GTPlanet

Since the Logitech Challenge cheaters were exposed, many of you have spread the word and contacted Sony/Logitech, expressing your anger with poorly-skilled drivers who were bending the rules to get ahead.  Now, we’ve got official word from Logitech on exactly what is (not) going to happen.   Chris Pate, Logitech’s Global Product Marketing Manager, stopped by the GTPlanet Forums:

The issue of wall contact is a tough one. While Logitech does not at all approve of cheating in GT5:P or any other game, we won’t be reviewing ghost laps for wall contact as it would add a significant element of subjectivity. As such, there will be no disqualifications or changes to player rankings for racing line decisions. The decision to uphold the game’s own penalty system for this event was made in the interest of ensuring a level playing field for all drivers.

Read Chris’ full post on the issue – you’ll also find his comments on Logitech’s corporate blog where the challenge was originally announced.  This outcome is not a surprising one, and indeed, it would add a significant element of subjectivity.  Ultimately, we can only place blame on the forgiving collision detection algorithms set in place by Polyphony Digital and those who decided to take advantage of them.  At the very least, perhaps the spotlight on this issue will encourage Kazunori Yamauchi to implement more sensitive boundaries in future GT5 Prologue updates.

The Logitech Challenge in GT5 Prologue is well under way.  Unfortunately, though, with thousands of dollars worth of prizes up for grabs, it has attracted the attention of cheaters with no regards for fair play or clean driving.  The first week of competition ended on Tuesday, and GTPlanet’s own challengers are up in arms over the drivers who took the top positions by “wall riding” around the High Speed Ring circuit.  “Wall riding” consists of nothing more than exploiting the game’s physics engine to carry unrealistic speed through a corner without losing momentum.  The only skill involved is simply avoiding activation of the penalty system – a far cry from watching your braking points, turn in angles, and throttle modulation.

Rewarding blatant cheating sets a dangerous precedent for Sony with official Gran Turismo 5 challenges that are sure to follow in the months and years ahead.  We do everything we can to promote clean racing here at GTPlanet, and our members have already started calling Sony and Logitech to make them aware of the cheaters who are spoiling what should be a fun and rewarding competition for honest Gran Turismo fans.  Do your part by contacting the office in charge of the Logitech Challenge at the following address to let them know you will not tolerate cheating.

Logitech Americas Headquarters
6505 Kaiser Dr.
Fremont, CA 94555 USA
+1 510-795-8500
Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm PST

With your help, we can turn these “wall riders” into “side liners”.  Let’s hope for the best.

There’s a new program coming to Gran Turismo TV -- it’s the “Inside Story” of how the GTbyCitroën made the journey from polygons to production.  Check out the high-definition preview above, then fire up your copy of GT5 Prologue to download the full program.  Here’s the description from Polyphony Digital:

The process from its design sketch to scale model, and to the creation of the actual car, is introduced personally by the Japanese designer of this vehicle, Takumi Yamamoto. The creation of the car within the game, and the “C42W, the information base of Citroen, are also introduced here.  In the finale, Kazunori Yamauchi drives the car on a circuit!

For more, subscribe to GTPlanet’s YouTube channel!

Since the release of Gran Turismo 1 in 1998, one feature has been on the wishlists of GTPlanet members everywhere: the ability to load your own music into the game.  With the release of the new PlayStation 3 firmware update 2.4, those dreams will finally come true.  The 2.4 firmware allows you to access the XMB PS3 menu while you are actually playing a game on the system, including all of the music that you’ve loaded onto your PlayStation’s hard drive.  As you can see from the video below, you simply turn down the in-game tunes (so they won’t interfere with your own, obviously), fire up the XMB, find your song, and hit the play button**.  Also, because the PlayStation 3 is backward-compatible with both PS1 and PS2 games, you’ll be able to take advantage of this new feature in every single Gran Turismo game released in the series.  Many of you don’t listen to music while you’re driving, but this is a very welcome addition to the games for those who do!  The new firmware will be available to download via your PS3 on July 2, 2008.

**UPDATE: Since this was first posted, more information about in-game music has been revealed.  According to this post on the Sony blog, “Currently only music stored on the HDD is accessible in games that support this feature. We’d also like to reiterate that Firmware v2.40 merely enables custom soundtracks. It’s up to developers to include this feature in upcoming games (or to patch existing ones).”  That obviously rules out all PS1 or PS2 games, and the current Spec II edition of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.  So much for that…