I think it's not so much a case of being spoiled although it largely depends on that person in question.
What I mean to say is I guess, well for one I've got it in my head for an obvious, although GT's aim is to be a sim, which is the same for any other sim game, I think something has to be remembered even though we all know it, but do we really know it?
That it's a game. And even with GT4's flaws, hell, I feel it's come a very LONG way. I got to play a GT1 demo (because my GT1 disk will not work), and felt a bit of good memories come back from way back when. I think if it wasn't for this game I would have not figured out what Turbo lag was in the way I did find out when I put a stage 4 turbo on a Lan evo. Or least an idea of it.
Yes the game overall dosen't look so great compared to GT4, but I'm sure you all already know, it's for one on the PSone, and GT1 came out what?... 1997-98? That's nearly 10 years ago if I'm not mistaken. This is just me, but I look at it as a way of how far GT has come even with what flaws GT4 has.
I got into GT2 initially but a PS2 dieing and playing a lot of PC and Dreamcast games, I never truely got to connect with GT2
.
GT3 I did and only becuase of the gap between GT3 and GT4, giving me some time to get acquainted with the game, and was pretty good.
When I play GT4, it's a mixed bag and besides the flaws, having to hear someone complain about GT4's flaws compaired to GTR, LFS and various other games for the opening time playing it (*COUGH*), beyond that, GT4 is pretty fun if you just enjoy it for what it is, like how I do with LFS and GTR, and also Richard Burns rally as well.
I feel that if GT4 might have spoiled me for anything, it's the difference between GT3 and GT4. Some feel that we have reached our peak in terms of GT with GT2 due to the massve car selection and in a sense how GT2 was an upgrade to GT1 and did a lot of things right. GT3 being in a sense a downgrade due to what we didn't get comapired to GT2. Although one has to take into consideration the fact PD was moving on to then a new system. Then the gap between GT3 and GT4.
Yes like many, I felt surprised at the high amounts of understeer and grip you felt with the cars, but after a while I obviously got used to it, if I had to summarize the thing in as few words, it would probably be something like this.
When compared to GT4, GT3's steering response for one is in a sense, slow to the point you almost feel insulted. GT4 is almost the direct opposite and it's too responsive, from playing GT3 with a DS2, you could afford to push the left analog stick right to either the far left or right at times and not worry nearly as much with snapback as you do in GT4, it outright screwed around with how I played GT overall and to an extent I had been fustrated.
But then I also realized this, if GT4 were to play exaclty like GT3, I can't help but figure there would be theads that would have people expressing their dissapointment that PD didn't do any changes even with what flaws GT3' s physics do have. Plus on another end, some (such as Gabkicks) consder driving the cars in GT4 for the most part too easy compaired to games like Live for Speed, in the end you really just have to get used to it. Like getting used to a new version of Soul Calibur or Tekken (I still can't get what people were fussing about entirely about Tekken 4 and SC2...). It only felt on one end more fustrating with GT4 becuase it had to be done with a controller and not a DFP, and I'm more used to the wheel.
But I got used to it, yes again, GT4 is flawed, hell what game isn't flawed by some means... and this is just my opinion on some games, Like them so don't think I'm trying to sound like a hater on any of them. If LFS had any flaws, if one could call them flaws, it would be the lack of lisenced cars (although on another end that can be a plus since it's interesting to see a game where 'fake' cars are used in a realstic sense, almost the exact oppsoite of Need for Speed excluding 1 and maybe even Porsche unleashed), the fact for some cars you either had to tune them to make them driveable, and untill S2, I didn't find the fact at best you could only reach 140mph too much fun even though the point is not always about driving incredibly quick cars. Although it's hard on one end to deliver that when you didn't exaclty have cars too quick.
On the flipside to it however, sometimes I actually consider that more fun than GT4 at times, plus I actually want to be decent at it becuase I'm tired of crashing and also the fact after trying out (and not crashing) the GTR class cars in S2 Alpha, I feel some renewed faith. Not to mention it's fun to even drive the small cars like the UF1000 and the MRT5. Not to mention I'm trying to do something artwise in realtion to LFS.
Then there's GTR, which for a while I actually liked more than LFS and GT4 really for a reason that on one end is stupid, on another makes some sense. The noise of all the cars in there, espcially the Corvette C5R and the Saleen S7R, the kind of sounds I like so much from watching GT races on TV, that sheer metaic, mechanical sound of engines. There's also the fact it's given me a very good idea why GT1/GT2/GT3/GTP/LMP, cars can spinout from any case of oversteer. If I'm not mistaken, they don't have a great turning raidus becuase that is taken care off by the huge grippy tires, and the aerodynamics if I'm not mistaken.
The fustration was that, any oversteer and 9/10 you could not recover, there's also the fact the game felt unforgiving overall for most mistakes, and the fact you had to honelsty invest a LOT of time just to master one track. But those are it's obvious assets as well, in addition it gives you that much more of an idea of how hard it is to race those kind of cars in real life. After playing that, although I had a lot of respect for race drivers anyway, I had even more.
Then there's Richard Burns Rally, another eye-opener for the fact it gave me an idea of why it's so easy to crash in any kind of off-road racing and why you have to gauge yourself in every sense of the word from going fast enough to beat a time, and not so fast that if you make a mitake, you're done for. I actually prefered it to LFS becuase of the fact you could used lisenced cars (I know the Race about and MRT5 are real), and the fact it got input from Richard Burns himself (R.I.P.). Let me just say when I started, I was terrible like anyone, but it seamed worse than say... Gabkicks whom saw me crash several times over, and I'm sure if anybody here saw me, they would not want me near anything with an engine, 4 tires, and a means of getting that power to the tires.
Flaws this game would have? Too few cars, not enough variety of cars (some FRs would be nice, and also Group B as well), and that's about it really.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that again, I feel at least, GT4 has and has not spoiled us, if anything to me when you do play the older games, you get a feeling of how far they have come even comapired to other sims that in many people's views has blown GT4 out of the water and into a moon... on Pluto. I could go on about what I think GT5 will be like, but in the end, we'll have to wait for GT5 to see what'll happen.
Sorry for going off like that... again, felt I had to say some things to support my points, eventhough I trailed off, oh well, I'll just stop for now, till later.
