I am wondering about the question in the subject header.  Is there anyone who is a Playstation 3 owner who doesn't know about Gran Turismo 5?  Same with anyone else out there who may be buying a PS3 to play it, who doesn't have a PS3 yet.  And also, anyone in general who is into videogames for whom the Gran Turismo franchise isn't a know commodity either? 

So, in light of this, exactly what is heavy marketing and promotion of Gran Turismo 5 going to do for sales?  There would be ONE thing I see Sony needs to get word out about, which is that it is set to be available the Wednesday of Black Friday week.  So, in light of this, why wouldn't signs up in stores where people go shopping letting them know it is out, be enough?  Exactly what would running a lot of ads do?  Are ads with Kevin Butler suddenly going to convert people over who had no interest in Gran Turismo to suddenly become interested?  Or that it will suddenly let a number of people know the game exists when they didn't before?

I am asking this because I don't see Gran Turismo 5 really having any competition, and the genre of driving sim, either is or isn't of interest to people.  Halo and God of War happened to get a boost, because they have competitors.  But what does Gran Turismo 5 have, Mario Kart or Forza?

many people i know in school dont even know that GT5 is releasing this year. Sony need to let the people know that this game is coming

It's a shame they can't do heavy marketing before it releases... most TV timeslots are already filled with ads and magazines are already printing...

Because they want "NEW" people to get into the GT franchise too

That is very important as it will keep the series healthy.

To do that some extensive and compelling  marketing is important. I know so many people at school who got HALO 3 when they hadn't even played Halo 1/2....Why? Because of the amazing marketing campaign and knowledge that Halo 1/2 were good.

Exactly the same way that New Halos and COD need marketing.

majority of the people don't know it

don't know the release

its the same with every product,the dedicated and hardcore following fans are very less

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand... thread closes down.

Because people are still confused about the release date, I sell video games in the "gray" market and my costumers are always asking me when GT5 is going to be released  and others think that it was already released. Also is just normal to back up with promotion the biggest Sony franchise.

The FPS genre is a very competitive one and bloody.  Halo and Call of Duty do end up competing against each other, so the advertising is for that.  With Gran Turismo, what other game is it competing against?

Rather than reply to ever message, let me ask about several others:

* In regards to people not knowing it is coming out this year, how many of those are fans of the series?  If someone isn't a target for the game does it matter they know about it?

* In regards to getting new people into it, what is Gran Turismo 5 doing differently that would get people into it now who weren't before?  I can say, NASCAR and maybe other of the sim driving people who weren't, but how is it going to get kart racing fans into it, eventhough it does have kart racing?

And Halo is a cultural thing that goes beyond just FPS.  Does do driving sims have this?  I don't see it, because all I see is Forza as the only other major entry in the driving sim arena.   So, only thing I see is the need to let people who are into it know that it is coming out.

Its not about doing things differently

As people grow up their tastes change

A boy who was 4 years old 10 years ago wouldn't be able to go to a store and buy "GT2"...but now is a 14 year old ....and he  is into car racing games....he sees the GT commercial, loves the look of it and decides to buy it

There you've got 1 new person into the franchise.

Its not about what GT5 may be doing differently...its about capturing new people who may be interested in car racing games now.