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Gran Turismo 4 Launch Date

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the squeeling-tires dept.

Gamespot has the news that the much anticipated driving simulator Gran Turismo 4 releases on February 22nd in the U.S., while European drivers will be able to purchase the game on March 9th. From the article: "Before it finally launched in Japan on December 28, the much-lauded driving game had experienced delays of more than a year. Gran Turismo 4 will feature more than 700 automobiles from more than 80 manufacturers racing across new locales--including the city streets of the Big Apple and Las Vegas. Consistent with the series, drivers will compete in races to acquire various licenses and move up in the ranks. Unfortunately, the game will not include an online mode."

11 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. All this time, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    and still no online... Any word on when the online version is coming out? They delayed this game over 2 years, you'd think they would have SOME kind of online mode in there. Is choosing different angles on replays ("B-Spec mode") really as important to a game experience as going online in it?

  2. What's the Big Deal? by hoser · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seriously, though.

    I haven't played Gran Turismo myself -- I'm not a big racing fan -- but what is it that sets it apart from other racing games?

    Personally I'd rather race around Liberty City or Vice City from the Gran Theft Auto games. I like the sense of freedom (and getting away from the cops) rather than the closed tracks of racing games. But what is it about the Gran Turismo series that's so great? All racing games are pretty much alike in my (admittedly somewhat ignorant) opinion.

    --


    hoser: Slashdot reader since 1987.
    1. Re:What's the Big Deal? by LordOfYourPants · · Score: 4, Interesting

      First off, I don't want to say "it's very realistic" because I will get annihilated, so I'll stay away from that word.

      Instead, I'll say this: the steering system is a lot more involved. You can feel an actual difference in steering between cars with front and rear wheel drive. You can't just run every race by flooring the pedal and bouncing off of walls in strategic ways. Very detailed car data and the like. The cars look beautiful, especially during replays and have a lot of freedom for internal customization.

      Honestly, though? I think the game mostly feeds on people's Pokemon "gotta catch them all" obsessions.

      A lot of the time is spent not enjoying the races, but saving up for other cars which will let you enjoy the races. Even when you get the new car you are saving up for modifications that will further let you enjoy the car. After you get to that point the money you are making isn't enough and you go on to saving for the next best car.

      After the cycle of wanting the best car ever is over, it's on to beating the game 100% and trying to get the best results on the license tests. The license tests basically let you run a part of the track in a certain vehicle in under a certain length of time. For example "ride your Porsche 911 through this S-turn in 11.7 seconds for bronze, 11.598 seconds for silver, 11.515 seconds for gold."

      What I would be interested in seeing is how many people play the game for fun AFTER they've beaten the game 100% and acquired what they believe is the best car. ie: how many people play it for the sheer fun of it like someone would play Robotron or replay a Zelda game.

      If you look at the FAQs you can see some signs of this. There are FAQs dedicated to showing you how to beat endurance races (some lasting 2+ hours) without you having to touch the joystick.

    2. Re:What's the Big Deal? by Moby+Cock · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The Gran Turismo games really focus on accurate driving physics. Of course, the cars are indestructible which sort of throws a wrench in the accuracy. The GT games also focus on accurate upgrades to the cars. You can trick out your cars with all kinds of add-ons and such, not all of them will increase the car's performance either. The GT games are for gear heads and real race enthusiasts.

      The GTA games are more hedonistic in tone.

      For me, I could never get around the indestructible cars. It spoils the game, IMO. I know many people really enjoy the game, but for me the cars should have damage modelling. By focusing on reality physics the skills of driving are highlighted. This is cool, but cornering can also involve ricochets off of other cars, as a perfectly valid race technique (in game). This is totally outside the idea of simulation that the games attempts to acheive. And, for me, it spoils it.

      I understand the reason for it. The auto makers want there cars to look great in the game. But I'm not so sure that damage modelling would adversely effect the marketing aspect of the car licensing.

      I may rent GT4, but I won't buy it.

    3. Re:What's the Big Deal? by Headcase88 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That best explained why I played Gran Turismo 2 so much. IMO license tests are the best part of the game simply becasue you have a fixed time to aim for (ie, it's pure skill).

      Problem with the main game of Gran Turismo 2 is that it started out painfully s-l-o-w, and all you had to do to win everything was save up 2 million and buy an Escudo Pikes Peak, simple as that.

      The other problem is that the gameplay was just too realistic for my liking in some ways, and then painfully unrealistic in others. Call me crazy, I found Burnout 3 more fun (hopefully many will agree with me on that one), but moreover, I actually found it more realistic, well, at least in some key ways. Sure, you can steer the direction of your crash, but hey, at least you can crash in Burnout 3, something impossible in Gran Turismo games. Also, Burnout 3 has a more realistic sense of speed. Even compacts pushed to the max feels fast in real life, and Gran Turismo doesn't catch that sense of speed even with higher-end sports cars.

      You can probably tell I'm not a fan of Gran Turismo. Well, I'll admit why, it's because that I suck at the turns. I will often fish tail or spin out or something, usually right at the end of the race. I know that's supposed to be the challenge, but I find it more frustrating than challenging. Heck, Burnout 3 is probably harder (IMO), but I find it much less frustrating. I guess one that is more obsessed with actual racing would find GT much more enjoyable, admittedly.

      --
      "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
    4. Re:What's the Big Deal? by Napalm+Boy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      For me, I could never get around the indestructible cars. It spoils the game, IMO.

      Really? I always though that the game was better for not modeling damage. It's a driving simulation that lets you focus on the driving itself, rather than the repercusions of failure if you take a turn too fast.

      For the purposes of the game, compare slaming to a full stop and having to regain 12 seconds to an automatic disqualification; the first is still a penalty for my mistake, but I can learn from it and immediately get back to the game. Stopping the race to tell me that I just totaled my car and I have to start over would get annoying very quickly. From a game design perspective, I think it's better to keep the player playing, and to treat the simulation as a simulation - it's not the real thing, but you can learn a lot from it if you want to.

      --
      Well, the door was open...
  3. online play through xlink kai by supersuckers · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a lan option, according to the gran turismo 4 web site, and on the xlink kai site they list gran turismo 4 as being supported. Basically, this is tunneling software that let's you play the LAN mode over the internet.

  4. What a coincidence.... by keiferb · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've got three midterm failures scheduled for shortly after that.

  5. Miami? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    We've got GT4: Las Vegas and GT4: New York. But where is GT4: Miami with David Caruso?

  6. Online play later in the year? by philiptan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Talking with an EB games staffer (and GT fan), I heard there's an online version of GT4 slated for later in the year. While it's unclear whether it'd require you to own the non-online version of GT4 to play online (I'm guessing probably not), apparently it'll let you import your non-online GT4 data into the new version. Why would anyone want to buy the February version of GT4, then? Well, given that most of the modifications you can perform on your cars (and the cars themselves) aren't obtainable until you put many hours into play, this means that folks with the older GT4 will be hopping online with tricked-out rides while those just buying the online version would be racing stock cars. This won't make a difference in the long-term, but that would certainly suck for new adopters for the first couple of months. Sega GT did a similar thing, releasing an online version after the non-online game had been on sale for a long time, so even though this is hearsay, I'd be biased towards believing it. Not that this is necessarily a winning marketing strategy...

  7. Won't be fooled again by warnerve · · Score: 3, Funny

    With every new Gran Turismo relase I get caught up in the hype. I somehow forgot that I find that series overly complicated and too involved for my gaming habits. It's like I go brain dead the week of the release and go buy the game. I get home, start playing and yell "son of a bitch!".

    If you've ever heard Louis Black's candy corn routine, it's pretty much like that.