Originally posted by chaser_fan
Agreed. I've finished playing the game (NFSU) and it really is just any another arcade racer. The developers have thrown in as many graphical tricks as possible and packed it full of garishly coloured cars and over the top bodykits in the hope that it will attract those that are into the latest fad of the moment. And of course they're probably raking in the money too. Who can blame them for it? Games like this always make me think of the the arcade magnate, Vanderhaus (I think) from Wayne's World.
Subtlety is not a word that anyone could use to a game like this. Get in the car, open the throttle and don't release until you're over the line. I was driving a 350Z, I could have been piloting an F22 or driving an F1 powerboat, the driving experience was just so numb.
The beauty of a game like Gran Turismo is the feel of the car you drive. You can feel the weight of the car through the d-pad, you have to really think about how you're going enter and exit a corner, you can feel every car's driving characteristics. It's such a pure experience. I am actually looking forward so much to being able to drive a 1960s Datsun Bluebird in stock trim, I'm not sure I would be saying the same had that car, or others like it, had been in NFSU.
Everybody has there own subjective opinions about what constitutes a great game and therefore nobody is right or wrong about a game being good or not. But for me, racing games are all about the pleasure you get from the feel of the car you drive and adjusting your driving style to suit different cars, and you generally don't get this kind of experience from games like NFSU.
But as Type-R said, one's an 'arcade racer' and one's a 'simulation' (almost), the only thing these games (GT/NFS) have common is that you drive are cars in them, apart from that they're in completely separate leagues.