3 strategy guides for GT4?

[LoveMyMiata]

I see that piggyback is developing a strategy guide (http://www.authorisedcollection.com/en/guides/info/?id_guide=28) which they say will be out at the end of May.

Prima Games is also doing a strategy guide (http://www.primagames.com/strategy/book/6700/) which Amazon.com indicates will be out at the end of April.

Are these different guides or the same with different publishers (Piggyback seems more European based, whereas Prima seems more North American)?

I don't normally buy strategy guides (actually I've never bought one), but GT4 has left me with enough questions that I wouldn't mind plunking down my money for a GOOD guide (which as a minimum includes clear, detailed track maps).

And then there is "The Bible" (http://tkj.jp/tkj/gt4/), which is purported by its web page to be available "soon".

So many possibilities, so little realities. Is there any actual knowledge of which of these 3 actually may make it out?

 

[MoZqUiTo]

I'm not into spendin hard earned cash on strategy guides, but i am known for spendin an hour or so sittin on the floor of my local toys r us readin the damn things. Prima usually has a good turn out, providing clear information and most of their stuff is useful, rather then being recaps of stuff you already knew. I know for a fact that they will release a guide; they have a guide for just about everygame that has hit the "mainstream". The other ones though, i don't hav any experience with, so i can't rlly tell you anything about them.

 

[CFM]

Who needs a strategy guide when you have GTP?

 

[venomGT4]

actually, last i knew the prima guide was supposed to be out 4/8....hope it didnt get delayed AGAIN. i bought the one for gt3, and am going to be getting the gt4 guide. if nothing else, they make gooding reading material while going to the bathroom.

 

[SimRaceDriver]

I'm interested in the guide as well, just because I've never owned one in the past and GT4 has left such a good impression that I'd like to know more about it...hence the interest in the guide..

However, I can say that the 'other' book, the "Gran Turismo:The Driving Experience" isn't all that and really wasn't worth the $30+ dollars I spent for it!

As for the release of the Prima guide, from what I've seen at numerous bookstores and those found online, it's due out late April...so, unlike the game itself, lets hope the guide doesn't get delayed as well!

 

[thenightwatch]

Actually, the Prima guide has already been delayed several times, it was supposed to be released shortly after the game.

 

[NoQuarter]

Who needs a strategy guide when you have GTP?

Or any of the premier GT forums... 👍

I wonder how the guys who do the driving for these "Guides" would stack up, both driving and strategy-wise, against some of GT community's best? (rhetorical qestion)

 

[exhorst]

why would you waste your money on a damn strategy guide?! Why would you want to follow the awesome game GT4 with a strategy guide? IMO strategy guides are as bad as cheating because you are playing the game with help. Not figuring out how to play the game yourself. half the challenge of the game is based on your own strategy, eg knowing what cars to buy and when. I never read prize car lists because i think they give too much of the game away. and it is no fun knowing what car you will win at the end.
it would be a lot better also if you discovered new things in the game by yourself, rather than have a stupid guide spoiling the wonderful surprises locked up in GT4.
and Wouldnt it be better to tell people "i completed GT4 without any help at all"?? rather than say something "I completed GT4 using a ^$*&#! guide"!!

 

[exhorst]

sry bout double postin

 

[LoveMyMiata]

I knew the majority of the replies to this thread would be along the lines of "why would you need a strategy guide?". I don't want a GT4 strategy guide for the strategy part, per se. That's plenty available online should I need it, although I can usually figure out which way to turn all by myself! And besides, the book "Speed Secrets" is not only fascinating reading, but is a marvelous GT4 strategy guide all by itself.

What I'm interested in in a guide are the parts that should be in manual: track maps, car descriptions, race requirements ("etc." on the car list gets a little tiresome and is indicative of too tight of a development schedule), description of what all the icons mean when in B-Spec race control mode, etc. (there that etc is again!).

Granted a lot of that information is eventually available on the 'net (and yes, GTPlanet.net will beat any strategy guide hands down), but I can't carry the entire web with me to the "library", nor do I want to print out detailed track maps and car pictures (which in my mind need to be in any manual that I would consider good).

 

[Lethalchem]

I don't see the need for a "guide" to play the game. It's not like this is a game with lots of odd, complicated puzzles to try and work through. HOWEVER, I am looking forward to the release of the guide, because I'm hoping it has a similar back section like the one for GT3 did. I'm hoping it will have a list of events and cars with space beside it to take notes. I've started documenting hand written info about Aspec points and what car/configuration I used for certain events, but I'd much rather have something already printed up that I can use to take notes on.

