Gran Turismo 5

By Christian Donlan Published 16 June, 2010

Slow and steady.

The day before yesterday, everybody in the games industry convinced themselves that Lady Gaga was going to turn up at Activision's E3 party, and she didn't. Yesterday, everybody in the games industry convinced themselves that David Jaffe wasn't going to unveil a new Twisted Metal, and he did.

In the midst of so much speculation and confusion, it's comforting to know that some things don't change: another E3, another chance to get a look at Gran Turismo 5, Polyphony Digital's personal Arcades Project. It's spent the last half-decade or so growing and growing with no end in sight - a game we get to visit once a year in carefully controlled circumstances, as if we're making an annual visit to an uncle who's stuck in prison.

Finally, though, the end is in sight. Gran Turismo will be hitting the US in November, and the rest of the world will probably be fairly close behind. Even Australia. "It would take too long to explain everything regarding GT5," laughs Kazunori Yamauchi, showing off the game backstage at Sony's booth. He should know: it's taken him long enough to make it.

On the track, Gran Turismo 5 is a dream to drive: the cars have distinct personalities, the skyboxes are huge and dramatic, and the handling can take in anything from arcade racing to simulation stuff so exacting I struggle to travel in a straight line. Today's not about getting another demo, however - there have already been enough of these, along with the little matter of a Prologue to get players accustomed to the basics. No, today Yamauchi wants to explain a bit about just what he's been making all these years, starting, as ever, with the cars.

'Gran Turismo 5' Screenshot 1

The Rome Course is different to the offering included in GT3.

There are two types of car in Gran Turismo, apparently: premium cars and standard cars. The latter, it's worth noting, are only standard by Yamauchi's exacting principles: there's over 800 of them, they cover the majority of the vehicles included in all the previous Gran Turismo games, including the PSP version, and they've been optimised and upscaled for the PS3.

If that bothers you, a show reel of standard cars - Dodge muscle numbers, streamlined F1 concepts, and something that looks to my untrained eye like a Mini Clubman with way too many rallying headlights - hardly makes them seem shabby. They're glossy, finely detailed, and a fair match for anything you might have seen in Project Gotham or Forza.

The 200 premium cars that take the final count past the 1000 mark are something else, however. The premiums have been lavished with a slightly worrying amount of detail - every single screw is visible in the hubs, the interiors have been recreated down to the stitching (standard cars won't have interiors, which is a bit sad, but there are, like, 800 of them), and their undersides have been comprehensively modelled to take into account a new physics system which, along with allowing for dents and scratches, can sends your ride flipping through the air during collisions.

'Gran Turismo 5' Screenshot 2

Head-tracking is a great feature, but there's still plenty to enjoy if you don't have the kit.

Yamauchi likes to move in close on the models to let people see the individual pieces of disk brakes, or the engine parts dimly visible through grills, and when he compares pictures of a genuine and GT5 Nissan GTR, the only way you can tell the difference is that one of them has the reflection of the man taking the picture in the window. (Yep, I think that's Yamauchi too.)

Included in the premium garage will be nine NASCAR models, including those used by superstars - in Middle America, at any rate - like Carl Edwards and Brian Vickers. Brian Vickers! I know. GT5 allows you to race by the NASCAR rules, as well. Seeing it in motion seems a bit too brutal to fit comfortably into the rest of the game, but it's an excellent opportunity to enjoy that new physics deformation system and some truly epic crashes - although, typically, even fender benders look rather pretty and artful in Yamauchi's universe.

Polyphony hasn't just been modelling cars, of course, and it's here that, if you take into account the team's obsessive talent for minutiae, you start to realise why the game has been in the oven for a while. GT5's tracks - the latest inclusions include Madrid City, Tuscany, Rome Circuit, the Nurburgring and the good old Top Gear Test Track - can take as long as two and a half years to piece together. Once again, that dedication pays off, and whether it's the dusty dirt track of Tuscany to the heavily graffiti'd road surface of the Nurburgring, Polyphony's brought its locations into the game in a way that's vivid, solid, and extremely pretty.

It's all so pretty, in fact, that the developer's thrown in two different photo modes. The first one is a fairly standard affair for capturing snaps of cars as they whiz around the tracks. The second, however, is a little more elaborate. Photo Travel allows you to take your favourite cars to picturesque parts of the world, stroll through the stage on foot - from a first-person perspective - and take pictures of your motor until the last crows fall from the sky and the moon turns brittle and crumbles into dust.

Before we can say, "This is starting to sound like some automotive take on Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, Mr Yamauchi, and it's making us a little uncomfortable," he's fired it up and we're off to Kyoto, to a part of town called Gion. Choosing from a range of spots to park his car, Yamauchi enters walking mode, and we're heading into the silent midnight streets of the city, checking out the posh little houses made of wood and glass, wandering past twinkling lanterns, and watching the cherry blossom drift on the breeze.

Yamauchi only has eyes for the car, however, and a click of a button switches us to the camera viewfinder where there are - would you believe it? - dozens of different options allowing you to zoom out, rotate, tilt, and screw around with the focus. After playing with the framing for so long you could be forgiven for thinking that he's forgotten anyone else is in the room, Yamauchi finally takes a picture. It's not great, as it happens, but photography's not really his thing, is it? His thing is rebuilding the Nurburgring from the gravel upwards.

