GTPlanet Weekly Rewind: Heroes, There Is No Such Thing

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, MCU for short, struck gold once again with the release of Iron Man 3. I won’t delve too much into details despite my utter excitement but it was a fantastic effort for the third entry in the series, and RDJ plays the role brilliantly yet again so there’s not going to be any surprises there, and if you’re a War Machine fan you’ll be pleased to know that Don Cheadle/James Rhodes has his fair share of screen time.

The movie has two premises: one, Tony dealing with the events that came about in The Avengers and having to forcibly realize there are things that exist that may be even further beyond his own intelligence and understanding and two, Extremis. Now the latter is the more pertinent focal point of the movie and perhaps rightfully so considering it brings the events that took place in the first movie in full circle. Which means if you were previously unaware, yes, the first movie had elements of Extremis.

Moving past Iron Man, which I’ll pick up again later on, there’s been some noise in the GT camp lately concerning the proposed release dates of Gran Turismo 6 with fan-designed boxart to boot, and you can rest easy knowing that these claimed release dates are false.

November 28th of this year is Thanksgiving and there’s no way a AAA game is going to release on such a holiday. Now that’s not to say GT6 can’t be released in November of this year, but it definitely won’t be on the 28th – not on a day when most stores are closed for business. You can read about it here and get the full scoop, but for the time being just sit back and enjoy the ride because when official news regarding the game is released you’ll know about it.

With that said it’s time to get the Rewind rolling, and not to mention take my mind off of Iron Man 3 for a little bit. Commence Operation Entertainment!

GTPlanet Picture of the Week

This week’s featured image, recommended to us by Qnrad and courtesy of NBDESIGNZ, features the majestic MP4-12C from McLaren in a captivating stance that’s only further enhanced by the light sources bouncing off the car and the ground, making for a moody experience.

Have a suggestion for next week’s featured image? Drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Picture of the Week” and fill it out with your two choices and they’ll be featured in upcoming Rewinds. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

Track Creator Racing – Fancy a new Challenge?

The events may be on break, but there’s no way this was going to go unacknowledged once I had already come across it. If racing on the same premier tracks within GT5 has left you feeling a bit weary then perhaps it’s time to try something new, perhaps it’s time to enroll yourself into the TCR Racing Club.

Championed by imalexi, TCR’s primary focus is to give players an entirely new challenge by appointing specific cars according to PP and a particular set of tires and letting them loose on a custom track specifically designed for the cars allowed. This is the perfect answer to removing yourself from the conformity that will eventually be realized in the main racing events within GT5. Who says change is a bad thing?

The club works like a well-oiled machine with regulations, practice sessions and of the course the main events themselves. However, if the events selected aren’t to your tastes don’t fret because every Wednesday there’s a “Fun Night” where you may be fighting for first place in a classic car, or you may very be fighting against the elements in a 4×4 rustling for every possible point. At the end of the day things are promised to be a sizable dosage of fun.

With a series so committed to providing the absolute best quality of racing there’s no way you’ll want to pass this up if you’re looking for yet another new spin that’ll breathe life in Gran Turismo 5 once again. For all of the information, be sure to stop by the official thread here and remember, the series is currently on break and will likely be back on track (pun thoroughly intended) by the end of the summer.

GTPlanet Weekly Race Series (WRS) Online Events: 2013 WRS F1 Championship

If it’s something relating to Formula One you should know by now that I’m going to tackle it head-on, and that’s precisely what I’m doing with this week’s WRS feature because the GT5 F1 Grand Prix’s are on the horizon and there’s no better time to prepare yourself than right now.

This week you’re focusing on what awaits you on May 26th, the Monaco Grand Prix – but before you can race, you must qualify. But we’re already getting ahead of ourselves here, this five race series that simulates the F1 season will see you travel to some of the season’s more prominent locations; the likes of Suzuka, Monaco, Monza, Spa, and of course the Nurburgring GP Circuit. Things are guaranteed to get a little hot, both on the track and in the paddocks.

