It looks like microtransactions are getting macrofied.

Luke Smith has an interesting story up, which leans on a Famitsu report, about the upcoming release of Gran Turismo for the Playstation 3.

If Famitsu's story is accurate, the game will ship in two flavors: Gran Turismo HD Classic and Gran Turismo HD Premium.

Premium will ship with two courses and 30 cars, with an additional 30 cars and two courses coming out later online.

Classic will come, Famitsu reports, with no cars or courses. Instead, gamers will need to purchase their cars and courses piecemeal. Famitsu reports that the cars will likely sell for 50 to 100 yen ($0.43-$0.85) and courses for 200 to 500 yen ($1.71-$4.26). Gamers will have about 750 cars ad 50 tracks to choose from.

Now Luke kinda goes psycho on Sony, adding up the cost of every car and track and saying that a complete copy of the game will cost gamers between $426.50 and $975. I don't think that's really a fair way of putting it.

Before we all start freaking out, and I'm not saying we shouldn't, we need to know what the two versions of the games will cost. What if the Classic was very cheap, or even free? Maybe Sony's going to pack it in with the PS3?

If that were the case then it would cost you $38.40 to $179.10 to get the same things the Premium ships with, meaning they could make the price about the same if you purchased it piecemeal.

Now here's where my defense for Sony breaks down. GT4 shipped with 250 cars, they were included in the price, not 30. So unless they plan on shipping both games for next to nothing or the single car price is much cheaper than even $0.43 a pop, Sony is trying to create a little money machine for themselves.

I love the idea of microtransactions, and I think the concept of being able to purchase cars and tracks for tiny fees is a great idea, but first you have to give the consumer a full experience. You can't sell them an empty box and a dream. Brian Crecente

Gran Turismo HD: Two Versions, Tons Microtransactions [1Up]