Ben-DutkaIt has always been one of the most popular video game franchises in history, and with the aid of the most recent installment, Gran Turismo has hit another plateau.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) has revealed that the cumulative worldwide sales for the long-running and critically acclaimed series has topped 60 million units as of December 6, 2010. That 60 million is the sell-in number, in case you're wondering. GT managed to reach the impressive mark in just under 13 years; the first title hit the Japanese market in late December of 1997. From the press release:
"The Gran Turismo franchise, from the original Gran Turismo to the latest Gran Turismo®5, has continued to evolve alongside the PlayStation platforms. With its outstanding gameplay, beautiful graphics and true-to-life driving simulation, the franchise is recognized as the world's number one automotive game title on the PlayStation format, receiving high regard not just from game fans, but from professional racing drivers and enthusiasts in the automotive industry."
As for GT5, which is technically the 9th entry in the franchise, it offers a "completely new physics engine" along with a lineup of over 1,000 licensed cars. It also boasts 3D, real-time car damage, dynamic weather effects, kart racing, a Course Maker, and a deep online and community feature…but you already knew that, right? So far, the game has sold over 5.5 million units worldwide, and that number has been reached in less than 2 weeks.
Yes indeed, the world continues to reward Kazunori Yamauchi and Co. And that, of course, is the right thing to do.
Related Game(s): Gran Turismo 5
Once again my country (USA) has proven that only shooters sell millions on day one.
Sigh.
I thought you guys already had real guns? Shouldn't it be the other countries that are chomping at the bit to use guns?
Yes we have lots of real guns but shooting real people is frowned upon. Who'da thunkit? LOL!
What, gunshot wounds hurt?
pfft…
Pansies! /sarc (as if you couldn't tell)/
Well that's a whole lot more than Forza 3…lol What is 'sell in' number? If that's shipped, then those numbers are kind of misleading. Can't wait until Christmas when some random family member suprises me with this. If someone gets me some slippers…I'm gonna flip out…lol
Yeah, so VG has is at 2.9 million sold. A solid number still, but I thought this was going to be a blockbuster right out the gate. Man I wish there were 500 cars and all were premium. And they don't have a 2009 or 2010 Shelby GT Mustang which I really wanted to race, but they have about a million Nissans, Toyotas, and Hondas. That's irritating because I read a post where they said this game has something for everyone…very true, but they don't even have the car I trully want. I might be wrong as I don't have the game yet, but I read the cars list and GT planet. No Porshes…downer, but that heavy list of different spec Hondas,Mazdas, and Nissans is clearly extras content so GT5 could reach that 1000 count.
@FM23,
Porsche owns their license. Polyphony has never been able to use the name but they do have Porsche in the game. They are known as RUF. Check em out.
Hopefully Sony and Polyphony have some more premium cars coming down the pike in the form of DLC.
i think i read they would be adding cars at no charge to the game. whether i actually read that i am not sure maybe i was dreaming 😉 lol but that is how it should be
RUF isn't a convenience name to avoid using Porsche. RUF is a real car maker that makes sports cars from unmarked Porsche bodies and chassis. They kind of remanufacture Porsche cars only they will do it to your custom specifications starting with nothing but the Porsche body and chassis.
My only complaint with GT5 is that none of the six cars that I drive semi-regularly are included in it.
Also, the heavy focus on Mazda, Honda and Toyota makes sense, as they are Japanese brands, and are held in higher esteem by PD. At least they didn't disclude the other X number of cars altogether.
Peace.
Well, I'm glad the sales are proving the critics wrong about the game supposedly "being terrible".
I hope you like them apples. Although i do like apples. o.o
I say about…7 million after christmas. BTW did you know LBP has sold 5.5 million!? It was like 3 million 6 months ago :O
EDIT: Oh yeah, PS+ got it free :/
Last edited by Ludicrous_Liam on 12/10/2010 2:07:02 PM
andriasang.com has a much better analysis of GT5's sales:
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/10/gt5_shipments
Even though I fail to see the entertainment value in a car simulation that imposes tediously slow upgrading, I genuinely respect the sales numbers. Obviously Polyphony knows what their fans want and they've delivered.
Well, it's like this, the slow upgrading forces you to race in a car that's not that great, so you have to drive better to win. I like the challenge of taking a low end car and upgrading it piece by piece and finding ways to win despite having an inferior machine.
It's also fun to see how far you can take the nonsense by spending stupid amounts on upgrades and pitting your 700HP 1970's Dodge Charger (or whatever other example you care to use) against a McLaren F1 around Sarthe.
"imposes tediously slow upgrading"
LOL!
The upgrading doesn't seem slow to me, it's the tweaking to the parts that can be tweaked seems slow to me.
But that doesn't bother me at all, i like tweaking the settings and see what i get and try to perfect it.
@Alienage,
Challenge is good.
That's what made Demon's Souls great, that's what makes Gran Turismo great.
You can't always kill everything in your way or outrace your opponents with a Lamborgini.
The challenge of using a Miata is actually pretty fun.
5.5 million sold in two weeks? And who said that this wouldn't be able to rival CoD :P. That's actually rather amazing. Given the rather average reviews that it got from most popular sites, I was expecting far lower sales figures, but it looks like people know the quality that the GT series always brings to the table, and reward it accordingly. Great news for Sony and PD.
Peace.
Immediately becomes the best selling PS3 exclusive.
You guys don't believe me when I talk?
GT5 = GOTY gold
That's great to hear! And hopefully, the sales will just keep climbing, although I'm sure they will.
I wonder how many of those 5.5 million were left disappointed by 5 years of showboating?
"5.5 million sold in two weeks"
These aren't 5.5 million sold-through(as to consumers), but rather 5.5 million sold to retailers. With that mind when speaking of sold-through, GT5 acutal retail numbers is probably much lower than this.
Real time DAMAGE? In what universe? It's in real time the little damage there is …I guess. 1000 CARS? Uh…yeah…I guess if you count the 800 cars copied directly from GT4. Why are all the cars that were premium in Prologue…still Premium in GT5? Notice the Bugatti Veyron is not because it wasn't in Prologue. Granted they made around 125 Premium cars for GT5 but the other 75 or so were taken from Prologue. 6 years to add cockpits and pixels to Premium cars, was not enough time? Get off your ass next time! You sold 54.5 million units before GT5 was out … PLUS all the other crap games for other systems. That's not enough money to hire more people to program for the nearly impossible PS3. I am glad the Cell is do powerful…Who gives a crap if you can't program for it! Sick of it! At least they released an 80% finished game and with the updates it at around 85% now. Needs DAMAGE, an option to remove HUD, ALL the cars premium and better tire marks, track surfaces and shadows! If you want…add in better replay cameras and 3D scenery.
Also the PS3 sold a lot more in Europe. It is slowly catching on in North America. 360 is Microsoft ….Sony is Japanese. It is also a Blu-Ray player. I was racking my brain for a reason to buy the PS3 when it came out. Couldn't think of one. Oct 2005 I had my Xbox 360…PS3 launched 2 years later. That's 2 years of gaming! I finally bought PS3 for the exclusives and Blu-Ray won out …oh and the unadvertised web browser, that Sony never talks about. PS3 is built better, the 360 is a better game machine (the internals of the 360 are crap from the lowest bidders) What are games programmed on? A PC so it is easier to make it for the similar 360. Also, multi platform games are always better on the 360, due to better comparability and 1080p upconvert. Buy GRID by Codemasters or most other multi platform games. 720P? On PS3 and bad porting. F1 2010 is not bad on both systems. You need a Fanatec Wheel (which is slightly better than the logitech G25/27) and you can use it on both consoles and PC. (with a dongle). Update the hell out of GT5 and you have a Great game!