Gran Turismo 5 Delayed 122
RogueyWon writes "The Times is reporting that Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5, likely to prove a key title for the PlayStation 3, has been delayed indefinitely, despite an expectation that it would be released relatively early in 2010. The delay seems likely to impact Sony's plans to bundle the game with the PlayStation 3 console in time for the important spring sales period in Japan."
Re:Gran Duke Nukem Turismo... (Score:5, Interesting)
Part of my problem with GT5 so far is actually that they've shown quite a lot; and it's all been underwhelming. I played GT5 Prologue and leaving aside the slimmed down options and feature-set (which you'd expect from a Prologue title), it was just GT4 with high def graphics.
I remember an almost physically painful sense of disappointment as I played it. The AI opponents were still acting exactly as they did in GT4 - following a pre-defined route around the track with almost no ability to react to the player, or indeed to each other. By contrast in Forza 2 (we didn't have 3 at the time), the AI would duck and dive when you were up close with it, and put real pressure on you when chasing you. Forza 3 takes this even further, by allowing for AI which will sometimes make very human mistakes. I had a spectacular moment in-game the other night, where in a Class A race, I went into a corner with a fraction of a second's lead over the second placed car, noticed him trying to pass me on the outside in the corner, thought "he's going way too fast for this" and then found out I was right, as he spun off the track. Things like that don't happen often, but they do mean that if there were a racing-game AI equivalent of the Turing Test, Forza 3 would come pretty close to passing it. But GT5:Prologue gave absolutely no indication that PD have any intention to replicate this. The AI was just the same old rubberband.
The lack of a damage model in Prologue was particularly bad, though it's reassuring to see that this is apparently being addressed for the final game. This isn't because I like smashing up cars; it's fun in the Burnout games, but in a GT or Forza title, I'd rather be winning races. It's more because having a damage model in place influences driver behaviour. Back when I was playing GT3 and GT4, I used to cheat horribly. I knew that with no damage model, I could use walls and even other cars to "bounce" myself around corners at speeds I'd never manage with "proper" grip or drift turning techniques. It was worse in multiplayer; sitting around a TV with friends playing GT3 and GT4 would usually degenerate into a game of high-speed dodgems. Fun at first, but it does get old fast. Doing the same with Forza 3 produces a far better experience, that remains fun for a lot longer, as people start to actually race properly.
Re:Gran Duke Nukem Turismo... (Score:5, Interesting)
Those series have historically struck a pretty fine balance between realism and fun. The entry curve on iRacing is pitched just a bit too high for me.
Wot he said.
The closer you get to a perfect simulation of the real world, the quicker the fun aspect goes downhill. I even found GT4 to be 'too real' and sold it on after reluctantly coming to the realisation that while it looked gobsmackingly good, playing it just wasn't very entertaining.
Forza 3, OTOH, has proved to be a winner in our house. The grind/reward balance is just right, you can casually pick it up and advance your career in 10 minute chunks, and it looks great, too. If you want a harder challenge, you can fine-tune the driving aids to make it more like driving a real car.
I can imagine that some people want a 'Guitar Hero' that requires as much skill as a real guitar to play but I suspect the learning curve would just make it unapproachable for the general gamer populace.
Re:i'm patient (Score:4, Interesting)
Your post reads EXACTLY like the type of post I was talking about earlier, blind loyalty and dismissive of the competition without trying it properly.
Brand loyalty is fine and all but using some common sense and being objective can help y'know.
Re:So these guys keep wanting to prove my point! (Score:5, Interesting)
The thing most people haven't realized about the GT series of games is that they aren't really racing / simulation games. A friend explained it properly: Gran Turismo is Pokemon with Cars.
Forza1 came out and crushed it, physics-wise. Each successive Forza iteration has embarassed the then-current GT game in terms of accuracy of driving model.
True, Forza has always lagged in terms of number of Front Wheel Drive Micro-Vans compared to Gran Turismo.
I have a fair bit of actual track driving experience in stock and lightly prepared cars. I've also driven the nordschliefe in meat space [rent a car when you visit Germany; anyone can do it].
People who laud the Gran Turismo games as being the "real driving simulator" are embarassing themselves.