Driving Force GT Giveaway!

  • Thread starter Thread starter KaiLee
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Thx for the opportunity kai... if u need any car for a specific race, just ask... i can lend...

I am almost done with the game. But thanks. Well I mean as far as unlocking things. Will never be done with this game.

Kai....
 
I know its too late and probably already suggested but this should have been a competition of people using a Pad so one of us could finally have a wheel to play with without having to fork over a few hundred for one.
 
I know its too late and probably already suggested but this should have been a competition of people using a Pad so one of us could finally have a wheel to play with without having to fork over a few hundred for one.

I was thinking the same thing, but there is no way to check to see if someone is being honest. I hope people won't be greedy but you never can tell. :indiff:

Kai....
 
Thats very generous of you to give away DFGT wheels! I already have one myself and for those who ask: Yes, the wheel makes a huge difference in the gameplay, because you are able to react with precise inputs.

If you are limited to only using a DS3 you are only really experiencing half of the game. Good luck everybody!
 
Thats very generous of you to give away DFGT wheels! I already have one myself and for those who ask: Yes, the wheel makes a huge difference in the gameplay, because you are able to react with precise inputs.

If you are limited to only using a DS3 you are only really experiencing half of the game. Good luck everybody!

comments like this make me want a wheel even more i gotta make some money and gett a better job grrrr
 
Just bought this wheel and it is awesome! I would ask for one, but I just bought it so good luck to all those who enter in for this. You can't play GT5 without this wheel...it is a necessity IMO.
 
Okayy Kai

So heres my go at a review of the game.... :D

After 6 long gruesome years of waiting and waiting after GT4, an epiphany has finally came to us Gran Turismo fans. AKA the release of Gran Turismo 5. This "real driving simulator" definitely deserves its title to be known as that. The physics of this racing simulator is so amazing that as you take a turn in the cockpit view on the track, your instantly brought back to when your in your car taking that exact same turn in real life in your car, and your instantly able to feel the car under/oversteering as if you were to in real life. You get a sense of feel for the G forces the car and road is throwing at you as you take a corner, accelerate and brake. As you take an apex sideways spinning the rear tires and look back at all that tire smoke, you get a sense of smell of burning rubber in your mind. The roar of the engine and the tone of the exhaust sends chills through your whole body, making you question yourself if your dreaming or in reality, when in fact you are in reality. This game makes your body use all 5 senses while driving, well except for taste but thats okay because no one wants to taste burning rubber or motor oil right?

But of course like every game out there, there are some flaws. For example the horrible 8 bit looking smoke that leaves jagged edges around your car. Or the 800+/- standard car models that lacks interior view, precise detail all around, and the availability to customize its exterior. But, with the 200+ premium cars that are offered to you, you get amazing graphics with them, infact SO precise to detail that you probably cannot tell the difference if you were to take a picture in photomode versus real life.

If your interested in making your car look super cool with all the flashy body kits and rims and don't care about how realistic the driving physics are, Gran Turismo may not be for you, and you maybe a Need For Speed guy. But if the driving physics matter to you the most with a little exterior customization Gran Turismo 5 is definitely for you as it actually teaches you how to drive, not rice out your vehicle and look cool.
 
I think it's great what you're doing.
I'm new to this forum but already it appears there are some great people on here.2 days ago a total stranger offered to loan me their truck to do the races(i never ended up taking him up on the offer as 1 came up in used car showroom whilst he was waiting to be able to send it to me due to the 1 a day thing)

Like many here i started on GT1 which was awsome and so ahead of its time.Then GT2 came out and raised the bar even higher,used to play it all the time( had to love the Escudo )got to within 4-5 races from completion and somehow wiped my memory card,never played it again after that.Never played GT3&4.
Got my PS3 and was all excited by GTP until that is i played it.I was so dissapointed it just didn't have that GT feel IMO.

