GC '07: [UPDATE] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Hands-On
Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi talks about the upcoming release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.
Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi gives us a guided tour of GT 5 Prologue.
LEIPZIG, Germany--There are two versions of Sony's upcoming real driving simulator Gran Turismo 5 Prologue here at the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention, though it's probably fairer to call them slightly different aspects of the same game. In fact, if you want to be entirely accurate, you could say that there are actually three versions of the Gran Turismo series, if you count the downloadable Gran Turismo demo that's currently available on the PlayStation Network. Nonetheless, as we were roaming the massive Sony space in Hall 3 of the Leipziger Messe in search of all things Gran Turismo, our focus was on the two versions of Prologue.
The first version featured eight racing cabinets set up to show off the game in the way a game like this is supposed to be played: with racing seats (which proved to be nearly too narrow for our frame), a full HD screen, and a Logitech wheel-and-pedal setup. The featured track was Japan's Suzuka circuit, and the game presented us with a roster of 22 cars to choose from. The full list:
- Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec '97
- Acura NSX '91
- Daihatsu Copen Active Top '02
- Dodge Viper GTS '02
- Audi R8 '07
- BMW Z4 '03
- Volkswagen Golf GTI '01
- Alfa Romeo Brera 3.2 JTS Q4 '06
- Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione '91
- Lotus Elise '96
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX '05
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X '07
- TVR Tuscan Speed 6 '00
- Renault Clio Renault Sport V6 '00
- Ferrari F430 '06
- Alfa Romeo 147 TI 2.0 Twin Spark '06
- Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG '02
- Audi TT Coupe '07
- Ford Mustang GT '07
- Nissan Xanavi Nismo Z '06
- Suzuki Swift Spark '05
- Nissan GT-R Proto '01
Not all of the cars were drivable, however; the Nissan Xanavi Nismo Z wasn't playable, which is a shame because it looked like one of the hottest cars on the list. Though we didn't try them all, every car we drove on the list boasted the new in-car cockpit view that will be a big part of the Gran Turismo 5 driving experience. The amount of detail in the cockpits is fantastic so far, from the complex yet elegant interior of the Ferrari F430 (with its different-colored gauges) to the futuristic-looking cockpit of the TVR Tuscan Speed 6. By the looks of things, though, there's work yet to be done. For example, when switching gears, there was no corresponding animation of your in-car driver switching gears with the gearshift. In addition, the rear- and side-view mirrors weren't working properly in the build we played.
After selecting a car and choosing options for things such as transmission, stability control, tire type, and so on (using a menu very reminiscent of that found in the GT HD online demo), you're given a five-minute time attack session on Suzuka to do as many laps as you can.
Though there seemed to be some technical issues with the connectivity between the eight on-hand cabinets, the game was networked in a sense. In addition to racing against a number of cars controlled by the artificial intelligence, you'd occasionally come across cars driven by players in other cabinets. In addition to the eight racing cabinets, there was a separate screen on hand, which displayed a live time sheet that broke down the sector times for all cars on tracks. A camera would periodically switch between all of the different cars on track as well.
The other version of Prologue was found not too far away, in a different part of the PlayStation area. Here, players could plop down on beanbags and enjoy the game with the more conventional Sixaxis controller. While the same car roster was on hand in this version (including the unplayable Xanavi Nismo Z), the race type was a 16-car offline competition, pitting our skills against 15 AI-controlled cars, again on Suzuka.
Racing against such a large field felt odd for a Gran Turismo game, especially after so many years of battling it out against just a handful of cars. The game AI displayed the typical GT tendency to stick to its racing line, and, as a result, the cost of being bumped off the road or making an error in a turn was all the more exaggerated. After all, in older GT games, a mistake meant you were passed by three or four cars; in Prologue a mistake can put you in the back, with 15 aggressive cars to pass to get back to the head of the pack.
