“Great news!” I cry. “What?” replies the community in unison. Is this to be some fantastic, ground-breaking news changing the future of gaming? A new console? Equality in Sony’s provision of content? Nah. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is getting an update on August the 1st. Silence falls across the Sarcastic Gamer community.
Why does this happen? Speculation, conjectures, hypotheses, theories and another word that means the same thing: they’re all after the jump.
The thing about the Gran Turismo series is that it’s not exactly a mainstream racing game, despite the way it may promote its credentials on the back of the box. It might talk of the supercars you can whizz about in and the glamorous locations from Fuji Speedway to London, but it’s very much a petrolhead’s game. Certainly, those less enamoured with internal combustion engines can jump into whatever car they can afford, slap on all the driving aids and drive with the gearbox set to full-auto, but that’s just not fun.
GT isn’t a game that’s designed to be played lightly by those usually accustomed to the thrills and spills of Burnout Paradise, Race Driver GRID and Need for Speed. You can’t just stab the brake as you approach the first corner of Suzuka circuit and hope that you magically zip around in a powerslide at 150mph. That sort of thing puts a lot of people off because it’s not an easy game to play if you’re looking for the wrong thing.
If, like myself, you’re a self-appointed petrolhead with a worryingly high degree of interest in the workings of a Subaru Impreza, or if you know meaningless trivia about cars you’d never need to relay to anyone (such as a Nissan GT-R’s gearbox and engine being uniquely handmade each time and only compatible with the respective component it was designed for) Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is the idealistic racing game. Hours can be spent adjusting suspension settings and perfecting racing lines, teasing cars into powerslides and controlling it just to the point where you can nail world records and get that little sense of pride and that all of that hard work was worth it.
Don’t get me wrong though. I like my arcade racers. Love ‘em. Page two.
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Kiltman67 // Jul 31, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Got it on launch day and played for a few days before losing interest. Did go back last week though and actually managed to update it successfully.
Might have another go if I find the time but I’m more interested in the patch which is supposed to include damage. Whether or not that sees the light of day is anybody’s guess though.
2 sogard // Jul 31, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I love watching Top Gear on BBC America, but I all ready record all the episodes on my DVR. But if they brought a wide selection of episodes and if they were compatible with Remote Play I might just buy it.
3 Yamster // Jul 31, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I dunno…I’m also unsure of whether or not they’ll be in high definition but I’m willing to bet they are. I’ll be watching it through the night and will update as appropriate.
Kiltman, your damage isn’t coming quite yet. It’s been confirmed its in the works but you’re waiting a bit longer.
4 Eoco // Aug 1, 2008 at 8:31 am
Gran Truismo games have, in my opinion, always seemed boring. It’s not that the game is a siulation - that’s fine, it’s the complete and utter lack of soul or personality in the game. It just feels so clinical, and for that, I can’t love it.
Forza on the other hand has plenty of personality, thanks mainly to its in-depth paint and decal system - something GT is sorely in need of.
5 Yamster // Aug 1, 2008 at 10:33 am
Naaah. The soul of GT is found in buying a bog standard little car you hate at first, then grow to love as you race in it over and over again, upgrading it bit by bit and tuning it to perfection.
GT’s soulsearching is a time-honed process rather than something as instant as “hay look I drew a decal that has naughty drawings on it ha ha ha”. I wont forget that Toyota Corolla I bought used in the original Gran Turismo as my first car; I kept it throughout the whole game because I couldn’t bring myself to sell it.
6 FlintSteelton // Aug 1, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Wait, so was this just a rant defending GT5? -yawn-
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