Forza Motorsport 5 made a splash on Tuesday, May 21, as the Microsoft reveal event highlighted the official introduction of the next-generation console Xbox One release date. During the highly anticipated press conference, president of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Don Mattrick announced the Xbox One release date will be during the holiday season of 2013.
While the Tuesday press conference multiple launch titles to coincide with the Xbox One worldwide launch, the only confirmed title so far is the upcoming Forza Motorsport 5.
An exclusive title for Xbox, developers Turn 10 Studios released a short trailer that featured a number of awesome cars as well as iconic racing circuits and real world locations.
Crucially, the introduction of Forza Motorsport 5 occurred only a week after the officially announcement of Gran Turismo 6, which will remain on the outgoing PS3 platform. Given the extensive improvements introduced on the new Xbox One console, is Gran Turismo 6's potential already compromised by the limitations of the outdated PS3?
Last week, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi assured fans that GT6 will not disappoint:
"It is amazing to think that it is 15 years since we first released Gran Turismo. Things have changed a lot since then and now Gran Turismo 6 is a further evolution of my dream. We're pleased to deliver GT6 to PlayStation 3 as we have a very loyal community on that platform.
"However, we have refactored the game to make it very flexible and expandable, with a view to making many future developments. I am very pleased with everything about the new game and the new additions, but the launch will be only the beginning for GT6. The game will continue to develop throughout its life. I already have many ideas for things I want to achieve in the next 15 years of Gran Turismo!"
A constant pursuit for racing sims, Gran Turismo franchise developer Polyphony promises to feature "new levels of authenticity" for Gran Turismo 6. The the sixth iteration, Gran Turismo reached out to tire manufacturer Yokohama and suspension company KW Automotive to redesign the Gran Turismo physics engine. Gran Turismo 6 will boast an advanced suspension and kinematics mode, tire model, and aero model.
As many as 1,200 cars will be available at the launch of GT6 with additional models expected to expand the portfolio via future DLC.
Despite Gran Turismo's initial dominance in the racing sim category, Forza Motorsports managed to confidently match, if not surpass, Gran Turismo in the past few years. For example, Forza Motorsports boasts a significantly more extensive car customization system that boasts a near infinite amount of variations. Gran Turismo responds to Forza's success:
"Several thousand aerodynamic parts and custom wheels will be available for almost all cars," writes Sony, "and players can personalize their own custom cars in game to the greatest ever level possible."
Forza Motorsport 5 news has yet to announce extensive specs and information so it's still too early to directly compare the capabilities of the new Forza Motorspot 5 and Gran Turismo 6. Stay tuned as we find out more about the gtames in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, be sure to take a look at the new Forza Motorsport 5 trailer below:
