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My favourite game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 240 / 273
Date: August 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I got a chance to play GT4 at E3 in May 2003 and GT4 Prologue at the Game Developers Conf in March of 2004. I also own the GT4 Toyota Promotional package. The first thing I noticed was the improved graphic detail, especially in the scenery. Rumor has it that Polyphony Digital, in development, added too much detail and overloaded the processor. It truly should be THE game that pushes the PS2 to its graphical limits. The streets of New York City are incredibly detailed as I lost my first race while being awed by scenery. The rally course is unbelievable. Seriously, the pre-rendered graphics are indistinguishable from reality. See the movies on GameSpot dot com. The real-time game play graphics while driving are equally as good.

The driving physics model was once again improved from GT3. The most noticeable change was improved realism in car handling at the extremes of traction. I have routinely compared driving cars on GT3 with the real cars I have driven at the actual Laguna Seca track. The new physics model in GT4 more correctly depicts the oversteer problems encountered during hard braking. In GT3, I can stand on the brakes and maneuver the car somewhat. But in GT4, the car gets unruly quite quickly if you start to turn while braking at the threshold, which is CORRECT. In the Toyota promotional package, the wheels can actually lock up! It seems to respond more accurately to mid-throttle and maximum throttle inputs while controlling the drifting car.

The new Logitech steering wheel is improved dramatically. It has both the paddle shifters and a "bump" shifter, simulating the sequential gearboxes of racecars and shifter karts. The steering wheel has more turns lock to lock than your typical driving wheel. I felt that the wheel was giving realistic pressures without any surprising yanks. They also improved the feel of the steering wheel while running over the rough, bumpy, inner curbs and the rumble strips on the exits of turns by adding more force to the wheel. It really pulls now and calibrates itself with GT4! Thumbs up on the wheel!

Likely tracks in the final game would be Laguna Seca, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas downtown, Circuit Tsukuba, New York City Circuit, Fuji Circuit, Cita d' Aria, Hong Kong, the Costa di Amalfi tarmac rally track in Italy, and Germany's famous 13-mile-long Nurburgring. I was told by the guys at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) that Kazunori Yamauchi and the GT4 crew were there for several days to model the track.

Likely improvements include expanding the license tests to act more like a racing school. My friends at the Skip Barber driving school at Laguna Seca tell me many developers from Polyphony Digital have been to racing school there. Also, a detailed replay mode will allow you to pose your car to create a digital image/picture to email or print out.

I need to actually play the game for a few days to come up with any faults. But there are no noticeable faults during the 2 hours I was fortunate enough to play the game. After spending two years beating the gold times and the demos in all of the license tests in GT3, as well as finishing all other races in Arcade mode and Simulation mode, I can truly say that Gran Turismo 4 continues to improve the simulated race driving experience, not just in simulated accuracy, but in entertainment value as well. This is my favourite game. Cheers, Rex.

Best racing game I've ever played!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 36
Date: February 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I called a few different stores today and found one that received its delivery of GT4 at 1115 EST. Needless to say, I was there ten minutes later and picked up a copy and quickly went home to try it out. This is without a doubt the best racing game I've ever played. The models are realistic, the gaming engine is remarkable, and there are so many cars to pick from. The game is started with 10,000 credits, and there are two areas in which to buy used cars. They offer cars from the early 90s in one "shop", and cars from 95-on in another. Both have quite a selection below the 10,000 credit mark and there are quite a few choices one can make in order to decide which car to start it all off with. The licensing portion is a little mundane at first but it gets progressively more challenging. I only had a chance to play it for roughly two hours but from what I saw, this game is going to be dominating a major portion of my free time for months. If you have any doubt about the quality of this game, just think of how much fun the first few selections in this franchise were, and multiply it exponentially. This game ROCKS!!!

I Tried Beta in Japan Test Center--- AMAZING!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 24
Date: August 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was so lucky that I had a chance to visit the GT4 development and testing center, tried the special beta version of GT4 in Japan recently. WOW! GT4 is AMAZING!!!! You can dump your GT2/GT3 to trash and wait for GT4 coming out in couple months. You won't believe the superb jobs they did to this GT4. I would say they truely maximize & optimally utilitize all of the PS2 powerful graphical and emotional engines features to render this GT4. The realistic & driving details are the best I ever seen in any driving game. Get ready your GT driving wheel!

oh my god

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 62
Date: February 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

i cant wait because they taste good like marshmallows!

Gran Turismo Series....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: November 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

There are certain things I really don't know that I can agree with in some of the reviews here.

First is that the graphics in GT3 were bad. They were actually quite good.

