It's Looking More Likely That Firmware's The Cause Of GT5's Delay.

One respectable poster on Blu-ray.com cites firmware as the issue.

“Like I said it is manufacturing issues,” notes the promptly-deleted post. “I had it confirmed today.”

The post notes that Sony mandated firmware 3.50 on all games released after October, undoubtedly to combat the recent glut of piracy scares. Being Sony's biggest title (and probably biggest investment) thus far this generation, it makes sense they'd want to protect their property. Apparently no one gave Polyphony Digital the memo though, as they were about to go gold with firmware 3.41. The "three day" delay which was touted across the web this morning would likely represent the time taken to rebuild the game with the latest SDK.

While the delay sounds minimal, it causes a big headache to manufacturing. Slots in manufacturing plants are taken up by other games and movies, leaving Gran Turismo 5 without a time-frame big enough to get enough copies pressed. This is likely where the delay could get drawn out.

While communication and unorganization appears to be the true culprit based on these claims, let's all pause and give a steady slow-clap to the pirates for whom have caused the panic relating to these firmware updates in the first place.

[source thesixthaxis.com]