The Gran Turismo PSP reviews thread

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LaBounti
RPG's and racing games are not even close when you break it down to the basics. So its not like saying that. Plus what % of gt fans only goal is to see the end credits then put the game away as if it was Sonic the Hedge Hog? Do you think people who play WoW keep playing for the story, or people who play dialbo 2 for the last 8 years keep playing to watch the post boss cinemas :). Again its a portable game designed for quick pick up and play.

But what you also described is what GT4 was. Thats not the goal for GTPSP. I wish they added motorcycles to really stir up some madness.....
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Actually GT hasa lot in common with RPGs (and pokemon)... you start small, grind your way up through the ranks and are rewarded with more powerful tools for your time and effort.

I am not trying to compare swinging a sword to pressing a gas pedal, I am comparing the way the games progress. And there are a lot of similarities, most noteably, the grinding career/story mode.

People who play wow and people who play diablo keep playing for the same reason: Press a button get a pellet. It's called the grind, and it's what makes GT's career mode so successful.

WoW players start out small and weak, fight small weak monsters until they can earn better weapons and fight bigger harder monsters, collect yet more weapons and fight yet more harder monsters. Rinse, repeat.

Diablo, much the same.

GT you start out small and weak with a cappucino or some such, you work hard racing your way up past some weak competition until you can afford a bigger better car, race it against harder competition and progress through the game that way.

Actually WoW and GT have more in common than the average RPG and GT because most RPGs have a real solid story as a backbone to go along with the press button get pellet gameplay. WoW's story is much less important, it's just the fact that there are ever more harder fights and stronger weapons. The equivalent of what DLC packs of new cars and tracks would be for GT.

Why do people play those games? Press button, get pellet. It's a very simple addictive principle that has worked well for a lot of games over the years including GT's career mode.
 
its still not the same. The grind is what makes or breaks those RPG's. Racing games do not need it. Its there for those who only care about getting to the end not about the racing. Great racing games like GTR and F1 have career modes but there is no grinding at all(and kinda lame). Just racing to win championships. At some low % point you have enough money to buy any car available.

Forza's progression is awful IMO. You are forced to use certain cars(and race against the same cars) to get anywhere in the game and in turn forced to collect. GT you only get a prize car for getting gold cups or winning championships and the prize car can be sold. Sell the prize cars in FM early and you wont have a car to use in the next race series. GT5P used a small version of this tactic.

I cant shake my obsession of Diablo 2 but I do not play racing games for the same reason as i play diablo 2. You make a lot of good points but its more subjective as to how the game is played. its not necessary to grind out races to enjoy the game. RPGs its an obligation practically.
 
LaBounti
its still not the same. The grind is what makes or breaks those RPG's. Racing games do not need it.
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I agree. As an absolutely wet-behind-the-ears newcomer I think I will actually prefer the open-endedness of the game. One thing I particularly like is that every track is avaiable from the start, even in reverse. I have never really understood the trend of locking 99% of a games content away for those who have enough time and patience to unlock everything. And some people complained that you´re not even rewarded for getting gold in all challenges - but I find that actually a good thing, because it doesn´t make you bitter when you can´t do it, and if you can, being able to beat it should be reward enough.

I´ve have seen people completely losing their patience over the F-Zero GX story mode that is legendary for its brutal difficulty, and I don´t really want to suffer the same fate just because I can´t beat an endurance race to finally move on (at least I think that this is how it works, as I said, complete newbie here). In this sense I think the tiny-chunks system in GTPSP is actually a good thing for newcomers to the series who might prefer a lighter, more open way of progressing through the game. Of course, veterans of this series who look forward to an bombastic and meaty career mode are very disappointed, but I think the omission of such a trademark mode might make sense in this light.