Now GT5 ,i pre ordered about a month before release.Been really looking forward to it.
Got real excited when it turned up a day early but unfortunately had to go to work so only had 3 goes on arcade which really isn't my thing,and certainly wouldnt form any opinion of the game from arcade.I'm glad there was a delay in getting my Stealth Car codes especially as 1 is the Mazda 787.
Got in from work 7am next morning and fired the PS3 up,wasn't expecting the hour load up .
Load complete and player set up brought my first car Mazda Demio Sport 03 and added soft sport tyres.Won my first few races and brought a new Cappucino(god that car is awsome when modded,it punches well above its weight).
Now this is the game i remember from all those years ago.
The satisfaction i got when i got Gold on TGTT (Samba),and Bronzed Elise was incredible.
Then i did the AMG challenge that was a real WTF moment .Seriously that track alone is worth the price of the game.
I'm lucky in that i'm not a great player so getting Golds on licences and challenges are genuinly challenging for me(i've got a couple),but bronzes are pretty much easy enough on most for complete noobs to achieve.
I do wish all cars were premiums even if it meant alot less cars.At least make at least 1 premium car for every race.I love that cockpit view so much i only want premiums now.It adds so much to the whole experience.
Haven't had a go online yet trying to get my ability up a bit before i venture down that road.
For me GT has come along way without losing what sets it apart from its rivals.The driving physics are like nothing i've ever played.
I keep hearing about PS2 graphics ,i don't know what PS2 these peeps had cos it sure wasn't the same as mine.GT graphics have always pushed the PS to its limit.But i just cant see anything that looks remotely like PS2 graphics on GT5.My only complaint graphic wise would be the jaggy shadows ,and even those i only notice occasionaly.
My opinion is that GT5 rocks and i wouldn't hesitate recomending it.
Well done if you manged to actually read all that.
 
Well, I suppose I'll give it a shot, I can't afford a wheel in Australia (DFGT's are like $200, starting price).

Here it is, in its full quoted glory!

So I walked up to the store on Thursday morning, half-an-hour before opening time, to already see about half a dozen people waiting at the door. One guy shouts "another GT man" and I replied "yep, indeed, excited?", after some smalltalk and our reciprocation of our mutual love (read: hatred) for PDs delays, the door opens, we all rush in. One of the other guys picked up a Signature Edition and the rest of us stood in awe, "wow, that's the Signature Edition? That's huge", "what a waste of money!" and "I should have got that one!" were amongst the not-so-quiet whispers.

After everyone collected their games, they promptly ran out of the store and - I'd assume - drove illegally fast home. I was last in line, had a small chat to the guy at the desk, then went home as fast as Einstein's Theory of Relativity would allow.

I turn my PS3 on, slot the game in, shaking in anticipation, bouncing off the walls... Even though I knew there was a long installation ahead. I clicked the disk icon on the XMB Menu and bopped up and down in my chair, waiting. "This icon means accessin--", OK. "Please read the ter--", ACCEPT. "Would you like to full install, or incremental install?", ok, here we go ... *sigh* ... full.

*40 minutes pass*

As the intro sequence starts playing, I'm a little curious. "This isn't Gran Turismo, what is this?", but I said to myself I'd watch the intro, so I sat there. "Ohhhh, I get it, it's the car manufacturing process... Wait a minute... IS THAT A PRIUS BEING MADE?". I immediately contemplated igniting my PS3 - and myself - into flames, so to avoid seeing more of that Prius, but in the interest of actually playing the game, I decided against it.

As the real intro started playing, a tear came to my eye. It was beautiful. 5 years of delays, CGI, doubts, skepticism and vapourware were thrown out the window, in favour of "oooooh, preeeeetttttttyyyyyyy".

Once the intro finished - and I had changed my pants - I jumped straight into GT Life. Skimming over the settings and heading straight for the license tests to pick me up a car! Oh... What's this? I can't? DAMMIT. So I went to the Used Car Lot to buy myself an old "o'Crap", by "Piece". Ended up being an old Toyota Trueno. "If I've got a car then, might as well race!", straight to the Sunday Cup I went.

After a very long, very slow... win. I was satisfied, this was great. Level 1! Go Karting? YES PLEASE! I jumped straight into the Karting Challenge and obliterated it, Level 2! NASCAR? INDEED, OL' BEAN! and with that I promptly obliterated NASCAR (and Jeff Gordon's little head). Level 3! TOPGEAR? OHMIGODIWANNARACETAWPGEAH!

...That's when the problems starting happening. I mean, apart from having the most agonizing race in the world, coming straight from hell (and perhaps Jeremy Clarkson's Living Room)... The AI was horrible. I mean, to be expected from Gran Turismo, but I mean, mindless. After having just stopped playing NFS Hot Pursuit, this was a joke. I figure the Hippie Vans were the cause and the AI was too stoned to cooperate, so I ignored it and - in Jeremy's words - POWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAA'd forward.