 

[Kolyana]

Well, I for one like Strategy Guides, but for probably reasons a lot of you nay-sayers have not considered.

TO begin with, a few years back games used to ship with good sized manuals and somewhere along the line they stopped doing this. I used to love have a good sized pamphlet that gave me some real information about the game ... detailed instructions, detailed discussion on tracks, or cars, perhaps even inset pieces from real-world examples.

I believe that the JPN version of GT4 ships with a thick manual ... the NTSC version does not. To me, a strategy guide is a substitute for this.

Secondly, a lot of the time you can end up trawlign through the game looking for a car that meets certain requirements .. heck, look how many people get confused trying to find a 'small' cra for the K-cup challenge in the beginner hall (when the Mini -S is too large). Wouldn't it be great to have a list of the cars and their statistics to review at your leisure?

There's no cheating here, it's simply a paper version of the guides that litter this site ... the research that players have put into spreadsheets in printed form.

Personally, and I bet I'm not alone in this, I LOVE printed material ... I'm old fashioned that way ... and I'd always rather own a book than a .pdf or speradsheet. So the second reason to own a strategy guide is to have access to statistics, car lists, track discussions and maps, in one handy place that you can tote around and - if need be - read in bed. I don't want to be at my computer all of the time while looking something up and it would be VERY sueful to have a car list sitting next to me while i'm playing the PS2 (my computer is upstairs and not handily closeby).

Lastly, I've bought a few strategy guides from Prima and I've never know them outright list cheats like you see on CHEAT (G4TechTV); they show maps, talk about strategies, and list copious amounts of stats (and for this game, that would be useful), but if they ever touch upon something that could be a spoiler, it's always clearly marked and - personally - I tend to avoid those sections.

To me, stategy guides often are the manuals we should ahve got with the game and printed versions of what is available through sites such as this.

 

[phattboy]

Who needs a strategy guide when you have GTP?

Or any of the premier GT forums...

I wonder how the guys who do the driving for these "Guides" would stack up, both driving and strategy-wise, against some of GT community's best? (rhetorical qestion)

👍 👍 👍

One would think they need new marketing people at these publishing houses. The really amazing thing is they will likely sell a bunch.

phattboy

 

[phattboy]

Well, I for one like Strategy Guides, ...
To me, stategy guides often are the manuals we should ahve got with the game and printed versions of what is available through sites such as this.

I understand you here and even agree with you on some of what you say but I am a "guy" and it goes against my grain (right, wrong, or indifferent). I don't even like maps or instruction books. Unless, of course, I either wrote or helped to write them. In that case, they are the best thing since sliced bread as far as I'm concerned.

phattboy

 

[Plopper]

Try this link for The Bible, BUT it's only going to be released in Japan as far as I know. And it's been out for a few weeks now.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-7x-77-a-15-Gran+Turismo-70-gsx.html

Don't know about the dates of the other two, but I can assure you of the quality of both, the GT3 Piggyback guide was excellent and the Prima guides I have for other games are ace.

I plan on getting all three of the GT4 guides. Not for cheating, but just for the info, stats and hopefully background of the game.

 

[8400RPM]

I bought the 'Driving the Game' book and am disappointed as well. It looks pretty but there just is no meat to it. Most of the info is already known, and each chapter is very short. It is also full of mistakes! I'm tempted to write a letter. It's probably worth $10 in my opinion. Definitely look through it a little before you buy it.

 

[slowman]

I agree with 8400rpm about the driving the game book...

The Prima guide was supposed to be released today, but I went to EBGames... they said it's been delayed till the 18th now

👎 👎

and a few more of these:

 

[8400RPM]

What's with the delays?!! This better be one excellent guide.

 

[slowman]

I really don't know... but they keep giving me new dates, and I'll go in on that date and find out its been delayed another 2-3 weeks. They've been doing it to me since the beginning of March. Not their fault, but Prima guides need to get their thumbs out their butts and release this beast. I wonder if they realize that the longer they wait, the less they'll sell. People will have already beaten the game. I've already started on another memory card after getting my first game to 100%.

 

[MCX]

why would you waste your money on a damn strategy guide?! Why would you want to follow the awesome game GT4 with a strategy guide? IMO strategy guides are as bad as cheating because you are playing the game with help. Not figuring out how to play the game yourself. half the challenge of the game is based on your own strategy, eg knowing what cars to buy and when. I never read prize car lists because i think they give too much of the game away. and it is no fun knowing what car you will win at the end.
it would be a lot better also if you discovered new things in the game by yourself, rather than have a stupid guide spoiling the wonderful surprises locked up in GT4.
and Wouldnt it be better to tell people "i completed GT4 without any help at all"?? rather than say something "I completed GT4 using a ^$*&#! guide"!!