I mean, who has given this game bad grades? Game reviewers who have been long-time fans of the series. We have yet to see what newcomers (like me) will think about this structure. I am very used to short, intense gaming bursts (like arcade shoot-em-ups, one of my favourite genres), so I think I will love to sink my teeth into the 102 small challenges, self-configured races or time-trial. Maybe the hardest of the hardcore GT players aren´t even the real target audience for this game - these people will most likely shudder at the thought of playing with a dingy nub or even a d-pad on a handheld instead of their high-end setups - so I guess PD tried to experiment with a different, more open game structure. Even if Kaz said otherwise, I still think this game is more of a "side entry" than a full part of the series. And that reviewers kept comparing this game to the rest of the series instead of just saying "Yeah, so this is a crappy little handheld port" should tell us something about the quality of the rest of the game. So in a way, that most of them complained about the lack of a career mode shows me that the game itself is otherwise as solid as racing on a handheld gets.

These are my two cents :dopey:

Devedander
Why do people play those games? Press button, get pellet. It's a very simple addictive principle that has worked well for a lot of games over the years including GT's career mode.
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I´ve never played games because of that. I´ve played games because the game itself is enjoyable and stimulating, not just for some virtual reward. And people play games for a lot of reasons. I actually think the joy of driving a virtual car, the sound, the movement, the concentration, the skill and learning curve involved is a far cry from some overweight neckbeard shut-in clicking on polygon spiders to get the next piece of jeweled underwear, to put it bluntly. To me WoW is one of the most repulsive game concepts for exactly this tedious grinding nonsense (aside from the stereotypical fantasy setting, that is), it´s just a total waste of life in my opinon.

In the case of racing games, I knew very little about driving physics until very recently, so I read about things like apex, braking points and ideal lines, and could go back to the game and actually use these real-world physics in it, which was a real interesting moment. And the joy of learning more about physics, how tires, suspension and all that work is wildly different from some dead-headed "push button to win" carrot-on-a-stick reward mechanism. I prefer the reward that comes from the joy of learning, of progress, of playing well, not just adding one more imaginary ingame trinket to a pointless collection.

(I´m pretty sure this isn´t exactly what you were meaning, but I went on a little rant here trying to prove a point ;))


Aside from that: I´ve really enjoyed the Classic Game Room reviews recently, don´t know how many of you know this guy but he made these gigantic, elaborate GT reviews. As much as I don´t care for most reviews on the net, I´m really looking forward to hearing what he thinks about this game. He has recently bought a PSP so I highly doubt he will skip this release. I just admire the love and calmness he puts in his videos.
 
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Devedander
That's quite the assumption... I would assume die hard GT fans would be so pissed that the central part of the game was missing, they just wouldn't buy it and that the need to tote a PS3 around negates easy multiplayer when you and your friends are all say sitting around an airport or something (or does that work ok? I was never sure on that).
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Ad-Hoc is for multiplayer with others who are in wireless range. So yes, if you and others are sitting around an airport you can play with nothing else added. That is why the complaint is no Online, not no multiplayer. People are complaining that their portable system can't hop on any Wi-Fi network and play against guys in another city, which is what Ad-Hoc Party allows, but only if you are in range of your PS3.

Devedander
Well that's like saying that fighting is the main point of any RPG... but without a story, just randombly battling whatever monster you feel like with whatever weapons and spells you feel like in whatever area you feel like just isn't as good.
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GT never had a story to speak of, just pre-arranged events for money that allowed a free roaming style. Now it has a series of challenges, much like, say, a linear story would be in any platformer. But it also has the Single Race that you can jump into and do anything you want with, much like setting up a local game with bots in a shooter.

The irony is that GT PSP is practically taking the exact same model as The Beatles: Rock Band, but The Beatles: Rock Band is getting praised. There is a linear story mode, which primarily unlocks more story mode challenges, but if you go into quickplay all the songs are there, except one. One song. And story mode can be beaten in about 4 hours total. Sure The Beatles has photos and videos too, but they aren't necessary if you just want to sit around playing The Beatles songs in a music game. It would be like unlocking pictures and info of classic cars in GT. People would complain that the development for that should have gone toward getting Porsche or some such thing.

