.

Your explanation holds no water when you consider that Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, etc. have all, at one time or another, released product worldwide simultaneously.

I'm of the belief that Sony treats the European market shoddily in comparison to Japan and North America - that's just my opinion. You obviously don't share my belief, so there you have it. It's not who's right or wrong, it's a matter of opinion.

I was born and raised in the UK and I got to see firsthand the way Sony regarded Europe.

How is this bad news? Who is it bad news for? There has been no release date set for anywhere in the world, the game isn't delayed, no one had their hopes up of getting it at a certain point in time. The only person who is making this into bad news is you, and anyone else who is saying that somehow Sony has some agenda against Europe.

You're also basing this off an email from a retailer.

You don't work at Polyphony, you don't know what is going into the development, you don't know what licenses have to be worked out, you don't know what licenses with Gran Turismo TV have to be worked out, or what has to go into the localization of the product. And yet you and Deadended are somehow arm chair experts on the subject, Deadended even claiming what should be going on.

You can live in your conspiracy land all you want, but you never hear anyone bitching and moaning about how long it takes for games to get to the US from Japan. No one makes news posts complaining that Patapon came out in Japan months ago, or the delay bringing Smash Brothers Brawl, or Dragon Quest, or any of the dozens of other games that come out months if not years earlier in Japan than the US. Yet somehow there's this global conspiracy against Europe by Sony, to screw people over.

[oldjadedgamer]

Maybe you can explain to me why you write your posts like you do, fitbabits. Like Sony is sitting around purposely delaying their games for Europe because they feel like it. I personally have never dealt with business overseas, but my fathers company has dealt with manufacturing products and shipping them all over the world, and it can be an absolute nightmare. If you factor in the sheer nightmare of dealing with licensing of all the cars in Gran Turismo, and then trying to deal with those licenses in 20 different countries, it's no surprise that things get delayed in Europe.

Think about it. The US and Japan are one country with laws that apply to the whole country. Europe isn't one country, it's dozens of countries, and so shipping a game to the territory isn't dealing with one set of rules, or even one set of languages..

Licensing cars has never been a "nightmare" for previous versions of the game. The PAL version has always followed weeks behind the US version.

GT
December 23, 1997 (JPN)
April 30, 1998 (USA)
May, 1998 (EUR

GT2
December 11, 1999 (JPN)
December 17, 1999 (USA)
January 28, 2000 (EUR)

GT3
April 28, 2001 (JPN)
July 10, 2001 (USA)
July 20, 2001 (EUR)

GT4
December 28, 2004 (JPN)
February 22, 2005 (USA)
March 9, 2005 (EUR)

[Johan]

The US and Japan are one country with laws that apply to the whole country. Europe isn't one country, it's dozens of countries, and so shipping a game to the territory isn't dealing with one set of rules, or even one set of languages.

I was under the impression from this thread (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45198) that it was important for developers/publishers to work toward simultaneous releases. If it's important enough when making a multiplatform title, as many argued in that thread, then why isn't it important to plan ahead in terms of regional releases within one platform? If some developers think that slowing down a title on one platform in order to release a multiplatform title across platforms at the same time is important, why wouldn't it be important to do that with a title being released on only one platform but across multiple regions as well?

Could it be that Sony is operating under the credible assumption that European gamers will take it and be happy for it, regardless?

Anyone who thinks Forza is somehow serious competition for the Gran Turismo series is completely fucking delusional. The GT series has literally sold 10 times as many games as Forza has.

And, as well all know, sales equals (http://www.amazon.com/Vivendi-Universal-GBA-ACT-81443/dp/B0009VRSIC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1203812925&sr=8-1) quality. (http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-9UE-00001-Halo-3/dp/B000FRU0NU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1203812963&sr=1-1)

Naturally. :rolleyes:

...you never hear anyone bitching and moaning about how long it takes for games to get to the US from Japan.

You don't? :confused:

Are we reading the same boards?

[Siraris]

Licensing cars has never been a "nightmare" for previous versions of the game. The PAL version has always followed weeks behind the US version.

