It's hard to know where to begin. Like many people here, I've followed the GB crew since Gamespot. I went in and out of high school AND college watching every bit of these guys that I had time to. That's a profound thought. 12 year old me would've never guessed I would be sitting here at 21 so deeply affected by the death of a video game journalist. But, I think that speaks to Ryan's presence as an individual. He didn't feel like just a video game guy I watched on the internet, he felt like a real person. I won't be so arrogant as to say I knew him, but it just dawned on me today that I've listened to him talk more than I've listened to some of my closest friends talk. His voice on the bombcast has gotten me through break ups, exam weeks, boredom, and any other issues I might've had along the way since Giantbomb's inception.

Hell, when I started to get emotional over this today it was over the memory of him answering one of my dumb questions during a live show about Halo Reach. I did the thing I imagine everyone did, ask a very general question in the hopes it'll have a better chance of being read. Mine was. Ryan even said my name. And remembering how stupid it is that I felt special for that 3 or 4 years ago choked me right up.

I kept trying to rationalize, "It's only the internet, you have no right mourning over someone you never said a word to." Yeah well, fuck that. I do and I will miss Ryan Davis, genuinely. I've been hearing his voice and seeing his face for almost half my existence and it would be insane to look past that now.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You Ryan Davis. I only wish I had said it sooner.

I won't plug mine here or anything, I was honestly just looking for some advice. I'm in college right now but ever since things have picked up with the company, my heart isn't in school anymore. I feel like I could focus and make a quicker path to greater success outside of the classroom.

So has anyone else been through something similar and wish they made a different choice somewhere along the way? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm sort of shooting in the dark as it is.

Right off the bat, there are a couple of extenuating factors that I think are worth mentioning before I delve in to this. 
 
First, I have played both games with friends locally and online. 
Second, I played GT5 with a wheel and F3 with controller only. 
Last, this is probably gonna be a long read, but I'll try to make it worth your time. This will only really interest people who care about racing games more than the average gamer.
 
-The Driving/Racing Differential.
      I fully concede that GT5 tackles the DRIVING experience on a level that is beyond Forza. I can sit in a premium car and take it around a track and feel like I'm coming as close to the real thing as possible. However, as far as high-adrenaline racing goes, Forza tops GT on all levels. The sound is better, the AI is just on a different level, the sense of speed is more accurate, and everything combined works great together. When I race in Forza, I feel like I'm always battling. When I race in GT, I feel like I'm just running to the front of the pack and trying not to mess up. No confrontation, no aggression, and certainly no mid-turn overtaking from the AI.
 
-The Handling and the Feel.
      GT5 tackles car handling in a very realistic manner. There is more technical stuff going on in GT5 than I care to imagine. But I'm not sure that this translates to the actual gameplay so well. The way Forza's cars handle is so much more fun to control in my opinion. They seem more predictable, heavier, and more solid than GT5's cars. A lot of this is probably opinionated, but there is something about the way forza translates power and grip that just feels more like the real thing to me. 
 
-Cars.
      Recently a friend of mine came over with Forza 3. I say recently because the important aspect isn't that I have only just played it recently. The importance here is that I had a break. I went about 5 months without playing Forza, and played GT5 in the time between then. While in GT5 I missed some cars, but I didn't realize how fucking bad I missed them until I drove them in Forza. Here's a quick list of where Forza 3 is now compared to where GT5 is. Everything I noticed GT5 missing:
 ~Lotus Exige- Are you kidding GT5? 4 Elise's and the Evora, but no exige? WTF were you thinking?
~ Aston Martin DBS, Vantage V12, and really anything but the DB9 if you only count premium. The two biggest driver's cars to come out of Aston and you have neither? Awesome. Oh, and Forza 3 has the one-77. Just sayin.
~ Porsche. I mean what the fuck? There really isn't much to say about this. And the sad part is, even if Poly put them in, half would probably be premium. If you were lucky. Or you know, 2/10 if you're polyphony.
 ~ A huge number of small-time car makers have made it in to forza now. And the updates are consistent as well.
~ BIGGEST POINT. All of these cars listed above that only Forza has(and there are tons more), have something in common: None of these cars are fucking half-assed pos's from last generation. Imagine that.  Oh and, NONE of them have matchbox-like undersides. Nice "perfection" there Kaz.
 