I think that while the action of driving is the main point, putting a purpose and sense of accomplishment and reward behind it is integral to making it work. Sum of the parts and all...
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I really think this depends on the individual player. Sticking to my Rock Band comparison; in regular Rock Band or Guitar Hero most people only do the story/career mode to unlock all the songs and enough customization options to make their character what they want. I know that once I have done that I am done with it. Next thing I know I am setting up my own playlist and just having fun, or playing with friends and just jumping from one song to the next in whatever direction our desires (and alcohol muddled brains) take us. I did the same with GT4. I completed enough to earn money and unlock the cars I really wanted and then did the challenges I found interesting, but every time I attempted completing the "career" I got side tracked by seeing another car I wanted to buy and test out.

Now, maybe some people need that forced "career" mode and got bored as soon as they hit 100%? completion. If so, then I agree that this game isn't for them. But if they can enjoy a series of challenges and control themselves enough to complete them without being forced to then they do have a structure there. It is just different.

Agree... GTPSP really will dissapoint the die hard GT fans... the ones I really feel bad for are the ones who bought PSPs early on with the promise of GT4 Mobile because they loved GT so much they wanted their fix on the go... and have waited patiently all this time only to be let down.
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You may be surprised how many people, especially at GTPlanet, are more in the get them all and take them out on The 'Ring group. I don't expect this game to do for the PSP what it does for the home consoles, based on how negatively it has been received by some, but for those who just want to play with tons of cars on lots of varied tracks the non-career mode focused reviews are saying wonderful things. Even the worst reviews say the gameplay is there, but they don't like the presentation.

My biggest fear is that the negative reviews were so stuck on the lack of career mode that they left out some detail that actually prevents me from jumping in and buying whatever is available at that moment. And on that note, the timed dealerships are my biggest disappointment. The timed schedule is fine and all, but more than four dealers would have been nice, or even just different cars in each dealer at different times. Hopefully, GTPlanet can work out the schedule like we did the used car dealers in GT4. It looks like time spamming may be returning. Only one way to tell.
 
LaBounti
its still not the same. The grind is what makes or breaks those RPG's. Racing games do not need it. Its there for those who only care about getting to the end not about the racing. Great racing games like GTR and F1 have career modes but there is no grinding at all(and kinda lame). Just racing to win championships. At some low % point you have enough money to buy any car available.

Forza's progression is awful IMO. You are forced to use certain cars(and race against the same cars) to get anywhere in the game and in turn forced to collect. GT you only get a prize car for getting gold cups or winning championships and the prize car can be sold. Sell the prize cars in FM early and you wont have a car to use in the next race series. GT5P used a small version of this tactic.

I cant shake my obsession of Diablo 2 but I do not play racing games for the same reason as i play diablo 2. You make a lot of good points but its more subjective as to how the game is played. its not necessary to grind out races to enjoy the game. RPGs its an obligation practically.
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Well the point of the analogy isn't to find two identical things, it's to find two things that share common traits to illustrate a point using the similarities.

So of course RPGs aren't exactly like racing games, but if you look at what made GT great, it's got a lot in common with RPGs:

RPGs massive selection of weapons/spells to earn your way up through- GT - massive selection of cars to earn your way up through (both are the tools you use to advance through the game)

RPGs get you hooked with grinding your way up, do a task, get a reward, do a task get a reward, do it enough, earn access to next level weapons - GT do a race, get a reward, do a race get a reward, do it enough, get access to the next level of cars

RPGs give you massive depth of play by letting you tinker, tweak and combine components of spells and weapons so you can customize your experience - GT tinker, tweak and combine different upgrades and tuning to customize your experience.

Remember, they aren't the same thing for sure, but if you look for similarities (instead of looking for differences) you will find a lot, and a lot a the core of the gameplay.
 
