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Gran Turismo 4 Demo Quietly Released In U.S.
An anonymous reader writes "Sony has seen fit to release Gran Turismo 4: Prologue in both Europe and Japan, but the U.S. arm of the company chose not to ship it in the States. The result? Only importers and select members of the media have been able to play the game. Thankfully a limited U.S. demo has turned up from a very non-gaming source, according to GamePro.com, who explain how to navigate through the Toyota web site and request a Toyota Prius-specific two track demo of Gran Turismo 4, completely free of charge. The demo is playable on a standard U.S. PlayStation 2 console. I wonder if Toyota made enough copies of the demo to satisfy every PS2 owner in America?" We previously reported on the Japanese version of this disc, released last September.
America is handed the shaft again! When will those companies realize that as a culture, americans are much more prone to throw money at something? Give away a million copies of the demo, you'll sell 2 million copies of the game. Thank God for Bit-Torrent and PS2 hacks.... Anyway, the game still looks Awesome, and I hope to have a copy of it opening day - Set up a temt outside the EB in the mall, make a campfire, sing some songs till a guard tries to run me off... Good times, good times.
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
Doesn't appear Canadians can get it :(
Your request was submitted successfully. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.
... however, it shouldn't surprise me as the local toyota dealership told me that there's at least a 4 month waiting list for the prius in this area)
ITEMS ORDERED STATUS
2004 Prius Brochure - Valid to Fulfill
2004 Matrix Brochure - Valid to Fulfill
Gran Tourismo 4 DVD - Valid to Fulfill
2004 Prius Accessory Brochure - Out of Stock
Gran Tourismo 4 DVD - Suppressed Duplicate Rule
2004 Matrix Accessory Brochure - Valid to Fulfill
College Graduate Rebate Flyer - Valid to Fulfill
Looks like you get the Gran Tourismo demo with the Matrix, too. Unfortunately, they appear too clever to send me two copies.
I find it humourous that they have more copies of the game than of certain parts of the literature brochure (which i'm actually interested in
I just hit the submit button and now I'm wondering how soon I can expect to get it (assuming supplies last)... any chance I'll get it before the game is released (I'm on the east coast)?
"PROFANITY is the inevitable literary crutch of the inarticulate MOTHER FUCKER." -- some PC user
I know in Japan they were giving the discs away with Prius test drives (that may have been mentioned in the previous /. article). I'll have to ask my brother who's a salesman at a local dealer. Maybe he can snag me a copy or two if they have them there.
Overpriced? It costs $0, including shipping and handling, and you don't even have to provide real personal information.
There are 10 kinds of people: ones who understand ternary, ones who don't, and ones who think this joke is about binary
We should try and /. Toyota's website.
He refers to GT4:Prologue, which is 25 RRP in the UK.
2004 Prius Accessory Brochure Out of Stock
Thats what I did. I bought GT:Prologue months ago. I also have GT:Concept Tokyo and many other cool games months before the US gets them ;)
I got this on Friday, when it came out in the UK. I can understand why US gamers are upset at the lack of a release, although I'm not too sympathetic, as it's more normal for us Euros to get shafted.
However, you're not missing too much with this. GT4 Prologue has 5 tracks (plus two short-version tracks and an oval test-track) and about 60 cars. There is no car customisation, and the cars are overwhelmingly Japanese and not really the most inspiring bunch. You can only race against AI opponents on 3 of those tracks. Most damningly of all, there is no multiplayer mode, which sets this appart from the other less value-ful versions of Gran Turismo, such as Tokyo-Geneva. The bulk of the demo is composed of about 25 "lessons", which are basically the same as the license tests from the other GT games, albeit with more of an emphasis on teaching and less demanding time-limits.
The engine feels great and looks even better. It's still not quite photo-realism, but by god it's close. However, with no multiplayer, the lifespan of this game isn't going to be more than a couple of hours. Just wait for the full game. From what I've seen, it's going to rock.
Oh well, the new Driving Force Pro looks very tasty with it's 900 degree turn radius and rack&pinion mechanism so I'll probably have to get one of those to play GT4(P) and use the Momo for the rest..
It's halfway between a demo and a full game, 64 cars, and a few choice tracks. It's probably as much game as some of the poorer titles offer, but it's pretty ridiculous to charge GBP 25. The PS2's launch schedule has severly flagged in 2004 IMO, so maybe they think that releasing this will prop it up a bit until Christmas.
I hardly think that a vehicle like the Prius is a good way to showcase a game like GT4.
Unless the racing has been replaced by "fuel economy."
Now give me a demo with just the new Subaru WRX variant, and we have something...
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
I did not see it posted so here is the link to the order form:p /toyota.aspx
https://gotoyota.programhq.com/activity/aspx/tybr
All you need to do is request a Prius brochure and they will send you a brochure and the GT4 DVD.
Does anyone have a car list for GT4 final? I could really care less about the demo right now.
ITEMS ORDERED STATUS
2004 Prius Brochure Out of Stock
2004 Tundra Brochure Valid to Fulfill
Gran Tourismo 4 DVD Out of Stock
2004 Prius Accessory Brochure Out of Stock
2004 Tundra Accessory Brochure Valid to Fulfill
I also got a copy at the NY auto show, and I also agree it sucks.
There are two tracks, one called the fuji speedway that I at first thought they had just changed the name of grand valley national speedway, and the other is the much hyped grand canyon course, which looked nothing like what I had seen in screenshots. There is eye candy to be found, but only in the replays. When actually driving, dont expect to be wowed by awesome scenery.
It also only contains two cars: the prius and a prototype that I believe runs on a hydrogen fuel cell, if I remember the display at the auto show correctly. The prius is no fun to drive whatsoever. One of the main new features is that each car has its own dashboard display. Watching your MPG in the prius on a racetrack just doesnt do it for me. The hydrogen car is more fun to drive, and has some really interesting gauges on it, but the grand canyon course is pretty much a rally course, and the car handles fairly poorly on it (again not much fun).
In addition, the game has a 2 minute time limit (IIRC) that doesnt allow you to finish the 2 lap course around the fuji speedway.
I am a HUGE GT3 fan, and nearly jizzed in my pants when I got the demo, but its only fun for about 5 minutes. If anything, it made me really skeptical about how good GT4 is going to be. The graphics are about the same, with the only noticeable improvements being animated spectators. The driving experience felt about the same too, with the same notable lack of damage.
Point being, dont be too upset about the GT4 demo being out of stock. In fact, contact me and I will even send mine out to someone. its 5 minutes of entertainment have long passed.
...but officially, the Gran Turismo 4: Prologue demo is not to be released over here in Europe; at least, not here in the UK. So, looks like you guys arent alone in missing out...
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