Gran Turismo 5 coming November 25th

Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand has announced what appears to be the final, concrete date for the release of Gran Turismo 5: Thursday, November 25th.

We know what you're thinking - you've heard this one before. And you could be forgiven for your skepticism given the number of times the game's release has slipped. However, it seems that this could be the real deal given recent comments from Polyphony Digital head Kazunori Yamauchi that imply the game has gone gold and the discs have been pressed.

"Gran Turismo 5 is an ambitious project, with challenges and complexities which have made it our version of the Apollo Space Programme!" said Yamauchi of the final release date. "When we created the original Gran Turismo back in 1997, we wanted to set a completely new precedent for the racing genre. With the technological leap onto PlayStation 3, our objective with GT5 was to create another great revolution which would not only satisfy our own high expectations, but would meet or even exceed the anticipation of the fans. Satisfying the loyal Gran Turismo followers is at the heart of all of our efforts, which is why it was such a difficult decision to delay the release of the game, and one which we did not take lightly. I can only apologise to everyone for making you wait so long, and I hope that when you try out the wealth of driving experiences available in Gran Turismo 5, you will not be disappointed.

UPDATE - 1.51pm, Monday, November 15th: Sony has now mailed through a press release stating that the release date is, in fact, Thursday, November 25th - not Wednesday, November 24th as specified in the company's original press release and subsequently reported by Game Console.