FoolKiller
Ad-Hoc is for multiplayer with others who are in wireless range.
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OK didn't know that was in, so that's good. Online almost certainly would have been better, but at least this is in there.

GT never had a story to speak of, just pre-arranged events for money that allowed a free roaming style.
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Yeah the analogy there was supposed to be just that without it's core driving mechanic, an RPG is just a bunch of monster fights. That wouldn't be much fun, you need something to bind them. In RPGs it's a story, in GT it's a career mode. It's something to progress through that has some kind of goal.

The irony is that GT PSP is practically taking the exact same model as The Beatles: Rock Band, but The Beatles: Rock Band is getting praised. There is a linear story mode, which primarily unlocks more story mode challenges, but if you go into quickplay all the songs are there, except one. One song.
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Actually I think that's drastically different from GTPSP and I think it would have been great to have it set up like that. You note in beatles you get career mode (ie work your way through) and quickplay. Well GTPSP essentially only has quickplay (not exactly but you get the point).

There are people for whom career is only a painful and slow method of getting cars forced down their throat. For them, include an open mode where you can get anything and do anything. Absolutely make them happy! But don't do it at the cost of the others who really enjoy a career mode.

I really think this depends on the individual player.
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Yes it definitely does, for some people they won't care what's missing, but when catering to a large audience, I think it's always best to give everyone something. As I said, there is no reason to take away from the arcade experience just to give us career mode, so why make that choice and cut?

Also career mode works as a double edged sword... sure it can be something you don't like the linearity of and get side tracked from, but it is something that you can get back at some point and continue.

And more importantantly for me, it gave me a reason to progress when I otherwise might not have. There are a set of cars I really wanted to drive in GT, then there are cars I really cuold care less about, then there were a LOT of cars I didn't know anything about. Career mode forced me to explore and the result was I found a lot of cool cars to drive I might not have otherwise.

If you are a total gear head and know the specs of every car in GT by heart, then sure you will probably just want to take them all out for a spin. But I would venture the majority of people don't fall into that category and would be served well by having the experience catered to them in bite sized chunks in some kind of order. I know it was great for me.

Now, maybe some people need that forced "career" mode and got bored as soon as they hit 100%? completion. If so, then I agree that this game isn't for them. But if they can enjoy a series of challenges and control themselves enough to complete them without being forced to then they do have a structure there. It is just different.
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It's not so much I think that people need it, but that it's very nice to have and then again, why take it out either way? I mean sure you could just go into Madden, and pick teams for quick games and play a season that way, but you certainly wouldn't choose to eliminate season mode because that option is there would you? (and before anyone says it, yes football is totally different from driving, again look for the similarities, not the differences) I think just having the ability to somewhat recreate the missing part isn't an excuse for missing it in the first place.


You may be surprised how many people, especially at GTPlanet, are more in the get them all and take them out on The 'Ring group.
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I probably will, but I still say that's a minority of the audience as a whole. And yet again, no matter how it breaks down, why not give the career mode for however many aren't in that group?

Even the worst reviews say the gameplay is there, but they don't like the presentation.
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And back to the RPG analogy, a great weapon and spell system with lots of detail and depth and a slew of enemies to fight probably just doesn't cut it if they aren't put together in some meaningful way. I mean imagine in Diablo 2 had just been like a streetfighter layout:

You pick your character, pick all your stats and weapons and pick some oponents. Now you click your mouse until someone dies. Then you go select another matchup and do it again. That wouldn't stay fun for nearly as long now would it?

My biggest fear is that the negative reviews were so stuck on the lack of career mode that they left out some detail that actually prevents me from jumping in and buying whatever is available at that moment.
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The biggest problem I foresee happening is if it really is random, random means anything can happen and conceivably you can see any length of either the same stuff over and over or never seeing the one you want. Combined with the fact that apparently you can't tell if you own a car yet without clicking on every car to see the stats, this could be a very painful and drawnout way to get the cars you want/need.

