Official Gran Turismo 5 Thread

[Goodspeed]

I'm kind of struggling with justifying purchasing a PS3 when there's really only one other exclusive game I want to play on it

Exactly. Before their was launch failure, there was console failure.

Now, if they came out with a couple new chapters of old PS series like Syphon Filter, I'd be all over it like a fat kid on cake...

[G.Irish]

I am very much opposed to the software as a service model for games

It really makes sense though when you see how much they continue to develop and police it. It really is a "service" more than a game. Which is good IMHO, because any time they stop doing a good job, I can stop paying. If they had to make you pay upfront, I imagine it'd be like $200. Then if I lost interest 6mo later, or they stopped developing, I'm out $200.

*of course, if you had joined two weeks ago, you'd be out a whole $12....

Maybe the game really is that awesome but $200 to buy the game up front is absolutely ludicrous. Even $100 up front is ludicrous. The game was built off the code of NASCAR 2003, so it's not even like they built the game from scratch. And I can't believe they spent AAA money to develop this (i.e. 10's of millions).

Granted the market for a game like this is much smaller than the typical AAA computer game but still. It just rubs me the wrong way that I have to pay a subscription for a game I don't own, then I have to spend extra money to buy race tracks and cars which cost over $10 each. Do they even let you select what tracks you start out with?

I'll probably try it at some point but I don't have a PC right now nor a monitor and a controller. I have VMWare Fusion but I haven't needed to buy Windows just yet. So really I'd have to shell out a few hundred to play either game at this point.

[BLINGMW]

The game was built off the code of NASCAR 2003, so it's not even like they built the game from scratch.

From what I read, they used the net-play code from NASCAR because it apparently did well at handling multiple cars (and it does), but the rest of the game, physics/tire model, cars, tracks, are all new.

Do they even let you select what tracks you start out with?

No, you get the same few tracks and cars everyone does so you can participate in the rookie races and work on your licenses without having to buy anything additional.

I don't care where they got the code or if it somehow cost them $20 to make and they're getting rich off me, it's by far the best available and potentially worth the price. And if GT5 cost ONE BILLION DOLLARS to make, well hey, I'm not saying I wouldn't enjoy playing it, and it'll be "good", but not as good IMHO as iRacing for serious simulation and racing large fields.

[G.Irish]

Not saying that the cost of development a good game makes, just saying that iRacing could not have cost a tremendous amount of money and that I think they're charging too much. Maybe they are such a small studio that they have to charge $12-14 for each new car and new track but to me that is too much money. Seems like price gouging hardcore people who want a sim.

But like I said, I may try it eventually, but their pricing model is a big turn off.

[BLINGMW]

...so.... how is it?

Reading a thread in the iRacing forum about GT5 at the moment, some interesting viewpoints

Is it true there's no rating system or nothing to help similar cars / racers racing together online? Sounds like it's just for racing your buds as usual then. :dunno:

[G.Irish]

From what I gather GT5 made major improvements in the physics model, graphics department, and unique driving experiences (karts, Red Bull X1, etc.) but doesn't match up to Forza 3 in user interface, customization, and performance equalization. Seems like it's still worth $60 but for people who haven't bought a PS3 (like me) it's hard to say if it's worth it. I was hoping I could play it at Best Buy or something this weekend but no luck. Maybe I'll see if Gamestop has it or something.

[Goodspeed]

I started reading a review, but as soon as I read that you can't put aftermarket rimz on your ride, I tuned out.

[BLINGMW]

:lol:

[G.Irish]

I started reading a review, but as soon as I read that you can't put aftermarket rimz on your ride, I tuned out.

I can imagine an angry Goodspeed stomping back into Gamestop demanding his money back, "WTF happened to my rimz?!"

From what I've read, you can only put wheels on the 200 "premium" cars. Those cars have the super-detailed 3D models, the rest of them are carry-overs from GT4 apparently. Which is incredibly half-assed IMO. I think at this point Sony should put someone with a little more sense in charge of the GT franchise because Kazunori Yamauchi kind of effed this one up. He might be a good person for the creative vision but someone who is better grounded in reality might need to manage the project.

