Community Spotlight

“It’s a topic one can’t help but be drawn toward – like a moth to a flame – as it gives a brief overview, or, at least, the perception thereof, of how well any individual product has been welcomed into the home of the targeted consumer.”

This is it, the final days and week of the year and what a year it’s been to say the very least. There’s still a few surprises here and there to close out the year, of that I’m almost certain, but even if the year closes with nary a peek more of what’s to come, this will have been one of the most active years in the gaming community in recent memory.

T, what’s been going on with the Spotlight lately? The schedule has been erratic, there hasn’t been a Member of the Week in almost a month, and I feel the content hasn’t been up to the otherwise usual standards.

A calming air immediately followed by not only a sigh a relief but eye-widening glee; these are the sequence of emotional events that fell over the entirety of GTPlanet’s community in one fell swoop with the announcement of Gran Turismo Sport at Paris Games Week, the next title in the illustrious franchise – and it’s coming to the PlayStation 4 early next year beginning with a beta.

I couldn’t be happier with the state of things at the moment. I can finally sit back, relax, and catch up on everything and actually appreciate it, whereas this time last month all I could do was briefly glimpse at something before something else arose that demanded its own attention.

This year has been defined by an unending torrent of news that made it apparent that 2015 was the year of the racing game; a niche no longer it would seem as the genre has been exposed to more people in the past several months than it ever has been. This is no doubt something to marvel at as the genre is steadily approaching the point where it’s easily accessible to any and everyone regardless of their skill level. While that may cause seasoned veterans to turn their noses up at the very thought of their prized franchises becoming easier in lieu of attracting a larger audience, the one thing everyone has to remember is that those options, what many of us would define as “hardcore” are still going to be there for those of us that can’t live without them, and for those of us that want to dabble about and experience the full picture.

Summer no longer burdens me, for I am free to enjoy the crisp, brisk winds that usher in the final months of the year; autumn is here and as every year that has preceded, I couldn’t be happier. With September behind us things are beginning to calm down and return to a near-normal state, however, that wasn’t before the month ended on an unexpected high note: the Course Maker for Gran Tursimo 6 is now a thing you can use to your heart’s content!

The final days of September are upon us, and what an absolute joy this month has been: Metal Gear Solid V, Forza Motorsport 6, Destiny: The Taken King, and my birthday was even in there somewhere, but I’m pretty sure it swept past me being too occupied trying to absorb this relentless onslaught of racing games and the news surrounding it. On top of that my favorite shows are beginning to return from their off-season hiatuses, and best of all, summer is coming to an end! You all know my distaste for hot weather so there’s no need to reiterate it for the seventy-fifth time, suffice to say the last two seasons of the year are going to please my being immensely.

As I’ve alluded to for the past several weeks, September is almost certainly going to result in my unfortunate demise. The Ultimate Edition of Forza Motorsport 6 is now live for those that have indulged a little, and as you may have already seen in GTPlanet’s own review of the game, Forza Motorsport 6 is perhaps the best installment yet and the series can only improve from here as a result.

La Jiggy Jar Jar Doo – Dur Dur Dur Dee Dur! That is not unintelligible babble and we’ll revisit this later on, I guarantee it’ll be worth your time if you’re looking for a laugh. For now I want you to waddle about in absolute mystery wondering what those words could possibly mean; again, not unintelligible babble and I have not lost my mind.

What, no trucks this week? I need trucks! I’ve spent hours trying to think up an exciting way to best last week’s presentation, and as I’m writing this I’ve come to the realization that it just isn’t possible and there’s a very good reason for that, last week’s opening was so unexpected, even to me, that is was entirely an act of spontaneity. If you know anything about spontaneity than it should become apparent why I can’t will this week’s opening into a better place on my own admittedly selfish hierarchy chart because it just doesn’t work that way.

Now just hold on for one minute: a truck is the first thing you’re seeing this week, but why? Every once in a while it’s nice to shake things up in a completely unexpected manner because, and this is purely speculative as I’m assuming you’re scratching your noggin pretty intensely right now, it attracts attention in the most wonderful ways. That particular picture is from the critically-acclaimed, overwhelmingly positive reviewed, addictive-as-you-know-what Euro Truck Simulator 2 on PC.

Just when you think it’s all calmed down and you can finally kick your feet back and rake in some relaxation, in comes Gamescom with its own share of tantalizing information. Make no mistake, me kicking my feet back and raking in any kind of relaxation with everything that was going on prior to Gamescom was nothing but a pipe dream but it drives the point home; a point that’s been liberally hammered upon since E3 and prior, and it’s the fact that 2015 is action-packed with racing games and virtually every other game genre under the sun.

The Hungarian Grand Prix. Wow. It’s not out of the ordinary or without fair reasoning to hear or even read about Formula One fans pining for race weekends to take place under the advent of rain showers, it just makes for a more spectacular showing of the sport itself. The Hungarian Grand Prix was bone-dry and yet it stands as the best race of the entire season thus far and I would stake anything that it’s unlikely to be topped. If you haven’t seen it and you’re an F1 fan I would highly suggest that you do so.

If it hasn’t been made apparent already, this is, unequivocally, the year of the racing game. With so many options spanning across just about every platform available there’s something for everyone, and just enough of them release in such close proximity that you’ll be driven mad just trying to decide what you want to play! Another problem arises from games already on the market that are continually updated; there’s just too much going on in the racing game scene this year – what a fantastic problem to have.

This has been a much calmer week, and graciously so with everything that’s been going on throughout the past several weeks; GTPlanet’s expansion is taking quite the toll on us all and for the strangest of reasons I find myself wishing, nay, craving that this week had been as hectic as those that have preceded. Make no mistake, there’s still plenty in the pipeline that you’ll all be privy to soon enough, but I suppose I’ve grown accustomed to the frantic, fast-paced deliverance of all things racing – down with the sickness I guess you could say.

To utter the phrase “What a week this has been!” as has become synonymous with the Spotlight in recent weeks would be a gross understatement. This has been one of the most active weeks for the GTPlanet community in recent memory, and with no end in sight and even more expansion in the works, GTPlanet is not only the de facto standard in bringing forth Gran Turismo news the second it’s available, it is also becoming the standard in delivering news relating to a number of other popular racing games that pique the community’s interest. The question now becomes, for those worried, what has happened to GTPlanet – isn’t this supposed to be a community that celebrates only Gran Turismo?

We’re hot on the heels of the British Grand Prix and I’m not full of the typical vigor when talking about an F1 weekend. Fernando Alonso, who is evidently plagued with decision-makings that appear bright but are ultimately regrettable in hindsight, is quite frankly being wasted away at McLaren as they’re struggling to stay in a race let alone be competitive. Jenson Button is yet another superb talent that’s being wasted; both of these men are driver’s champions and have now been relegated to a team in a more complex stupor than even Ferrari – the only difference being that Button has been in this stupor for longer.

The SRT Tomahawk is finally upon us, and perhaps extends the most challenging obstacle by way of the The Green Hell. That’s right, in order to obtain the X variant of the Tomahawk one must go around the Nordschleife and record a time of 6 minutes or less. Of course you can always buy all three versions directly from the dealership and call it a day, but how else are you going to be able to experience the high-stakes insanity right out of the gate?

It would appear the phrase “What a week this has been!” has become wholly synonymous with the Community Spotlight. For the past couple of weeks it has been the perfect combination of words to quickly set the scene for everything that follows, and with everything that’s gone on in the past couple of days relative to E3, you could very well imagine just how much of a week this has been when compared to those prior. This is going to be a special one-off Community Spotlight that will focus on E3 while still delivering the content expected from the Spotlight.