Finishing all those challenges gave me a hefty lump of cash, so after a long time spent in the Dealerships looking at the most beautiful machinery known to man (and ps3 alike), I decided upon a Mazda RX-7 cause of it's great value for money.

Straight to the FR Challenge for me then, no stopping at baby-races in the middle. After winning and laughing at how much I won, I was a little disappointed that there was no cake (the cake is a lie)... Toyota FT-86 Concept? Niiiiiice! But my Mazda is better, ignore, leave it in the semi. RACE, RACE, RACE!

*40 hours pass*

Well... That was a lot of time invested. I'm currently A-Spec Level 23 and B-Spec Level 16. That's when the second major issue popped up. The EXP system is broken, it just isn't right to force players to grind the same events over and over. If there were more variety in events that reward equal EXP, fine, but there isn't. I can only do 5 laps of Indianapolis so many times before I get bored of turning left, at one point I decided to turn right 3 times instead, just for some variety.

So I'll get into the more "specific" part of the review:

Graphics: The graphics are awesome, no denying it. Of course, a majority of the standard models are copy/paste from PS2, without having even been fixed up, but when you're driving you hardly notice... Some of the tracks are also horrible, such as Trial Mountain, but, some are STUNNING, like Toscana and Nurburgring.

Sound: The sound is rather lacking. I'm not going to complain about the music as I rather like the menu music; and I always turn Race Music off. However, some of the cars sound AWESOME (NASCAR, '87 Motul Civic, Viper), but a lot of them sound horrible, especially ones that should sound awesome, the Pagani Zonda R in particular, that car is so beautiful, yet sounds like an old Dustbuster.

Presentation: I don't know why people are complaining about menus. I don't exactly find them "intuitive", but they're fine; and look very stylish. I will however say that transitioning between one section and another could be tweaked a bit.

Gameplay: The AI is horrible, sorry, but it just is. However, it is only really noticeably bad in the Special Events, where you can fail if THEY hit YOU, which is often. Most of the time, you'll be too far in front to care and that's when the game shines, the pure feeling of driving is amazing in Gran Turismo; and I don't even have a wheel, though I've been begging Santa for one (don't think he'll come through). But you can just feel the cars clinging to the road, slowly starting to lose it, only to full throttle and counter-steer to whip them back into line, this is racing! I am a little disappointed that there is no live timing with sector times in A-Spec though.

Online: Sorry, but I don't see much incentive in going online, seeing as I'm in Australia it usually means horrible lagg anyway. BUT, I never count online content in a game review - as do many other reviewers - because it varies too much and detracts from the intended experience.

Overall: Gran Turismo is a truly stunning game 90% of the time, if you're noticing that other 10%, then you're losing the race. But, that 10% really does bring it down. It pains me to say it, but I think we've been let down, SO FAR. There is nothing that cannot be fixed with a good patch, so I'm hoping PD comes through on their promises and delivers a "fixed" game. Nevertheless, all the faults in the world aren't going to stop me playing Gran Turismo 5 for another 5 days straight!!!

...There, a few hours of writing later :(
 
My review for the game, in the form of a three verse Haiku.

Gran Turismo has
Many cars from all the world.
Tune them and race them

Tracks are varied and
Races are intense to drive.
Can skip licenses!

The graphics are great
The sound has improved hugely
In short: a great buy!

Contest's over boys. See you in February. :P
 
Level 29... God, how do you do it? I just hit 25, started an Endurance race and am already extremely bored. GT5 now officially feels like WoW to me, except less exciting. :(

1 Level until X1 for you!!! :drool:

I finally figured out Kai's secret on how she passed me in leveling so quickly. Hopefully, I will have time this week to hit 30. I hope that you will be competing in the GT Academy with the rest of us although we don't have a lot of west coasters registering yet.
 
Maybe she is Ibuki From streetfighter or Mai from king or fighters ( no disrespect Kai just having fun) for people that dont know those are ninja females on streetfighter and King of fighters

I am a personal trainer for women. This is a plyometric routine I came up with a couple years ago!

Kai....
 
I am a personal trainer for women. This is a plyometric routine I came up with a couple years ago!

Kai....

Im impressed I guess its you I will ask for workout tips lolol
 
Been Chillin on the CPu listening to some Toby Keith and Lee Brice and George straight In a country mood today( I listen to everything Lol) trolling the GT forums lol
 
So it is GT Academy training!

