As the drama surrounding the delay of the PlayStation 3’s flagship title spreads around the web, one very important question remains unanswered: why? An official explanation will most likely never be issued, but that won’t stop me from trying to figure out this puzzle. First up, Taku Imasaki (North American GT5 producer) offers a vague look at what’s been happening on the “inside” via an interview with the New York Times:
“We’re really close, but this was an executive decision that was made yesterday. Realistically, we thought we had a good date. We’re not happy over here.”
This somewhat confusing statement wasn’t lost on the Times editor, who didn’t hesitate to add “there was also speculation that Sony might not have sufficient supplies of the game to meet demand in November”. This speculation was later supported by a comment from a Sony Canada spokesperson to Reuters Canada, clearly stating that “production difficulties were to blame for the delay”.
I have also been privately informed that review copies of GT5 were only briefly postponed and should still be in reviewer’s hands within the next few weeks. Better yet, I can report Sony is targeting a new release window within approximately 8-12 days after November 26th (“Black Friday” in the United States).
Keeping in mind that Sony presses their own Blu-Ray discs, and production time at each facility is carefully divided and scheduled between all of the company’s movies and games for the holiday season, I find the following theory most likely: 1.) Polyphony Digital narrowly missed its Blu-Ray production window, 2.) to prevent serious disruption of many other products, Sony must move forward with its schedule, 3.) an “executive decision” must be quickly made to find another production slot for GT5, 4.) the game’s producers are “not happy” with the inflexibility of the decision as it forces a launch delay, 5.) both Polyphony Digital and Sony can actually claim responsibility for the problem, and finally, 6.) Yamauchi personally apologizes to fans via Twitter
“Apologies for the delay. It’s because time and labor were spent ironing the kinks out of a complex system. I’m really sorry. Everyone, it’s inexcusable… Wait a little longer.”
Regardless of what really happened, this Christmas, when you’re blasting down La Sarthe’s Mulsanne straight, in the rain, at dusk, this week’s events will probably be the last thing on your mind.
