(pjgtech) wrote:

> Welcome to the world of consoles.... 8-)

I must admit I'm beginning to understand why people own these things. The PS3 (slim)
is ridiculously quiet, pretty slick in operation, and quick & painless to use.
However until I can play games with a mouse plugged in I will continue to cry
regularly. My PS3 shares one of my PC monitors, so I tend to forget I'm using the
PS3. I am getting a little sick of hitting escape on my keyboard or wiggling my
mouse and wondering why it didn't work. :-)

I'm also getting a little tired of the fact the G25's FFB isn't adjustable. In
other sims I have FFB turned to minimum while still giving good feedback, but in
GT5 I'm getting a workout. And while that only means sore wrists for me, it means
my G25's longevity is going to suffer.

Still, it's worth the strain. GT5 is a bit like NFS:Shift in that it has a puzzling
combination of complete horrors to drive, and a few really effing amazingly
convincing experiences. I swear I have never felt better FFB than when belting
round the Ring and getting a fast corner slightly wrong. Sometimes the way a wheel
suddenly gets traction back really catches me by surprise (in a very, very good
way!)

But at other times it's less convincing. Low speed manoeuvres feel lifeless, and
low speed contact with other vehicles feels nowhere near convincing, but high speed
contact does... it's as if there's a threshold above which reality kicks in. :-)
But even when the "feel" isn't quite right, the replay shows convincing physics and
the cars seems to act realistically.... especially when getting a bit of a tank
slapper on. I don't think I've ever had to fight so hard to recover (though this
might just be the FFB making it both more realistic and harder).

I also desperately need a brake bias adjustment of some sort. The Top Gear Elise
challenge, in particular, is diabolically hard to do even with plenty of assists on!
The various upgrade options can really work wonders, but I still need my inability
to cope with much oversteer dialled out.

Overall GT5 is definitely a game (and a surprisingly compelling one), but inside it
is a superb sim experience trying to get out. I am really hoping that the updates
in the pipeline make it a bit easier to liberate that hardcore experience. If not,
at least I've got access to a variety of satisfying Nordschleife options now. I
just need to get to level 21 before that Nascar at the Ring Seasonal disappears.
That should be a laugh. So should trying it in one of the advanced karts.

While in Ring mode, I swear the most difficult sim racing challenge I have ever
faced is driving the Ring in the rain. It's embarrassingly, horrifyingly hard for
me (in the AMG Challenge). But at the same time it feels hard in a good way...
though making me do it in near darkness as well is just being sadistic!

It's also turning me into a masochist. :-)

Andrew McP