GT
December 23, 1997 (JPN)
April 30, 1998 (USA)
May, 1998 (EUR

GT2
December 11, 1999 (JPN)
December 17, 1999 (USA)
January 28, 2000 (EUR)

GT3
April 28, 2001 (JPN)
July 10, 2001 (USA)
July 20, 2001 (EUR)

GT4
December 28, 2004 (JPN)
February 22, 2005 (USA)
March 9, 2005 (EUR)

OK, then for all we know, it comes out in the US December 15th, and in Europe January 8th. I was just playing devils advocate.

[absolut taco]

Anyone who thinks Forza is somehow serious competition for the Gran Turismo series is completely fucking delusional. The GT series has literally sold 10 times as many games as Forza has.

So before the usual yammering sets in, you may want to consider that suggesting such a bizzare scenario is basically like planting a big rubber stamp on your head that says "Xbox Fanboy".

a) The Gran Turismo series has been on a console that sold 10 times what Xbox / 360 has sold.

b) Forza being competition for GT does not refer to sales figures. It has to do with how good the game is.

[Jack B]

Anyone who thinks Forza is somehow serious competition for the Gran Turismo series is completely fucking delusional. The GT series has literally sold 10 times as many games as Forza has.

So before the usual yammering sets in, you may want to consider that suggesting such a bizzare scenario is basically like planting a big rubber stamp on your head that says "Xbox Fanboy".

I doubt your post was directed at me, but for the record I didn't predict Forza 3 would outsell GT 5. I don't believe comparing sales for the two franchises is apples to apples. For what it's worth, I commented about Forza 2 setting the bar. They've bested the 2004 product by Polyphony Digital. Maybe GT 5 will raise it again, but that remains to be seen.

The Forza series is much younger and sold to a much smaller install base. You'd have to admit things have changed. The PSOne/PS2 install base was 240 million to the original Xbox's 25 million. If you can't see that things have changed you just aren't paying attention.

Although, Forza 2 gained even more fans than Forza 1, it's light years from the Gran Turismo series in total sales. I guess that means you think it's a no contest. You may be right, but on the other hand I haven't seen Forza 3 yet and neither have you.

I believe Japan and Europe will eat up GT5. In the US it will be much closer. As for review averages, Forza 2 has set the bar. GT 5 may equal or pass it, but if you claim it's no contest between the two games, then you have "fanboy" stamped on your forehead. Both are very good games.

[Norse]

People were hoping for a 2008 release, and when these hopes are crushed I would call that bad news.

[Johan]

I was just playing devils advocate.

We probably have enough devils on the boards.

Just a thought. From a devil. http://www.emoticons4u.com/evil/teu42.gif

[Siraris]

People were hoping for a 2008 release, and when these hopes are crushed I would call that bad news.

Really, who are these people?

And since when is a retail email considered gospel in terms of when a game is coming out? How many times have we had posts here about a retailer saying when something is coming out, and them being wrong?

[fitbabits]

How is this bad news? Who is it bad news for? There has been no release date set for anywhere in the world, the game isn't delayed, no one had their hopes up of getting it at a certain point in time. The only person who is making this into bad news is you, and anyone else who is saying that somehow Sony has some agenda against Europe.

You're also basing this off an email from a retailer.

You don't work at Polyphony, you don't know what is going into the development, you don't know what licenses have to be worked out, you don't know what licenses with Gran Turismo TV have to be worked out, or what has to go into the localization of the product. And yet you and Deadended are somehow arm chair experts on the subject, Deadended even claiming what should be going on.

You can live in your conspiracy land all you want, but you never hear anyone bitching and moaning about how long it takes for games to get to the US from Japan. No one makes news posts complaining that Patapon came out in Japan months ago, or the delay bringing Smash Brothers Brawl, or Dragon Quest, or any of the dozens of other games that come out months if not years earlier in Japan than the US. Yet somehow there's this global conspiracy against Europe by Sony, to screw people over.

I don't live in a conspiracy land (unless you're counting the US). I do, however, like to comment on the obvious - that is, to those who can see it.

How is this bad news? I would ask our European members that question - the ones who are fans of the series, as I'm sure they'll have an answer for you.

People bitch and moan about Japanese games never coming here (or getting here late) all the damn time, Siraris. YOU should know that.