'Gran Turismo 5' Screenshot 3

Cars are glossy and the world feels solid as you blast through it.

From the photo mode, Yamauchi turns his attention to the online suite, as this is the first Gran Turismo game to include extensive PSN functionality. GT5's actually become a rather social game over the course of its development, and the current build supports BBS, personal logs, mail, and something called My Lounge. That turns out to be a friends network of sorts, where you can gather with other players and chat, or check up on their progress in the game, alongside the nifty stuff like setting up races and spectating on events that are already underway.

You really can follow the action as closely as you want, too, moving about the track, focusing in on the separate cars, and sending messages to the players who are racing, hopefully catching them at just the wrong moment so they make a mess of the next corner and dump their Porsche into a nearby tree.

Dozens of other details spill forth after that: the day-to-night transitions that can take place during a race, the 3D visuals and face-tracking in cockpit view (combine those last two and the results are astonishing as the horizon line disappears into the distance), classy visual effects like smoke illumination, collision sparks, and kicked-up debris. Whatever Polyphony's been doing for the last few years, its staff probably hasn't been clocking in at the office and then juggling Pop-Tarts all day.

'Gran Turismo 5' Screenshot 4

This is probably the classiest product Jeremy Clarkson has ever been connected with.

It's not just a racer, really: it's a Noah's Ark for cars, a haven that will never be touched by rust or sky-rocketing fuel prices. And although while GT5's been in development the driving genre has gone through plenty of transitions of its own, if anything, the explosive excess of contemporary titles has given Yamauchi's game even more of an air of class, as it ditches the dynamite and the levelling up to rely instead on simply being comprehensive and beautiful.

Halfway through today's presentation, I think I may have realised that Yamauchi is probably quietly bonkers, but it's unquestionably the good kind of bonkers. He's a heroic completist, the kind of person who builds the unlikeliest monuments, who discovers new entries on the periodic table, or who constructs fantastical rockets and lands on the moon.

The kind of person who creates elaborately detailed videogames, and eventually ships them.

Gran Turismo 5 is due out for PS3 on 2nd November in the US and just plain "November" in Europe.

Picture of Christian.

About Christian Donlan

Chris Donlan writes about games for Eurogamer and some magazines. His heroes include Eugene Jarvis, Errol Morris, and Linus Van Pelt.

Read more articles from Christian by visiting the Christian Donlan archive page.

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Comments (113) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zomoniac #1 2 years ago

    I really didn't want to need this, since I've been building up so much resentment for the last two years. But apparently it was all in vain. NEED.

  • geeza2020 #2 2 years ago

    looks like every other Gran Turismo :(

  • TheWretched #3 2 years ago

    So that's a bad thing now???

  • HandOfBeadle #4 2 years ago

    "looks like every other Gran Turismo :( "

    Well they experimented with racing lawnmowers around the Nurburgring but decided to keep it to cars this time.

  • Milk #5 2 years ago

    "hopefully catching them at just the wrong moment so they make a mess of the next corner and dump their Porsche into a nearby tree."

    I doubt they will be crashing a Porsche in GT5, unless you know something we don't . . .

  • YobRenoops #6 2 years ago

    This is what I've been waiting for...

  • BAM! #7 2 years ago

    It's going to be amazing.

    Forzalol

  • Zephro #8 2 years ago

    No real mention of handling... the car porn can go hang.

  • Eraser #9 2 years ago

    It's going to be amazing.... in November
    Bloody lol....!

  • Stifler #10 2 years ago

    So if I understand this right there will only be cockpit views for 200 of the 1000 cars?

    TBH I'm a little disappointed by that as I have been spoilt by Forza 3 having cockpit views for all cars and is really a cool feature for me (getting to see the inside of cars i'll never afford or classics i'll never even see! :(

    Oh well, and Milk, i'm sure they'll have RUF in this game so you can still crash a Porsche of sorts :)

  • geeza2020 #11 2 years ago

    ok, so FIFA comes out with a pretty similar game year on year and is slated for it. GT5 comes out after many years of development, looks like the same game as the last one, but everyone says its amazing? Hypocrisy much?

  • Suttieb #12 2 years ago

    Hands on?... or just eyes on?

  • Milk #13 2 years ago

    "Oh well, and Milk, i'm sure they'll have RUF in this game so you can still crash a Porsche of sorts :) "

    :D

    my first drive on GT 5 will be in arcade mode on the full nurburgring circuit with a RUF yellowbird!

    It's just when a games journalist drops the Porsche name in a GT5 article the people on GTP go mad for about a month!

  • Vic #14 2 years ago

    This game will set new standards.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 10:16

  • mc_mclovin #15 2 years ago

    I was disappointed by the gt5 time trial thingy they did earlier this year, so hoping its improved since then....

    also......"standard cars won't have interiors, which is a bit sad, but there are, like, 800 of them" .....kinda sucks, its not like they've had 5 years or so to model the interiors for these...oh wait, they have!

  • Guitarnerd87 #16 2 years ago

    Wow that was a very positive preview, sounds like the very definition of car porn!

  • Bigglesworth #17 2 years ago

    Well well. I thought the ludicrous delay for this game had irrevocably killed my interest in the series, but I'm pleasantly surprised to find my jaded old heart beating just a little bit faster after reading that... Thanks Christian =)

  • KayJay #18 2 years ago

    @ Stifler "So if I understand this right there will only be cockpit views for 200 of the 1000 cars?"

