is a 2010 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the fifth main installment and the tenth overall in the Gran Turismo series. It was released on November 24, 2010, in Europe and North America, and November 25, 2010, in Japan and Australasia. It was preceded by the Prologue version and is the first main entry of the series to be released for the PlayStation 3.
The game marks the first entry in the series with online races with support for up to 16 players. A damage model has been included with variations of damage depending on the car. Over 1,000 cars, 29 different locations, 77 different tracks, and a track generator are available in the game. Dynamic time and weather effects make their debut in the series. World Rally Championship, NASCAR and Super GT licenses are utilized for the first time in the Gran Turismo series.
Gran Turismo 5 was well-received critically and a commercial success, becoming the second best-selling PlayStation 3 game, the best-selling PlayStation 3 exclusive and the third best-selling game in the series with nearly 12 million copies sold. The game also won multiple awards and turned some players into real-life professional racing drivers with the GT Academy competition.
Gameplay New features
Gran Turismo 5 is the first game in the franchise to provide a damage model, with variations of damage depending on the car. The game also features weather effects, which are available on certain circuits. Optional stereoscopic-3D resolution and karting found a place in the game. Furthermore, new visual effects have been introduced, including dynamic skid marks, dust and the ability for drivers to flash their headlights. A course editor which allows the player to create new circuits by using tools that randomly generate track-parts according to certain player-selected specifications, including the number of corners, the time of day and the number of sectors. There are a variety of themes the player can choose from to act as a base for each circuit design. Themes also have an effect on track length and highest elevation.
The physics are significantly revised compared with Gran Turismo 4. Cars no longer instantly turn-in but realistically must load up the outside wheel first, and destabilizing effects (such as under braking) have greater influence.
Gran Turismo 5 is the first game in the franchise to include both mechanical and external damage modelling, including a real-time deformation engine that processes model deformation according to the speed and angle of impact. It is also possible to overturn cars for the first time in the series. The cars in GT5 are separated into "premium" and "standard" vehicles. Premium vehicles are more detailed and include a fully detailed cockpit view, while standard vehicles are less detailed. Standard cars initially could not receive aftermarket wheels, however, as of the version 2.02 update this is no longer the case. Gran Turismo 2 previously included damage, but was limited to mechanical failures only.
Tracks Gran Turismo 5 allows players to drive 31 different locations or "scenery" and 81 different track layouts (the previous iteration in the main numbered series, Gran Turismo 4, included 51 tracks total). Dunsfold Aerodrome, located in the United Kingdom – the test track of the British automotive television show Top Gear – is included in the game. The playable demo of Gran Turismo 5 at Gamescom 2009 featured the Tokyo Route 246 track, seen in previous incarnations of the game. Various real-life circuits return from previous games in the series. These include (among others) Nürburgring, Circuit de la Sarthe, Tsukuba Circuit, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Suzuka Circuit. New real-life circuits included in the game include (among others) Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Monza Circuit, Daytona International Speedway and two new Rome and Madrid city circuits. Many fictional circuits return from previous games in the series including 'Trial Mountain', 'Deep Forest Raceway' and 'Autumn Ring'. An official list of all tracks available in the game has been released by Polyphony Digital.
Downloadable tracks The "Track Pack" downloadable content, includes Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (with weather change) and Kart Space I/II. On January 17, 2012, Polyphony Digital released the "Speed Test Pack" that includes "Special Stage Route X". In June, Twin Ring Motegi returned to the series as DLC after the 2012 GT Academy.
Vehicles
Gran Turismo 5 provides a total of 1,089 cars. Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti make their first main release appearance in the franchise. The new "gullwing" Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG appeared, along with the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Lexus LFA supercar. McLaren also made their first appearance as a native manufacturer with the inclusion of the McLaren F1 road car, the F1 GTR race edition, and the MP4-12C road car. It is the first main release in the series to feature licensed Formula One cars, with the Ferrari F2007 and F10 included. Le Mans spec cars made a return appearance. Hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight are included in the game. The series' creator Kazunori Yamauchi mentioned that the latest hybrid and electric cars would be included, including the Tesla Roadster (2008) and Mitsubishi i-MiEV. At Gamescom 2010, it was also revealed that GT5 would include the Jaguar XJ13 race car prototype, as well as the Ferrari 330 P4 and the Ford Mark IV race cars, and as the developers put it, "will allow players to create the race that never came to be", since the XJ13 program was canceled before the car was ready for competition. Additionally, in association with Red Bull Racing, the development team worked on a new prototype car called the "X2010 Prototype" which was designed with the idea of, "If you built the fastest racing car on land, one that throws aside all rules and regulations, what would that car look like, how would it perform, and how would it feel to drive?" This car was worked on by Polyphony Digital and Red Bull's aerodynamics expert, Adrian Newey, and is one of the cars in the game. Up to 16 cars or 32 karts would be able to race on track at once whereas previous installments allowed only six cars per race max. Polyphony Digital released the official vehicle list which also shows which vehicles were to be standard or premium.
