14 DAY TRIAL // Gran Turismo 5's most recent delay really made a lot of eager racing fans extremely unhappy, and many believed that this might be one delay too many for Sony's blockbuster franchise, but analysts say that the upcoming title will still manage to shift a lot of units worldwide.
Gran Turismo 5 is currently one of the most anticipated racing games in the last few years, but its developer, Polyphony Digital, has certainly taken quite a lot of time in polishing up all of the details for the massive PlayStation 3 exclusive.
This meant a lot of delays, but fans were eager to finally get their hands on it this November.
Sadly, that won't happen, as Sony announced that the game will be pushed back to the holiday season, and didn't reveal an actual release date.
This doesn't matter though, as Gran Turismo 5 will still sell a lot of units, at least according to a few analysts.
"I don't believe a GT5 delay impacts Sony's current momentum," Capital Research's Jesse Divnich revealed.
"GT5 is such an anticipated title that delays are unlikely to impact consumer's purchase intent. Whether released a week later or the last week of December, sales will be astronomical."
Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter revealed that there are two possible outcomes to this whole situation, depending on when GT5 launches as opposed to EA's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit title, which will hit on November 19.
"Without knowing the date, it's impossible to say," he said. "If it's a week, no impact. If after Need for Speed, they could lose some momentum."
M2 Research's Billy Pidgeon thinks that given the track record of Polyphony Digital, and the numerous delays of Gran Turismo 5, some fans already expected this new one.
"Another delay on Gran Turismo is disappointing, especially to the most enthusiastic fans of the franchise," Pidgeon said.
"Still, there have been so many delays that another one is not surprising. Obviously, there's not much time left in the holiday season so Yamauchi and Polyphony have got to go gold within two months."
The game's designer, Kazonuri Yamauchi, qualified the new delay as "inexcusable" and Sony revealed that it isn't happy about pushing back the racing title once more.