Beyond the cockpit view and the large number of opponents, GT 5 Prologue is immediately recognizable by its handling, particular the extremely bouncy feeling of the shocks. Weight transfer between the rear and front wheels in a car is something the GT series has always taken seriously, and you need only slam the brakes before turning into a tight corner and watch the front of the car lurch forward to see that it's still a big focus. Another familiar "feature" for the GT series--a lack of damage modeling--was also in effect. Collision detection seemed spotty in places too but, like the rest of the game, there's time for things to improve before it's released.
One other crucial difference between the two versions of Prologue was the appearance of rumble in the racing cabinet version of the game. The rumble feedback was fairly light and noticeable mainly when driving over the rumble strips that line the side of the circuit. Naturally, rumble wasn't present when playing with the Sixaxis-controlled version of the game. Still the fact that it was present in the other version gives us hope that we won't be rumble-free for long once Gran Turismo 5 is released.
Our coverage of GT 5 Prologue will continue this week here at Leipzig as we learn more about this game, which is currently slated for release in Japan in October.
[UPDATE] Today, we sat in on a presentation hosted by Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi as he demonstrated some of the new features that will be present in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The game is due for release on the PlayStation Network as a free download later this year.
Yamauchi started by introducing the front-end menu system of the game, which, as we described above, is a good deal different from previous entries in the Gran Turismo series. In addition to your current car appearing front and center in all its high-res glory, gorgeous interchangeable backgrounds from locales such as Germany, Tokyo, and more will also be available. Referred to as "3D wallpaper," these decorative background images will be tied to your profile in the game and you'll be able to change it whenever you like.
e ae, esse jog sai ou nao sai
the_el_man they have time to improve their A.I you fanboy! The reason why GT hasn't got any customisation is that they cared more about how the cars handled than how they look. So Forza looks better but GT handles better. And don't tell me about damage, cause they want to animate every bump, every scratch and every piece of glass flying, so it takes a really long time.
Reasons Forza took over and will continue to be better than GT and IS NOTHING TO DO WITH 360 vs PS3..... 1, AI - Plain and simple GTs AI has always sucked.. they hav eto play seirous catch up to beat FM2's AI. 2, Customisation - or lack of.... GT5 looks no diff. This is why the cars look better as they dont have to account for differences in programming. Not just visual but real time processing of differences. Its all about "the badge". Forza is the new Ford Mondeo, whlist GT is the new Merc C Class. Everyone wants the C Class but the Mondeo is the better car. (AMG version aside)
When i first played GT4 on the ps2 I thought the graphics were amazing but with GT5 having 200,000 polygons per car compared to 4,000 on gt4 and with 1080p HD and 60FPS this game WILL be the best looking game ever made
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Why are people complaining about A.I. and damage modelling since those will be improved and added. GT5 is without doubt the greatest racing sim. Graphics aside even but should say 1080p / 60fps!!
I'm so getting this game when it comes out. This would be the best racing game out there.
if we get car damage in GT5, ill wait as long as it takes
ahhhhh how much longer must we wait....GT5 HD and now Prologue stop tormenting us
yep, shoulda let stig drive, no fear i heard we get prologue free on the PSN, that true?
to stistyle13: Yeah, Jeremy Clarkson was 10 seconds away in real life than his game time in GT. Although Clarkson also said that he believes that he wasn't able to push the nsx to the limit because of his own fear (especially because of the cork screw). I think it would have been a more accurate comparison if they just let 'The Stig' drive.
GT has more pedigree than forza. I think Sony know what they're doing Cruzadr
I havn't enjoyed playing GT since the very first one this will not make me rush out and buy a PS3 like Forza made me get a 360. Sony better pick up their game because Blu-Ray isn't enough.
to answer HAAS599's question, the british motoring show Top Gear did just that. Jeremy Clarkson drove a honda nsx around laguna seca in gt4 and real life and could not match his game time
better have damage on cars this time like a real raceing sim dose.
Does anyone know if there has been a study done of someone driving a certain car on a certain track in real life and then playing that same car on the same track on different games to see which game they felt was more accurate? If not then Gamespot needs to step up!
Looks promising.
when exactly is the release of gt5 prologue, they keep sayin later this year but wth when exactly.
