Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 3:18 AM
Wed Dec 2
62 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us:
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
| AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
| AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
| AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/12/09
I was so disappointed when they showed bikes for GTHD and then there was nothing in GT5P... it's so fun running a ZX-10R around the Nurburgring Nordschleife. #gt5
11/12/09
11/12/09
So, make Tourist Trophy 2. I'll be happy to play it when it comes for PS4. #gt5
11/12/09
Just goes to show you who's committed to quality.
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
I'm sure you all remember this... #gt5
11/12/09
11/11/09
As for DLC, I have a suspicion we'll see next to nothing. They'll humor us with some holiday version of existing vehicles and that's about it. Instead they'll hoard everything for GT6 which should be done in time for the PS4 Slim. It's either that or GT5 is only going to make available a percentage of the claimed 1000 cars and we'll have to pay for the keys to unlock everything already on the disc. They have to recoup their $60 million investment somehow. #gt5
11/12/09
Most racing/driving simulators that are exclusive have redeeming features that make it good for its fanbase and GT is usually quite good at that too.
You don't have to post something negative about GT5 each time there's a new post about it you know, Optimus Prime would be ashamed :P #gt5
11/12/09
The claim was made that the GT4 engine was completely scrapped for GT5 which I don't buy at all. It's an inefficient way to work. I'm sure they had to dump a lot for the sake of the PS2 to PS3 transition but otherwise the basic physics engine should be the same. And in fact, it does feel pretty much the same. Otherwise they went and scrapped the previous engine but then were still unable to properly handle collisions or rollovers?
I suspect most of the money spent went into modeling all those cars, not building the physics engine. Prologue has 60 cars and 6 tracks. GT5 has nearly 1000 cars and 20 distinct tracks. Given the mount of work Digital Polyphony has shown going into modeling each car and track that's where you're money is going and Prologue isn't going to be much help. And don't forget the features that have been added since Prologue.
I think the GT series is excellent. And they've certainly pioneered the driving game with huge car libraries. On the other hand, the GT series is a perfect example of diminishing returns. All this time and money spent and GT5 likely won't be much better than the competition. It will certainly be good, it had damn well be given everything that's gone into it, but I'm hard-pressed to see that all the effort expended was justified. Then there's the fact that Sony loves trumpeting this game as the ultimate in realism, and they can't get things like collisions right. But it doesn't end there, I've never found the handling characteristics to be totally convincing. Forza feels more convincing to me. And even better is the simulator Live for Speed; they've even modeled tire flex in that game. Unfortunately the graphics in that game are lacking and the car list is worse. Those are the two areas where GT5 will decisively beat the competition. #gt5
11/12/09
Getting back to what you've just said. I'm not entirely sure how they coded GT4 and if GT5 is coded differently. I mean for instance why Naughty Dog had to rebuild their entire engine from scratch was because they used to use LISP and believe me when I say this sometimes it is actually cost effective to build a new engine from scratch than to tweak it to a newer system. That would be far more time-consuming than to start fresh.
With that said, it is quite likely that they are using assets from the previous games and some codes but really I don't work there so I wouldn't know. I agree that basic physics engine could be the same. Or they might have begun with porting and then realized that it would be effective to just change most of it. It could explain why they took so long. Regardless I do feel that they must be getting some money from car companies for the idents. Car companies are notoriously lavish with their budgets for advertising (I know this from personal experience), if they see advertising through GT as good as regular advertising then they would've given them quite a large sum of money which also would've helped the budget. I doubt that they'd have to use the entire money to make a new ident when they have reusable assets and such in the game.
I wouldn't say about diminishing returns so strongly, I mean it's the fifth game in the series albeit the first for the current generation of consoles. There would be a strong reduction as people now see with the Guitar Hero Franchise (I think when I said it peaked with 4 someone argued but the sales of 5 show it did indeed peak with 4, granted that it's not been out long but the sales are definitely less in a week by week comparison in a few territories at the least) but considering this is the first one for the current generation there would also be a surge. It's very hard to say because of several factors. It will be less perhaps due to the userbase being smaller but also it could be higher if the userbase expands on the basis of the ip, plus I'm sure TV shows will promote this. Shows like Top Gear really do promote this game over any other and that gets a whole different audience into the game.
Handling I guess isn't totally convincing but to be very honest I've never felt a game's handling for cars to be that convincing even with a wheel and other peripherals. Motorbike games on the other hand yes. It's strange but perhaps something to do with perception of space maybe.
I will say however that both games have redeeming features to make them good simulators and enjoyable and believe that when the product is finally out we can truly judge how good it actually is. Till then we've just got GT5p and the words of people. #gt5
11/11/09
thanks Luke for being the voice of reason. #gt5
11/11/09
They can each add features and the other match them until racing gamers are in ultimate heaven... #gt5
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/12/09
@NarooN: Glad I could be of service. Few things make me happier than people who share my taste for really-really-really bad puns. :)
11/11/09
On a somewhat related note, Tourist Trophy sounds like a somewhat tacky name. What with the alliteration. and the word tourist. #gt5
11/11/09
[en.wikipedia.org] #gt5
11/11/09
11/11/09
To be honest, I have little to no knowledge of the world of motor sports. #gt5
11/11/09
Personally, a track editor in GT5 is infinitely more exciting than having bikes in it. But I'll happily take bikes as DLC later down the track. #gt5
11/11/09
11/11/09
It's certainly not something I would have envisaged Polyphony doing, and I'm always dubious about errors in translation.
But if the translation is correct, Yamauchi did say: "A lot of the courses we set up, we take a long time fine-tuning the details and building the track, so it would probably be a bit different than the types of tracks the users will set up in the game".
He's normally a lot more careful about being trapped by questions like that. But if it's not in, I would have expected him to say so rather than say he can't talk about it.
Polyphony have to have some sort of track editor to make the game, but I would have also thought it'd be on the PC. #gt5
11/11/09
Don't mind the 74 on metacritic, TT is solid, and the only real distraction you might encounter is fighting the urge to set the L1 as Kick and the R1 as punch. #gt5
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
I mean, sure, Tokyo Tower is often depicted being blown up/destroyed in a lot of anime, so why not just do with a real mech? :P #gt5
11/11/09
11/12/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
If GT5 were released right now I would buy it, but I wouldn't be able to play it let alone enjoy it as it should. GoW3 and MAG in Q1, GT5 and WKC in the summer and Last Guardian and some other blockbusters in the Fall would be perfect. #granturismo5