[PS3] Gran Turismo 5 (Prologue) UPDATE HAS FAILED

I likes racing games. Given I recently worked my way through PGR4 and Burnout Paradise, have Sega Rally to return to and have picked up GT5:Prologue. Perhaps racing appeals more to Europeans, who knows.

I've picked this up because it was dirt cheap - I got it for £15, whereas a normal full PS3 title will go for £40-£50 at launch - and because I want to give it a go. It looks like it'll look pretty and with online play and what-not, well why the devil not. And it's so much more than a demo. A cut-down version of a packed title doesn't equate to a demo version of a game.

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Don't be such a pedantic fool. I could equally ask what constitutes a "full game"? It's only the existing knowledge that a 'full' title is upcoming that leads you to the conclusion that this is a demonstration for that game. And well this is an endless argument I have no great interest in.

You are correct though, it's the worth to the buyer that matters, but that, again, goes for all games that require payment for.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

So you're saying that if they'd just released the game as GT5 you'd be happy? Are you saying that it's the knowledge of the future 'full' game that makes it a demo? Therefore I wonder what the reaction would have been if you didn't know about plans for a 'full' version.

Given the amount of content in the previous GT games, and therefore the expectation for any GT5, I would guess people would still be bitching and moaning. But it has to make you wonder, what if they had launched Prologue as 'Gran Turismo 5'? At the same price-point it currently is, mind.

My point is, that calling it a "demo" is a cheap-shot, and lazy.

Edit: What does piss me off, however, is the whole installation bollocks. If I wanted the hassle, and time-waste, of installation I'd still be in the PC gaming scene. I want a console to be a console. I also don't want my harddrive filled with bullshit.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I do not, personally, believe 'demo' to be a derogatory term, but context is important.

The general intention of those labeling Prologue a demo appears to be to discredit, and use the term to substantiate their negative view of the release. I'm not saying you, or all people, but having read a fair number of comments about the game those branding it a 'demo' are doing so in a negative way. I'm happy to be proven wrong on that point.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

€40 does sound a bit much, though clearly you were happy to pay it though, otherwise you wouldn't have. Ultimately comparisons to US prices are pointless as Europe will never pay comparable prices, not in the current economic climate, and I imagine not ever. Since we can afford to pay more, we will always pay more. Though, yes, it pisses me off every time.

US/Europe price comparisons aside, I feel the £15 I paid is a suitable price, and I would happily have paid the £20 RRP if I hadn't had a money off code. £15 for a current-gen game is dirt cheap to me and I've picked up many titles for more than that (and consider them cheap). It's a matter of personal opinion then as to whether or not you consider this title cheap.

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OK, so having installed the bloody game, I decided I'd try giving it a go and an update is available - one that 'could' result in the loss of save or replay data (er, what?) - so I've got to sit and wait for this to fucking download and install.

CAN I PLAY THE GAME ALREADY, FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

Edit: Oh god, it's taken about 5 minutes and the download bar is at about 5%. Someone shoot me already. Time to go play Xbox then.

Additional Spam:
"An error occurred during download... download failed"

FUCK YOU THEN PROLOGUE, FUCK YOU SIDEWAYS.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Finally got the update to install and finally had a quick race. Bought me a red Mazda RX-8 as my starting car. First impression would be: hot damn it's a good looking game.

How ya doing, buddy?

I wasn't 100% I'd enjoy the Gran Turismo series still, but I'm finding that I'm rather liking Prologue. Firstly, the graphics are ridiculously good, but there's also a lot of incidental detail that makes the tracks feel alive when you're racing around them.

I'm loving the addition of the in-car view. I like the feel of racing from an in-car view, and not only do the ones I've seen so far look brilliant, but they also work well (some recent titles, such as DiRT, have had far too cluttered interiors that made it next to impossible to see the track from).

One noticeable improvement I'd point at is the opposition AI. There's still an element of them sticking towards the racing line, but not if they want to overtake, they actually seem to jostle for position now. And with up to 16 cars on track as well, there's often a bit more of that going on.

I've given online play a go too and was impressed by the lack of lag, and how quickly it found races. However, they've included collisions, which makes sense, but the problem is that people just cheat. I spent an entire lap avoiding hitting anyone, overtaking properly and got into 2nd position, then got rammed on a corner, which made me spin out. It's an issue with all current racing games, and one that seriously puts me off online modes of racing games.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I should clarify, incidental detail that makes the newer tracks feel more alive, since the old tracks feel more or less the same. OK, so there's not masses of life to the tracks on the whole, but they feel more alive in Prologue than they have previously. But hey, that's just my opinion.

Out of interest aesop, what racing games do you consider to have good AI? From what I've seen, and I've only just started on the B-class events, Prologue's AI seems a lot better than GT's previous efforts.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Sadly, the more I play this game, the more obvious the cracks become (the AI seems better at first, but on repeated plays it's like watching replays), and the more true this statement becomes:

Quote:

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue features 70 vehicles. Six tracks. Online play. On paper, it looks like a robust experience; supporters of the game bristle when it's called a demo on message boards. Having played the game for the past few days I can tell you... it's a demo. I wanted to avoid calling it that, and I didn't think that criticism was fair when it was being leveled against the $40 release, but after spending a significant amount of time racing around the game's six tracks and collecting those cars, a demo is exactly what this is.

[ source ]

I'm still against people calling it a demo as some sort of attack, but yes, it does boil down to being a demo, plain and simple. There's a lot of work for them to do before Gran Turismo 5 and I seriously hope they take on board any feedback coming back from players.

Skills will cite the UI as an area of weakness, and with good reason. It's a bare-bones affair, which I have nothing against, but some elements are just plain counter-intuitive. In order to see the events you have to buy your first car, but then you see the events and realise a lot of them require specific cars, or types of cars, so you'll be blocked from most races from the off. I'm still not sure why you can't tune cars from the off either.

It shows glimmers of promise and hints at what could make it into the full game. Unfortunately I think too many other games have come along and overtaken the Gran Turismo series in so many aspects that it starts to feel somewhat dated. There's very little excitement to the races, and very little feeling of competing in a race event. It remains an exceptionally pretty game and a good showcase of the PS3's capabilities on the graphical front. Would be a lot more impressive if there were damage.

However, the biggest disappointment so far has to be the complete inability to set up an online race with friends. You can't do it. It's just not possible, which is completely rubbish. It's not terrible, and split-screen could be quite good fun, but I can't help but feel more disappointed the more I play.

How ya doing, buddy?