I’ve already written a dozen paragraphs on why releasing Gran Turismo 6 on PlayStation 3 is a smart idea for Sony – you can read them here – but tonight US retailer NewEgg (who don’t actually sell eggs, in any condition) have listed the game for pre-order.
It’s out of stock. Discontinued. Never coming back.
But it’s there – look – and it’s down for the 28th of November. That’s right about when the PlayStation 4 should be making its way towards (at least one set of) shelves, you’ll note.
Sony’s Michael Denny started all this. It’s all his fault. “Look at the games coming out on the PlayStation 3 like The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, GT6, and then on the third-party side of things another fantastic Assassin’s Creed, GTA,” he said in a recent interview.
So, there you have it. Hardly 100% concrete proof, but at least one retailer is sticking their neck out and saying “this is when we think Gran Turismo 6 will appear” and that’s good enough for me.
cc_star
Awful, potentially disastrous idea.
Install base is a key reason for 3rd party interest in signing off projects for a platform.
Gran Turismo is by far Sony’s biggest brand & whilst they have lots of great games, GT is their only real system seller.
GT6 – £40 on something you already own & year or two of replayability for those that buy a PlayStation to play GT, or at least months of play for Sony’s core fans & potential early adopters of a new console
Drive Club + PS4 – £400+ price of entry to a new IP of unknown quality.
A GT of some kind, even a Prologue, on nextgen eases the purchase process like no other title could… A new GT on last gen could easily be a drag on early adoption & if one platform takes an early lead in install base we could easily see a repeat of the opening years of this gen that saw BioShock and GTAIV expansions etc as timed exclusives elsewhere.
Something we see on Wii U whose sluggish start to growing it’s install base is seeing it struggling to gain 3rd parties signing off on projects for it.
Big mistake by Sony imo
KeRaSh
I completely agree. I’m still holding out for a GT6 PS4 reveal (alongsine a PS3 version). Make the PS4 version platform exclusive for a while to sell a few extra PS4s to impatient fans.
bowie
I do not think your reasoning holds.
“Install base is a key reason for 3rd party interest in signing off projects for a platform.” Absolute install base is a factor in deciding which platforms to support but it is only half the equation. To determine Return on Investment you need both the Return (related to install base) but you also need the Investment (the cost of developing for that platform). The next Xbox and PS4 are likely to be so similar in architecture that larger developers are going to target both because the cost of doing so will be so low.
“we see on Wii U whose sluggish start to growing it’s install base is seeing it struggling to gain 3rd parties signing off on projects for it.” Install base isn’t the only reason 3rd parties are avoiding the Wii U. Regarding Crysis 3 on the Wii U Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli explained it never happened because “there was a lack of business support between Nintendo and EA…”
Nintendo forged its own path with the Wii and left a lot of 3rd parties behind. It will take time to repair all those burned bridges. Also, the Wii illustrates that a large install base does not guarantee third party support.
“if one platform takes an early lead in install base we could easily see a repeat of the opening years of this gen that saw BioShock and GTAIV expansions etc as timed exclusives elsewhere.” Can you provide evidence that Bioshock avoided the PS3 because of low install base? GTA IV DLC was exclusive because MS paid for it to be so.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/take-two-refuses-to-clarify-usd-50-million-gta-iv-deal
I do not think that 3rd party support is at risk at least not to a degree that could be called “disastrous.” I am also not convinced that making Polyphony Digital a key part of your console launch strategy given their notoriety for delaying is a good idea.
Eldave0
Surprised they keep bothering with the GT series to be honest. They take forever to make and simply aren’t as enjoyable/accessible/successful as the Forza series – I share the opinion of many, that the last truly great GT game was GT3. Besides, DriveClub already has things covered for driving fans at launch.
teflon
Because they’re very profitable and very popular. Much more so than Forza.
Eldave0
Really? Given GT is rarely in the charts and Forza is there all year round I assumed otherwise.
KeRaSh
They’re not even close.
This article might be from November 2012 but it should make the current situation pretty clear:
Source: gamer.blorge.com
“Total franchise numbers for Gran Turismo now top 67.8 million units as of September. With sales for Gran Turismo 5 surpassing 9 million units, the single iteration is now closing in on the lifetime sales of the entire Forza franchise which is estimated to be at 12 million which includes Forza Motorsport (original Xbox), Forza 2, Forza 3 and Forza 4. ”
9 Million GT5 sales vs. 12 Million for the entire Forza franchise. I guess people really like their GT.
Tomhlord
Sadly, you assumed incorrectly.
Erroneus
They were properly aiming for it to be released this spring, but off corse poly couldn’t get it done, so now it will be released at a strange time.
Cort
Sorry Kaz. I had a GT5 preorder for about five loyal and highly anticipated years and you delivered a sterile, lifeless bloated mess with possibly the worst multiplayer it has ever been my misfortune to use. Never again.
And as for you, Fumito….
Tomhlord
The multi-player is amazing. Sign up to Monday’s #TGMEM in the TSA Meets section and we’ll happily show you the ropes :)
freezebug2
@Cort I can understand some of your frustrations at the constant delays with GT5 and not receiving a near perfect final product when it was eventually released….a tad frustrating!
But with the continued support that PD have shown the game since release it has become a lot more polished and does warrant it’s place in the Gran Turismo library.
I must admit though that it beggars belief why they couldn’t have released the game in it’s current state after that incredibly long cycle of development and testing.
Tomhlord
Lest us not forget that the PS3 had been out circa one year when God of War 2 was released on PS2….
blackredyellow
Loved GT5 (and GT3, and GT4), I’m sure to love this.