i got my hands on the game last night at the local shop ko after wal mart refused to sell it to me. i have spent a good few hours with the game so far. even though im still at the beginning of my racing career in the game, i know how this story goes. Its still Gran Turismo. The same sound effect of tires screeching from GT1 is still in the game. you still have to go through license tests and so on. if you were expecting (hoping) that GT would take a few pages from other racing games out there and evolve the sires forward you will be disappointed. however if you still love GT and are crazy (Jeff's words not mine) you will find a solid racing experience that has more things in common with a RPG then a racing game. in true GT fashion the game looks stunning in HD. cars are vibrant and seem to leap off the TV (not even playing in 3D.)  when your racing a NASCAR on Daytona going well over 200 MPH the whole car begins to shake, and as your view becomes rattled by the sheer amount of power  your so desperately try to hold onto Gran Turismo is at its top of its form.  
          
      That's just it. the game is a open love letter to cars, and trying to put you in the experience. however... there is not much of a game here other then the one you make up for your self. its fairly aimless other then requiring you to finish license test before letting you race in more traditional events.  there is not much structure here, i dont know maybe thats a metaphor or something?  im not going to get that deep with it. i should also note here quickly that as of this writing the online seems pretty broken. i spent an hour just trying to get into a game with no such luck. no matchmaking what so ever. 
 
The long and short of it is. Its GT, love it or hate it. its still the game you played years ago.

Sounds good enough for me.

I feel like people are expecting magic from this game.  Its a racing simulation.  I didn't find Forza 2 or 3 that game-like.  And I didn't find any of the NFS or PGR to be that accurate of a racing simulation.  People have already made up their mind if they were going to buy this the second it was announced.  I feel like skeptics exist because they want a Racing simulation they can enjoy because racing sims offer such a robust roster of cars, tracks, and modes.  But if you not a racing fan.......how can you enjoy it. 

I love Gran Turismo, so, great.

It sounds like GT5 doesn't do much in order to bring new people into the game.

Anyone else not connecting online? 
 
My menu just hangs there while the background is all active.  I keep getting server errors...and it's making the loading a pain for GT Mode.

"The long and short of it is. Its GT, love it or hate it. its still the game you played years ago. "

" @KaosAngel: Happened to me once earlier. Said it couldn't connect, retried, and then took about 30 seconds to load GT mode. I'd blame day one issues that should be ironed out soon enough. Been fine since though. "

I am genuinely curious as to what all the delays were about if it is, at it's core, the same game?

I only played GT1 and it's one of maybe three racing games that I ever really got in to (the progression side was a huge draw).  It was difficult, but it was the difficulty that made it satisfying - and that difficulty never stopped them selling millions of copies after all, so I guess accessibility was never that much of a problem.  
 
I bet if GT1 had the 'Follow the line, brake when I tell you to brake' mode, I would have got bored with it after 2 races and never touched it again.  I just don't find that engaging at all, but at the same time, if it's in there then I'll resort to using it because I'm weak.  I think there's a lot to be said for making your game difficult and just forcing the player to become better at it.  This is kinda why adventure games stopped being satisfying the moment walkthroughs became readily available.

I am not guilty of my car fetishism!