Gran Turismo 4 Launch Date 62
Gamespot has the news that the much anticipated driving simulator Gran Turismo 4 releases on February 22nd in the U.S., while European drivers will be able to purchase the game on March 9th. From the article: "Before it finally launched in Japan on December 28, the much-lauded driving game had experienced delays of more than a year. Gran Turismo 4 will feature more than 700 automobiles from more than 80 manufacturers racing across new locales--including the city streets of the Big Apple and Las Vegas. Consistent with the series, drivers will compete in races to acquire various licenses and move up in the ranks. Unfortunately, the game will not include an online mode."
All this time, (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:All this time, (Score:2)
So now that the game is out in Feb, maybe they'll make an online one to compete this holiday season.
But I wouldn't hold my breath.
Re:All this time, (Score:1)
I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Many of the points you bring up are not valid any longer.
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:2)
2) PS2 graphics, however, can, and often beat PC graphics.
3) Depends on the game.
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Re:I could not be more excited. (Score:1)
Nothing has excited me until now.
What's the Big Deal? (Score:2, Interesting)
I haven't played Gran Turismo myself -- I'm not a big racing fan -- but what is it that sets it apart from other racing games?
Personally I'd rather race around Liberty City or Vice City from the Gran Theft Auto games. I like the sense of freedom (and getting away from the cops) rather than the closed tracks of racing games. But what is it about the Gran Turismo series that's so great? All racing games are pretty much alike in my (admittedly somewhat ignorant) opinion.
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:5, Interesting)
Instead, I'll say this: the steering system is a lot more involved. You can feel an actual difference in steering between cars with front and rear wheel drive. You can't just run every race by flooring the pedal and bouncing off of walls in strategic ways. Very detailed car data and the like. The cars look beautiful, especially during replays and have a lot of freedom for internal customization.
Honestly, though? I think the game mostly feeds on people's Pokemon "gotta catch them all" obsessions.
A lot of the time is spent not enjoying the races, but saving up for other cars which will let you enjoy the races. Even when you get the new car you are saving up for modifications that will further let you enjoy the car. After you get to that point the money you are making isn't enough and you go on to saving for the next best car.
After the cycle of wanting the best car ever is over, it's on to beating the game 100% and trying to get the best results on the license tests. The license tests basically let you run a part of the track in a certain vehicle in under a certain length of time. For example "ride your Porsche 911 through this S-turn in 11.7 seconds for bronze, 11.598 seconds for silver, 11.515 seconds for gold."
What I would be interested in seeing is how many people play the game for fun AFTER they've beaten the game 100% and acquired what they believe is the best car. ie: how many people play it for the sheer fun of it like someone would play Robotron or replay a Zelda game.
If you look at the FAQs you can see some signs of this. There are FAQs dedicated to showing you how to beat endurance races (some lasting 2+ hours) without you having to touch the joystick.
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2, Interesting)
Problem with the main game of Gran Turismo 2 is that it started out painfully s-l-o-w, and all you had to do to win everything was save up 2 million and buy an Escudo Pikes Peak, simple as that.
The other problem is that the gameplay was just too realistic for my liking in some ways, and then painfully unrealistic in others. Call me
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
I played against friends.
I pretended I was in Initial D with a 86.
And I figured out how to trick a car out to make drifting fun and easy. (Take a car, get it to about 300-500 hp depending on weight, turn off ACM and TCS all the way, and put on simulation tires. Go nuts)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:4, Insightful)
The GTA games are more hedonistic in tone.
For me, I could never get around the indestructible cars. It spoils the game, IMO. I know many people really enjoy the game, but for me the cars should have damage modelling. By focusing on reality physics the skills of driving are highlighted. This is cool, but cornering can also involve ricochets off of other cars, as a perfectly valid race technique (in game). This is totally outside the idea of simulation that the games attempts to acheive. And, for me, it spoils it.
I understand the reason for it. The auto makers want there cars to look great in the game. But I'm not so sure that damage modelling would adversely effect the marketing aspect of the car licensing.