    I read it as the preimum cars will have really detailed interiors but the rest will have less/or not so much detail. All the cars will allow you to have "Cockpit View" but some will have more detail than others when in that view...
    Lets face it the 200 preimium cars are the only ones you are gonna spend any time in anyway ;-)

    The wait will be over soon. :-)

  • Beano #19 2 years ago

    My faith in the GT franchice have been restored.. well almost since I don't hold the game in my hands :)

  • fiery_jackass #20 2 years ago

    oh man, this all sounds like it's straying so very far from the things that I care about in a car game. I don't want 800-1000 cars, I'll never take a picture of one either.

    I just want them to fix the damned engine noises, that would set GT5 in a different league for me.

  • Antaios #21 2 years ago

    I'm with Zomoniac on this. I'm all hyped up for this all of a sudden.

  • iamtheoneneo #22 2 years ago

    who knows if its going to be able to compete with foza...i guess we shall see. its looking ok though, maybe not worth the dev time thats gone into it but we all kinda knew that anyway.

  • geeza2020 #23 2 years ago

    Well thanks for the discussion guys, don't bother actually trying to say why its ok for GT5 to be the same game as gt4, just neg me and make yourselves feel all warm and fuzzy inside. sheep.

  • UncleLou #24 2 years ago

    Day one.

  • LOLLERS #25 2 years ago

    Sounds pretty, but nothing there to convince me it'll be anything other than dull as hell. No mention of career structure, Boy I sure am looking forward to earning my driving licence again. No details on Lobby hosting, leagues/leaderboards etc. other than what sounds like some kind of convoluted proprietary system which is probably a bit broken.

    Looks pretty though.

  • UncleLou #26 2 years ago

    Well thanks for the discussion guys, don't bother actually trying to say why its ok for GT5 to be the same game as gt4, just neg me and make yourselves feel all warm and fuzzy inside. sheep.

    Could be it's because it makes no sense whatsoever what you say. FIFA is or was criticized for being an annual (sometimes even more often), often lazy, full-price "update". GT5 is the sequel to a previous-generation game that's now 6 years old.

    A more irrelevant comparison if you want to have this discussion you could have hardly picked. Also, you don't start sensible discussions by adding "hypocrisy, much" to your initial thesis.

  • Verminox #27 2 years ago

    Jesus christ at the people saying hurr its just GT4. New graphics/AI/damage engine, nascar, rally, over 1000 modelled cars, day and night transitions (http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=A1OZCwRGF...

  • Dark_Era #28 2 years ago

    looks like the time taken and spent on this game is paying off, am glad, bring on November, Day 1 for me.

  • duckncover #29 2 years ago

    Top Gear Test Track? I hope they have the reasonably priced car in which to star, the Suzuki Liana.

  • DoctorFraud #30 2 years ago

    Upscaled PSP cars = FAIL.

    Only 200 cockpit views out of 1000 cars = FAIL.

    Concentrating on photo mode with no mention of gameplay = FAIL.

    GT5 is one massive FAIL, aimed squarely at people who would rather take photos than drive.

    As a racing game it simply will not satisfy.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 11:24

  • UncleLou #31 2 years ago

    Of course, you'll still pretend to have bought and played it, just like every other PS3 game, which all suck.

    Being a dumb idiot troll: fail. :)

  • nasanu #32 2 years ago

    @iamtheoneneo

    Dont know if it will be able to compete with Forza? Are you kidding? On what level does forza even come close to any aspect of GT5? Physics GT5 is better, Graphics GT5 is better, # of cars GT5 is better, online modes GT5 is better.

    And then there is Forza4... Hand waving? That is what they are bringing to the table? Back in the day I loved Forza. I had top 30 times for most of the time trials in Forza 2. And I think Forza 3 is quite a good game. But just don't compare it to GT5 because the comparison makes Forza look like a poor joke.

  • Verminox #33 2 years ago

    Doctorfraud - Yea because the next forza where i drive with my hands with auto accelerate and auto brake is really what driving fans want.

  • sfp_noodle #34 2 years ago

    That was a very positive preview. Admitedly, it focussed a bit too much on the pornnographic side of the game but what was mentioned about the actual feel, the racing and the sheer amount of content crammed into the disc on day one, it looks like it will be something special.

  • LOLLERS #35 2 years ago

    "On what level does forza even come close to any aspect of GT5?"

    The having fun in a serious driving game level?

  • DoctorFraud #36 2 years ago

    @Verminox

    You can choose to just use headtracking and ignore motion control driving - just use a regular controller or wheel as normal.

  • DoctorFraud #37 2 years ago

    @nasanu

    You are certainly going to be very dissapointed when you eventually play GT5. It will definitely not live up to the image of it you have in your head.

    Forza is the driving game. GT is the game you want to look at but not play.

  • jonsaan #38 2 years ago

    Can you mod cars though?

  • nasanu #39 2 years ago

    @DoctorFraud

    I played it at TGS and I played the TT demo. Why would I be disappointed? If it is the TGS demo with all the extras of the full game then it will be everything I expect it to be.

