Tgs 09: Gt5 Set For March, Massive Detail Unveiling

Okay, let's get the bad news out of the way: it has just been announced at Sony's second TGS press conference that Gran Turismo 5 will launch in March 2010, laying to rest the rampant rumors that it would release this year. They didn't specify if the date was worldwide - it's only confirmed for Japan - but for now, we're assuming March 2010 is the worldwide launch estimate. Polyphony boss Kazunori Yamauchi said this is to "achieve suitable scale and quality."

Now, on to the amazing stuff: first of all, you may have heard about the cross-compatibility with Gran Turismo PSP, and there's more information now. Not only can you transport your entire GT PSP collection over to GT5 (or if not the entire garage; most all of it), but Yamauchi also stated that if you play GT PSP, you can unlock GT5 cars even faster. And speaking of cars, there will be a grand total of around 950 in the total production, including 20 unique locations and over 70 racetracks. There's also the entirely revamped physics engine, the damage modeling, "movable objects on the track," and even the latest hybrid and electric cars. GT Mode will feature the World Map, My Garage, Car Dealer, Tuning Garage, Championship Race, and License Test while the online portion will boast the Open Lobby, Text/Voice Chat, Private Room, Online Photo Album, and - wait for it - the ability to export your replay videos directly to YouTube! To top it all off, Gran Turismo TV will boast improved UI, exporting of videos to the PSP, and progressive downloading. Is that enough for you? Are you now convinced it'll be the single biggest and most in-depth racing simulator ever? You should be.

It's too bad we have to wait until March, and it's unfortunate we'll have to buy two games that month (God of War III also launches during that time frame) but hey, more time to play the Q4 gems this year, right?