Let's pretend it's March 2007. You've braved the night-long queues and resisted handing any cash over to internet highwaymen, and you've finally got your hands on a PlayStation 3.
You've got its considerable bulk home and you've even figured out how to make it go hi-def on that expensive new telly of yours. Next, you get straight on the phone to your mates. "I've got it," you say. "Come round, take a look. And bring some beer. It's going to be amazing."
Of course, you're going to want to make that first glimpse of PS3 in action extra gob-smacking, a first impression to really blow your mates away. Question is, which disc do you slip inside for the big unveiling? Resistance: Fall of Man? Well, it'll have the wow factor but it might not make that instant connection. MotorStorm then? Nope. It's great fun, but not really an established name. Ah, got it: Gran Turismo HD. Everyone's played Gran Turismo. That'll do it.
PLAYSTATION HERO The Gran Turismo series belongs to that elite band of games that need no hype to generate excitement, and guarantee class with every instalment. It's up there with established PlayStation favourites like Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer in the 'needs no introduction' sphere. But you'll have noticed two intriguing letters in the title, where there would normally be a number. HD, or High Definition. They might lead you to think that this is no more than a stopgap measure until the real deal, Gran Turismo 5, and you'd be half right.
At first everyone thought GT HD was going to be a mere taster for the sequel proper, much like Gran Turismo Concept 2002 and Gran Turismo 4: Prologue Signature Edition. To a certain degree it is, but it will also serve as a test run for Gran Turismo 5's longawaited online foray, something which was on the cards with Gran Turismo 4, only to be disappointingly canned at the last minute.
The game is comprised of two very distinct halves: GT HD Premium and GT HD Classic, the former being an arcadestyle sneak preview of Gran Turismo 5, the latter being the tarted-up version of Gran Turismo 4. On the surface of it, GT HD looks, in structure at least, fairly familiar but as you go deeper, it's clear that GT HD offers a game world that you'd quite happily live in for years. Gran Turismo supremo Kazunori Yamauchi has been chucking cryptic hints this way and that at for four years now, and GT HD is the first concrete indicator of where the iconic series is headed.
The most obvious destination for the series, is whatever the videogaming equivalent of a Swedish nursing college is (in the old-fashioned sexist sense, when male nurses didn't exist). GT HD looks simply stunning. To give you an idea of how much more stunning, each car model in GT4 took around a month to design, whereas GT HD's have taken around six, and each one boasts 20 times the amount of detail. "The PlayStation 3 is the first console to really allow photo-realistic computer graphics", says Yamauchi, which is why we won't see GT5 until 2008.
That detail makes its way inside every car in Premium, as the in-car view will allow you to take in all manner of plush upholstery, walnut fascias and titanium roll cages. Gran Turismo games have always been as much about drooling over beautiful cars as driving them, but GT HD will take that to almost fetishistic extremes. You can see it in every single one of the screens and in every second of replay sexiness. Just look at the countryside reflected in every car's paintwork! It doesn't matter what you're driving past, it'll still make you stop, brake and ogle like a perv.
FLASH PAINT JOB Classic mode sees what is essentially GT4 treated to a high definition respray, with what was a none-tooshabby visual feast in the first place set to look pin-sharp. From what PSW has seen, even this touch-up job makes the original game seem as though it was being viewed through a thick film of coal dust. The razor-edged resolution applies not only to the cars but also to everything else you see on screen, and the mode is much more imposing.
Meanwhile Premium mode, the appetiser for GT5, will be a true indicator of how the next instalment will look as it uses the same complicated mass of maths and programming as the proper sequel, and won't be just a polished-up version of what we've seen before. Besides the obvious increase in the vehicular porn levels, we'll see loads more spectators gathered around each track and perhaps, more importantly, a massive depth of field effect.
In fact, thanks to PS3's huge grunt, the depth of field will be astonishing - up to a couple of hundred metres, as opposed to the pissing 20 or 30 in the older games. This means that as you look down a particularly long straight (like the monstrous Nďrburgring's, for instance), you'll be able to make out the tiny details at the other end instead of just a funny-coloured blur - should you be daft enough to take your eyes off the road for that long. Put simply, it will feel more like you're driving in an actual real-life location than ever before.
