GT5 Coming in 2009?

Can it be? Are we really gonna see Gran Turismo 5 before the end of the year? For those who don know GT5 will be the newest entry in the GT series and has been in the works FOREVER! Well ever since the release of GT4 over 4 years ago. Almost at the vaporware status, GT5 has been one of those games that never seems to be actually coming out. Highly anticipated and always just out of reach. Well, now it seems that the wait is almost over.

Information from GamesCom in Germany reveals that GT5 is scheduled for release sometime in the 4th Quarter of 2009. The question now, "Is the game ready?"

Are we Ready?

Reports are that the game will feature over 1000 cars! That's right 1000 cars and 20 tracks with over 60 driving variations. Not bad. But here's the catch. Not all of the cars have damage models. Actually, reports indicate that only a few 100 will actually have damage. Personally this seems a little weak to me.

The word on the net is that some car companies refuse to let their cars show damage in game. But this seems like a copout. If that is true, why do all 400+ cars in Forza 3 have damage. Both games will have cars from the same companies (except Porsche which is currently exclusive to Forza 3). So why doesn't Forza seem to have the same problem getting the rights to damage cars? Something is a little fishy here.

It is also worth noting that Forza 3 was recently announced to be releasing at the end of October this year. This surprise announcement came just a few months ago at E3 and I don't think anyone expected Forza 3 to come out so soon.

So my question to you is this... Is Polyphony Digital (Developer of GT5) rushing the game out to compete directly against Forza 3? Granted they have had 4+ years to develop, so "Rush" might not be the right word but from what I am reading, the game doesn't seem finished.

This could be a bad move. Especially with great sims already out (Forza 2) and Forza 3 on the way I hope the good folks at PD don't drop the ball. The GT franchise is well regarded as one of the best Sim Racing series ever made. After such a long development cycle people are looking for something amazing. I hope they don't disappoint.