Exactly how many "cheats" do you expect to find for GT4? This is not an RPG. The guide will not help you "walk-through". The only time people ever get hung up in this game is when they've bought a car that won't compete. There is one solution, race series' you've already won, or other series', and get enough money to buy a car that will win. Are you people retarded? Do you expect the guide to tell you "drive over this spot of grass and cut between the barriers to get $5mil in the beginner's cup"? THERE ARE NO CHEATS FOR THIS GAME UNLESS YOU HAVE A CHEAT DEVICE. The book is merely a guide, one that I probably won't buy, but its not because I think it's "cheating". These replies are probably the most useless I've read on this forum, and that's saying a lot. Good day to you... I said GOOD DAY!

 

[exhorst]

Exactly how many "cheats" do you expect to find for GT4? This is not an RPG. The guide will not help you "walk-through". The only time people ever get hung up in this game is when they've bought a car that won't compete. There is one solution, race series' you've already won, or other series', and get enough money to buy a car that will win. Are you people retarded? Do you expect the guide to tell you "drive over this spot of grass and cut between the barriers to get $5mil in the beginner's cup"? THERE ARE NO CHEATS FOR THIS GAME UNLESS YOU HAVE A CHEAT DEVICE. The book is merely a guide, one that I probably won't buy, but its not because I think it's "cheating". These replies are probably the most useless I've read on this forum, and that's saying a lot. Good day to you... I said GOOD DAY!

did you read what i said? i said IN MY OPINION, it is as bad as cheating. and if you cant handle that, then go have a cry. oh yes and good day to you too 🤬

 

[MGM]

I, for one, think you guys should take this discussion of "are game guides = cheating" elsewhere. The person asked a very good question as to which of the three guides is the best and he should buy, and yet all you can tell him is "don't buy a guide, you're a cheater, in my opinion! that's my saving grace! my opinion!" Seriously, either help the guy out or don't bother posting.

Oh, and I'm also interested in knowing which of the guides is best (The Bible looks amazing from the shots I've seen, but it seems to be all in Japanese so it won't be of much help). I'm leaning towards Prima myself, but with the other guide coming out later, they could have more information or better information than Prima's guide (seeing as how they'll have a month to look through Prima's guide and "expand" on it).

MGM out

 

[LoveMyMiata]

As the original poster of this thread, I must admit that even I am surprised at some of the responses. I'm a little puzzled at how somebody can construe a request for a book that has track maps and car descriptions as "cheating." Is a MS Word manual that documents print options also cheating?

As I mentioned originally, the best strategy guide I've found for GT4 is "Speed Secrets" by Ross Bentley, which is a marvelous book written by a race car driver on how to make speed on a race track. It's written for real cars on real tracks, but since GT4 does a good job of simulating that, most of what's in the book is applicable. But that's just learning how to drive fast. Oops, is that cheating also?

Now if I could only find a "Cheaters-R-us" guide that would fill me in on the undocumented symbols in the B-Spec screens, or perhaps fill in what the GT4 programmers meant by "etc." in the car lists, or let me know what some of the cryptic options in the options screen mean, I guess I'd just have to swallow my pride and cheat.

Oh, and by the way, which of the 3 strategy guides that seem to be being published shortly will do what I'm look for as described in the above paragraph (in case anybody forgot what I'm actually looking for)?

Wow, could I possibly get my tongue further in my cheek?

 

[Plopper]

A good way I've found of previewing guides in the past is actually going to the creator's own site, I know it sounds simple and stupid, but Piggyback for one will let you download 5 or so sample pages to give you an idea on the style and content.

Short of looking at it in a real shop it's the only way I know of getting a look in the guide before buying it?

So keep trying the official sites for updates and preview pages?

 

[CFM]

I for one was really astonished to see how poor the instruction manual that came with GT4 is, especially compared to GT 1, 2, & 3. When I first got home and opened it up, I was really flabbergasted. If one of these guides is a nice thick slab of a book that has lots of things in it like histories of the cars & manufacturers, track details, showing how the game was made, in depth inverviews with KY and other members of PD, as well as a highly detailed instruction manual and strategy guide, it might be worth picking up. But I'm not holding my breath really. It would have to be an item with a really high 'wow' factor to tempt me to buy it.