GT consistently sells millions of copies, more than most other games. Do you really think the casual gamer makes up a minority of that number? Does the hardcore ever account of a mojority? (hint, by definnition it does not).
The logic that the casual should look elsewhere is flawed and I garauntee you not an argument Sony or PD will put much weight behind considering casual gamers money is just as green as yours or mine.
As for rewind cheating someone ot of the experience:
First off, if someone wants to cheat themselves out of it, how does that effect you or me? Game Genie allowed thousands (millions?) to cheat themselves out of tons of games, did that damage your or my enjoyment at all of those same games?
Secondly have you considered that those who will be using rewind will likely be the ones who otherwise would give up on GT all together due to frustation? So essentially how does one cheat themselves out of an exerience they weren't going to have in the first place?
Again all the "against" arguments so far have been either an elitest point of view (MY game is so awesome those pions don't desserve in if they can't be as good as my and struggle as hard as I did" or based on flawed or half assumptions (ie rewind will only be abused ad infinitum and won't be a learning tool).
People seem way too overconcerned with pinning their beliefs and feelings about GT on the rest of the world. Here's something to think about:
Maybe other gamers don't need you protection... maybe they can decide for themselve if something ruins the game or if they prefer it that way. Maybe their skill set and enjoyment isn't taken the same way yours is...
I don't care that my great grandfather had to walk uphill 4 miles in the snow to school both ways every day always and that's what made him a man... I will go ahead and choose not to and you know what? I am just fine with it.
So why does the way we all ground our way through previous GTs mean anything about how others in the future should have ther experiences controlled?
Again, if it doens't effect you, and you have an easy option to ignore/not use it, what exactly legitimate reason could you have to want it out?
Becuase "it's cheating"? OK let's say it is... so what then? If I play basketball and count baskets I didn't make as points, but I can only do that by myself and not when playing with others how does that hurt you? What if I play golf and write down the wrong score every hole? If I am just playing by myself it makes no difference.
Cheating is only a valid argument if in some way someone can cheat YOU. Otherwise "cheating" is nothing more than playing by whatever rules make YOU happy.
Even if every person who in't good at GT only used rewind to blast through career mode, how exactly would that effect you? It wouldn't.
Does hitting a baseball off a T have the same satisfaction as hitting a 100mph fastball from a majorleague pitcher? No. But the two aren't mutually exclusive and one can be the foundation for the other. Just like rewind.
Rewind allows you to fix your mistake before you're done making it, it takes away consequences and the need to learn. When racing you have to think not just about the corner ahead, but the subsequent 2-5 corners as well. Rewind treats racing as a corner to corner affair, but Practicing in sections is more realistic. On top of that, I can't see how a casual who rewinds through a race would find any fun in it.
Rewind can be used for multiple corners end to end... if you have some esses you can practice them all or any given part as you see fit. If a player is interested in learning, rewind can accomodate any section of track, if they aren't interested in learning, they weren't going to go learning another way (as if someone who isn't going to bother learning via an easy to access rewind button will somehow be intersted and studius enough to go into a full on practice mode? ).
I can't see how people can any fun in hitting a baseball off a T but little kids have a ball doing it all the time. Just because people at your and my level don't enjoy it doesn't mean someone else won't.
It's like take back a move in chess. Good chess players probably scoff at it, but I am not good at chess, and if it wasn't for undo on my compute chess game, I wouldn't bother playing. Knowing I can take back a move if I screw up lets me relax while I play and I have definitely gotten better over time even with take back a move at my finger tips. In the beginning I took back any move that lost me a piece, that got mundane fast so I started using take back a move less and less. Finally I got good enough that I could put up a good fight. As it is sometimes I can win a game without taking back any moves, and sometimes I still take back a move or two when things get bad and learn from those mistakes. I don't have to play a whole game to see the value of a move, and yes chess is a game of fluidity where a string of move is more important than a single move.