Need a 4WD car for some dirt races? Haven't seen one for a long time? Might not see one for quite a while...

Got all the cars you want except for 3 or 4? Get ready to potentially race dozens or hundreds of races over and over for no reason other than to pass time until you see the one you want.
 
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Devedander
Yeah the analogy there was supposed to be just that without it's core driving mechanic, an RPG is just a bunch of monster fights. That wouldn't be much fun, you need something to bind them. In RPGs it's a story, in GT it's a career mode. It's something to progress through that has some kind of goal.

Actually I think that's drastically different from GTPSP and I think it would have been great to have it set up like that. You note in beatles you get career mode (ie work your way through) and quickplay. Well GTPSP essentially only has quickplay (not exactly but you get the point).
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These two paragraphs make me wonder if you are aware that there are 104 driving missions in GT PSP. Is it a career or story technically? No, but it is not much different than a music game's play this song, now this one, now this one, yay you are a rock star! mode.

This is something I see people doing. They hear no GT Mode and act like all structured gameplay is out completely. I get it, it feels more like an arcade game layout, but there is a structured mode there, just different than you are used to. And in all reality, it is not a GT Arcade Mode. At this point in the franchise Arcade has basically just become your quickplay and multiplayer setup. Missions are a part of GT Mode and have now been expanded for GT PSP, from what I understand.

When GT4 came out and people found the Missions no one said, "If I wanted Arcade Mode I would just go do that," but rather, "It's like more license tests, with the only difference being they aren't required to enter races."

Yes it definitely does, for some people they won't care what's missing, but when catering to a large audience, I think it's always best to give everyone something. As I said, there is no reason to take away from the arcade experience just to give us career mode, so why make that choice and cut?
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I wish I could answer this, but I am not on the production team. As a manager at my company though I could give you a very long list of legitimate reasons, if you want. But after four years of off and on development I will suggest the most likely thing: Time and money.

Also career mode works as a double edged sword... sure it can be something you don't like the linearity of and get side tracked from, but it is something that you can get back at some point and continue.
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GT had a linear career mode? Outside of licenses and GT World Championship I don't recall any prerequisites to enter any race you owned the qualified car for.

If you are a total gear head and know the specs of every car in GT by heart, then sure you will probably just want to take them all out for a spin. But I would venture the majority of people don't fall into that category and would be served well by having the experience catered to them in bite sized chunks in some kind of order.
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Like a series of 104 missions where your car and the track are predetermined maybe?

It's not so much I think that people need it, but that it's very nice to have and then again, why take it out either way? I mean sure you could just go into Madden, and pick teams for quick games and play a season that way, but you certainly wouldn't choose to eliminate season mode because that option is there isn't it? I think just having the ability to somewhat recreate the missing part isn't an excuse for missing it in the first place.
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Madden season mode: a linear progression of games, against pre-selected teams and locations.
GT PSP Missions: a linear progression of driving challenges, using pre-selected vehicles and tracks.


Linear progression layouts are more common than not in gaming. How this works out in GT PSP has yet to be completely flushed out since the reviews brushed over it, but there is a grind there for people who want something organized. It just isn't required.
 
Microsoft Flight Simulator=Flight Simulator
Gran Turismo="Real Driving Simulator"

MFS does fine without a career mode. Same will probably apply to GTpsp.
 
Here are some reviews that are not in the original post. It seems this game is getting pretty good ones and everyone was all upset over the IGN review. We need to wait for more than one review people. Just look at Driver 3, it's first review was 9/10 but look at all of the reviews after that. It'll be interesting to see what the other big sites have to say.