[Gorvi]

Well, with the PS3 being region free, if they're really that into the series, they can always import. Assuming that there's a significant delay between releases, of course.

[Morangie]

This is great. We've got Siraris rabidly defending stupid Sony decisions while claiming no one actually cares and Gorvi posting a reasonable work-around to stupid Sony decisions. Its like November 2006 all over again!

[Siraris]

This is great. We've got Siraris rabidly defending stupid Sony decisions while claiming no one actually cares and Gorvi posting a reasonable work-around to stupid Sony decisions. Its like November 2006 all over again!

And here we have Morangie posting rancid, angry posts that are not only irrelevant, but also completely asinine.

[Food Nipple]

Based on the franchise's past release dates, I see no reason to assume that the European version is going to be released significantly later than the US version, and as Gorvi said Europeans can import the game since all PS3 games are region free, no big deal.

[carnage11]

And here we have Morangie posting rancid, angry posts that are not only irrelevant, but also completely asinine.



http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/251/jasdfoq7.jpg

[Zanch]

Think about it. The US and Japan are one country with laws that apply to the whole country. Europe isn't one country, it's dozens of countries, and so shipping a game to the territory isn't dealing with one set of rules, or even one set of languages.


Plenty of other titles manage to make simultaneous worldwide releases. I doubt Sony is sitting around and screwing Europe on purpose, but the inability to make a worldwide launch is a result of poor planning, plain and simple.

[Krispy]

Regional game delays should not be reported. Also, delays are not bad. This logic brought to you by Siraris. Enjoy your game in 2009, Europe.

[Philonious]

This is absolutely retarded, the European market regularly gets dicked over by MOST of the major publishers, not just Sony. Sony is no more or less guilty than anyone else. And the delays are most likely due to localization. Fortunately I don't live in Europe, and could frankly care less.

[Jack B]

Regionalization does take time. Not sure why GT 5 would take more than most. Lost Odyssey took many months longer for the US version, but they re-did all the voice acting and lip syncing on the characters, translated the text etc. I'd think it should be easier to regionalize a racing game, but maybe there is something I don't know. Forza 2 released within 2 weeks worldwide. I'd be disappointed if I was in Europe, but it's happened before, so maybe they're used to it.

[Siraris]

Regionalization does take time. Not sure why GT 5 would take more than most. Lost Odyssey took many months longer for the US version, but they re-did all the voice acting and lip syncing on the characters, translated the text etc. I'd think it should be easier to regionalize a racing game, but maybe there is something I don't know. Forza 2 released within 2 weeks worldwide. I'd be disappointed if I was in Europe, but it's happened before, so maybe they're used to it.

So what happens if it's released 2 weeks later than the US version, in January 09? Is that still a disappointment?

[Jack B]

So what happens if it's released 2 weeks later than the US version, in January 09? Is that still a disappointment?

Sure, it's a disappointment. It's all relative though. 2 days is less than 2 weeks, which is less than 7 months etc.

I'm not sure why you would ask that question.... :confused:

Forza 2 was launched in NA, Japan and Europe all within about 3 weeks, so that's already happened.

[Deadend]

And since when is a retail email considered gospel in terms of when a game is coming out? How many times have we had posts here about a retailer saying when something is coming out, and them being wrong?

How many times as a retailer said a game will come out later than it does? From what I can recall, if a retailer says 2008, they mean 2009, and 2009 means pre-order it!

[51|RandoM]

Ok, lets hope North America don't get the game until 2010 then so you can have the superior version.

Fine with me. It isn't like I'm faced with a shortage of games to play. I've got a stack taller than I am(funny thing, now that I think about it is that GT4 is in that stack, lol).

Seems to me that there is a solution for those who just can't wait, I believe they call it GT5 Prologue. Of course next you'll say you don't want to pay for a demo, or you don't want to pay for the game twice... and if that is indeed the case then it would seem that you can wait till 2009.

[Siraris]

I'm not sure why you would ask that question.... :confused:

Forza 2 released within 2 weeks worldwide.

Why is it confusing to ask if it would be disappointing if it's released within 2 weeks? It's GREAT that Forza 2 is released within 2 weeks world wide, but if GT5 is released within 2 weeks it's "all relative".

