Gran Turismo Awards Announced, GT4 Prologue Trailed

Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting a press release revealing the winners of Sony's Gran Turismo awards at the SEMA auto show in Las Vegas. The overall winner of these real-life auto awards, Ted and Sue Richardson's 1962 Buick Special, gets a virtual make-over, since "their vehicle will be drivable in Gran Turismo 4 when it is available worldwide for PlayStation 2 in 2004." The car will probably make it for the final version, but not for the recently-announced Gran Turismo 4: Prologue Version, which will debut in Japan in January 2004, and "will feature five courses", including Times Square, Japan's Tsukuba Circuit, and the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, C+VG seems to have confirmed that this preview version is "released solely for the Japanese market", so Western Gran Turismo fans will have to wait a little longer for the final version.

Comments

bah

[-stax]

It's pretty obvious that Sony does not hold the US market in the same regard as it does it's home market. The Japanese consistently have gotten the better releases of GT, More demo's and even demo units inside dealerships.

Why is this?

Re:bah

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll tell you why, Douchebag.

It's because the japanese yen is worth more than the dollar. So for these limited runs it does not make sense to convert them to english, print them (in the us at US rates $$$, or in asia, at cut rate prices) and ship them all over the US. Face it, it's all about economics.

Re:bah

[h0mer]

Do you really want to give Sony extra money? As far as I can tell, GT4 Prologue is basically Sony throwing a bone to the rabid Japanese fans who'll buy it and then buy GT4 when it really comes out. I don't know what the pricing is, but I'd bet it's not a sweet deal like the Zelda pre-order disc.

I'm sure GT4 will have enough content for almost anyone :)

Re:bah

[Haeleth]

Possibly for the same reason that the world outside the USA pretty consistently has to wait for months to see American films?

The thing about the Japanese is that they are Japanese. That means they care more about Japan than about America, just like Americans care more about America than about Japan. Deal with it.

Re:bah

[Anonymous Coward]

The U.S. dollar is currently strong against the Yen, and it's always been "worth more."

But conversion rates have nothing to do with this topic, idiot.

because

[reptilezero]

the games are made in japan :) you can always import if you want the special stuff :)

not sure if that car will do well in track racing

[Numeric]

i dont think that car would survive Laguna Seca Raceway. However, I am aware that GT3 did feature many muscle cars but they were limited to a few tracks, if I recall correctly.

Re:not sure if that car will do well in track raci

[Bazzargh]

you're forgetting that the GT franchise has appaling physics. No car damage, cars don't flip, etc. The only thing stopping you putting an F1 car on a dirt track and taking it round without it smashing to pieces is that the game's menus won't let you.

Re:not sure if that car will do well in track raci

[DrEldarion]

They would have all that stuff if the car manufacturers let them put it in. :/

Re:not sure if that car will do well in track raci

[simoniker]

Random thought - if the Gran Turismo competition was really judged on the spot, how can Sony guarantee the winner will be in Gran Turismo 4? Don't they have to get prior permission from the car manufacturer before announcing it? What would have happened if an obscure make that Sony had no deal with was the best car at the show?

Misinformed poster.

[Anonymous Coward]

GT3 featured very few muscle cars, and the only limits placed on which cars could go on which tracks is that you could only race cars that would accept rally tires on rally tracks (dirt tracks). Every car could race on every road track. Not sure where you got your info from, but I beat the game (err.. achieved 100% completion) and can say that with absolute certainty.

The only muscle-ish cars I can recall off hand are the Shelby Cobra, and Ford GT40, and they dont fit the strict definition. If you really want to stretch it, there was a camaro z-28 and SS, and Ford Mustang, but all are modern day versions.

The car...

[WinnipegDragon]

Anyone have HP numbers or 0-60 times for the car?

Re:not sure if that car will do well in track raci

[Anonymous Coward]

I would not call the physics appalling. I mean yeah, you can smash a car up w/ almost no detrimental effects except a little tire wear, but everything else is pretty damn solid. Driving schools have used GT3 as a classroom type simulator. In particular, Laguna Seca was described as being 'spot-on' except for that nasty corkscrew type turn at the end, which is a bit nastier in game than in reality.

But... I read an interview w/ the lead guy for GT3 on firingsquad about 6 months ago, and he cited the lack of damage and such as time and design constrained- they would have to create banged up models of all the cars, on top of making normal models... easily doubling/tripling the amount of work required.

The game is friggen hard enough to beat as it is... I couldnt imagine going 90 laps into a 100 lap enduro, taking a hit and having to restart. I mean it strives to be a simulation, but its still a game.

So?

[Alizarin Erythrosin]

Western Gran Turismo fans will have to wait a little longer for the final version

So what else is new? We've always had to wait longer for the final version...

Release date

[Hadlock]

So what's the latest revision of the release date for GT4? Last I heard was April somthing....?