After Sony's dizzying E3 presser, we were given a chance to play Gran Turismo HD for the PS3. I quite enjoyed Gran Turismo 3 and was looking forward to some one-on-one with the game. I pushed my way through the crowd and tried out a GT motorcycle for the first time. I started the bike up, turned a corner and was dumped off. Another corner and was dumped off the bike. Wash, rinse, repeat.

After a minute of this, I actually gave the controller the person waiting behind me. I couldn't take it. That was my first hands on with a PS3 game.

On Saturday, when Mike, Scott, Jean and I hit Polyphony Digital, I got another crack at the game. There were PS3's laying around the office with controllers for us to pick up and play the GT HD demo. So, after stuffing my face with three hamburgers, I did just that: Stuffed my face with another hamburger and played GT HD.

The track was narrow. The controls felt way too sensitive. I thought I was cruising along, slowly, but would plow into a way. I felt like an idiot, and I couldn't get into it.

Pulling aside Kotaku's freeloading photographer Scott (the dude in the Poll clip), I picked his brain about why the game was so off-putting. Note: Scott not only owns all GT games and insisted on sitting next to Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi at the press event, but he actually clapped every time Kaz changed the slides at the presentation.

Scott said, "I know what they're trying to do. The details on the car are incredible. The physics are perfect. It's just, the game isn't fun." He told me at the Sony party, a French TV crew were trying to get game footage, but could not control the vehicle. Scott offered his services, only to make an ass of himself, repeatedly hitting the wall.

Amazing detail and incredible physics may not mean fun. But then again, fun doesn't seem to be the point here. Yamauchi has set out to make the most realistic driving simulator and has. When he showed Ferrari the models of the car, Ferrari said that it was the most realistic representation of the car a third party had every made. Talk about true praise.

Worth picking up? If you like Gran Turismo, no doubt. But, play with a wheel, tweak the settings and work at it. This is more than a driving game, it's a driving simulator. Brian Ashcraft

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