Releasing 3 days before Christmas? I doubt it. It would have to be earlier if it's releasing in '09.

Can't we just wait for SONY to Say something?

I can't take this anymoreeeeeaaaarrrrrggggggg, announce the freaking game release date already!!! My bet it's 2010 though, grrr.

I can see Sony announcing GT5 for this Christmas as a shock announcement at this years TGS. This along with the (pretty much confirmed) slim will mean huge sales this holiday ^.^

My question is, and excuse me if the answer is obvious 'cause I still don't see it:

WHY would Sony show a new Gran Turismo 5 trailer at E3, then remain completely shut about it during the show and after????

edit: would they do that just to show Gran Turismo 5 is part of their "next releases" , just like they announced "Agent" from Rockstar? It be could just that, however, Agent is some kind of "surprise" announcement for the show, something we didn't know about. Along those lines is ModNation Racers and it got a full on-stage demonstration, and that game is not coming 2009. Jus where does that leave GT5? We knew ages ago it's coming, so why show this trailer without even giving new details during or after the show? Surely not to remind us the game IS still coming, right? Hell, I think we know as much of The Last Guardian than we know of GT5!

There's still TGS. They may dedicate most of their showing there to GT5 and GT PSP.

There's the convention in Germany too. I don't remember the date.

I don't think Polyphony would care frankly, but I'm sure Sony do.

If you really want to play an awesome racing simulator, only one is guarenteed to be coming out this holiday, on a relatively inexpensive console.  Facing facts, not much will distinguish GT5 and Forza 3 quality-wise, regardless of which one is actually deemed better.

Sony could lose a lot of potential Ps3 sales if Forza 3 releases this holiday and GT5 next year.  On the other hand, if they nudge Polyphony to get the game out this year, Sony could probably get away with not having a price cut in Japan or Europe.

We just need to hope it's not at the expense of the game's quality.

I highly doubt giving Polyphony five years to develop their game would be considered "putting pressure" on the studio.  Also, the rumored December release jibes with the past releases of GT titles in Japan.  GT1, GT2, GT4P, GT4, and GT5P all released in December in Japan.  GT3 was the only exception.  Chances are Polyphony were the ones that decided to aim for December.  The only difference this time around is that they're aiming for a simultaneous worldwide release, much like they're doing for GT PSP.

Also, I don't think Forza 3 will steal that many sales from the ps3 if GT5 were to ultimately release in 2010.  Forza simply does not have that kind of brand power, and GT is most influential in Europe and Japan anyway, Forza's weakest markets.  It's obviously no competition in Japan, and even GT5P managed to outsell Forza 2 in Europe, not including downloads (1.7 million vs 1.49 million).  Forza 2 was the best selling Forza in Europe, yet it came no where close to the ~5.8 million sales of GT3 and GT4.  The only market in which Forza performs rather well is North America, a market in which racing sims aren't all that influential. 

Sony is no more afraid of Forza 3 than Microsoft was of Killzone 2.

No, face facts, neither SCE nor Polyphony are afraid of the Forza franchise - it doesn't have the strength of brand.

And you keep spreading this FUD about GT5 potentially being a rushed product, which is just nonsense. Kazunori Yamauchi has already said that they could ship the game whenever they want and the plan for a December 2009 release was leaked last Christmas by James Armstrong, Chief Executive in Southern Europe, so both SCE and PD have clearly been thinking about a not-too-distant release for some time now - most likely since E3'08.

Polyphony are consummate professionals and absolute perfectionists; I for one shall not be worrying that a Christmas 2009 release is at the expense of the title's quality.