On the one hand, the longevity of games this generation has greatly benefited from the advent of downloadable content but on the other hand, some believe it gives developers an excuse to release a less-than-complete title.
Well, Kazunori Yamauchi wants to make one thing abundantly clear: when Gran Turismo 5 launches, it will not be gimped or lacking in any way. You won't want to wait a few months so Polyphony can add all sorts of features that should've been included on the disc. You won't sift through the vast menus of the game and say to yourself, "man, there just isn't enough here." As summarized at GTPlanet , Yamauchi encouraged racing fans everywhere during his recent interview with the Official UK PlayStation Magazine:
"Let me be clear on this. There is a massive amount of content in this game, I don’t think there are many teams that put as much into a game as we can. The launch of the game isn’t a start, we are releasing a full game. Everything we want to put into the game is on the disc when it ships. Having said that, we do have a sizeable online team that will look after it once it’s launched."
Furthermore, it seems the weather systems involved in the game are also complete but Polyphony appears to be toying with the idea of including it all in the game. As Yamauchi said, "the choice is about whether it will improve the experience." Basically, if they're not convinced of the quality of this system, they're not going to put it in. Still, night racing will definitely return so don't worry about that.
There's little doubt that Gran Turismo 5 will be one of the most impressive titles of the generation and we certainly applaud Yamauchi's "full game" comment. And this doesn't mean DLC is out of the realm of possibility; it simply means we won't regret our initial $60 investment.
Related Game(s): Gran Turismo 5