The cars in GT5 are separated into two categories, premium and standard. Premium cars are highly detailed and thus have high polygon counts, high texture resolution, feature headlights capable of high and low beams, detailed interior camera views, and detailed damage models. Premium cars also have working windshield wipers which are operated on tracks with rain or snow. Standard cars have lower polygon counts and texture resolution, standard headlights and basic damage modelling. After the Spec 2.0 update they feature simplified interior camera views. For open-topped cars, they have a functioning steering wheel and working gauges. Around 25% of all cars in the game fall into the "premium" category.
Classic sports cars are also a distinctive feature in GT5. Classics such as the Triumph Spitfire, Mini Marcos and Alfa Romeo Spider have also been added. Alongside this, some commercial vehicles have unusually been added to the game. Vehicles such as the Volkswagen Type 2 and the Volkswagen Schwimmwagen have been added to the game.
Downloadable cars In the Spec 2.0 update, there is the #71 Schulze Motorsport Nissan GT-R which Yamauchi drove in the 2011 24 Hours of Nürburgring and the new stock car designs of the 2011 NASCAR Season. In the new "Racing Car Pack" DLC, there are 14 new touring cars that are based on cars in the game like the Honda CR-Z and the Toyota Prius. Also, there is a newer version of the Red Bull X2010 called the X2011. On December 20, 2011, Polyphony Digital released "Car Pack 2" which features 2 new Volkswagen vehicles, the Golf R and Scirocco R, the new 2012 Nissan GT-R Black Edition and the 2011 Mini Cooper S. On January 9, 2012, PD has released a concept video for the upcoming Acura NSX for the North American International Auto Show. However, Kazunori did not state any information about the NSX's DLC release. The week after, Polyphony released "Car Pack 3" together with the "Speed Test Pack" which includes the Lamborghini Aventador, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, Nissan Leaf, Mini Countryman, Volkswagen Beetle and a Premium Jaguar XJR-9. In June, a free DLC release added a new car: the Scion FR-S, a variant model of the Toyota 86 and Scion's first vehicle to appear as a premium model. On September 25, update 2.08 brought 3 new cars: the Honda Weider HSV-010 '11 Super GT car, the Subaru BRZ (another variant of the Toyota 86), and the Nissan GT-R N24 GT Academy '12 car, which participated in the 2012 24 Hours Nürburgring., On 28 November, the new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 Prototype was released as a free DLC. On January 15, 2013, the Chevrolet Corvette C7 Final Prototype was released as another free DLC.
Development The game was first revealed at E3 2005 under the name Vision Gran Turismo. This was not GT5 but simply Gran Turismo 4 (for the PlayStation 2) with more cars on track and PC-rendered footage. The PlayStation 3 would not be released until November 11, 2006, and with no Gran Turismo game in the console's launch line-up. Various bits of information and news was revealed about the game from then on, but it was not for another three years that the public got a chance to have a proper look at GT5.
At Sony's E3 2009 Press Conference, a trailer for Gran Turismo 5 was shown, revealing the inclusion of Super GT, NASCAR and WRC but no release date was revealed. Yamauchi said that "We've actually reached a point where we can probably release [GT5] anytime, except that you can also keep working as long as you want to as well, it's just a matter of timing". Yamauchi later explained that "Deciding a release date for a game is always difficult, as it's not something I can decide on my own. The agreement on a date comes between various parties at Sony, and it's not necessarily a date I would be hoping for. March would've been too early. We could have produced the game in time to make that deadline, but the finished product wouldn't have had everything that I wanted to include". Sony Computer Entertainment has certain control over the release dates of their games, which could be one of the contributing factors delaying Gran Turismo 5. Gran Turismo 5 was shown off extensively at E3 2010 including a new trailer, a North and Latin American release date, playable demos on the show floor and various private press conferences revealing new information about the game. Alongside the original release, two collector's editions were released; one featuring some extra bonus content and the other, more expensive option containing extra paraphernalia such as further reading on car racing.
Overall, Gran Turismo 5 took more than five years to complete, with a total cost estimated at $60 million, although Polyphony Digital did release four other games during this period. The first game in the series had also taken five years. Yamauchi has expressed the difficulty of developing for the PlayStation 3, specifically mentioning how the extensively different (at the time) architecture of the Cell processor had made programming extremely challenging and time-consuming. This greater than expected difficulty to program for the Cell processor is speculated by some people to also be part of the reasons why Gran Turismo 5 was delayed a number of times.