Really like the reviews submitted for the giveaway contest 👍
 
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I seem to recall that this thread is about a Driving Force GT giveaway. Any and all posts not about said topic will be deleted. Continuation of the constant off topic talk will result in the thread being locked and warnings/infractions.
 
Okay guys its going to be impossible to give the wheel away if we get the thread locked. Please listen to the admin.

Kai....
 
I think you will need to take me out of the contest if I was considered. I dont want to win it if I already have one. I was trying to get one before Christmas for the GT academy Contest and the Feb. will be to late. I will sell and organ if I must, to accomplish this.
Thanks anyways.
GyverX
 
Sixty-four. Sixty-four posts deleted from a thread with (now) 140 posts because of off topic banter. Almost 1/3 of the thread. As I said before, continue this and infractions will follow.

You may now continue.
 
Well, since I'm pretty new to GT overall, I wasn't going to toss my hat into this contest, but everyone's been pretty cool so far, so I thought, why not? So here goes:

What to say about a game like Gran Turismo 5? For those of us who have been glued to our computer screens reading every preview and review, I'm sure I can speak for most of us when I say that every hyperbole in the book has been used to describe this game. I've heard everything from "This game will change your life!" to "This is crap; nothing more than a shiny GT4..." When you take into account the amount of time that has gone into this game and the inevitable amount of hype due to the delays, you almost have to admit to yourself that there is NO WAY this game will ever live up to expectations. Well, in my humble opinion, it certainly does. It does by a long shot.

The last GT game I played was GT2. While it was fun and I had a great time with it, I was never as devoted to racing games as many other people I knew. Between GT2 and GT5, the only other racing games I played with any degree of devotion were Need For Speed: Carbon and Forza Motorsport 3. I actually have to thank Forza 3 for getting me really into the sim racing genre. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy blasting down the freeway with nearly unlimited nitro ala Burnout 3 as much as the next guy, but something about driving a car with real world physics just attracted me.

Fast forward a few years and the annoucement for GT5's release date is revealed at E3. Getting the racing bug again, I pull out GT2 and remember how much I enjoyed that game. I decide to plop down a reservation for GT5, and began waiting. For the next few months, I kept an eye on all the previews, videos, articles, etc. on GT5, and the sense of excitement started to grow inside of me. I couldn't believe I was getting this excited over a racing game!

On Nov. 24th I finally got my own copy and popped it into my PS3...the same PS3 that I bought almost exclusively for GT5 (and Uncharted). After the hour install, (which wasn't that bad; I ended up having a quick workout) I sat down as the intro started up. This is when I knew I was in for a treat.

For the first 3-4 minutes of the intro, I sat tranfixed as I watch the process of a car being manufactured. At that point, the intro felt like something that was actually created by people who LOVED cars. I got a sense of the love and care that went into this game. I would have been satisfied if that was the whole intro, but imagine my excitement when the "real" intro started up. When the bass started pounding and the images of these GORGEOUS cars filled my 55" LCD, I was blown away. Now THIS was an intro (by the way, I can't stand My Chemical Romance, but for the sake of this intro, I felt that their song fit very well)!!

As far as the game itself goes, there isn't enough praise that I can heap onto it. Having not played GT3 or GT4, I think I am a lot more unbiased. I have no "this is the same thing!" thoughts when playing the game.

A lot of people ask me what I think about the game. I found it hard to describe, but I think I came up with an apt description. I tell them that if they are looking for a fun, racing VIDEO GAME, then they should pick Forza 3 or Need for Speed: Shift (from what I've heard). However, if you want the best driving SIMULATION in the world, then you need to grab GT5. I haven't driven 99.9% of the cars in the game, but I can say with confidence that this is how they would feel and perform in real life.

The graphics are astounding. I'm entering the final year of college as a video game design student, so I thought I knew a thing or two about designing and modeling for video games. But seeing this game in action shows me just how much more I have to learn. I am in awe at the amount of detail that went into the premium cars; it wouldn't surprise me if they spent the whole 5-6 years just designing these cars. As for the standard cars; no, they aren;t as breathtaking as the premium offerings, but they're nothing to sneeze at either. I still think they look nicer than most other racing games out there. Personally, I would have been happy with just the 200 premium cars, but for PD to throw in an additional 800+ standard cars was pretty cool. I like to collect things, so even though I'll probably never drive most of these cars, I'll aim to collect them all anyway. This game is a hoarders dream come true.

