GTPlanet

If you’re in France, head on over to the Paris Game Festival for your chance to play on the Gran Turismo 5 build that we saw running at GamesCom last month. The show is open to the public September 18-20. Rumors are coming in fast, however, that Sony representatives on the show floor are confirming GT5’s release date will be announced next week at the Tokyo Game Show, and the playable demo there will feature the Ferrari Enzo.  Thanks to user jujub for the report and photos/videos!

Tensions were high last June at E3, when everyone and their brother expected something about Gran Turismo 5 to be announced at the largest trade show in the gaming industry.  We got a cool trailer, but nothing else about the game was revealed.  Next up was GamesCom, where the first playable version (with damage) was demonstrated.  These delightful tidbits were released despite the fact that the game was not released on Sony’s “official list” of game titles to be highlighted at the show.

That trend is about to change for the upcoming Tokyo Game Show – Sony’s just released their official exhibitor list, with Gran Turismo 5 right in the middle of things.  Kazunori Yamauchi has already confirmed that we can expect a “major advancement” at TGS, and with this new confirmation, we could see more revealed about the game than ever before.  The show begins on September 24 – mark your calendars!

Mere seconds after the throngs of GT fans gobbled up the news off the GamesCom show floor, eyes began to turn to the upcoming Tokyo Game Show for the next flood of Gran Turismo 5 info from Polyphony Digital. Today, we can tell you that excitement is not misplaced, as Kazunori Yamauchi has confirmed a “major advancement” is coming to the show later this month. From his latest interview with G4TV:

G4: What are your plans for Tokyo Game Show?

Yamauchi: At E3, we showed a concept video and this time at Games-Com, we have a playable demo with damage, and I think you can expect a similar major advancement at TGS.

The full interview is definitely worth the read, though the interviewer seems pretty hung up on GT PSP’s development time. Mark your calendars – TGS begins September 24 – and we’ll have full coverage of everything GT at the show, right here on GTPlanet.

Thanks to Alexandre for the heads-up!

In a short but sweet interview with AutoWeek magazine which must have fallen through the cracks with all the other E3 news, GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi stated that “We will give the release date of Gran Turismo 5 soon.”  The question remains, though – just how soon is “soon”?  Speculation is mounting in our forums, with many pointing towards the upcoming Tokyo Game Show this September 24-27.  Aside from taking place on Polyphony Digital’s home turf (their offices are located in Tokyo), the 2007 TGS show is where they announced the release date for GT5 Prologue.  While this is just speculation, you can see the pieces of the puzzle would fit together quite nicely.

Another surprisingly interesting portion of the interview came when Yamauchi was asked about Gran Turismo 1’s development:

AW:  How hard was it to make that first game?

KY:  It took five years. In those five years, we could not see the end. I would wake up at work, go to sleep at work. It was getting cold, so I knew it must be winter. I estimate I was home only four days a year.

He also mentioned the original game was created by a staff of only 7 people!  Oh, how things have changed….