Cheat CC: http://cheatcc.com/psp/rev/granturismopspreview.html
4.8/5

Video Gamer: http://www.videogamer.com/psp/gran_turismo/review.html
9/10

Now Gamer: http://psp.nowgamer.com/reviews/psp/8684/gran-turismo
8/10

Gaming Age: http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/reviews/review.pl?sys=psp&game=gran_turismo
83/100

The SixthAxis: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2009/09/16/review-gran-turismo-psp/
8.5/10

Merristation: http://www.meristation.com/v3/des_analisis.php?pic=GEN&id=cw4ab0bc4834324&idj=5721&&iframe=1
7/10
 
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FoolKiller
These two paragraphs make me wonder if you are aware that there are 104 driving missions in GT PSP.
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I do and I am under the impression they are like license tests. Do something, now do something else. I don't like license tests and I get the feeling that's not uncommon. But regardless, like them or not, they are not the same as a career mode which is not a list of things to do, but races you participate in and have to earn your way up into (ie get the right class car) and cups (even if they were shortened with save points for portability) are an important part of the experience.

It's like the difference between quick match multiplayer and tournament ladder multiplayer... having each race count towards more than just that one time means something.

They hear no GT Mode and act like all structured gameplay is out completely.
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No, I don't see it like that at all, I see it as, the structured part that made GT great is gone and the structured part that everyone complained about having to do again with a new version of GT. Basically I won't knock having those things to do, as more is better if you ask me, but it's no substitue for structured racing.

When GT4 came out and people found the Missions no one said, "If I wanted Arcade Mode I would just go do that," but rather, "It's like more license tests, with the only difference being they aren't required to enter races."
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I wasn't really around for that... I didn't follow gt4 on the net.

Time and money.
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Yes, I meant no reason from a design point of view as in no reason to choose to leave it out.

GT had a linear career mode? Outside of licenses and GT World Championship I don't recall any prerequisites to enter any race you owned the qualified car for.[./quote]

You are right, I meant structured. It was kind of linear in that you had to progress from weak and cheap up the ladder, but not strictly linear.

Like a series of 104 missions where your car and the track are predetermined maybe?
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No, more like a bunch of set races against certain levels of cars that you have to earn your way up to being competitive in.

Madden season mode: a linear progression of games, against pre-selected teams and locations.
GT PSP Missions: a linear progression of driving challenges, using pre-selected vehicles and tracks.
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I think of it more like:

Madden season: A tracked progression of the full games experiences end to end towards a set goal. Not like training camp/training mode.

GT PSP Missions: A set list of actions to pull off outside of the real meat of the game (which is racing) much like training mode in Madden (I haven't played 10 so I am kind of going off what I recall from old maddens when I still liked the idea of training camp).

Linear progression layouts are more common than not in gaming. How this works out in GT PSP has yet to be completely flushed out since the reviews brushed over it, but there is a grind there for people who want something organized. It just isn't required.
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Certainly there is still something to be seen, but what has already been revealed:

You must race the painfully easy mode for each track no matter what.

The competition on any race will be appropriate to your car, only the AI difficulty will be ramped up according to how well you have done in the past, thus there is no need to earn better cars to complete the game. Only at least one car for each type of race (ie road, offroad).

Those two alone make me cringe:

I mean I HAVE to race a super easy race on every track? That just sounds like hell... that's a forced hours of being WAY out in the lead racing by myself just to get to where I can get decent competition.

I think GT got where they are today by having an awesome GT mode, backed up by all the features needed to make GT mode deep and satisfying. This just seems like a huge step backward.
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CaptCalvin
Microsoft Flight Simulator=Flight Simulator
Gran Turismo="Real Driving Simulator"

MFS does fine without a career mode. Same will probably apply to GTpsp.
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The tag line says real driving simulator, but there are much more real simulators out there and there is a reason they don't have the following GT does... becuase PD has historically done a great job of making a fun and deep game... the sim part of the game gives it a lot of credence (I won't go into detail about the areas that aren't particuarly solidly sim) but the way it's put together makes it a fun experience. That's what I am talking about here... GTPSP is put together fundamentally differently.
 
