What the hell is taking so long for Gran Turismo 5 to come out? They built Rome faster. Like you, I was hoping for Santa to bring me a copy, but no, now Sony says it'll be summer before the fun begins.
Meanwhile, I've been playing a lot of Need For Speed. Yeah, I know. It's a game for wanks. It's arcade-y. Not realistic enough. But it's fun and Kevin Smith our Editorial Director is heavy into Forza 3 so I keep from playing it for political reasons that I really shouldn't go into here. Plus, I can drive a silver 2009 Nissan 370Z just like our long-term car on nights when I've gotten home in some other, maybe, less interesting ride.
Not that the 370Z is exclusive to NFS. The GT5 North American "Time Trial Challenge" competition involves playing through a demo that has you race a Nissan 370Z on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
You drive the course in two time trial events, aiming for the best combined lap time. And if you're really good, you could be the one U.S. resident or the one Canadian resident (one of each) to win VIP packages to the 2010 Indy 500. Check out this demo video, then tell me which game you're into: GT5 or NFS or FM3. Or, do you prefer to go out and actually drive real cars?
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
adavis2493 says:
05:51 AM, 01/ 8/10
I prefer to race cars and kill prostitutes in the process- I'm more of a GTA kind of guy...
hybris says:
07:44 AM, 01/ 8/10
+1 adavis2493
Though I have played and still do play NFS almost exclusively.
BTW Shelby muscle for the win!
arm51 says:
07:59 AM, 01/ 8/10
While games such as these are fun, I still prefer driving in the real world. Although, with these, you don't have to worry about immense financial loss if you crash...
cr_driver says:
08:27 AM, 01/ 8/10
I enjoy both worlds, real and virtual.
I enjoy both games, gran turismo and need for speed, especially the last one, shift. More realistic than ever.
gjupp says:
08:47 AM, 01/ 8/10
I'm more of a MarioKart kind of guy.
fuhteng says:
09:18 AM, 01/ 8/10
FM3 - I even 'ponied' up the money to get the DLC with the 458 Italia. Yes, I'm that much of a Ferrari homer. I think the game is great, and I'm still playing it a lot. I would love to go out and hoon, but my 08 G8 GT would be expensive to fix, and the insurance would kill me, so I pretend to hoon. Sadly.
norsairius says:
09:23 AM, 01/ 8/10
I prefer driving in the real world for obvious reasons, more feedback from the car being the main reason, haha.
I've always been a Gran Turismo kind of guy, but I can't help but think that in all of their games I've played, the cars have felt very heavy and always had a tendency to understeer. I didn't get into the tuning aspect of the game much, but there were times with high-powered RWD cars where I'd turn off stability and traction control and the cars just wouldn't let go. It was really annoying!
Forza did a bit of a better job in the handling department, if you ask me. I hope GT5 makes the handling feel much better though.
As for NFS, I'm not entirely sure of which one you're playing, but I have been playing a bit of NFS: Shift and that game is actually surprisingly more challenging than I thought it would be. I love the sounds though and it allows for some crazy driving while not being too "arcade-y".
By the way, I'm guessing the 370Z in the embedded YouTube video is modified. Appearance aside, I'm pretty sure I heard some transmission noise. Unless the 370Z's stock transmission makes those noises, the one in the video must have been modified mechanically.
sgude says:
09:31 AM, 01/ 8/10
I have always been a Gran Turismo player, and I think GT5 is taking so long to come out because it is going to be incredible. I cannot wait for the new mix of cars and tracks -- does anyone know whether the classic Grand Prix tracks like Spa and Monza will be included?
eville_stu says:
09:48 AM, 01/ 8/10
Gran Turismo is beautiful and seems to be the most realistic physics but its so boring to actually play. My favorite is Grid (for road racing) and Dirt (for rally), less arcade liike than NFS but the sensation of speed is much much better than GT5. In GT5, you can barely tell the difference between 20mph and 100mph, its way too clinical for me.
Real driving is in a different league, I do track days with my motorcycle -- GSXR600, and some car track days as well with Evo and 360 Modena :)
DLu says:
09:50 AM, 01/ 8/10
@ norsairius, perhaps you have not played GT4 with "Sport" or even "Normal" tires, as opposed to "Racing" tires on a RWD car. And if you tried GT Prologue, using the "Professional" setting, I doubt you will think that its cars lack an ability to oversteer properly. Forza 2 was easier than GT4 actually, IMHO. Don't know about Forza3. GT Prologue in "Professional" mode, all electro-nannies turned off is pretty realistic. Drifting is something that's out of the question (except in the snow up here occasionally in New Eng) in real life. I also don't have the time to go out to a course to race. Gran Turismo is perfect for me.
However, I am angry that release date for the GT5 has been such a #@#%-tease. If the XBox wasn't such an unrealiable POS (threw mine away; everyone I know has been sending theirs back more than once), I may have switched allegiances. the PS2 and PS3 can take a beating and keeps running. Apparently the GT5 will feature damage, which will be great.
dougtheeng says:
10:38 AM, 01/ 8/10
"and I think GT5 is taking so long to come out because it is going to be incredible."
People said this about Chinese Democracy as well....and FAIL.
audisport says:
11:04 AM, 01/ 8/10
Well put... NFS is for wankers. I have to make it work until GT5 comes out..
lucien4 says:
12:45 PM, 01/ 8/10
Asking FM3 or GT5 is asking for lots of flame posts (although so far it looks still civilized:-)). GT5 is not finished nor reviewed so I'd wait for judgment when it gets reviewed. But regardless both games are exclusive to 1 console so no direct competition unless you own both.
FM3 has been reviewed and is available now and with Fanatec steering wheel and 6 speed shifter it's a blast to drive the 370Z. NFS has better graphics but it's arcade racer and not sim.
Of course nothing beats driving the real thing (except when crashing it).
See here picture of 370Z interior in Forza 3 (using zoom out trick, not default view): http://yratuw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1mlFpcyJXUWUUYV5s2R2rt54EiEAdIRMn8SLCm0QAKU-Y1A2TO89NqQ2F6zdSzuX7cn3APGS2lWOk9nseVcvFicCzvmrJgW90tV6OqkA7em4e_0WVpO61vMCkY6tco2fpvQE39shd6uWpFNxYnrdHKXw
sloshman says:
05:35 PM, 01/ 8/10
Unless I'm mistaken, GT5 will only have damage in certain modes. Probably by the time GT5 comes out I will be able to afford both systems lol
cwmoo740 says:
05:45 PM, 01/ 8/10
I really like FM3, although it really should be called AudiSport 3 because the VW group cars are ridiculously fast for their class (Audi S5, Veyron). GT4 did actually seem pretty boring to me, probably because of the lack of the sensation of speed, and I gave up waiting for GT5 about 6 months ago. I have the microsoft wheel for FM3, and it's really fun, although I wish there was a harder AI setting for the single player modes. I consistently beat the computer on hard difficulty with the assists turned off now, so I have to use worse cars against them to keep it exciting.
And yeah, NFS is kind of a lame game. Talk about realistic (not) drifting.
subytrojan says:
06:12 PM, 01/ 8/10
Enjoy, sloshman.
http://www.gtplanet.net/night-racing-weather-indy-cars-irl-confirmed-for-gt5/
mozzz77788 says:
03:19 PM, 01/10/10
I'm a Need for Speed person, but it still doesn't match the real thing :)
sloshman says:
05:43 PM, 01/10/10
Thanks Suby, that's encouraging :), One thing I do love about GT is the multitude of cars and ability to upgrade most if not all of them.