14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Computer Entertainment is boasting that more than 50 million games of Gran Turismo, the company's racing simulation game, have been sold in the world since 1997, when the series first debuted. The game sold on all three of the game consoles that Sony has so far created, the PlayStation, PS2 and, of course, the PlayStation 3.
It has taken the game just a little over ten years and only seven installments in the franchise to reach this phenomenal sales number. The most recent installment in the series, called Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a game that some have labeled as only a demo to the full Fran Turismo 5 game which is set to come this fall, has on its own sold some 2 million units, after the pre-orders had already topped one million before the release of the game.
Kazunori Yamauchi, the producer of the series, has stated that "Initially, Gran Turismo was an 'alternative' racing game, kind of an outsider in the genre. And we made it thinking that it would be okay as long as it reached out to 'the select few who would agree with us.' So, this figure - 50 million units - is simply astounding. If you go to a game store and look for a particular package, and pay for it at the cash register, though the time may be very brief, it still takes at least 3 minutes or so. It's simply mind boggling and hard to believe that this has been repeated 50 million times all around the world in the last 10 years".
When it comes out, the complete version of Gran Turismo 5 is set to break new records, both as an individual game and for the series as a whole. The game will be the most polished Gran Turismo to date and players will be offered the possibility to compete in a variety of events while using a multitude of cars that can be fine-tuned in every way the players wants.
The only worry at this point is that the damage system, as already witnessed in Prologue, might be a bit of a letdown. But no doubt that Polyphony Digital, the developers of the game, will take their time and look at it again before the fall release.