You are double posting, again.

Devedander
You must race the painfully easy mode for each track no matter what.

The competition on any race will be appropriate to your car, only the AI difficulty will be ramped up according to how well you have done in the past, thus there is no need to earn better cars to complete the game. Only at least one car for each type of race (ie road, offroad).
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:odd: Seems to me that you only have to race the painfully easy mode at first, kind of like the Sunday Cup.

I mean I HAVE to race a super easy race on every track? That just sounds like hell... that's a forced hours of being WAY out in the lead racing by myself just to get to where I can get decent competition.
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As I just pointed out, no you don't.
 
FoolKiller
You are double posting, again.


:odd: Seems to me that you only have to race the painfully easy mode at first, kind of like the Sunday Cup.


As I just pointed out, no you don't.
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No... from what I have read, EACH track has different difficulties attached. You race easy on a track then you can race the next harder race on that track.

But that harder difficulty doesn't put you up against a new class of cars so you have to earn a new ride to compete... it just puts you against whatever type of car you choose to race against, but the computer AI is harder.
 
Devedander
No... from what I have read, EACH track has different difficulties attached.
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I guess that is so that you don't focus all your time on Trial Mountain to reach the maximum difficulty and then try to race on Nurburgring, only to find you can't win.

You race easy on a track then you can race the next harder race on that track.
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That is what I was saying.

You said:
You must race the painfully easy mode for each track no matter what.
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Then I said:
Seems to me that you only have to race the painfully easy mode at first,
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Then I compared it to racing the Sunday Cup races with an easy to win race over and over.

But that harder difficulty doesn't put you up against a new class of cars so you have to earn a new ride to compete... it just puts you against whatever type of car you choose to race against, but the computer AI is harder.
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And that is worse than being able to constantly throw an over powered car into a race full of Demio's how?

Jeebus, with the way people go on and on about the AI not being difficult and everything for ages on end I would think that learning that the AI can increase in difficulty (skill?) would be sounding great.

The AI has varying levels of difficulty instead of an arbitrary car class system that allows you to out power your opponents instead of actually improving your skill. Think about that for a second. How is that a bad thing?

This is assuming, of course, that difficult AI doesn't translate into cheating the way it does in a few other games, which I shall leave unnamed to prevent argument with other members.
 
FoolKiller
This is assuming, of course, that difficult AI doesn't translate into cheating the way it does in a few other games, which I shall leave unnamed to prevent argument with other members.
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I was trying to think of a joke to slam Mario Kart Wii with this statement, but I couldn't think of anything.


Though, strictly speaking, as the reviews are point-blank saying that the AI isn't much better than previous games, I'm guessing increasing the difficulty level in fact just gives the AI better cars than the player that happen to be in the same class.
 
Toronado
I was trying to think of a joke to slam Mario Kart Wii with this statement, but I couldn't think of anything.
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I'm actually thinking of two PS3 exclusives, one sim and one off road. I have accused them of cheating in the past. I just don't feel like debating them here.
 
FoolKiller
I guess that is so that you don't focus all your time on Trial Mountain to reach the maximum difficulty and then try to race on Nurburgring, only to find you can't win.
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That seems like the best way to look at a poor setup... and when was this ever an issue with career mode before? It seems like you created a problem that never really existed to justify how this is a good stetup since this setup also doesn't have that problem.

That is what I was saying.

You said:

Then I said:


Then I compared it to racing the Sunday Cup races with an easy to win race over and over.
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Well to be fair I said:

You must race the painfully easy mode for each track no matter what.
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Example: There are 45 tracks. You will have to race EVERY track on super stupid easy at least once. Well that's assuming you ever want to play that track, I suppose you could just never play a track, but that's kind of beside the ponit.

So 45 tracks, let's say the races average out to 3 minutes per race. You are looking at at least 2 hours of driving races in which you never see the competition again... mandatory.

