I'm only up to the posts I have quoted so my apologies if someone else has said what I am about to say already
And fifth, lack of full G27 support has to do with Logitech, not PD. Truth is not always welcomed, but that is how it is.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24399741&postcount=3560
So a verbal conversation, from a member of neogaf forums is concrete evidence this is Logitech's doing? Whatever works for you, I guess.
That link if accurate only tells us that the reason PD may have gone to Thrustmaster is because Logitech refused to respond to their request to change a feature of their hardware but examining it a bit closer this may be a bit more worrying than it first appears.
The advantage in the shifting process that was mentioned seems to be referring to the ability to flat shift that PD have now crippled in game. So why is this a worry?
If it is true, if this is the reason that PD went to Thrustmaster, what we have here is a case of PD approaching Logitech and saying "you know that PC wheel you make, people are using it for GT5 and it gives them an unfair advantage, can you cripple it with a firmware update in a way that affects every new owner even if they don't intend on using it for a game you haven't marketed it towards." (before anyone responds to this read the rest of the post), To which it seems Logitech responded "get out of here". OK lot's of speculation so far but it should be easy to see how I arrived at that and if the link is true the conversation may have gone something like that.
The reason this is a worry if true is because that might mean that Thrustmaster may have been compliant and incorporated some kind of firmware feature that limits how you can change gears in a way that does not simulate reality. What we do know is that PD have coded the game in a way that does not allow shifting the same way you can in real life, in real life you can flat shift, you can change gears without a clutch (both of these are dependant on the car/box and not without consequence). Any type of restriction should never have been incorporated in the hardware and it would be bad to request that it should, any restriction to shifting should be implemented within the game code and it should be vehicle/mod dependant to simulate the car you are driving.
As for the idea of PD trying to cripple hardware to remove any advantage, if true it displays they are out of touch with the people who buy these things. We spend this amount of money for two reasons, a more realistic experience and to achieve an advantage by improving our lap times because of the more realistic experience. I can say that one of the questions I try to answer before spending this kind of money on a wheel is "will it make me faster?" and I know others ask the same.
I can only hope that post is not true or that Thrustmaster haven't incorporated any kind of restriction into their hardware because if they had the T500RS is pretty much crippled for any other real simulator.
They are officially supported PS3 products though. That means any game that doens't work right with them is the game makers fault.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/wheels/devices/5184
Look, don't go making an argument froma point of ignorance especially if the information you ask for is on the official product page.
That link only shows what Logitech have advertised since the 27th December 2010, it only states that the G27 works with those games but does not say anything about the level of functionality and if you click the links Logitech provides it does not say that the G27 is compatible hardware. Lets have a look at what Logitech advertised earlier in December still after the release of GT5, here is the G27 page from Google Cache on the 15th December 2010
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ing/wheels/devices/5184+g27+site:logitech.com
Notice there is no mention of the PS3. Should we consider the fact that Logitech changed their site a few days after the announcement of the T500RS a coincidence?
We don't really know any more than what we did and at best we can only make some informed speculation which may or may not be based on false information. If all the information is correct it seems as though one of the reasons PD went with Thrustmaster was because Logitech would not comply with their unreasonable request, of course there may have been other reasons that were factored in and we have no idea how much significance any reason had in the decision. What we do know is that Logitech only started marketing the G27 as a PS3 wheel a few days ago and so the argument people have made that it is/was a PC wheel and that GT5 players should not expect any more support than what PD decide to offer is fair and the fact that Logitech have now decided to advertise it as a PS3 wheel after the fact doesn't change this. Even if the G27 is now officially considered a PS3 wheel by Logitech it is still not officially endorsed hardware by Sony for the PS3 (no mention of the G27 on the Playstation site) and as a third party peripheral the decision to support it remains with the developer.
I think it might be a bit to bold to say that PD have crippled the G27 to try and increase sales of the T500RS but it does seem as though in the very least they have decided not to give it full support for this reason and this seems like a natural business decision even though I don't like it and it will no doubt have some level of negative impact. If they have intentionally crippled the functionality of the G27 (it kind of seems that way if you can assign RA functions to buttons but they don't actually work) you would think Logitech could take legal action but then Logitech would need to consider the cost of that legal action considering that the entry level wheel is still a Logitech product and no doubt will continue to be a better seller than the almost boutique Thrustmaster offering.