  • sfp_noodle #40 2 years ago

    @ DoctorFraud

    Having doctor in your name really doesn't make you any more intelligent with the rubbish you come out with. Are you secretly an undercover MS employee whose been working on GT5 in an attempt to sabotage their project? What convinces you that the game will be 'utter fail' as you said? Grow up mate right now you just soud like a very insecure fanboy. You clearly love Forza so go play it.

    Also, you said that taking pictures of the cars in GT5 and admiring their interiors is useless? You must be wetting yourself in anticipation for Forze Kinect then, coz that's ezactly what it intends to offer

  • barkertron #41 2 years ago

    @DoctorFraud: So much insight into a game that you can't possibly have played! You know, purely on the basis of your remarkable precognitive powers, I might have to revise my previous opinion of you as a forum troll with a strange desire to spend half their day writing ill-informed guff about Sony.

    Got any tips for next year's Grand National? Come on, share the love.

  • Verminox #42 2 years ago

    Doctor - you haven't played GT5 so stop saying we will be dissapointed. It's offering far more racing sim elements then forza, even the hardcore fanboys at the Forza Forums agree that this game will be amazing. Forza 3 dissapointed far more of the fans due to the amount of bugs and crap online with restricted public lobbys.

  • Ryze #43 2 years ago

    I don't see why they didn't release this 2 years ago, and drip feed track and car packs, before releasing a platinum edition this year with everything included, better crashes and 3D / head tracking support.

    Their choice, but the competition have been selling driving games at a premium for the past 3 years while they've been doing all of this waiting and adding.

    The PS3's been very much optional until the last 6-12 months, while for different reasons and different customers, their competitor's offerings have been essential. Only MGS and WipEout fans needed a PS3 before Uncharted 2.

    Silly.

    Anyway - looks decent.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 12:06

  • Findus #44 2 years ago

    So is this game a racing game or a virtual game studio graphics portfolio? As others have asked where is the racing how is the AI, what is the variable weather like (Is it still included)?

    If the games AI is as bad as previous games then no amount of polish and graphically stunning cars will make me buy the game.

  • thelzdking #45 2 years ago

    If they haven't sorted the AI then everything else is for naught.

  • Cheapshot #46 2 years ago

    Some really bizarre people in this thread. 0_o

    It's like people who don't own a PS3 see Forza 3 as their "tribe", with GT5 being perceived as a rival tribe, stealing their food and threatening their way of life - so they retaliate with ignorance, non-constructive criticism and blind rage. Fans of books, movies and music aren't like this, "fanboys" make me so embarrassed of my hobby sometimes.

  • barkertron #47 2 years ago

    Cheapshot nails it

  • toy_brain #48 2 years ago

    /Is still more interested in Motorstorm 3

  • Darren #49 2 years ago

    Have Polyphony Digital fixed the screen tearing that was so apparent in GT5 Prologue and that lacklustre competition demo along with the iffy framerate because those totally ruin the illusion of racing for me? It's all very well having jaw-dropping visuals with up to 20 cars on the track that look utterly fantastic as static images in photo mode but if the console can't handle them smoothly for the game itself then what's the point when every corner you take is followed by a distracting rippling/wobble effect? Yuck!

    The developers of Forza Motorsport 3 got their priorities right in that a smooth framerate at 720p of 60 fps was more important than anything else which is why the game looks good but not amazing. Still it was very immersive with no issues that took me out of the racing experience. I want that from GT5 please.

  • Vic #50 2 years ago

    This will be 1280*1080 at 60 frames per second with AA aswell. Polyphony are masters at pushing things to the limit once they get to grips with the console. Given their pedigree, and the attention to detail this game has received, I have no doubts that this will look, and play like a high-end PC game.

  • DoctorFraud #51 2 years ago

    "It's like people who don't own a PS3 see Forza 3 as their "tribe", with GT5 being perceived as a rival tribe"

    I own a PS3.

    The fact is that GT5 is not the game some people think it is. GT is not about sim driving. It does not have anything approaching a realistic driving model, as the TT demo proved. Awkward yes, but nothing at all like realism.

    Accept GT for what it is: Photo mode with a track. What it catagorically is not is a driving sim. That is Forza territory.

  • spatss #52 2 years ago

    Nice read, thank you.

  • kiroquai #53 2 years ago

    DoctorFraud: I'd debate whether either GT or Forza are proper 'sims' myself given how much time I spend on rFactor and iRacing, but I'll let it go.

    I thoroughly enjoy both GT and Forza for what they are, and if either one of them didn't exist then the other would not be pushing so hard to be the best thing out there. It's win-win for people no matter what machine they own and what strange alliances they have.

  • secombe #54 2 years ago

    standard cars won't have interiors

    Got to be a typo, surely?

  • secombe #55 2 years ago

    don't know why porsche refuse their cars into games.

    Forza has loads of the things, so it's not a general game thing.

  • Siberian_Khatru #56 2 years ago

    If this talk about most cars not having cockpit view is true and not just another mistranslation, then it's the biggest disappointment of the generation for me. How do you even come up with a decision like that? FFS, Polyphony.

    Hope it's a misunderstanding of some sort. Don't think I've ever even tried other cams in Prologue. For people who say bonnet cam is better: it's not realistic, it undermines the simulation aspect. When I play a tank sim the outside camera obviously offers much better view of the surroundings, but I still only use tank's crummy visors, because that's what you do in real life.