[DarkDaY]

I'm a teacher. I have all of that, and more! :D

sure, but you have to teach to get it.

I just have to wake up:D:D

[Johan]

sure, but you have to teach to get it.

I just have to wake up:D:D

You just have to wake up to get a 35 hour workweek and a month or more of vacation? I thought a job was required before you had time off from a job? :D

As for health insurance, if you have my coverage, the Canadian coverage doesn't look so hot! It's really attractive to the 47 million down here without any, but that ain't me!

Busted! I get the benefits of a socialist state (lots of time off, great benefits, health insurance and the like) without the negatives (high taxes, long waits for care).

[DarkDaY]

You just have to wake up to get a 35 hour workweek and a month or more of vacation? I thought a job was required before you had time off from a job? :D

As for health insurance, if you have my coverage, the Canadian coverage doesn't look so hot! It's really attractive to the 47 million down here without any, but that ain't me!

Busted! I get the benefits of a socialist state (lots of time off, great benefits, health insurance and the like) without the negatives (high taxes, long waits for care).

hmm, sounds like a true story, I had no idea they treated teachers in America that well, I was under the impression that it was under much duress. I am the exception, I own 2 tattoo shops so I can really do what ever I want, however, when your the boss of that many people your more a prisoner than a guard, so many people with families and kids to make sure their is an income.


still though, I love Canada, soo much, but it looks like you have a great thing going for yourself too.
cheers and from what I hear with the size of your fam it comes in handy.
Its good to hear.

Nothing more important than the kids.

[absolut taco]

Forza 2 released within 2 weeks worldwide. I'd be disappointed if I was in Europe, but it's happened before, so maybe they're used to it.

F2 was also delayed by about 6 months. That might make a near simultaneous launch easier.

[Lunar Blue]

GT5 needs to exceed the bar set by Forza 2, but they're taking so long to release it, that they may need to exceed the bar set by Forza 3.

I'd be amazed if they manage to surpass even Forza 1.

/me goes to pet puppies to make the world a better place

[menage]

Pfff. Sony really keeps giving me incentives to buy a PS3. If I postpone my PS3 purchase for every stupid action they pull by one month. I'm sure I'll never own one.

Not that it matters anymore. GT5 doesn't seem like it will break any new ground. Next to looking realy pretty of course.

[Shodan2020]

This is great. We've got Siraris rabidly defending stupid Sony decisions while claiming no one actually cares and Gorvi posting a reasonable work-around to stupid Sony decisions. Its like November 2006 all over again!

The more things change, the more they stay the same. :)

[Mortanius]

and as Gorvi said Europeans can import the game since all PS3 games are region free, no big deal.

And this is exactly why things like this happen. This applies to the movie industry too. It's called price fixing, and the knowledge that sales will be boosted in certain countries because those that can afford it will import from those countries. Not that this applies to Sony's doings - since I'm not a big enough conspiracy theorist to link Sony's decisions with helping the US economy.

[51|RandoM]

And this is exactly why things like this happen. This applies to the movie industry too. It's called price fixing, and the knowledge that sales will be boosted in certain countries because those that can afford it will import from those countries. Not that this applies to Sony's doings - since I'm not a big enough conspiracy theorist to link Sony's decisions with helping the US economy.

You are way off base here.

It isn't price fixing so that they can make money on imports, in almost every case of this the "grey market" (imports) loses warranty coverage and or any other after-the-sale benefits.

Region encoding is there because there are very few companies capable of distributing a product globally. So what happens is that distribution rights are negotiated for a particularly territory and the people buying those rights usually want them protected.

It isn't about price fixing because the core of the price is set by the platform-holder, not by the distributor/retailer. When you see somebody deep-discounting at or around the time of release with original stock they are taking a hit. I'm talking about brick&mortar here, not places like Gogamer which save a fortune on infrastructure costs.

As we get closer to a real world economy and things become even more global I expect region encoding to fall by the wayside. In some cases it already is.

[Mortanius]

As we get closer to a real world economy and things become even more global I expect region encoding to fall by the wayside. In some cases it already is.

