(David G Fisher's Scrotum) wrote:

> Totally agree.

After a lot of dithering and indecision, I achieved critical "oh f*ck it!" mass
recently, and my PS3 came yesterday. And I totally agreed too until I hit the
Nordschleife for the first time in the AMG Challenge in an old Merc. Then I
genuinely stopped caring. This is, without doubt IMO, the best version of the 'Ring
to appear in electronic form so far. The track just looks right... the proportions
match those you expect from real world footage in a very, very immersive way.

Overall though, and after about four hours play, I think... well, I think I'll do a
random list.

1) GT5 is a *great* game. Initially I felt a bit overwhelmed by the menus, but it
soon starts to feel like home, and the various options all make for compelling
"just one more challenge" gameplay. The only weakness (as a game) is/are the load
times. I haven't been tempted to put an SSD in my PC so far (128Gb is what I want
but won't pay for yet) but as my PS3 will probably only be a GT5 machine (blueray,
schmooray) I could see a "cheap" 32/64Gb disk ending up in here.

2) GT5 *may* be a great sim, but it's sort of hidden... perhaps by the well crafted
learning curve designed for beginners.

There are times when it appears to be very sim-like... I put a wheel onto the grass
on the 'Ring and experienced one of the most realistic feeling spins I've ever had.
And things definitely feel better as you progress into the better cars. It reminds
me of NFS:Shift in that some cars made me frown and others just made me grin. It's
hard to tell though whether much of that is down to weedy beginner's cars.

For whatever reason, overall I've struggled to feel the kind of connection you feel
with cars in the best sims. At the moment I'd rate it -- in the right cars -- below
iRacing (a sim I feel totally connected to, but not at all satisfied by) and above
GTR Evo (a sim I've rarely felt connected in, but which can be very satisfying
against the AI). But at least in GT5 I've never, so far, had to wait 2 hours for a
race which only has four entrants. And of course the Ring experience has really
pulled my personal score up significantly.

3) I'm really enjoying the sound so far. Some engine sounds are a bit weak, others
stunning, but when you're overtaking the way the car sounds interact is very, very
good IMO.

4) This is my first console, and I'm enjoying the polished product that is the PS3.
I am not enjoying having even more cables on my three screen desk though... or
spending half an hour trying to work out why everything on my G25 worked except the
steering. I forgot my rats' nest of PC-related plugs was switched off, along with
the power to the G25.

Doh! :-)

5) More later in the week, no doubt.

Andrew McP (Andrew_McP, surprisingly enough, on PSN if I ever go online with da
massed yoof of da planet)

PS I discovered that my boss at work is a GT5 player. I've never ever discovered
another PC sim driver out there in the real world. Part of me is enjoying being a
bit more mainstream. :->