- Why the "time" argument is invalid for the lack of premium cars and other content in GT5.
       6 years. 6. Think about that. Let that sink in. The entire Forza franchise has come up in this time. 3 games. GT5 mustered up 200 well-done cars, a lackluster online, bare-boned customization, 800 shitty reused cars, and a good photomode.
 
At the most, Forza 3 was in development for 2 years. Is Forza 1/3 of the game GT5 is? Hell yes, and so much more. By now, it has 500+ COMPLETE cars, a fucking huge online component(the best in the genre, no contest), the deepest customization, and it got some tracks too.
 
By this point, if Forza 3 would've been developed for 6 years it would've been a full-on MMO with 1500 complete cars, constant updates, hundreds of tracks, and a beastly customization level. I know that what I'm saying is unrealistic, but I'm using this to put what GT5 could've been in to perspective. What it SHOULD'VE been.
 
- Ends and Means, with Fun on the side.
 
In 6 years, GT5 mastered virtual driving, and did justice to 200 cars. Dabbled in NASCAR and attempted rally. I had to ask myself: "Was this worth the wait? Is this any better, or more fun, than Forza 3?"  No. And at this rate, Forza 4 will close the gap even more. I'd rather drive, and race, 500+ cars that matter  and that are 80% accurate, than to drive 200 90% accurate cars, look at stupid duplicate cars that are just fucking marketing fillers so they car say "1000" (lol 40 skylines, 15 miatas, 2459048 civics, but no Porsche),  and have the inconsistency of racing GT4 cars.
 
For fun, for the racing, for the community, for the content, and for the love of all cars, Forza 3 still reigns supreme. Without a doubt in my mind.

Well, I recieved my CE edition of the game. Haven't gotten any of the special cars, nor have I used any online features. I have just gotten A and B licenses and I'm level 7. I have a long way to go. I'm going to arrange this in to a pro/con list and a general note area(Note: I have played only using the DFGT). These are my impressions thus far: 
 
Pros: 
- Driving/handling is just.....goddamn....absolutely the best on consoles by miles and miles. 
- Graphics/effects are great. Premium interiors are great and the city tracks look breath taking. I've only played one night-time course, and it was nice as well, not much experience here though. 
- GT life interface. I like the layout, and I always feel like I'm progressing.  
- Content diversity. There is a ton of stuff to do and there are a wide range of types of events as well. 
- Overall progression of the game(more in notes).
 
Cons: 
- Issue with the license tests(will say more in notes) 
- Loading is hit or miss. Although I've heard loading issues are worse when connected to internet. I'm not connected at all with install, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. 
- Some might argue that there isn't a lot of "game" here, but I think that is by design, explain in notes. 
- My DFGT keeps getting off-centered to the right some after a while of play. Patch later? 
 
Notes: 
 - I love how the game gradually implements more features over time(more damage, better cars, special events etc.) 
- I think this game is something very unique in overall design. I would call this a DSRPG(Driving simulator RPG). It just feels like a very open game, with a very nice leveling system and great at doing what it does. 
   
Big issue 
- The license tests have a trophy system: (X time equals gold, silver, or bronze; X place equals G,S,B). The problem is, they aren't balanced in my opinion, let me explain. 
 
This is how you expect a G,S,B ranking to go: 
Gold- Tough, master of the concept. 
Silver- Understands the objective and completes it well. 
Bronze- Completed objective with mistakes. 
 
This is how it has gone for me: 
Gold- Holy fucking shit, forget it. (lol go around the nurburgring in 3 seoncds =D ) 
Silver- Goddamn, that was close. (Yo, dawg just overtake these bitches at this corner) 
Bronze- Herp derp, a paraplegic could make this time. (Hurr maintain a body temp. of roughly 98 degrees) 
 
But, with all of this said, I'm making it, and loving it. It is all I expected and more. To top it all off, as mentioned somewhere else, the Apex book should be sold by itself, it is the best driving book I've ever laid eyes on. Worth the extra $50 alone. It is that good. The GTR Spec-v model is well made too.

Just a small piece of irony to note before ninteno and sony come out.

Microsoft's best game showing involved a Metal Gear game.

I want sony to have motion control. But I want it to be more interactive and game driven than kinect, and less gay than wii. It needs to be applied motion control, not games made from it. Sony's got this.

I'm making it my new gaming place for a reason. It rocks =)