I'm looking forward to that, as someone that travels between the US and England a lot, and is moving (with all my English stuff) to the US, region coding pisses me off so much.

As to the rest, I like a little more knowledge on things, being less ignorant is good - so I don't take offence at being corrected (taking corrections with a pinch of salt though, people love talking about what they know jack about on the net). However, I don't agree with all of your reply. Though I acknowledge distributing worldwide causes problems, it's hard not to look at the price of things in England, versus the price of things in the US, and then to look at the currency exchange rate and realise in most cases things in England cost twice as much. This is a specific US/UK example though. The only difference between the two regions as far as I know is the voltage used in electrical outlets, and the video output. The language is the same (sort of), so charging twice as much to change the video output doesn't make sense. However, this is specific to the US/UK differences, and doesn't cover the rest of Europe or the other regions. And we're getting off topic.

In truth on this issue, I think GT5 will be released in the European region shortly after the US (within a month or maybe two), with an inflated price tag. Why they can't just take care of things in advance and release things worldwide on the same day though is beyond me. It's not like it hasn't been done before. Sony certainly has the resources to do it, and for a franchise like GT they aren't taking much of a risk doing that.

What's funny is I don't even like the GT franchise, I just came to the topic to read the thoughts on the region differences/annoyances.


Mortanius.

[Jack B]

Why is it confusing to ask if it would be disappointing if it's released within 2 weeks? It's GREAT that Forza 2 is released within 2 weeks world wide, but if GT5 is released within 2 weeks it's "all relative".

I went back and re-read the dates on the origninal post. Yes, if it's just two weeks then I'd agree and this isn't really news. I figured the European delay would be much more than two weeks, but technically they could release the Japanese and North American versions in the last week of 2008 and release the European version in the 1st or 2nd week of 2009 and then it would only be a two week delay.

If it's only a two week delay, then yes, I'd agree that's no big deal. It is all relative. The PS3 launched 5-6 months later. That's a big deal. The devil is in the details, but I assumed a couple months with their 2008 vs 2009 comments.

Also, if they can nail the 2008 launch date, they'll probably beat Forza 3 by 6 months or so, which means I will be able to buy both GT5 and Forza 3 without having to choose.

When two similar games come out at the same time, I often choose one or the other to focus on, so I think it's better if the releases are staggered.

[Jack B]

F2 was also delayed by about 6 months. That might make a near simultaneous launch easier. Yeah, they targeted 18 months after Forza 1 and just couldn't pull it off. Like most games, they probably could have used another couple of months of development, but that rarely happens these days.

Still 2 years vs the 4 years it's taken for GT 5 is pretty impressive. This is a very very important release in the GT franchise. They didn't really have serious competition with GT 4 and earlier versions. Forza 2 and Forza 3 are putting some decent pressure on Polyphony Digital. I hope they set the bar again. Competition is good for sim racing fans.

Note: Maybe PD did have serious competition prior to Forza 1, but I wasn't console racing back then. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Siraris]

I went back and re-read the dates on the origninal post. Yes, if it's just two weeks then I'd agree and this isn't really news. I figured the European delay would be much more than two weeks, but technically they could release the Japanese and North American versions in the last week of 2008 and release the European version in the 1st or 2nd week of 2009 and then it would only be a two week delay.

If it's only a two week delay, then yes, I'd agree that's no big deal. It is all relative. The PS3 launched 5-6 months later. That's a big deal. The devil is in the details, but I assumed a couple months with their 2008 vs 2009 comments.

Also, if they can nail the 2008 launch date, they'll probably beat Forza 3 by 6 months or so, which means I will be able to buy both GT5 and Forza 3 without having to choose.

When two similar games come out at the same time, I often choose one or the other to focus on, so I think it's better if the releases are staggered.


Why do you keep saying a delay? There has never been a release date announced. You can't delay a game that has never been dated.

[Jack B]

Why do you keep saying a delay? There has never been a release date announced. You can't delay a game that has never been dated.

I think you're intrepreting "delay" differently than I meant it. If you see lightning before you hear thunder. There is a "delay" between the thunder and the lightening. It has nothing to do with the release dates for thunder and lightning.