  • geeza2020 #57 2 years ago

    so, if i criticise a game, I must be a fanboy for another console or game? Why can't i just be criticising it for its apparent faults? Oh no, because that would be what normal people do, have discussions about things even when they disagree. It seems that as soon as you buy a console you either become a 133t fanboy or you become someone who accuses everyone of being fanboys whenever a game they happen to like or are interested in gets questioned. The whole gaming community is fucked, and thats why i'm embarassed by my hobby.

  • telboy007 #58 2 years ago

    Blimey its been one long wait for this game to come out, going to be really boring when it does (not the game, but forum banter) - where the hell are the flame wars going to go after this beast has finally delivered the goods.

    Just won't be the same.

  • UncleLou #59 2 years ago

    Have Polyphony Digital fixed the screen tearing that was so apparent in GT5 Prologue and that lacklustre competition demo along with the iffy framerate because those totally ruin the illusion of racing for me?

    I am pretty quickly annoyed when it comes to tearing, but I have noticed barely anything like that in Prologue. If at all, only under extreme conditions, with tons of cars in view and dust kicking up.

    Split-screen is a bit of a different story, mind.

  • UncleLou #60 2 years ago

    so, if i criticise a game, I must be a fanboy for another console or game?

    Except you didn't criticize the game, you had some weird, off-topic and illogical Fifa-related whine, followed by a "now I've been negged" whine.

  • Lunastra78 #61 2 years ago

    How to be a Comment Martyr™:

    1. Go make a negative comment for a game on a console you don't own.
    2. Respond to criticism of said comment as fanboyism, state that your own opinion is pure and objective.
    3. Take a big whiff of your own flatulence and feel good about yourself.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 13:44

  • geeza2020 #62 2 years ago

    Riiight, so saying it looks and sounds exactly like the last game isnt criticising it? I thought that we liked innovation and original ideas in gaming? Obviously I was wrong.

  • Andeus #63 2 years ago

    I believe the main problem here isn't how similar to GT4 it is, cause as some people mentioned there ARE new features in there, but if it is worth the 5-year wait. To be honest, personally, from what I've read and what the competition has offered throughout these 5 years, I think that its not. But only when it's released we can tell for sure.
    Edited by 2 at 16/06/10 @ 14:13

  • Miths #64 2 years ago

    I've been up for 24 hours so forgive me if I misunderstood this part (and I noticed others have commented on the same thing) - "standard cars won't have interiors, which is a bit sad, but there are, like, 800 of them".
    I was under the impression that all cars would have cockpit views (with modeled interiors) and that the "premium" cars would just add extra details like cockpit damage modeling?

    If 800 cars really don't have cockpit views at all, that instantly cuts down the GT5 car list to "only" 200 usable cars for me. There's no way in hell I'm hooking up my Logitech G25 to drive in hood or bumper cam view.
    This is a major disappointment if this is really the case - if I want a proper sim I'll stick to something like iRacing on PC. The whole reason I'm looking forward to GT5 is to be able to drive all those desirable road legal sports and supercars that are mostly or entirely missing from eg. the aforementioned iRacing. And a major part of that experience is being able to admire the beautiful interior of a Ferrari or a Zonda.
    Well, at least we can hope that the most prominent cars (which probably includes Ferrari etc.) fall within those 200.

  • Numbat #65 2 years ago

    "the handling can take in anything from arcade racing to simulation stuff so exacting I struggle to travel in a straight line."

    Is this supposed to be a good thing? I've driven many REAL cars in my life and have never struggled to drive one in a straight line!!! Or is it a 'drink and drive' simulator that replicates driving after 6 pints?

  • UncleLou #66 2 years ago

    Riiight, so saying it looks and sounds exactly like the last game isnt criticising it?

    It has different cars, different tracks, refined handling, new racing series, day/night cycles, damage modelling, more cars on the tracks, online multiplayer - what exactly did you expect from a driving sim?

    Also, contradiction alert: you were whining about people complaining about Fifa, ergo you obviously usually don't criticize games for staying the same? Maybe you should decide what your point is before posting?

    I thought that we liked innovation and original ideas in gaming? Obviously I was wrong.

    Innovation isn't a virtue per se. Some genres are more about refinement. Or are you saying EA should have stopped making Fifa games in 1995? Forza should never have had a sequel? Microsoft Flight Simulator was "done" in, er, 1980?

  • UncleLou #67 2 years ago

    I believe the main problem here isn't how similar to GT4 it is, cause as some people mentioned there ARE new features in there, but if it is worth the 5-year wait.

    I'll never, ever understand that argument. It's not like anyone has been waiting with baited breath for the next game in the series, and will have wasted 5 years of his life if it's not good.

    It's the result that counts, and if it's a great game, who cares how long it took? Unless it is somehow dated and has been surpassed by other games, something I don't see. It's not like the more sim-like subgenre is terribly overcrowded. There's, er, Forza and GT on consoles. And that Simbin game. That's about it.