The one thing I'm disappointed in, and the reason why I'm in this contest, is the controls. It's very clear to me that this game was not made for a controller in mind. That's too bad because Forza 3 drives quite nicely with a control pad. Everyone I have spoken to has urged me to invest in a racing wheel. After playing until level 18 (A-spec), I'm starting to understand why. As the cars get more powerful, I'm noticing that my driving is is getting worse. I'm no longer able to control the cars as well as before; in fact, I now shudder when I see a sharp turn approaching as I know I will probably not be able to make that turn with a controller...at least not at a high speed.

Another thing that leaves a lot to be desired is the menu system. Yes, it IS a pain to navigate, but it isn't something that should confuse anyone who grew in this digital age. I have cell phones that are more difficult to navigate. With that being said, the menu has a lot of room for improvement. For starters, a a lot of stuff is buried in menu, after submenu, after submenu. It needs to be more streamlined, you know, for those of us who are use to having everything laid out in front of them (and yes, I am referring to myself as well).

I'm more than pleased with the track selection as well. I think there's a pretty good variety here, and even if you get bored with all of them, you can make your own (kind of!). NASCAR is ok; I'm not the biggest fan of the sport (even though I am related to Jimmy Johnson through marriage!) but I do sometime enjoy tearing around Daytona for a while.

And then there's kart racing. I'm not going to spend too much time talking about this little piece of awesomeness. I will say this though: when my wife, who doesn't play video games, cannot put down the controller for hours and doesn't allow me to take a turn, then I know that this game has achieved something special.

Overall, I give this game a 9.5/10. There are some graphical hiccups here and there (shadows, anyone?) and sometimes the B-Spec races can start to get a little redundant, but 95% of the game is pure racing bliss. Happy racing everyone!

EDIT: After the patch last night, I jumped online to try out the new mechanical damage. I was a little upset that the damage was not applied to ofline modes, but I'll take what I can get. Kaz and the gang don't have to continue working on the game if they don't want to; people will still buy this game and eat it up (see Madden franchise), so I'm grateful for any update/patch I can get my hands on. Anyway, I boot up Circuit de la Sarthe, set mechanical damage to High, start tearing down that first Mulsane Straight, get to about 190 mph, and go slamming head on in the chicane at the first turn. Now here's where I'm half and half on this new damage system. In Forza, a slight tap would scratch up your car. A harder collision would cause dents and deformation. A REALLY hard collision and pieces would start flying off your car. And of course, your car would get harder to drive through this all. With the new GT5 damage system, my Corvette should have been flattened. Now I understand that this is a game so obviously my car still needed to be drivable after this collision, but all that occured was some slight deformation around the headlights. But, like I said before, I'll take whatever improvements I can get. The actual mechanical damage effects, however, are AWESOME. You can FEEL it as your driving. You know your car is JACKED up by the way it's now handling.

PS - Kai...SUPER generous thing you're doing for us...big thanks!
 
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Here's my mini-review:

Gran Turismo 5 ... you either are or you're not. Like it ... or love it ... or leave it. P.S. if you choose to leave it, bye and watch the door and take your wine with you.

I'm loving every minute I get to spend on the game. Sure there are things that "could've been" but what the hey ... whatever I've been given is still enough to keep me busy.

Although I don't hold Kaz (or Sony or PD) to his word much anymore, it's still "slightly" re-assuring to hear him indicate there's going to be continual work on the game. I'm sure if this reassurance comes to fruition, it'll appease quite a few people, considering most of the brands of wine (read: Whine) I've been reading about are pretty similar in their basis.

Other than that, folks, don't let the haters keep you from your appointment with a great experience on your PS3. In my opinion, it's the greatest date you can have with your PS3, a car game, and an open heart. You'll get to fulfill a lot of your heart's motor-sporting fetishes by realizing some great rides in some great environs.

So, um, yeah... Buy it.
 
Well it's finally upon us. After many delays, and 6 long years, we are finally graced with Kaz Yamauchi's masterpiece, Gran Turismo 5. Did it live up to the hype that has been surrounding the game for years? Check out my review to hear my thoughts, and opinions on the matter.

The game starts out with a very lengthy (yet optional) install that can take upwards of 50 minutes. The install itself appears to of frozen on me many times, but it does actually continue, you just have to be patient. Once the install was done I dove right into the game play (GT Mode) to attempt to see how the physics were, and I wasn't disappointed.

