GT4 looks THAT good in 1080i?
I honestly would have never thought that was GT4 had you not said so. Then again, maybe that's to do with the contrast and exposure since you're recording it off-screen.
As far as GTS vs GT4, we'll have to see. The only thing that's clear yet is that they're going to be vastly different games, so it may be your type of thing or it may not. We'll have to see.
And to corroborate that, here are a few of FM6's pros and cons compared to GT4:
Pros
- AI can be very challenging at times when they aren't being insane and/or stupid (more on that later)
- Great graphics and sound
- Lively environments
- Quick Stops can add a higher degree of strategy to a race
- UI is pretty informative compared to GT4's. On top of all the basic stuff, it tells you where cars are, if the car ahead is lapped or not, what position the car ahead is in, and even when cars are merging back onto the track after pitting/warns you of approaching traffic as you exit the pits (if there is any)
- Livery editor
- Deep body customization (on some cars, mostly Japanese ones)
- Great physics... mostly (again, more later)
Cons
- AI is borderline psychotic at times, even with Limit Drivatar Aggression turned on. They'll also do dumb crap like merging right into traffic going 40mph and sometimes swerve right into the wall/other cars when I draw alongside
- Track list feels a touch too limited and of inconsistent quality. There are some fantastic ribbons like the Nurb, Bernese Alps, Rio, Prague and Watkins Glen that feel just amazing to drive around, but on the other hand there are also a number of courses that just don't interest me as much. Your mileage may vary though.
- Cars that are fully tuned have nowhere near enough grip compared to what I feel like they should have. Most of the time they just have massive amounts of understeer.
- The career mode... something about it just doesn't catch my fancy. Maybe it's the fact that getting money is ridiculously easy in FM6, to the point that you're better off setting up your own races in Free Play, since the prizes for those scale with overall race distance.
- Replay mode sucks. It's the most bare-bones replay viewer I've seen recently. Sure, you've got the ability to look at telemetry, but the replay UI is missing critical information such as laptime, current lap, race standings, etc. So if you're racing and you see something you want to save and review later, you'd better be willing to watch the whole race again up to that point, because you're gonna need to count the laps until you get to the one the cool thing is on. And that's even if it's in the replay at all - in longer races, the replay cuts off before the race ends.
- You'll have to buy a Microsoft-licensed wheel such as the Thrustmaster T150 if you want the full experience. While driving with a controller does mostly feel great, there are certain scenarios (such as speedway races) where you'll definitely want the added degree of precision afforded by a wheel.
So, all in all, a great game, but it could use a touch of work IMO. You might want to do some more research and maybe try the demo before deciding whether or not FM6 is for you.