It's possible that the serious stuff was on hold until things like the FIA deal were ironed out. This is evidence that Kaz has been busy talking to people that will result in things coming out of nowhere for Gran Turismo. Seriously, who would have predicted this last fall?
I would have offered a taste of more league-like racing in the launch game, but then I'm not paid to design games. And I have no idea what that kind of thing would be made redundant by later enhancements to GT6. You don't offer turkey sandwiches before Thanksgiving dinner, after all.
Rather than sniping at each other which seems to be happening as usual, I think we would be better off mulling over how we would like to see this improve Gran Turismo. So with that, I'm going to mull.
I want to see that GT Pro Mode, obviously, as I've been harping on it for years. Maybe now it will be called something like FIA GT, with PC sim-like racing. More cars and tracks will just be the beginning. League racing will be more properly represented, with enough cars in a league class to fill a field, so no more Rally cars next to DTM and ALMS machines. I'd prefer to see some leeway in the car lists, as many of these leagues allow a limited car roster, and there are a large number of cars that are just begging to be race modded, such as the Saleen S7, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. As I mentioned before, I'd also like to see fantasy leagues to allow the inclusion of fine high performance cars like the Cizeta and Spirra in something like an Asia GT league.
Race Mod should return, and allow us to create racing machines that suit a number of leagues, and be league appropriate too. A Honda hatchback while fine for BTCC, shouldn't be allowed to be made into a DTM machine. And as I said above, some wiggle room should be allowed to let us race mod cars similar to those in the league of our choice, properly homologated/performance matched. And a Livery Editor should be comprehensive enough to let us create any livery from history or our imaginations, along with sponsor decals, league number plaques and their decals, including our fantasy league creations.
Realistic damage just won't be possible on PS3, but some kind of visual improvement should be possible, while a more involved mechanical damage implementation might be entirely doable. Better sounds for race cars would be a nice bonus. And everyone's favorite whipping bot, the bot A.I. really does need some attention. Johnny P mentioned Grid Autosport's bot behavior, and if GT's bots were just allowed to run full tilt, not spread the field out for miles, crawl around turns or brake strangely, they would be there.
Rules? Yeah, leagues have them, and this mode should too. A difficulty adjustment might keep things like black flag penalties to a temporary speed drop or some equivalent.
And as to how this plays out, an economy could work in this mode, say to keep your car maintained, which would make prize money integral. But the focus of this pro mode should be on racing through racing series and seasons of various lengths for championships. Points are garnered with each race result, and you have to fight named bots in single player mode for the lead.
Some of this may well have to wait for GT7, but most of it should be possible now on PS3.