The game emulates most cars exactly how they would run in real life. How they handle, turn, max speed, and the all around feel is exactly like the real life counterparts (at least in the cars I have actually driven). The sounds of some cars leave a little to be desired, but it does not take away from the sheer magnitude of what Kaz and his team have accomplished with the physics.

The graphics on the other hand can vary wildly from absolute photo realism, to almost PS2 era graphics. This in itself doesn't take away from the fun of the game, but it is an eye sore. The premium cars, for example, look absolutely gorgeous, and you will mistake them for real at times, but turn a corner and some of the ugliest shadows you have ever seen will come out to show their ugly faces.

Another bad graphical issue that seems to plague the game is dust or snow. When you kick some up by accidentally going off the track it will envelop your car in a sheet of pure ugly. Again though, this does not take away from the fun factor of the game itself. Even at its worst, GT still looks comparable to most of its competition. At it's best though, nothing even comes close.

For the first few minutes I also found myself a little lost in the menus. After getting used to it though, I really started to appreciate its slick style, and how it was actually a breeze to navigate.

The game ships with 800+ Standard cars, and 200+ Premium. It also boasts 71 tracks in over 20 locations. The game is jam packed with hundreds of hours worth of game play. If you're a racing game fan, you will not be bored with GT5.

The premium cars are all beautifully rendered masterpieces. With full "cockpit" views that (from what I can tell from experience with certain cars) emulate their real life counterparts. The standard cars however are upscaled, HD versions of GT4 cars, and do not have the interior "cockpit" view. They also do not look as polished as they are just HD upscaled versions of PS2 era cars (think God of War collection, only better), but run the same none the less.

As you level up and finish your licence tests, harder and higher level races will unlock. These are playable in both A-spec (a series of races that you race) and B-Spec (a series of races done by AI teammates which I will explain in a moment). As you get higher and higher, endurance races also unlock. If you were a fan of these races in the past, they are in the game at level 25.

B-Spec is not a completely new idea, it adds on to what was already started in GT4, and builds on it. This time around you take an AI driver, and enter him into races. While racing you're able to radio him commands such as "pace down", "maintain pace", "pace up", "overtake" and later "pit stop". Although I do find sometimes these commands do help, it really just seems to come down to if your driver has the fastest car.

There have been many times (like now while I write this review) that I have left my AI driver on his own in my Ford GT Spec ll Test Car, and he will win 95% of the time without me having to do a thing. Which for me is a good thing. It allows me to do things around the house, or run errands, and still be accomplishing something in the game. It may not be for everyone though.

Getting down to it, Gran Turismo 5 is a great game, but not without its flaws. It does have strange graphical glitches, and is not without its issues. If you're a racing game fan though you will love the game, and like myself probably won't be able to put it down. The amazing racing physics and depth of the game far outweigh the issues with graphics that do not effect game play in the slightest.

8/10

At the time I wrote this review I was level 22 in A-Spec, and 26 in B-Spec, I have raced over 5000km, and have a stable of 113 cars.

P.S. Your awesome for doing this Kai.
 
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TB
Sixty-four. Sixty-four posts deleted from a thread with (now) 140 posts because of off topic banter. Almost 1/3 of the thread. As I said before, continue this and infractions will follow.

You may now continue.


Mod,
Noted and will make it a point to keep chit chat to a crawl....that said G'luck everyone, what...8 more slots open?!?
 
Nu Gundam's Review:

Preamble:
The award winning GT franchise has pleased car lovers worldwide for many years. First released in 1997, it took 5 years to develop on the PSX. Racing simulation was not new at the time, but it raised the bar to impossible heights. Grand Turismo 3 for the PS2 particularly defined the standard of driving simulation. GT4 took the experience to a whole new level and strained against the limits of the PS2. Today, thirteen years later from the very beginning, Gran Turismo 5 is the next logical step in driving simulation.

Graphics: 11/10
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Obviously, this is not nearly enough for Polyphony Digital. Every nut and bolt is carefully rendered. Each light source is in perfect harmony with shadow. Well, not always.

Indeed, it is a reoccurring problem that at times, shadows become fuzzy and flickers unrealistically during motion. However, while stationary or during photo shoots, everything falls into place. Everything. Typically, it's not the driver who notices these faults but the audience. In the end, one will be looking out from the cockpit and won't be bothered at all by it (unless you have an OCD for it).