[Goodspeed]

I can imagine an angry Goodspeed stomping back into Gamestop demanding his money back, "WTF happened to my rimz?!"

Aaaaaand apparently you can't upgrade brakes :?:

In all seriousness (and this just piles more hate onto my anti-GT5 bandwagon, I know - which has BBS's and Brembo's, btw), but it kinda irks me to have the tagline "Ultimate Driving Simulator" attached to this. A UDS, to me (especially after 5 years of development), would have options like "19 lb Forgelines with 285/305-30-18 Michelin Pilot Sports with Stoptech Brakes for your C5 Z06", instead of no lightweight wheels, no brakes, and the "soft-medium-hard" tires of the days of yore - cuz those are really important performance aspects, Yamauchi-san.

[caa337]

I should the premium vehicles just had a real detailed cockpit view of the real inside of the car?

[G.Irish]

I can imagine an angry Goodspeed stomping back into Gamestop demanding his money back, "WTF happened to my rimz?!"

Aaaaaand apparently you can't upgrade brakes :?:

In all seriousness (and this just piles more hate onto my anti-GT5 bandwagon, I know - which has BBS's and Brembo's, btw), but it kinda irks me to have the tagline "Ultimate Driving Simulator" attached to this. A UDS, to me (especially after 5 years of development), would have options like "19 lb Forgelines with 285/305-30-18 Michelin Pilot Sports with Stoptech Brakes for your C5 Z06", instead of no lightweight wheels, no brakes, and the "soft-medium-hard" tires of the days of yore - cuz those are really important performance aspects, Yamauchi-san.

I'm not really to fussed about brand names of parts and all but you do have a point. After 5 years of development GT5 should at least meet the customization bar that Forza 3 set. Seems to me that GT5 is the result of a project led by someone who lacked focus on the features that matter. Having 1000 cars in the game is useless if you're not going to do 800 of them right. Not to mention that nobody really cares about driving a lot of those cars anyway (80's K-car anyone?).

Oh well, if I get a PS3 at some point I'll buy it, but for now I'll just look for the opportunity to play someone elses copy.

[caa337]

I should the premium vehicles just had a real detailed cockpit view of the real inside of the car?

[Mike]

80's K-car anyone?

Jeff.
Adam.

[Evan]

but it kinda irks me to have the tagline "Ultimate Driving Simulator" attached to this.

srsly? what part of "driving" consists of ricing out your masturbatory dream garage?

if they weed out all the lame ass "modding" and car collecting and focus on driving, racing, and more real life tracks then thats a HUGE step forward for the series.

[Goodspeed]

but it kinda irks me to have the tagline "Ultimate Driving Simulator" attached to this.

srsly? what part of "driving" consists of ricing out your masturbatory dream garage?

if they weed out all the lame ass "modding" and car collecting and focus on driving, racing, and more real life tracks then thats a HUGE step forward for the series.

"Lame ass modding" is a huge immersion factor for these games. A pure driving sim like iRacing might appeal to the true geeks of driving nirvana, but it has about .02% of the appeal to the general gaming audience that GT5, Forza et al have.

Plus, as G pointed out, the lack of rimz (and brakes) has less to do with purifying the holy water of GT5 simulporn and more to do with half-assing it in the production stage. One could argue the bragging rights of 1000 mostly useless cars is just as idiot fap-worthy as wanting to have another level within the game to explore and create with.

[Apoc]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/12/the-failure-of-gran-turismo-5-the-power-of-menus-and-ui.ars">http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/12/the-failure-of-gran-turismo-5-the-power-of-menus-and-ui.ars</a><!-- m -->

Interesting read, but it seems to have a bit of XBox bias.

[G.Irish]

Article didn't seem Xbox-biased to me? Just pointing out bad UI, and a couple examples of good UI, some of which were multiplatform. The comments started to get into the whole Xbox vs PS3 thing though.

[ViPER1313]

I got a PS3 for Christmas and I actually like GT5 a lot. It's not perfect, but I like it better than I liked Forza 3. I'm sure it's not as realistic as iRacing but I really don't care.

[Evan]

Ive got a copy coming someday...I HATE amazon super saver shipping.....