There may be a better term than delay in this case, but I didn't think it would bother anyone. You could just substitute "some unspecified time period after the release of the other two versions" if it bothers you... Then again, there is a delay between the time of the other two version release dates works for me, but I understand where you could mis-interpret.

[CES]

Nope, I don't. It's been proven time and time again that Europe has some kind of approbatory relationship to PlayStation.

No, it's the whole damn industry. Rock Band, Brawl, GT5. All have "TBA" dates for europe while every other territory gets them.

[fitbabits]

No, it's the whole damn industry. Rock Band, Brawl, GT5. All have "TBA" dates for europe while every other territory gets them.

Right, but this thread is about Sony's attitude toward Europe.

[CES]

I think Sony (and by extension the other big two) think Europe is just too much hassle to do stuff for. I mean, we have all the localisation in tons of languages, no unified ratings group and not much in the way of unified distribution.

[Dag-Sabot]

My sympathy goes out to those european fans who feel the delay will be worth it. The silver lining is that the console should be cheaper to purchase by then.

[DSSJ]

How is this bad news? Who is it bad news for? There has been no release date set for anywhere in the world, the game isn't delayed, no one had their hopes up of getting it at a certain point in time. The only person who is making this into bad news is you, and anyone else who is saying that somehow Sony has some agenda against Europe.

You're also basing this off an email from a retailer.

You don't work at Polyphony, you don't know what is going into the development, you don't know what licenses have to be worked out, you don't know what licenses with Gran Turismo TV have to be worked out, or what has to go into the localization of the product. And yet you and Deadended are somehow arm chair experts on the subject, Deadended even claiming what should be going on.

You can live in your conspiracy land all you want, but you never hear anyone bitching and moaning about how long it takes for games to get to the US from Japan. No one makes news posts complaining that Patapon came out in Japan months ago, or the delay bringing Smash Brothers Brawl, or Dragon Quest, or any of the dozens of other games that come out months if not years earlier in Japan than the US. Yet somehow there's this global conspiracy against Europe by Sony, to screw people over.


Only one thing to respond.

Microsoft can do it.

Somehow they managed not only to launch their console nearly simultaneous but they can do it for every single title.

That's my number one reason that I don't own a PS3, because I'm pissed at waiting 3 months to a year for a game to be released over here (hello Final Fantasy) and I don't care about the "why". Delay vs. no delay it's that simple.

[Gorvi]

Only one thing to respond.

Microsoft can do it.

Somehow they managed not only to launch their console nearly simultaneous but they can do it for every single title.

That's my number one reason that I don't own a PS3, because I'm pissed at waiting 3 months to a year for a game to be released over here (hello Final Fantasy) and I don't care about the "why". Delay vs. no delay it's that simple.
Then the PS3 should be a dream come true for you, since you can import a game as soon as it's released anywhere worldwide. And with the rape that you guys down under endure with game prices domestically, you should be importing everything anyway.

[Johan]

And with the rape that you guys down under endure with game prices domestically, you should be importing everything anyway.

Gorvi...he's from Austria. As in Vienna, like the sausage. Not Australia, like the poisonous creatures and bad beer. ;)

[Gorvi]

Gorvi...he's from Austria. As in Vienna, like the sausage. Not Australia, like the poisonous creatures and bad beer. ;)
Shit. Umm... well, import anyway! :p

[Morratut]

Gran Turismo in 2009? He heee. I've been playing games with the features of GT 5 since 2005.

[DSSJ]

Then the PS3 should be a dream come true for you, since you can import a game as soon as it's released anywhere worldwide. And with the rape that you guys down under endure with game prices domestically, you should be importing everything anyway.

Hm I liked that about my PSP. But then there were no games worldwide in the first few months. :)

But I have the strange feeling that I will get a PS3 sometime this year.
Once Disgaea 3 hits they got me.

[Anenome]

See the guys making this game know they have job security until the second they release this game ;P It's like the Duke Nukem forever team--completely paid for their lifestyle for a good 13 years.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

yeah... Not really.

[PSPfreak]

See the guys making this game know they have job security until the second they release this game ;P It's like the Duke Nukem forever team--completely paid for their lifestyle for a good 13 years.

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