Opinion: Why Gran Turismo 5 has to be the best racing game ever

Since GT4 in 2005 we’ve been teased with a full-blown sequel but had to make do with makeweights such as GT HD (2006), GT5: Prologue (2007) and PSP title GT Portable. Seemingly, the reason for the five year hiatus is because developer, Polyphonic Digital, are striving for perfection. So with the team so committed to achieving faultlessness does this mean anything less will be a failure? To me, sort of.

OK, so nothing is perfect, per se, but already my expectations for GT5 are through the effin’ roof. I want every car to purr like their real-life counterpart. I expect every course to be identically represented right down to the smallest piece of torn tarmac at the Nurburgring. In short, I want my everywhim catered for and if it’s not I’ll be sad. The devs have made a rod for their own backs with the delays in the pursuit of perfection and cramming as much in as possible, so why shouldn'tIexpect anything but the best racing game ever?

Above: NASCAR is in this year, umm, yay?

On the other hand, the huge gap between sequels has allowed for a garage load of features to be squeezed into GT5. Dynamic day/night cycles - which will be perfect forsomething like the 24 hourLe Mans race, 3D tech, over950 cars including karts, Top Gear's test track and the hotlyrumoured track editor. These are all things thatwould need as much time as possibleto deliver perfectly, but for my money the hype around this sequel, which Sony have done little to play down, means that it absolutely has to be immaculate.

But what do you think? Will Sony's racer be the best thing on four-wheels? Would you have rather they sent it out earlier but then added new features via free DLC? Or do you think it's still going to be behind the likes of Forza 3 andRace Driver: GRID? Let us know in the comments below.