Ben-DutkaAt some point, a game reaches a position of hype where the expectations can't possibly get any higher. And now, after a big delay, the addition of 3D, NASCAR, head-tracking, and any other number of nifty, potentially revolutionary features, Gran Turismo 5 has no other alternative: it must be viewed as the greatest racing simulator of all time.
Racing fans know Polyphony Digital and Kazunori Yamauchi won't produce a shoddy product. They never have and in fact, these guys don't know what it means to "settle." If they needed the extra time to tweak and hone, they would take it. They might annoy their fans in the process but they're just not going to put a game on store shelves that doesn't represent their absolute 100% best efforts. We respect this trait in any developer. But perhaps unfortunately for them, GT5 has sort of attained this mythic status in the gaming community, largely because of the long wait and the continued details and footage that can force people to replace their keyboards after drowning the tool in drool. Therefore, if GT5 falls just shy of the "greatest ever" label, even by a tiny amount, it will be considered a failure by many.
You hate to see that happen. Sometimes, though, it's unavoidable. Technically, GT5 only suffered one actual delay so it's really unfair to compare it to Duke Nukem but if the latter ever had arrived after 11 years of waiting and speculation, if it wasn't the single best shooter in the history of the industry, it would've been mocked incessantly for all eternity. The advent of the Internet has allowed hype to blossom and spread like never before and if you give a hotly anticipated game enough time, it will invariably reach a plateau of expectations…and that plateau is nothing short of perfection.
So good luck, Polyphony. We're pullin' for you, but we don't necessarily envy you.
Related Game(s): Gran Turismo 5