Delay for Gran Turismo game
THE launch of Sony’s long-awaited “Gran Turismo 5”, the latest incarnation of the racing game series, will be postponed, the Japanese technology firm said yesterday, citing “production related matters” as the reason.
The game, designed for Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) games console, was due to be launched in March and a new launch date has not been decided yet.
The delay is a potential blow to Sony’s videogame operations, according to some analysts. But David Wilson, a spokesperson for Sony UK, yesterday denied this.
“The game series is a massively popular franchise and I’m sure people will see that it is worth the wait”, he said.
Sony has sold more than 53m units of “Gran Turismo” titles and along with main competitors Microsoft and Nintendo, it is one of the biggest names in the global videogame industry.
It aims to sell 13m PS3 consoles in the year to March and a total of 240m units of software titles for the PS3, the earlier PlayStation 2 console and the PlayStation Portable handheld gear.
Wilson added that the delayed launch would not affect Sony’s sales forecasts.
“Next fiscal year we have some very strong franchises and some very good technology lined up.
“We will also launch our new motion sensing game controller, and this delay is not going to affect Japan’s forecast or ours”, he said.
Sony announced the unveiling of its motion sensing game controller last June at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in California, which it claimed is more advanced compared to Nintendo’s Wiimote.