Rival developers: Gran Turismo 5 “sterile” and “boring”

Even though it’s only just crept out after a development period spanning back to Jesus times, Gran Turismo 5 is already getting a rough ride. Not from the critics, however – it’s averaging a respectable 87% right now on Metacritic – but from rival development studios.

First up to take a crack at the uber-realistic PlayStation 3 racer was Electronic Arts Senior VP Patrick Soderlund, whose company will release Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed in March 2011:

“[...]If you compare Shift and Gran Turismo, I actually do see Shift as a direct competitor to Gran Turismo for sure. Honestly, my take on this. Would I want to compete with Gran Turismo on sheer scale – meaning number of cars and the depth that they have in the game? Probably not. What does make sense to me … I think they have a very sterile, almost car collecting type of product where that’s mainly what we do and I think we can offer something different.”

That’s a bit like being awoken from your cryogenic chamber in 2298 with a punch to the plumsack, but it wasn’t just EA sticking the boot in. Here, for example, is Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens:

“Gran Turismo 5 is going to be a phenomenal product, with the time and investment Sony have made in it. You can have a technically phenomenal game, but you can also have a game concept that doesn’t really appeal [to some racing fans] and could be accused of — and you have to be careful how you write this – of being boring.”

I assume a response from GT5 devs Polyphony Digital is currently in development and expected ‘soon’.

[Via CVG]