I may rent GT4, but I won't buy it.
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
My brother has a PS2. I was thinking about buying GT4 and having him bring his box over, but I just don't think I could get into a game that has PS2-quality graphics, is played with a silly console controller and I definitely can't get around the "indestructable cars".
I mean, really - do you need to market your cars as "indestructable at 300mph"? That's pretty
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
The good news is that in GT4 there is a slow-dow
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
this isn't true. The Test Drive series offered crashable versions of real cars, and Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed provided a very realistic body damage model. in fact, there have been a lot of games with real licensed cars that took damage. i think the GT people keep saying "it's the manufacturers
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
It's almost as if they have everything planned ahead of time, but they're holding out so they can sell each innovation piece-by-piece, in an overall quest to make more money.
If I were to be very cynical, I'd say they'll release Gran Turismo 5 with online play, but hold out on damage models until Gran Turismo 6. However, I'm not "very cynical", so I say that this scenario is (hopefully) unlikely. Be
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
But the Delay Demons got ahold of the team and it didn't come out until much later.
In a strange way, it seems each PlayStation generation is destined for two GT's, as Sony states GT4 is the last full GT on PS2.
It's perfectly reasonable to expect GT5 to be PS3's crown jewel, but they need to
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Still, if you have a friend who is into racing games, the head to head can lead to some very great races and replays, given you can both stay on the track and race, and agree to avoid trying to hit each other.
Gran turmismo just feels right when you steer the cars. There really is no other way to explain it except, right. It's probably not r
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Anything made by Papyrus. Personally, my 2 favorites are Nascar Legends and Grand Prix Legends (now a free download from Blackhole motorsports). GPL has better physics, but NL lets you drive the old rear wheel drive boats that many of us grew up driving. Also, both games work great on old 300mhz systems that have a 3d card of any sort. Heck, GPL still has a HUGE following and is considered to be one o
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2, Interesting)
Really? I always though that the game was better for not modeling damage. It's a driving simulation that lets you focus on the driving itself, rather than the repercusions of failure if you take a turn too fast.
For the purposes of the game, compare slaming to a full stop and having to regain 12 seconds to an automatic disqualification; the first is still a penalty for my mistake, but I can learn from it and immediately get
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Perhaps a hybrid of our arguments would make the game the most 'playable'. That is, model the cars damage, however, make it more of a cosmetic thing rather than affecting the handling of the car (unless the car is rammed head-on into the wall of a tunnel). What I mean is this, model the effects of a sideswipe with another car as cosmetic (requiring a fix after the race) but do not stop the race.
What about that?
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Did you get to play Burnout 3 on X-Box? Not at all like G
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:2)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Big Deal? (Score:1)
online play through xlink kai (Score:4, Informative)
What a coincidence.... (Score:5, Funny)
Miami? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Miami? (Score:2)
Online play later in the year? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Online play later in the year? (Score:2)
Re:Online play later in the year? (Score:2)
1)Release single player version of game people were almost positive would have online gameplay.
2)Release "expansion" with online gameplay for full price or half price for existing owners.
3)???
4)PROFIT!!!
But nah....Sony Entertainment would NEVER do that.
Won't be fooled again (Score:3, Funny)
If you've ever heard Louis Black's candy corn routine, it's pretty much like that.
Re:Won't be fooled again (Score:2)
Yawn (Score:2)
I'll probably get modded down as flamebait, but I'm no longer looking forward to GT4. It's been hyped for so long, but delayed several times, and had features taken out. This is getting old for me. I've already moved on.
No online? Big deal. (Score:2)
The exception would be playing a multiplayer game with a friend over the internet, but I don't consider that to be "online gaming", no different than playing over a LAN (except the physical location, of course).
As the ad says: (Score:2)
Please don't have the tire melting option. (Score:1)
Re:Please don't have the tire melting option. (Score:2)
I was racing the Mercedes DTA car for a little while and found it was just barely losing races. I had the medium slicks on there. Then, I switched to hard, was able to run an entire race on a single set, and took the lead usually