  • geeza2020 #68 2 years ago

    how is it a contradiction? I was highlighting the hypocrisy on these pages in that people blast FIFA for being the same game re-released with not much different year on year, yet at the same time people are quite willing to wait 5 years for a game that, to me, looks remarkably similar to Gran Turismo 4. Thats no a contradiction. You just have to read things properly. I know its tough keeping your concentration going long enough to read a whole post, but im sure that shiny ball that attracted you was worth your time :)

  • UncleLou #69 2 years ago

    how is it a contradiction? I was highlighting the hypocrisy on these pages in that people blast FIFA for being the same game re-released with not much different year on year, yet at the same time people are quite willing to wait 5 years for a game that, to me, looks remarkably similar to Gran Turismo 4.

    Hypocrisy by whom? The individual posters? Show me a single example where I, for example, complained about Fifa. Complaining about hypocrisy in a forum full of individuals is a bit of a strange idea. Not that, as elaborately explained before, Fifa and GT are in any way comparable when it comes to release cycles.

    But pray tell, Fifa: which "side" are you on?

  • geeza2020 #70 2 years ago

    the left? :/

  • UncleLou #71 2 years ago

    How to be a Comment Martyr™:

    1. Go make a negative comment for a game on a console you don't own.
    2. Respond to criticism of said comment as fanboyism, state that your own opinion is pure and objective.
    3. Take a big whiff of your own flatulence and feel good about yourself.

    Exactly. There's a thing that's worse than a troll, and that's a troll who doesn't admit he was trolling when called out, and tries to rationalize his unreflected nonsense afterwards. Utterly embarrassing. :)

  • geeza2020 #72 2 years ago

    Calm down dear, its just GT5 after all ;)

  • SAH1977 #73 2 years ago

    I owned a PS3 for GT HD/Prologue before switching to a 360 for Forza 3, now I'll be buying a PS3 once more for GT5.

    Competition is improving each series.

    While I was initially dissapointed to hear non-premium cars do not have interors (if correct) I actually think it will be better to have 200+ cars, plus DLC, in perfect detail rather than the basic interiors Forza 3 has.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 15:27

  • fiery_jackass #74 2 years ago

    >never struggled to drive one in a straight line!!!
    I'd think ploughing down a road at 150mph, especially where the road's undulations have been painstakingly mapped and reproduced down to the last pebble/roadkill/bit of dog-shit might introduce a few handling anomalies.

  • mossychops001 #75 2 years ago

    I want to be able to drive a milk float around the TG test track.

  • lagoonalight #76 2 years ago

    "Fans of books, movies and music aren't like this, "fanboys" make me so embarrassed of my hobby sometimes."

    Wow, cheapshot, you hit the nail on the head and crushed it. Videogames cannot be art unless these people grow the hell up and look at things constructively because true art has true critics. Not quite so in this industry just as yet. This site especially is terrible and I have to say it's mostly the 360 side here but elsewhere it is opposite. I mean, Forza, really? That game will not even be remembered much less noticed when this comes out. It's a joke to even compare the 2 imho.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 15:34

  • himmelsturmerIX #77 2 years ago

    Gonna get this one for sure. :D

  • Pinky_Floyd #78 2 years ago

    Someone mentioned earlier they had driven loads of cars and they were all easy to drive in a straight line. Well, that's true until you get into supercar territory with traction control off. Then, if you dont play very nicely with the throttle in low
    gears, you may just find out what the writer was talking about!

  • Zerobob #79 2 years ago

    Top Gear test track is a stroke of genius. The game looks, well, fucking outrageously gorgeous and real doesn't it!

    Just wish I had a PS3 now, although that said I'm glad I haven't had a PS3 sitting there looking at me, all the while I'm just waiting for this game to be released!

  • SavageEvil #80 2 years ago

    What kind of hands on was that? They didn't touch on anything related to being hands on, ugh! I hate stupid news articles that are basically eyes on affair. What is with the stupid posts in here, if you don't like GT5 why the hell are you even posting your thoughts, no one cares. I own FM3 it's a great game, but it's different from GT5 while being alike. They both have cars and have realistic "type" physics, but the similarities end there and take off in different directions. I love GT because it always gives you more cars than you can swing a stick at, that equates to being able to almost find the right motor for you, unlike FM where most people drive the same powerhouse car in online races every time you happen to make it into a race. The words that there are only 200 cars with interior views is a bit of a dissappointment, but seeing as this game has a thousand cars it's understandable, but I wished that all cars had interior views. Since GT5p I've been used to that interior view its pretty immersive, but guess you can't have it all. Here's hoping that GT6 will have all interiors modeled for all 1000+ autos, until that happens I'll be enjoying racing online in GT5.
    Note to some folks GT5 has 16 cars max in a race, not 20...get your facts straight.
    EA are jerks, they specifically do not allow Porsche to appear in their main competitor on PS machines, same thing on PS2 with GT4
    "Still it was very immersive with no issues that took me out of the racing experience. " was posted by Darren, you my friend have never played online in FM3 have you? The severly broken PI system allows abuse in the form of super handling cars Audi R8 Showcar to race in a lower class, the fact that AWD system is so good that it turns all races into a rally and a horrible matchmaking system tied to it completes the package for the most frustrating online addition yet. FM2 was much better online IMHO, but you'll probably beg to differ. Many a night I've raced FM3 the racers on there curse Turn10 for breaking the online system and a good bit have gone back to FM2 because it's not so broken especially the PI system.

