GRAN TURISMO NEEDS TO EVOLVE!

 

GRAN TURISMO NEEDS TO EVOLVE!

 

I just don't like people calling Gran Turismo/Forza the most realistic simulators there are. I enjoyed the Ps2 GTs (I don't have a Ps3, so haven't been able to play GT:P) and I still enjoy Forza 2, but they are far from the most realistic sims.

I think GT is the most stale series ever, every time its supposed to be sooo super realistic and miiiind blowing graphics. But whats realistic about crashing into a wall at 300km/h, backing a little up and keep going? When I mention this to my friends that are into GT they just say crashing cars would be fun for 5mins and GT isnt that kind of a game. What about having to be careful with your car when your racing, isnt that more realistic?

" I think GT is the most stale series ever, every time its supposed to be sooo super realistic and miiiind blowing graphics. But whats realistic about crashing into a wall at 300km/h, backing a little up and keep going? When I mention this to my friends that are into GT they just say crashing cars would be fun for 5mins and GT isnt that kind of a game. What about having to be careful with your car when your racing, isnt that more realistic? "

" @Gylfi said:

" I think GT is the most stale series ever, every time its supposed to be sooo super realistic and miiiind blowing graphics. But whats realistic about crashing into a wall at 300km/h, backing a little up and keep going? When I mention this to my friends that are into GT they just say crashing cars would be fun for 5mins and GT isnt that kind of a game. What about having to be careful with your car when your racing, isnt that more realistic? "

To be fair Gylfi, it's called "The driving simulator" not "The crashing simulator" -- I appreciate your point but Gran Turismo built its entire franchise around the physics between man and car. . "

why are people bitching? its not like there is any competition at all, I mean the only competing franchises are GT and Forza and they aren't even on the same platform.

" why are people bitching? its not like there is any competition at all, I mean the only competing franchises are GT and Forza and they aren't even on the same platform. "

" @Gylfi said:

I think you totally hit the nail on the head. Gran Turismo was always a game for car enthusiast, people who appreciated the aesthetics of cars and was to me complete car Porn.

I have played Forza 2 a lot so i understand both sides of the argument, however i fail to understand why the inclusion of damage is so important to some people. The truth is if you crash at 30MPH, 25MPH even, your car is fubar. I know, i have been in four crashes each at considerable slow speed and the car was fucked. So in this sense neither Forza or any other racing game with damage is realistic because it would be no fun. But damage was never what Gran Turismo was about, it was about cars as a character, each handling differently, each with their own simulated effects. 

On the other side however i believe Forza sticks to close to assisted braking and the racing line which i turn off immediately       

Not sure why your comparing PSP games to console games, but whatever. 
 GT has always been a driving simulator, which means they try to get as close as possible to what its like driving these cars. It isn't really ment for off the wall crazy on track action, its just not. GT caters to a very niche market, for people who would love to drive a $500,000 car but will never get the chance. Games like Grid, Forza, NFS Shift have found sort of a new niche for people who want some sim, but still want the forgiveness of an arcade experince with rewind features and assists and whatever else they've thrown in. GT gives you an excellent driving experience, Forza is obviously for more racing. There is a difference.
 
I never get why people bring up having no damage in previous GT games, ever thing that the PS1 discs simply couldnt accomodate having damage models on the 300 cars they had (or whatever number it was)? Just having the selection of cars was mind blowing, but I really dont think they could have fit damage models on them all onto 1 disc, along with everything else they had. 
 
That being said, I dont want to come off like Im saying ones better then the other, I've only played the demo of Forza and it was ok, I still they have some lighting issues, and for some reason the cars handle like shopping carts.

I think you are directing your criticism of simulation racers as the faults of Gran Turismo, rather than a trend for the genre.  GRID and Need for Speed, by simulation standards, is fairly arcade, not properly representing the care, craft, and finesse required to cut the apex of every turn, the tension of every overtake, the milliseconds wagered before braking near a corner.  Polyphony did this first, did it best, and continues to do this better than anyone else.  There's an inherent car lust imprinted in every aspect of its design, and an uncompromising attention to detail that simply are not being duplicated by rival series, in the name of accessibility.  
 
Being the forefather has its difficulties.  For one, it is forever tangled between the established and the unexplored.  While indeed it is essential for any series to advance and grow in time, the tradition in which it was established is pivotal to its identity.  The identity of this series is very difficult to define; Yamauchi appears to have narrowed it down to three aspects: large eclectic catalogs of cars, realistic and responsive controls, and amassing a cult following larger than any series on PlayStation while reigniting car culture in the process, a unique talent on display from the very beginning.
 
For these reasons I respect Gran Turismo.  It is a time-capsule of digital motorsport, and while some of its content has no doubt stagnated, many are still timeless virtues that are under constant duplication and admiration.  Without question, most of the successful racers of today owe their very existence to Polyphony Digital trailblazing console racers in 1998.  And while developer Turn 10 are make sizable chinks in GT's armor, and Codemasters are providing a niche-stop for the uninitiated, and EA are injecting megatons of style and flair, mark my words: Gran Turismo is immortal.   In the course of a decade, Polyphony have endured two hardware changes, broadband internet, the launch of the Xbox, the reignition of PC simulation, and most assuredly the birth of Forza.  It is something more than just a racing simulator, in the spirit a car is more than just a machine.   
 
Gran Turismo has survived everything in its time.  It will certainly survive this.