Make no mistake, this game is a head turner, the only other game being that other perfectionist developer famous for "Tactical Espionage Action". Both of these titles output in 1080p, and make no compromises at all when it comes to overworking (and probably starving) their artists. For their effort to exceed perfection, this game gets a 11 on graphics. Other game companies may be satisfied with next-gen graphics, but Polyphony Digital did that ten years ago.

Gameplay: 10/10
A sunny day. Wind blows through the air... from your car. Or more accurately, your car pushes through the air to create air resistance (drag), which fills the emptied space. What happens next? Obviously, the uncut grass needs to sway! Seriously. There are occasional "tall grass" throughout courses that actually sway accordingly when cars do a drive by. At this point, I'm convinced PD is obsessive compulsive about making everything obey the laws of physics.

When you apply that level of physics OCD to cars, the result is disastrously awesome; it should be a crime to do it, because now no one will buy that Civic over a <insert equally priced FR car>. (I kid, Civics are awesome too... Not.) My hatred for Civics aside, each engine/transmission layout (FF/FR/MR/AWD) feels real. It behaves real. It IS real. You can feel everything, all the nuances of each make, and it is good!

All the real life techniques apply here as well as the dirty non-realistic rail bumping runs. You know what I'm talking about. There's always THAT guy who doesn't play nice, can't drive, and likes to kiss the guard rail enough to make you wonder about his real life driving habits. As any outstanding game should, GT5 remedies this by introducing different levels of penalties to curb such behaviour. As with any kind of restriction, it teaches (forces) you to be better to overcome the handicap.

And yeah, blah blah blah, the driving is great, blah blah blah. 10/10.

Content: 8/10
Make no mistake. Content is different from gameplay. It is here where GT5 suffers some blows because it simply did not meet our expectations... Then again, our expectations are widely varied. Some of us prefer 90 hour epic single player campaigns, and yet others just want to drive around with their friends. This is due to how we weigh our values of achievement, immersion, and the social aspect differently, and cannot be solved easily... Except Polyphony Digital did.

B-SPEC mode. Instantly, we are reminded of B-SPEC Bob, the friendly and likable driver who lacks the courage to go for the win, no matter the cost. PIT maneuver? Too mean. Passing? Well what if the other guy didn't check his blind spot? Overpowered car? Hello sand! The idea of having A-SPEC and B-SPEC is genius. The implementation, not so much.

B-SPEC feels like an unfinished product... because it IS an unfinished product. There was so much potential by giving the player more control over their driver, but alas, it was not meant to be. With the limited commands, the player can only pray to Batman's overpowered utility belt that B-SPEC Bob eventually levels enough to start winning races by himself. At a certain point, he does, and it is good. But the experience itself still needs an overhaul. I can only suspect the number of laps were increased not because Polyphony wanted to, but because it was necessary for the current implementation (aka AFK-SPEC).

The online is simply amazing for one thing, and one thing only. The room. This was the major draw for me. Inside the room, I can use the garage, tuning, and drive around FREELY. I can switch courses, set rules, and drive around FREELY. This "track day" implementation is great! Friends can drop in and enjoy themselves. Truly, it displays the spirit of Gran Turismo in that it even caters to this niche group of people. Imagine this... You're chilling at your favourite car park (parking lot) and three of your friends drop in. You get into your car and start driving around. They start driving around. Then you decide to have a race on the nearest freeway. Naturally, you end up racing on SPECIAL STAGE ROUTE 7!!!

GT5 earns an 8/10 here. Genius idea, not enough follow-through... and it could use some more fan-service tracks.

Sound: 9/10
There isn't any catchy music, but there sure are a lot of them. You'll never know what is playing in the background, only that it is just setting the mood for whatever screen you're on. Thankfully, GT5 supports your own customized playlists in case you like your car radio on. Still, this is all just user preference since some people find their car muffler to be the best music ever.

As for the actual sound effects, it soundly lands a 9/10. Each car has their own flavour and it is all good, but sometimes it just needs to be unrealistic. I'm referring to the stock sounds of tires on the road. The friction and skidding isn't as exciting as it could be, but for realism, it works fine. Most would give GT5 a 10/10 here, but I expected Polyphony to do more than that and add more types of uneven ground textures with their respective sounds. Perhaps I just find it difficult to hand out 10s. Actually, maybe that's the reason. So I guess when you see a 10, it means that my unborn children and I are all thoroughly impressed.

Value: 11/10
What is value?