Okay I've played both Forza and all the GT's, GT is the better game but Forza makes it mark at the same time. Forza isn't a TERRIBLE GAME okay? If you spent your time enjoying the racing game and it's values on a universal aspect instead of trying to make unsubstantial comparisions we'd all be happy. Play them both for all I care, but I DO agree that GT5 looks like a half-step ontop of GT4. And no, I really don't need all those cars, but they ARE fun to collect.
soo looking forward to this, really hope since this is a prologue the graphics will look better on the final version because honestly from GT on the PS1 and GT3 on the PS2, these games pushed what the system can do, so why this supershiny game. we want to see damage and dirt, paint flakes and bug splats on the windows. These gpaphics are certainly not forza beating. there about the same. Come on sony im hoping you can really pull something out of the bag here.
Same AI ! Same crash Physics, I'm not impressed, this isn't a proper racer like Forza 2, its more like a collect em up like pokemon? This game is no different from the last GT. LAME ! . If the Ai remains the same then i wont bother with this, GT's AI is terrible, its like the CPU opponents dont recognise ur there and just drive through you. I want gameplay not grafixs. SOrry but GT looks like its gona suck hard. GT was good the way it was 10 yrs ago, it has not evolved and now seems plain and boring.
Maybe there will be so much to add to the series (totting up the detail on EVERY car will be some task) - that periodically releasing the game in parts would be the better way. I would imagine that the games engine, menu system and all that will be finalized - but things like tracks, cars and updates could be released periodically (stored on the harddrive) because it would take YEARS more to make the FULL game, if it IS going to have damage modelling and all the rest of it. I reckon they will probably release the game in periodic-chunks. That way the initial game is there, and instead of letting the competition have loads of racing games out - GT5 can offer more content each (for example) quarter of the year or something to battle it out. A game so massive like GT5 probably won't be all on one Blu-Ray - the industry (especially next gen) moves rather quick, so it would probably be beneficial for them to periodically update it with damage modelling, and access the data (and modify it) on your hard-drive. If its on blu-ray, it will probably not be so easy and changable with the updates as it would have to physically access everything on the disc. Access speeds from a SATA hd are so much faster - so this is probably what they will do.
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If you look at the weather reports in some of the videos you'll see "Daytona Beach" and Shanghai, among other track locations such as Brands Hatch and Le Mans. Hmm...maybe we'll see the return of the NASCAR like we saw in GT2?
I have liked the GT series for years now. I remember seeing it on a screen in a shop once back in the ps1 days. I thought that was definately a PC or n64 game... and was amazed to see it was for the ps1. Gt 3 for the ps2 was amazing, never had a racing game had so much to browse through and race. Not even Metropolis Street Racing (aka project gotham) for the dreamcast was good enough to beat it - however, you can't bach the gameplay with that game - it probably had more gameplay in it that gt3. When gt4 came out, I was real excited to play it. Whilst playing through, I came to realise that all the work I did on gt3 (the obsessive car collecting...) will have to be done like TWICE over for gt4. Playing basically the same game engine, same car sounds, same sort of cars, same sort of tracks (not much difference except they LOOK different) - collecting those cars became a bit of a bore and I never spent as much time with gt4. Now gt5 is on the way, I am excited again to play the series ... But, it seems like the in-car-view (something I have always liked, but honestly never used to race with) is the only REAL update to the series... Frankly, the 5th game on - the game just gets more cars and tracks and builds ontop of what the other games have done - Don't get me wrong, gt is a good racing series. But now, with the sheer amount of cars (do you really NEED ALL those cars?) it is more like a car collecting game, than a car racing game. The concentration on the in-car-view proves that they are mostly concerned with displaying the cars themselves, and collecting them and tuning them up as you wish. This is great, but when you end up pinballing around the track with no consequences, no adaptive racing line to hone your skills, and with Forza offering more nifty features like customizations of the paintwork - And with burnout coming out with a new racing game... and even project gotham 4 to think about - GT 5 better have more up its sleeve than in-car-views. imo.