Then you said:

Seems to me that you only have to race the painfully easy mode at first, kind of like the Sunday Cup.
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Which doesn't really seem like the same thing at all. Sunday cup was weak but competitive cars, on select tracks, these easy races are just against cars that should be competitive to yours but are driven slowly and/or handicapped.

Sunday Cup was (I don't recall how long) of racing against weak cars in your ALSO weak car so it was still a challenge. Maybe not an exciting challenge (I actually like D class races) but still a real and solid challenge, not some waste of time blow the competition away time waster.

And that is worse than being able to constantly throw an over powered car into a race full of Demio's how?
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I think it's fine if that's how you want to play it, and that's what's great about how career mode worked. You could choose you wanted to attack what was put in front of you as you progressed. You usually entered a class with a crap car for that class, then a natural balance came in: you either got better and beat that race with that car, or if you failed often enough, you had earned enough credits to buy your way to the top of the pack with upgrades. It was a great system that rewarded you for trying hard, but had a built in fail safe for if you just met your match, try often enough and you earned your way to a win one way or the other.

This is a lot like WoW... your team goes into a fight, if you can beat the boss, great, if not he drops some loot, you power up a bit and try again, at some point you either get coordinated and good enough to beat him outright, or you just keep getting loot until you can beat him. While it might seem cheap to get enough loot to beat him by sheer power, that is the grind way to do it, and while an effective balance, it also punishes you enough to not make it just an easy way to thomp the game by being a grind.

Jeebus, with the way people go on and on about the AI not being difficult and everything for ages on end I would think that learning that the AI can increase in difficulty (skill?) would be sounding great.
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It's great that the AI can increase in difficulty, but doesn't seem like a solid substitue for the face that you can pretty much take one and race the entire game with it... nothing ever forces you out of your comfort zone. Got that D class car you just love with good specs? Ride it out! No need to get a C or B class car to compete, you just get better drivers with other D class cars.

The AI has varying levels of difficulty instead of an arbitrary car class system that allows you to out power your opponents instead of actually improving your skill. Think about that for a second. How is that a bad thing?
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It's not a bad thing perse, it's a one dimensional thing. And it's a one dimensional thing with a very lame entry fee: you must race the stupid easy race for every course.

Look I am not saying the way it is doesn't have it's own merrits, but what I am saying is it just doesn't look like the merits it has can possibly shape up to decently make up for what it's replacing even without considering that you have to race the super easy race.

Toronado
Though, strictly speaking, as the reviews are point-blank saying that the AI isn't much better than previous games, I'm guessing increasing the difficulty level in fact just gives the AI better cars than the player that happen to be in the same class.
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The way I read it the AI will just get handicapped at lower difficulties and drive the perfect race everytime on hard (or some such). I wouldn't be surprised if the AI gets rubberbands on hard.
 
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Don´t know if this has been posted here somewhere already:

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-gran-turismo-psp/17-1394/

18 minutes, a pretty long "quick view", actually a relatively boring video. They just go through all the menues and
options for what feels like an eternity, and then race two mediocre laps at Cote d' Azur. The video is pixelated and doesn´t
run at 60fps, so that´s not really helping that much either. Not to mention the commentary of the two isn´t very exciting either, but oh well...

The thing that bothers me the most at the moment are these white hairlines that pop
up in the game randomly - does anybody know why this happens? How can you not properly "mend" polygons? Anyways, I think I will actually like the 4 car dealers a day-option, keeps the suspense somewhat ;)

Also, a quick look at the comments section reveals that people still judge this games look by pixelated, non-60fps footage or even screenshots. :indiff:

EDIT: Fixed the somehow broken link.
 
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Frederik82
Anyways, I think I will actually like the 4 car dealers a day-option, keeps the suspense somewhat ;)
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I like this option but will immediately hate it when I spend all my money in one go and miss out on a Veyron! It's a good idea though, keeps you playing to earn more money.
 

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