    I'll be waiting for a real hands on for GT5 as this was a total wrong headline, he didn't even get to play the damn game. Just said that cars felt great and handled differently, how original was that line.

  • Widge #81 2 years ago

    I'm in the camp of "apart from all the stuff added to the game, GT5 is exactly the same as GT4". Lets get negative!

  • Kill_Crazy #82 2 years ago

    If i spend half the track time on this that i did on Supercar Challenge, and the handling's as good or better than it, then i'm gonna be very happy with this game. No interest in taking photos or putting stickers on cars - just let me race!

  • theiceman #83 2 years ago

    I for 1 absolutely loved GT4,so if GT5 is a remake,then i'll still love it.All the trolls that put the boot into GT5 without even trying it out first go back into your forza caves,where all the trolls live.
    Idiots

  • Zaiz #84 2 years ago

    @People who think this will play/look like a high end PC game - uh no. Really. It's ancient tech vs modern tech, there isn't a comparison.

    But at least they finally have a finished product. This game was drifting into vaporware, good to see it coming out. I mean, I was certain it would come out, but I was actually betting on Q1 of 2011.

  • Caimbeul #85 2 years ago

    Not sure if i read that correctly but two and a half years to do a track? Im not so sure about that.

  • Caimbeul #86 2 years ago

    if the standard carss dont have interiors does that mean that there will be no in-car view for them??

  • Caimbeul #87 2 years ago

    "Lets face it the 200 preimium cars are the only ones you are gonna spend any time in anyway ;-) "

    I disagree, I doubt Ageing Japanese Sports classics like the Nissan S13a, S14a, RX7 FC3S, FD3S, EVO's II - IV, Mitsubishi Trueno AE-86's (Hatchi-Roku for those Initial-D fan's) will be in that premium list.

    I know I will be spending my time in these old classics trying futily to recreate the amazing drift handling of GT3 :-(

  • icematt12 #88 2 years ago

    A bit shocked that the trailer had Vettel and Adrian (car designer forthe Red Bull team), I guess the Red Bull car will be in the game. Seeing as it's November, I suppose it could be the 2010 or 2011 car. Both could be possible, with the 2011 as DLC. Other teams could be possible *fingers crossed for McLaren*

    One thing GT5 is not lacking in is licences, Nascar and Top Gear for starters. Could prove to be quite an influence.

  • TheTrueSpin #89 2 years ago

    "a game we get to visit once a year in carefully controlled circumstances, as if we're making an annual visit to an uncle who's stuck in prison"...

    Love it.

  • mumblyjoe #90 2 years ago

    The Gran Turismo series has been awesome from day one (except possibly the psp version and that concept one they did) I really hope they have removed the daft speed reduction penalties though. Hopefully there is also some kind of system for online that rewards the players who drive normally and penalises those like too drive around the track backwards.

    Although if you want a 'proper sim' you should be a) using a wheel and b) playing iRacing.



    Accept GT for what it is: Photo mode with a track. What it catagorically is not is a driving sim] That is Forza territory.

    That made me lol :D
    Edited by 2 at 16/06/10 @ 18:31

  • UncleLou #91 2 years ago

    @People who think this will play/look like a high end PC game - uh no. Really. It's ancient tech vs modern tech, there isn't a comparison.

    a) "Playability" has nothing to do whatsoever with "high end". Give me GT Legends over Dirt 2 any day of the week.
    b) GT5: Prologue looks as good as anything on my gaming PC. There's no PC racer with car models that come even close.

    Edited by 2 at 16/06/10 @ 18:31

  • smurphs #92 2 years ago

    Forza 3's handling was great but it's overall 'feel' left me a bit cold. This is the game I was searching for. (cue 'I have seen the light' moment).

  • DrStrangelove #93 2 years ago

    I'll try to get the collector's edition, and if it is any better than GT4 or GT5P, I will compliment myself on having made such good use of the money.

  • GamesConnoisseur #94 2 years ago

    To fully settles the arguments in this thread, I request DF engineers to do Forza3 and GT5 head to head on all the key features of what would make a driving game fun/ simulation/car porn etc!

    It's sad how many comments ere made when the game isn't even out but fully informed judgements?!

    I will get GT5 but I also know the value of Forza 3, and appreciate the efforts to make a smooth driving experience with many layers of options for assists.

    Hoping GT5 will be a smash but with two previous goes, Prologue and Trial thingy....needs more convincing.

  • Numbat #95 2 years ago

    "It's sad how many comments ere made when the game isn't even out but fully informed judgements?!"

    Totally agree. Anybody into racing games should be interested in this and Forza. But we will have to endure endless comments about how one or the other is rubbish and the other is brilliant, in the thinly veiled and really boring PS3 vs 360 battle.

    As others have said, this was not a 'hands on' review at all. 200 cars is probably far more than most will drive in a game, though it seems odd having 800 more without interiors, but I'm happy with games containing 40 cars, so all seems academic.

  • SAH1977 #96 2 years ago

    This is from another website -

    'In a small private room, Kazunori shared those details with us.

    There are over 1,000 cars in Gran Turismo, more than 800 standard cars and over 200 premium cars. These include the vast majority of cars in all previous Gran Turismo games, including GT for the PSP.

    All cars include physics-based damage modelling and will suffer from body scratches, dents and dirt.

