Gran Turismo HD stripped down in Japan

By Mikel Reparaz
published

Flagship PS3 racer canceled for retail, will be available as download

Sony today announced it has canceled the retail version of Gran Turismo HD, the slicked-up remake of Gran Turismo 4 that was shown heavily in the months leading up to the PlayStation 3's launch. As of press time, however, the announcement applies only to Japan, and there has been no word regarding the game's stateside status.

There is a silver lining for fans, however. First off, work on the game has stopped so that the developers can concentrate on creating Gran Turismo 5, which promises to better take advantage of the PS3's capabilities. Second, a free demo of Gran Turismo HD will be released to Japanese PS3 owners through the online PlayStation Store on Dec. 24, featuring at least one track and 10 different cars.

Again, no US plans have been announced, although we expect to see something similar. There have also been rumors that downloadable cars and tracks will still be available for the demo in the future, although it seems more likely that developers will forgo them in favor of concentrating on GT5.

December 1, 2006

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.