PREMIUM CONTENT But the most exciting news surrounding Premium concerns the actual cars, specifically the most requested addition by GT fans - Ferraris. At long last, the most prestigious name in the motoring world will put in an appearance in the most popular racing series, and it seems those amazing visuals look even better when they're reflected in scarlet. The star of GT HD will undoubtedly be the beautiful Ferrari 599, the newest set of wheels to roll off the famous Maranello production line - you can almost see Clarkson's man-fat dripping from the exhaust.
The mode will feature 30 cars to start with, a mixture of vintage classics and cutting-edge racers, and there'll be two courses to test them out on (one North American, the other based on the Swiss-German Mount Eiger track). However, Sony's online PlayStation Store will be selling additional downloads periodically: another 30 cars will be made available, plus more tracks, one of which will be a course taking in our very own London Town.
Classic mode, on the other hand, is entirely download-based. "The GT HD download service will be like iTunes: I call it GT Tunes" says Yamauchi. Eventually there'll be around 50 tracks and 750 cars to choose from for Classic mode, with vehicles going on sale on a weekly basis. Some of them will even be limited edition, but the prospect of vehicle trading throws up a dilemma thanks to real money transactions - would you want to swap your more expensive car for a cheaper model?
COMMUNITY SPIRIT The focus of Classic mode is very much on building an online community ready for GT5 - some aspects of GT HD will even be transferable to the next game, so that community is established before the game even comes out. As well as purchasing new cars and tracks, there's new parts and body kits, not to mention custom competitions. Players can organise their own challenges and cups, choosing car class, laps and what level of player you want to compete against. Classic seems set to evolve massively over the next couple of years.
A new download will also be available which improves the behaviour of your computer-controlled opponents, and in a first for the series there'll be a damage model for players to add to the game - although that won't appear until some months after the game's launch.
That vehicle-crunching damage download is going to take a fair bit of hammering when it does become available. Not only is every Gran Turismo title traditionally extra hard to master, but the number of racers you'll be competing against in GT HD has been bumped up to 12 from six. As you can see from some of these screens, the tracks heave with other throbbing member extensions during races, and it'll be interesting to see just how far the car-bending actually goes.
It seems a more casual approach has been taken to GT HD's gameplay. That doesn't mean you'll be playing a sloppier version of the classic racing series - far from it. No, where each Gran Turismo title contained well over 100 hours of intense, concentrated gameplay, GT HD will be aiming to make itself more accommodating to the easy come, easy go gamer by letting them get their petrol fix from a shorter burst of gaming. The idea is that gamers can take a 'pick up and play' approach and squeeze in 10 to 30 minutes of play at a time, instead of it being a bit of a long-haul slog.
Absent from Premium mode will be licence exams, in keeping with the mode's arcade feel. Instead, the truly hardcore tests will be available as downloads, and players will even be able to set their own challenges and requirements, upload them and let other players have a crack at passing them. Prizes such as special cars or parts will also be made available to those who beat official challenges set by the game's creator.
GHOST CARS Although it's been a long time coming, Gran Turismo's first trip online looks like being something very special indeed. The scale and scope of Classic mode will stretch way beyond multiplayer racing (see 'Turismo Online', page 30). Gran Turismo head honcho Kazunori Yamauchi reckons there'll even be involvement from the manufacturers themselves.
The game will be used as a virtual test bed for brand cars, to gauge reaction by allowing real-life car companies to insert a concept vehicle into a race. While racing, for instance, you might notice a strange car, the likes of which you've not clapped eyes on before, darting through the field, only to never see it again. Its maker could then see what sort of fuss it generates, see what players' opinions are, and use that knowledge in developing the car in the future. So not only will there be the possibility of competing against exclusive and exotic vehicles not seen by the rest of the world, but you could even influence the design of new cars.
Yamauchi also hints that "We're considering PS3 and PSP connectivity, similar to how a PC connects with a mobile phone." This will mean swapping custom made body kits, cars or events between the two platforms, further widening the GT community.