We can bash the graphics, and thats mainly what people are doing though.
oh fanboys u cant basj forza if u havent played.
Forza, psh, Gran Turismo makes Forza look like a pushpop, you can't beat GT's realism and attention to detail. If you haven't gotten GT4 yet, get it and play it, otherwise wait for this to come out, it will be great.
mannnn this is gonna rape forza ! ! ! ! !
"with racing seats (which proved to be nearly too narrow for our frame)" LOLOL u do realize that if sony made jumbo seats, it would just be encouraging the stereotype that gamers are pasty, obese people right? thank goodness that didnt happen. on the other hand this game looks sick. GOGOG GT!
GranTurismo is the best racing game
I Loved GT1 and 2 but they with only graphic upgrades to 3 and nothing new that anyone cares about adding to it or 4 my interest in the game went away. I want to think they will add new stuff to this game but I have learned by now now to put much in Polyphony Digital. I could care less if they improve the graphics over the last two and most of videos they showed were like an opening screen thing so who really cares or is impressed by that? Lets hoe they actually pit crews and and actually beefy season mose kind of thing this time. Thats lisence stuff is boring and needs to go, or a only keep in it as trainer for newbies but you should have to go through it. Oh lets see a full field of cars on the track this time or are we going to get nothing but excuses again.
I have played GT 1 & 2 avidly back in the day and now have moved to Forrza 2 on my 360. I have adjusted the control to the dual analog GT controls and I can contest that Forzza feels nothing like a go-kart. Get your head out of your *** and respect a game for what it is. If you prefer GT more, good for you, but don't name call like a 4yr old.
@boyle348 have you played forza 1 or 2 ? and if so what class of car did you think handled like a go-kart please ?
The cars in GT5 Prologue look amazing and the handling is more like a real car. No other game is like that Forza and PGR handle like go-karts compaired to GT.
Yep. Sounds like just another GT game...Pretty Graphics, lots of cars, SH*T handling. The only thing i'm looking forward too is the cockpit view... Forza 2 (with it's inferior graphics and all) FTW!
"Well I dont know about the rascist stuff, but it is strange they release there first seeing how the US gaming market is far larger than Japan." Jeez, would you Americans just listen to yourselves?? The entire US gamer market may be larger than Japan (and that is a pretty big assumption unless you have any evidence), but I doubt there are more PS3 owners in the US than JP... Also, why are you complaining about a Japanese studio releasing a game in its own country first? Don't the US publishers screw the rest of the world like that pretty much every week?
That sounds so cool! I can't wait to get it!
I think people are forgetting that it's called Gran Turismo 5: Prologue for a reason. A complete assumption but I'd say it'll be another year or so before we see a complete GT5. Honestly, I think what Polyphony Digital is doing in releasing bits and pieces of the game. I'm sure they'll get some form of feedback and they'll use that feedback to enhance the final product.
"The game AI displayed the typical GT tendency to stick to its racing line, and, as a result, the cost of being bumped off the road or making an error in a turn was all the more exaggerated" just sad. lack what counts the most, gameplay.
When is this baby coming to north america?! BY FAR the best racing series to date!
>peon_frenzy Correction. Japan is the largest. US is the 2nd largest. Note even an article in gamespot reports that their arcade industry profits are 1/3rd the size of all US Game Sales (that includes arcade and console game sales) And not for nothing Japan is the dominant force of the video game industry as Hollywood (US) is the dominant force in the movie industry. Of course their own market is the priority first.
PHIBALNATION....im sure when forza2 or pgr3 came out it was released in north america first, no need to get testie lol, but i understand im DIEING to play gt5, gt4 graphics suck on ps3
I really don't think any GT game is revolutionary other then #1. GT #1 push the PS1 hardware to the max and created a racing experience no other system had ever done at that time. But now all modern simulation racing games are just about on par with each other. I guess what it comes down to is the style of racing and car types you want.
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
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- Downloadable Game
- Publisher(s): SCEA
- Developer(s): Polyphony Digital
- Genre: Driving
- Release: Apr 15, 2008 (US) »
- ESRB: E
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