Gran Turismo 5 To Get Visible Car Damage, Weather Effects, Night Racing

Perhaps the most frustrating element of most racing games but absent from the legendary Gran Turismo racing simulator for the Sony PlayStation, visible car damage is now expected to feature in the massively-delayed Gran Turismo 5.

Sure, there’s a perfectly good reason for it: without permission from manufacturers to show their cars getting visibly roughed up, it can’t happen. And while developer Polyphony Digital has apparently had permission from a majority of manufacturers, it only takes one precious company to decline for it to be an overall no-go.

However, GT series creator Kazanori Yamauchi has revealed in a recent interview that car damage is finally coming to the series.

Yamauchi also promised that other features long absent from Gran Turismo, such as visible weather effects and night racing, will also appear in GT5.

The latest iteration of the famed racing simulator series has suffered more than a few delays along the way, with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue being released as something of a tide-me-over until the 'full' game’s unveilling. But while Yamauchi wouldn't give a firm shipping date, rumours around the gaming circles suggest the game itself (sans Prologue) is expected to land some time around 2011-2012.

[via Kotaku]