VA-VA-VOOM So yes, GT HD is an interim measure to keep our excitement levels topped up in the run-up to GT5's arrival, but no, it's not going to be lightweight filler. It'll be a reminder of what makes Gran Turismo brilliant at least a year before GT5 hits the shelves, and the awesome potential of Classic mode's online slant is enough on its own to get the old adrenal glands oozing Castrol in readiness. On paper, GT HD has every racer on the ropes. In reality, it manages to surpass every racer ever invented.
And let's not forget that Gran Turismo is first and foremost about autophilia, about appreciating great cars, at high velocity and motionless in the showroom.
MotorStorm will be a laugh, Resistance: Fall of Man will batter your head in, but Gran Turismo HD will be your automatic first choice game to show off come PlayStation 3's arrival in your lounge. It's obvious really. Cars are sexy, speed's great, and these two facts have never been more devastatingly combined than in the first next-gen Gran Turismo. Despite what you may have been led to believe, it's just about everything you wanted from a GT game: it's truly beautiful, it'll be enormous in gameplay terms and, crucially, it's going to be online. THIS is what next-gen gaming will be all about.
I hope its just because of the way the pictures were taken but some of the outlines on those shots are really pixilated.
Still not a fan of the idea of having to purchase the cars with real money though, I'd much rather win them in-game, what's to stop somebody with more money than sense buying up good cars and getting an unfair advantage online? That said though online multiplayer should be a good addition.
I have to say that I`m pretty unimpressed by those..
This used to be Sonys "must buy a console to play this" flagship product. How long has this been in development? And this is what they give us? Not to mention the UTTER CRAP micro transaction "hey, this content costs alot to make you know" model.
Bring on Forza2.. GT is an afterthought now. (Now I wouldn`t have believed I would say that a couple of years ago.)
We cant get the most out of our games because Sony want to make more money selling us the games in peices. For the Ł50 we spend for each game it should at least be complete. Instead they want us to wait 12 months to make as much money out of DLs as possible and then release the next one. Some of the cars we purchase will, more than likely, be available in GT5 anyway, its just a friggin scam. 30 cars to begin with, then 700+ for download only. If a new car comes out after the games launch then fine i can accept that, but having 700+ cars already licensed to be placed in the game and their only putting in 30 is just a rip off.
Looks like GT4 will be the last GT I'll ever buy then. Just as well, GT4 was bland, easy and a chore to complete. The hardest part in it was the driving missions only because you didn't have to choose the car to race in.
Thankfully, I'm now playing Toca Race Driver 3 which I have to say is a more accurate racing simulator. The days of GT in my eyes, as a simulator are over.
A Gran Turismo game is "top of the PS3 most wanted list"?
If that's not a negative commentary on every other game coming to the system I don't know what is. If you wish to sleep, which believe me after playing any game in the Gran Turismo series, you will, then buy a bed. Probably a bit cheaper than a PS3.
I would have thought MGS4 was at the top of the PS3 most wanted list... although that's not a very compelling series either. 2 minutes of play, 30 minutes of cutscene, repeat.
Looking at these screen grabs. I would say that there is nothing here that we haven't already seen on the Xbox360.
In fact, look at the polygon's making up the mirror's on the MX5's on screenshot 12. It's not a distance thing either, the close grey car in the foreground has a blurred low polygon count mirror visible as well. That's poor for a system that supposed to blow away the 360! (yeah, right!)
I reckon the 360 is just as good, in fact, I'd be willing to bet money that the 360 turns out to be the better performing machine when the dust settles.
I'm sticking with the 360. The PS3 is too little too late. By the time they establish this thing. Microsoft will be onto the Xbox720!!!!
Wow, you guys like to bitch dont you!!!! pictures look crap, blah blah blah, you guys should be on Springer. Forza Sport 2 yes it does look beautiful graphics wise,and i bet the developers have had more time on Forza compared to the developers of gran Turismo. to be honest i believe that Gt:HD is just a tarted up version on GT4, but to slam the graphics is highly nieve and im guessing those who have slammed GT:HD are the 360 fans. in short, if all you people can do is criticise every polygonol detail about a game or console as i have seen as well, then what sad lives you lead. to be honest im holding out for the ps3 and the games that you have slammed,that doesnt mean that i would come onto forums and bitch about the 360 at every opportune moment, as what is the point, you have no effect on the way games are made through forums, unless you contact developers directly.
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