Second is the idea that you couldn't control the cars in GT3... No surprise that the title of that one was "A Kid's Review." The cars in the Gran Turismo series handle as they should. Overpowered FR cars spin easily, FF cars have a tendency to understeer, etc. Learning to drive the car correctly is the key to these games. They are simulations, not arcade racing. If you try to slam the brakes and turn at the same time on a hairpin corner, you're going to have problems.

Third, I just hate any time I see a reviewer saying that a game sucks because it's not online. Whether or not it's online is a specific feature. It has nothing to do with the quality of the game. I do understand that some people enjoy playing games online, but to say a game is no good simply because it isn't online is simply not a helpful review.

Still, by far, the best racing game out there!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: February 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I picked up a copy of this game the day it came out (just two days ago) and I love it. I will, however, admit that it does have its share of drawbacks, but there still isn't a racing game out there that can hold a candle to this one.

To begin, the graphics absolutely rock! For as many cars and as many tracks as there are in this game, with as customizable and unique as so many of the cars are, I'm absolutely astounded. It's one thing for a game that has, let's say 10-20 cars, to have rockin' graphics, but when a game has put such meticulous detail into each and every of the 600+ cars, you've got to be inspired (granted it did take them forever and a day to move from the previous sequel to this one).

The tracks are incredible and even include moving people. That, in itself just blew my mind.

There is the addition of the ability to manage a racing team, which, I'll admit, I have yet to try, but I just bought the game two days ago, so I'm sure I'll get to it.

There's also the picture taking feature, another thing I have yet to explore. That particular feature doesn't particularly appeal to me, but it's still a neat idea.

The level of customization has, again, been increased over its predecessor, although I question how much more can really be done. The one thing I wish they had in this regard was the ability to repaint your car, but I can live with that.

And, lastly, for anyone who thought far enough ahead to save their GT3 data, you can transfer the A and B licenses, in addition to $100k to the new game. This is definitely a bonus after having put into GT3.

Addressing some gripes:

First of all, no, your cars don't suffer damage, but this was intentionally left out. In an interview with the creators/developers, the discussed how they had considered adding damage, but decided against it for a few reasons: 1-Most players (the developers and myself included) prefer not to drive damaged cars. I'm sure most of you may disagree with this until you're blue in the face, but I'm just passing along the information. 2-Probably more importantly, although this game is supposed to be "all about the realism" as a driving simulator, the sheer amount of data added by including realistic damage, would certainly lead to processor lag time with the (now) limited hardware of the PS2. And, to avoid having all damage and wrecks look exactly the same on all cars, different styles of crash damage would have to be added for each and every one of the hundreds of cars. I would much rather have the developers focus on other, more important aspects of the game. Nuff said.

Another complaint addresses the lack of Ferraris and other exotic cars. This issue was addressed during the development of GT2 and 3. It's the same reason that there weren't any Fords in the game, initially. It's all about licensing issues. Ferrari (and I assume Lamborghini, although the Lamborghini GT appeared in the Japanese release of GT3) would not sell the license to use the cars in the game. Why? Because Ferrari decided to contract out and develop their own game, which fell completely flat. If Ferrari doesn't want their cars in this game, then I say to heck with em!

As for online play issues, I have yet to play the PS2 online, so that isn't of any concern to me either way.

So, in conclusion to all of my ramblings, is this game perfect? No, not quite. If some obstinent car companies would sign on (*cough-Ferrari-cough*) and, maybe, throw in a few more American cars (there are probably 2 or 3 to one as many Japanese cars as American) I would think that it was pretty darn close. I would give this game 4.5 stars if I could, but I'll go with 5 since there seem to be so many nay-sayers. It's simple, really: if you liked the previous installations of this game, you will like this one.

