Holly Crap - Free Us Gt4 Demo

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http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/06/02/news_6099820.html

SOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!



Toyota offering free Gran Turismo 4 demo disc

Carmaker promises to send those requesting Prius brochures a "playable" demo; reports indicate it features two cars on two tracks.
Over the past several days, Gran Turismo 4 forums have been filled with posts about an American preview disc of the PlayStation 2 racing sequel. But rather than Gran Turismo 4: Prologue Edition, the stripped-down version of the game being sold in Europe and Japan for around $30, this demo is allegedly free.

Sound too good to be true? That's because it is--sort of. There is a free Gran Turismo 4 disc being offered in the US, but only as part of a promotional campaign by Toyota. Those interested in receiving the disc should log on to Toyota.com, select "Vehicles," then "Brochures," and then "Request A Brochure." Requestors will then be prompted to fill out a form with a valid address and pick two Toyota models they want information on, one of which should be the Prius hybrid.

Once the address is verified, a screen will appear that lists the items being sent to the brochure requestor. It reads:

"ITEMS ORDERED STATUS
2004 Prius Brochure Valid to Fulfill
2004 RAV4 Brochure Valid to Fulfill
Gran Tourismo 4 DVD Valid to Fulfill
2004 Prius Accessory Brochure Valid to Fulfill
2004 RAV4 Accessory Brochure Valid to Fulfill
College Graduate Rebate Flyer Valid to Fulfill"


But what exactly is the "Gran Tourismo 4 DVD" mentioned? Although misspelled, it is a "playable demo" of Gran Turismo 4, according to Toyota representatives contacted by GameSpot. However, the Toyota reps could not confirm what was on the disc or when it would arrive. For their part, Sony reps passed along inquires about the disc to other Sony reps, who had not commented by press time.

However, several sources indicate that the "Gran Tourismo 4 DVD" (sic) in question is an Americanized version of the Gran Turismo 4 Prius Trial Version that was offered at Japanese Toyota dealers late last year. According to unconfirmed reports, the disc features two cars, the Prius and the Toyota MTRC, and two tracks, the Fuji Speedway and Grand Canyon.

GameSpot will have more on the Toyota Gran Turismo 4 DVD when (if?) it turns up in our mailbox.

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot
 
Welcome to last week, Magoo.

Use the search feature and you will find a thread for this a mile long. Gamespot is lagging hard.
 
im soo sorry, i was just so excited about it that i signed up for the demo i then tried to get the message out to gtplanet.net, so sorry again...
 
now how can automobile manufacturer Toyota get their special version gt4 in ntsc r1, but SCEA can't covert prologue???
 
Toyota having $17 billion in the bank may just help slightly.
 
Yeah, but Sony would be looking to get some kind of financial return from it. Sony are not a charity If they have decided it's not worth it, then they don't have to convert it.

Toyota, however paid Sony to make a version of GT4 with only 2 Toyotas in it for them to use as a promotional tool.

If you want to pay Sony millions for them to make you a personal copy with the cars you want in it, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to oblige.
 
I'm personally willing to bet that it's SCEA's management. The conversion would have been a lot easier than the PAL conversion - just add English and Spanish language and a US region code, and presto. But they simply don't seem to think that the US public would buy such a trimmed down version, and they're probably even afraid they would get too confused having it out there. A similar problem as with Gran Turismo Concept.

I have no idea weather that's justified though, I actually don't in fact - but then again, the number of people in the US that got the NTSC version seems very small compared to the number of people who got the NTSC version in Europe.
 
Originally posted by Arwin
I'm personally willing to bet that it's SCEA's management. The conversion would have been a lot easier than the PAL conversion - just add English and Spanish language and a US region code, and presto. But they simply don't seem to think that the US public would buy such a trimmed down version, and they're probably even afraid they would get too confused having it out there. A similar problem as with Gran Turismo Concept.

I have no idea weather that's justified though, I actually don't in fact - but then again, the number of people in the US that got the NTSC version seems very small compared to the number of people who got the NTSC version in Europe.
Click to expand...

I hear ya on that one... still puzzling though as the major cost is in game development, which is all bought and paid for with the Japanese release i bet, the extra costs of conversions shouldn't be too hard to recoup in sales in other markets... Europe, North/South America... why not expand your market base? and make a little money doing so.
 
That'd be pretty sad if SCEA felt Americans weren't smart enough to distinguish between GT4P and GT4, but I can see that happening. Your average impulse buyer will see GT4 and buy it without even getting to the second line of the title, and then be disappointed with the cut down experience and not differentiate GT4 when it is released.

Is there anything that isn't sold on eBay these days?
 
No offense, but I'd rather see Sony attempt to release an American version of Prologue than just Toyota. The MTRC will be fun, but I'd rather have an American Prologue, even if the game is all muscle cars, all sport compacts, or even all rally cars. Nice of Toyota to do such a thing, though. Too bad no demo disks at any stores have at least a Japanese version of the game.
 
^ agreed it should have happened. I don't see any viable reason not to have had an R1 NTSC version of the game. There's enough crap games released every year that would sell a fraction of the # GT4P would sell.

Sure you can buy anything on eBay or online, but unless you have a modded PS2 here you can't play them... wrong region codes.

If Sony was smart they'd make the PS3 have a PS3 global region code, so all PS3 games would be of a standard format... they'd probably save themselves and publishers tonnes of money in conversion fees, and see increased sales, as fans of games could buy whatever game they want and be able to play it on their PS3. It doesn't mean they have to globally publish every title, but it would allow people in Europe get Japanese only titles if they liked them, people in North America to get things like GTC and GT4P, etc, etc. Off topic i know, but something to think about.
 
We still have the different television specifications to support though... If you could build a hardware translator that did the conversion locally, maybe.
 
Originally posted by Monster7
Buy a swap disc: Problem solved.

Has anyone received their Toyota demo yet?
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I just saw that GameSpot posted videos of this disc. There are some interesting changes! When driving the MTRC you can bring up a hud display and see the pressure that each of the individual tires receives while driving. And perhaps even more surprising, the version of Grand Canyon in this demo has changed - a big part of the first section towards T1 is now asphalted!
 
You can view individual tyre pressures? Now that's something I'd like to see, wear levels on individual tyres would be useful to see if your suspension settings can improve your tyre wear. It's a bit hard to judge just on colour alone sometimes.
 
Got my disc a couple days ago. Can't say i was impressed. The cars suck. If we were given some cars that were hlafway decent, then the demo would be more enjoyable.
 
battle_stage
Got my disc a couple days ago. Can't say i was impressed. The cars suck. If we were given some cars that were hlafway decent, then the demo would be more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

It's a free publicity demo from a company that expects you to buy a car dude. This is a promotional gimmick, nothing more. All they're trying to do is offer something the opposition doesn't.
 

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