There’s no hard feelings here, you’d might as well be racing in the actual Grand Prix’s because the rules, regulations and practices are pretty much identical. You have 2 Practice Sessions (instead of 3), Knock-out Qualifying, and of course the race itself – all over the course of a single week. To give an even greater feeling for the attention to detail being paid for this series look no further than the Steward’s comments:

This special event series has been designed to offer participants a Full Formula 1 Experience covering all available GT5 Grand Prix Circuits.  Each stop on the calendar is scheduled on the same weekend as the corresponding real life FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix and includes free practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, a three round knockout qualifying session on Saturday, and a full length race on Sunday.

Full Formula 1 Experience

• Live F1 style knockout qualification
• Multiple tire compounds – Race Soft and Race Hard
• Drivers must use both compounds during the race, but will only be provided two sets of Race Soft tires
• F1 style formation lap and standing start (race starts at the 3 minute mark)
• Race distance will match the real FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix (+1 for the formation lap)
• The driver championship will utilize the FIA Formula 1 point system (25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1)

You’d better be prepared for some of the most hair-raising and intense on-track action seen nowhere else. Who will be the Sebastian Vettel in each of the five WRS Divisions? I can’t wait to see the results!

Stop by the official thread here and remember that you NEED to be registered before officially participating in the WRS, and that can only be done by submitting a time for the official GTP Registry Qualifier.

GTPlanet Member of the Week

Yes, it’s that time once again and I have to be honest and say this week is quite the treat for all involved. This week’s inductee would prefer it if we were all forced to communicate to one another in the form of haiku’s. Sounds like an interesting idea and would almost certainly breed some creativity (and much laughter) but it would evolve into too much of a “Poet’s corner”. Which may not be a bad thing in the grand scheme of things, but imagine a forum where you can post using only some fashion of rhythm.

If that idea strikes you as more effort than necessary, then feel free to consult this week’s entrant into the Member of the Week hall of fame: Danny! Being a lover of all things Pokemon and having a Ford Focus that seemingly chooses to work when it wants to, this week’s festivities are going to provide a fair share of laughs and head-nodding. I assure you this is an interview you won’t want to miss, because for everything involved, there’s nothing but Danny’s usual carefree attitude.

For the full interview be sure to stop by the Member of the Week thread and get to know Danny better, or maybe even see the world through his eyes. He is, after all, the fifth member to be recognized among his peers. Who’s next?

GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week

This week’s featured vehicle is the evolution of the ‘Baby Lamborghini’ itself, the Gallardo LP 560-4. The LP 560-4 not only set a higher standard for super sports cars with it’s new engine, permanent four-wheel drive transmission and new suspension, it also delivered improved performance in a new elegantly redesigned package.

Being the successor to the most successful Lamborghini model of all time, it had to outclass it’s predecessor every inch of the way to truly make way for itself and being powered by a brand-new 5.2 liter V10 engine was a step in the right direction. Boosting power to 552 horsepower and reducing engine weight by more than 40 pounds, the LP 560-4 is able to make the sprint to 60 mph in an effortless 3.7 seconds and up to a new top speed of 202 mph. Best of all, despite it’s increase in power, fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions have dropped by 18 percent.

Continuing the trend of staggering improvements comes the redesigned rear diffuser – being more efficient and contributes to a higher degree of steering stability, even at high speeds. Combined with the smooth underbody, the aerodynamic efficiency has improved a whopping 31% which enables the new LP 560-4 to tackle fast corners with more ferocity than it’s predecessor. Lamborghini is well-known for setting the bar high in the 60’s and that tradition has continued strongly and the LP 560-4 is no exception.

Have a suggestion for next week’s featured image? Drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week” and fill it out with your two choices and they’ll be featured in upcoming Rewinds. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

GTPlanet Tune of the Week

Gran Turismo is host to the history of Nissan’s Skyline, there’s no getting around that fact, so instead of wallowing about wondering when change is going to take place why not jump behind the wheel of one of these marvels and see what all of the fuss is about? And if you’re persuaded to do just that then you should look no further than this week’s featured tune which features GTPlanet’s own mainstay mechanic praiano63.