    Premium cars have been designed in absolutely painstaking detail: In addition to the standard damage modelling and exterior deterioration, these cars have been built so that they can come apart panel by panel. Their interiors can be navigated. Due to the inclusion of rolling physics, the undersides of all premium cars have also been lovingly replicated. It’s here that Kazunori insists that he’s found the PS3’s limitations.'
    Edited by 2 at 16/06/10 @ 23:42

  • man.the.king #97 2 years ago

    How surprising!

    All the "gamers" (and I use that word VERY loosely here) who find that GT5 is "fail" are 360 fanboys.

  • theholyghost #98 2 years ago

    I'm surprised that there hasn't been more discussion of the standard/premium cars thing. When I first saw these phrases, I had assumed they referred to the specs of the cars, not to how much graphical detail they contained. It seems strange that they chose to include 200 well modelled cars and 800 less well modelled cars. The reason is obviously due to financial constraints, eg staff wages, can't postpone release date again, don't want to release on more than one disk... Surely, rather than giving two kinds of car that have been programmed to different technical standards, they ought to have opted for either quality or quantity, if both were not possible. It feels like the game is unfinished, and I guess could be immersion-breaking. Players noticing and thinking "ah this has been modelled to a high standard" or "this car doesn't have as much graphical detail as that car so I won't use it" isn't what we should be thinking about while playing.
    Edited by 2 at 17/06/10 @ 10:00

  • dfooster #99 2 years ago

    the novelty to wear off first in a computer game is the graphics. i can see this game receiving 10/10 scores across the board for the technical achievement in this area but ultimately how good the actual racing is will determine if people keep playing or not.

    best hope its a big step up in actual racing, AI and handling then over the previous polyphony efforts, and the last 5 years hasnt just been time spent making the stitching look right on the seats of cars.



  • DoctorFraud #100 2 years ago

    PS3 owners dont give a shit about gameplay. All they care about is how those screenies look, which is why you have such pretty shite as Killzone and GT:prologue on the system and the idiot fanboys actually buy it!

  • Kaminari #101 2 years ago

    Now that GT5 is *almost* out the door... let's get back to Motortoon 3.

  • JahB #102 2 years ago

    It seems strange that they chose to include 200 well modelled cars and 800 less well modelled cars.

    simple: they modelled 200 cars well. then they modelled another 50 cars and multiplied them by calling them different names.

    "the game has 1,000 cars" my ass, more like a hundred with 10-variations each. having 20 evo's doesn't mean you have 20 cars.

  • obscured021 #103 2 years ago

    i have all the forza games and the last 2 GT games the GT games have better handeling than forza and that's what a car game is all about, forza is to much like an arcade game, but when you compaire GT5 or forza to any of the good pc sims like LFS, R-factor and the GTR games they dont really hold up in the handeling dept, and i know how cars/bikes should handel as i do loads of track days, and some drift events.

  • ronuds #104 2 years ago

    I didn't read anything in this preview that we haven't known about for months...

  • higganos #105 2 years ago

    It's going to be amazing.

    Forzalol


    Erm....why lol at Forza? Forza is immense. Just like this will be. I hope.

  • NotSoSlim #106 2 years ago

    Think all cars will have interiors just not detailed like the 200 premium ones so bog standard

  • delboy83uk #107 2 years ago

    It's out on my birthday nice :D

  • neuroniky #108 2 years ago

    AI. If the AI is still on the same "stick to the driving line" level of GT1, 2, 3 and 4, this will be again just a spectacular driving game and a terrible racing game at the same time. And, well, I think GT5 deserves a better treatment.

    Say what you want about Forza's bad graphics and everything, the racing part of it and the computer AI was top notch.

    Please let this have a decent AI.

    Pretty please.

  • XBoxDragon #109 2 years ago

    Does it have AI that's fun to race against yet?

  • Turbotim3 #110 2 years ago

    All cars will have cockpit views, he never said that only 200 cars would have cockpit views, he said that the 200 premium cars would have fully rendered interiors which means if you crash your car and your drivers car door tears off you will be able to see the fully rendered interior right down to the stitching.

  • FeralGamer #111 2 years ago

    What's the point of driving games? I've never found racing laps to be enjoyable.

  • Miths #112 2 years ago

    "@People who think this will play/look like a high end PC game - uh no. Really. It's ancient tech vs modern tech, there isn't a comparison."

    Aside from multiplatform titles like DiRT 2 and the upcoming F1 2010, pretty much all the notable PC exclusive racing games are using graphics engines that are starting to look a bit long in the tooth (or already did several years ago).
    iRacing tracks for instance have increasingly accurate modeling of track side objects, landscape and of course the track itself (they are laser scanned), along with texture work that's gotten a lot better with the most recently released tracks, but all that craftsmanship (which applies to car modeling as well) can't hide that the graphics engine is based on the same one used in NASCAR Racing 2003.
    In game it just has a dated look to it. And the same goes for all the SimBin/Blimey! titles that are still running on evolutions of the same ISI engines that powered some popular racing sims a decade ago.

  • tossum #113 2 years ago

    "To fully settles the arguments in this thread, I request DF engineers to do Forza3 and GT5 head to head on all the key features of what would make a driving game fun/ simulation/car porn etc!"
    I doubt that comes under the scope of DF; go to simracingtonight on youtube for that kind of comparison.