As soon as PS3Center heard of the rumored date for Gran Turismo, we immediately expected it to be false. Many retailers use dates such as these as place-holders, but what makes this situation more perplexing is that Play.com are claiming that this date was received by the publisher of the game i.e. Sony.
But here's a few reasons why November 27, 2009 isn't Gran Turismo 5's release date.
1. Looking around Play.com release list, you'll notice that they have a large amount of games listed for release on November 27, 2009. These include MAG, Uncharted 2, Ratchet & Clank 2, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, White Knight Chronicles and Super Mario Galaxy 2 among others.
I think you can immediately see where this is going. There is no way that so many games would come out on the same day.
2. Another reason against this release date is the fact that it wasn't announced at E3. E3 is the biggest trade show for games, it would make sense for Sony to announce the game's release date at E3 but they didn't.
One of the major reasons for a possible late November release date is:
1. The fact that the game's director has been saying that they could release the game at any time.
2. Gran Turismo 5 is more popular in Europe than it is in North America and Japan combined, with the previous iteration of the game shifting 6.28 million units in Europe alone, compared to 2.97 million in North America. For this reason it makes a lot of sense for the developers to announce the game's release date at gamescom which takes place in Europe on the 19th August.
3. It would really help Sony. Gran Turismo is a system seller, more so than any other PlayStation franchise. Releasing this game in November, in time for the holiday season means PlayStation 3s will sell like hotcakes.
Reasons for and against, but still if Gran Turismo 5 does hit this year (which I doubt), it would be very bad news for Sony's competitors.