This tune, recommended to us once again by danbojte focuses on the R32 GT-R in 500PP trim ready to be taken around your choice of venue and conquer the competition. But remember the tune is prepared with Sports/Mediums in mind, and you wouldn’t want to offset the balance.

Victory is the name of the game as usual and if it’s a deserving victory that you’e after and you want to do so using a swift Japanese sports car, then you’ll want to stop by and see the tune for yourself.

Exactly like the Picture and Vehicle of the Week features, if you have any suggestions for the upcoming Rewinds be sure to drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Tune of the Week” and let me know. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

Forza Motorsport ALMS Challenge

http://youtu.be/KZTPph7BLRI

Based on the real 2013 season of the American Le Mans Series, the ALMS Challenge is a season-long series of Rivals Mode racing events that will coincide with a race on the ALMS calendar. This month the challenge places you right in familiar yet unfamiliar territory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and the weapon of choice is the 24 Hours of Le Mans victor, the 1991 Mazda #55 Team Mazdaspeed 787B.

Post your best time in the event each month and you’ll be rewarded with an in-game car complete with a custom ALMS Challenge livery. The top 500 finishers of each event will earn championship points, with the overall season winner winning an ALMS Challenge trophy at the end of the season.

GTPlanet Photomode Competitions

In Week 127 of the Standard and Advanced competitions you are to put your best foot forth and show the community just how seriously you take your in-game photography. All you need to know is as follows:

Week 127, Standard: Endless Rivals – Oh, this is one is good. Every racing discipline has their fierce rivalries, and the rivalry you’re going to be tasked with recreating in GT5 is that of Peugeot and Audi: the kings of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Get out there and capture the essence of this rivalry to the best of your natural abilities and don’t forget to have fun while doing so!

Week 127, Advanced 2.0: Minimalist with Maximalist – Take it away, mazda787! We have all seen great examples of minimalist shots and great examples of maximalist shots (shots with a lot of details, patterns, objects, etc.). For this week, I would like to see your attempts at combining what you think is minimalistic with what you think is maximalistic in one picture.

For all of the relevant information pertaining to this week’s challenges be sure to stop by here and here.

Closing Thoughts

Here I sit, listening to the Iron Man 3 and The Avengers soundtracks and I just can’t help but look forward to The Avengers 2 with the greatest intentions. If you still haven’t seen The Avengers (what is wrong with you?!) then I won’t spoil anything, but things promise to be incredible for the sequel in 2015.

With Iron Man 3 kicking Phase 2 of the MCU off to a very good start don’t think it ends there because this year November comes Thor: The Dark World which I’m looking forward to as well. So much comic book geekery going on, I’m bound to need my own personalized oxygen mask after all of this has subsided. So much excitement!

As I may or may not have mentioned earlier on, Extremis was handled a bit differently than I was expecting – the Mark 42 armor, the starring armor of the entire movie, is of Extremis nature and yet it isn’t. I won’t detail exactly what that means, but I had no problem with the way it was handled either way. Also, and I’m going to put this in bold red text for your own benefit: Beware of the comments below because there’s bound to be a spoiler or two.

Once again I forgot to mention that I’m on Twitter now. What was once going to be a bit of parody account (because I don’t use Facebook or Twitter for any reason whatsoever) has quickly turned into me using Twitter rather effectively. So, follow me and suggest all things Rewind-worthy from the comfort of your tablets, phones, or Skynet-linked computers. Remember, when the machines finally rise you’ll need someone to write pieces regarding the matter littered with Armageddon-y undertones and I can be just that guy! What were we talking about? Right, Twitter, so if you’ll follow me here the Rewind can be delivered to you in a timely fashion not seen since snail mail. Wait, that’s not the right thing to say!

You will be showered in Rewind, Seasonal Event and future article goodness courtesy of yours truly though so there’s that worth looking forward to – once I’ve bothered to get the thing up and running. It can also be used to suggest things for upcoming Rewinds, so that’s now two ways you all can keep me on my toes.

With that said it’s time to end, until next week keep racing!

GT5 Photomode images by RomanBidnyy (Posted by hawk2201), G.T. Ace, and KING OF SKULLS.

See more articles on GTPlanet Weekly Rewind.