Value - The quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable;

GT5 is desirable. It is valuable. It is the best driving simulation franchise on our planet. For $59.99 (Canadian), you get a 3D enabled game that can import your real life replays on famous racing circuits and lets you drive as many cars as you want, all of which you can't possibly afford in your lifetime, and gives you the opportunity to experience the same level of skill of a professional racer.

Oh, and it now has item-less Mario Kart.

Final Score: 10/10 (Mathematically 9.8)
 
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Nice reveiws Nugundam, Nyktharas, and suckerv !

Back on topic Kai are we allowed to do more than one reveiw or update the one we already have up ?
 
Nice reveiws Nugundam, Nyktharas, and suckerv !

Back on topic Kai are we allowed to do more than one reveiw or update the one we already have up ?

yes to update. No to more than one.

Gran Turismo 5, in many ways, is a flawed game. For some, it will be a major disappointment considering the 6 year wait (since GT5-P was considered to be a "demo" of sorts). A typical review would then go on to talk about the flawed AI or the weak spots in terms of graphics, but truth be told, none of that really matters to me because despite the conclusion I started this review off with, I LOVE THIS GAME.

I'm no computer programmer or hardcore gamer (I own a grand total of 7 games on PS3) but I love cars. I love cars so much that starting when I was 3 or 4, I started calling out names of cars, even before I could speak English well. When I was a teenager, I would skip school, work, tennis practice etc. and spend hours learning about cars which I will never own or even drive. Drag strips, autocrosses, car meets, dyno days and admittedly a few impromptu street races were all part of my life in those days ...along with GT1 of course. :)

... and because of that love of cars, I don't want a game which sacrifices realism for "easy" or "fun to play" or "exciting" or any other description which may be seen in a positive light by many hardcore gamers. No, I want realism. I want to be slower if I miss the correct line or brake too late. I want to experience oversteer if I apply too much throttle in a high horsepower, rear wheel drive car and understeer if I try to go through a turn at full throttle in a front wheel drive car. If I lift throttle in a high speed turn, I want to lose control. I want the game to require and deliver precise steering and throttle inputs, which result in noticeable changes on the screen. To sum it up, GT5's physics and driving dynamics are done just the way I would have done it myself (if I had the capability to, of course).

Its also the little things. The painstaking detail of the Premium cars, beauty of some of the tracks, how the engine note changes depending on the view, etc. Again, just how I would have done it too.

Did GT5 get all the details right? No, but then again, was it realistic to expect that a video game would be perfectly real? Not really. So for me at least, it all boils down to this. What makes GT5 (and the Gran Turismo series in general) special is not some delusional claim of perfection but rather the passion and the obsession over all things automotive. GT5 is a celebration of the automobile from a group of people who clearly love them as much as I do.

GoDawgs2011 you are the 3rd to be selected for the ceremony. Good luck! I will be sending you the gift car info via this thread. Good luck!

Kai....

My review for the game, in the form of a three verse Haiku.

Gran Turismo has
Many cars from all the world.
Tune them and race them

Tracks are varied and
Races are intense to drive.
Can skip licenses!

The graphics are great
The sound has improved hugely
In short: a great buy!

Contest's over boys. See you in February. :P

Crimson you are the 4th to be selected to the ceremony. I will send your gift car info via this thread! Good luck!

Kai....
 
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Gran Turismo 5, an amazing game that shows what true passion and effort can do. We knew this game wasn't going to have every little thing that people begged for. Some don't realize how important solid gameplay in which the GT series has always had. This is what makes GT5 practically perfect in most peoples eyes. A game built for the car enthusiast. To feel that experience as close as possible. Every bump and mistake through misjudgement of your throttle and steering control, you can see and tell and learn from that. The physics are incredibly sophisticated compared to any other racing game. You have to use real-life racing techniques to excel and you can even use this game to practice, gain knowledge, and use what you've learned on a real track.
The developers have exceeded in detail. The environments are incredible that are deeply detailed and full of color for every track. How realistic cars look in this game would be beyond anyones expectations for a video game. There's even over 1000 automobiles to fit the taste of anyone. Everyone will have a smile on their face driving the car that would always dream of doing.
GT5 isn't perfect and no game could ever be but thankfully Kazunori is following through his promises and backing up the game with updates to keep our experiences alive. The game has been created and released for people who absolutely love cars and who crave for the Real Driving Simulator. This series will only get better.

I have a steering wheel myself but I'd like get my dad one as he is a bigger car enthusiast than myself or my brother who got us into the Gran Turismo series since it was released.
 
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