If you ask the Forza Motorsport 2 haters, one of their biggest gripes with the game is the lack of an in-car view. Spoiled by the gorgeous cockpit visuals of Project Gotham Racing 3, said haters use the lack of an in-car view as an excuse to bash the game. And while I agree that no in-car angle is a bummer--especially when DiRT has two to choose from--it's not the end of the world.

　　At least not yet.

　　Tucked away in the middle of a segment on the GT series on French language motorsport show called Turbo comes news that GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi is planning on full dashboard views for all cars in his upcoming Gran Turismo 5. And, if you believe Yamauchi's amazingly optimistic plans for the game--which he's referred to as "a fully realized online car life simulation"--it's not hard to figure out that he's dropping the gauntlet for all future racing sim developers. After all, with the GT 5 promised to have a full online component complete not just with online racing but a vigorous online market system, it follows that any car that is developed from Polyphony Digital from here on is going to be fully modeled inside and out.

　　Hear that, Turn 10?

　　Now, I'm not a huge proponent one way or the other when it comes to the cockpit view. I'll use it if it's available but I can enjoy a racing game perfectly fine without it. What I do know is that, once all those copies of GT 5 hit store shelves next year (or the year after, or whenever it's released), it will signal the end of an era; or rather the start of a new one. Any series claiming to be a sim and not following up with the in-car view is going to look out of touch by comparison.