The "Real Driving Simulator's" legacy continues...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: February 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Whether you love, hate, or could care less about racing games, the Gran Turismo series deserves respect. Since its inception in 1998, the game has gone through four iterations on two different consoles and sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Countless photos have been shot, hours of engine revs and tire screeches recorded, all in a quest to create the most realistic driving simulator on the market. As far as realism is concerned, the game has certainly made its mark -- even Toyota and BMW have used it to show off their new toys in a "virtual test drive." Now, after countless delays, Kazunori Yamauchi's Gran Turismo 4 is here. It's lost a few formerly touted features (online mode), and gained a few others (the B-Spec manager mode), but in the end, it fulfills nearly all our expectations. Once the title screen graces your monitor, two options immediately present themselves: arcade and Gran Turismo mode. The initial selection of vehicles is limited, but when you consider the game sports more than 700 cars (including special editions, prototypes, and model variants), "limited" is not a term that befits the overall game. In addition to the single race and time trial options, arcade mode is also the hub for multiplayer action. Gran Turismo 4 supports two players via split-screen on a single PlayStation 2 or up to six players via a local network. Online play is not officially supported -- Sony is planning to release an online-capable version later this year -- but those who aren't afraid to muck with their computer can perform some networking black magic to race online. The trick is to use tunneling software, such as the completely free XLink Kai -- it's not as elegant as proper support, but it works. The real meat and potatoes is found in the Gran Turismo mode. It's here that you can easily lose yourself for hours (literally, some of the endurance races can take hours to complete), building up your car collection by purchasing and winning new vehicles, as well as tuning the ones in your garage to perfection. This is also where you'll unlock new cars and tracks for play throughout the game. Much like earlier releases in the series, players will need to pass a number of license tests before they're allowed to race. While somewhat frustrating, the tests serve an important function: getting you accustomed to the game's physics engine and control setup. Changes made to how the cars are modeled mean even masters of Gran Turismo 3 will need a refresher course in handling. In terms of control, Gran Turismo 4 offers three ways to get behind the wheel. There is the standard Dual Shock 2 controller, the Logitech Driving Force wheel (otherwise known as the GT3 wheel) and the Logitech Driving Force Pro (specifically for GT4). Playing with the Dual Shock 2 will not require any configuration, but if you plan on using a wheel, tweaking the setup options is a necessity. Of the three, the Driving Force Pro offers the most realistic method of control, complete with a full 900-degrees rotation (2.5 turns) -- just like a real car. The wheel also offers a reasonable level of force feedback, helping the player to judge approximate speed when taking a corner. If you're too friendly with the accelerator you can actually feel the wheels slip as you power around a curve. On the downside, all of the cars in the game are more squirrelly with the wheel than with the Dual Shock 2. This means you are more likely to spin out until you learn the limits of your car. Once past that initial learning curve though, the Driving Force Pro is the definite controller of choice. With a first license under your belt, it's time to run races. The more races you win, the more money you earn to buy cars and mods. Some mods are purely performance tweaks, while others are prerequisites for races -- for example, you cannot race on an off-road track until you purchase a set of dirt tires. Owners of Gran Turismo 3 start with a bit of an advantage, assuming you didn't delete the prior save from your memory card. Up to 100,000 credits can be transferred to Gran Turismo 4 -- not bad for buying your first car. Competing against the game's artificial intelligence is a mixed bag, because the virtual drivers have been tuned to keep to the racing line at all costs. This means that the AI players will have no issues with slamming right into your car if you happen to get in the way. They also don't hesitate to cut you off by passing right in front of your car, and then immediately slamming on the brakes. This is something of a departure from the series' tagline "The Real Driving Simulator." Another point of frustration is the AI's ability to "learn your play style" and react accordingly. The idea is that if you drive aggressively, so does the computer. The problem is the computer can misinterpret beginner errors as aggressive driving -- accidentally hit them and soon you'll have cars bumping into you to cut short the apex of a turn. Get behind after crashing and you'll need to give up hope of finishing first. As an alternative to directly driving the car, Gran Turismo 4 offers the B-Spec method. Similar to the "coach control" in sports games, B-Spec puts a professional driver in the car and gives you the role of team manager. From your vantage point on the track, you issue strategic commands, instructing him on when to pass and when to play it safe. B-Spec isn't for everyone, but it can be entertaining and convenient -- especially when running an endurance race. Tell your driver to keep it steady and come back in an hour to check on his progress. In addition to the event type races, players can also enter car specific competitions at the dealer of your choice. Think of them as car club races, where all the owners of a particular model get together for friendly fun. It makes for a nice change of pace and can be a good way to learn a track. When the original Gran Turismo first debuted, its visual impact was huge. Gran Turismo 4 shows us how far the series has come by including tracks from the original game, fully rendered in its shiny new engine... and the comparison is night and day. But for all its glitz, the visuals are more a step-up from Gran Turismo 3 than a revolutionary jump in quality. To be fair, this is more due to the PlayStation 2's limitations -- Polyphony has clearly used every trick in the book to coax the last ounce of horsepower out of Sony's aging hardware. Each car is comprised of more than 5,000 polygons, allowing for plenty of detail in the models. You can actually see the weight shift as your car brakes or takes high-speed turns, from both cockpit and follow-cam view. Nighttime races don't feature the overabundance of lighting effects as seen in the likes of Need for Speed Underground 2, so they're a little underwhelming. But the daytime tracks are absolutely gorgeous -- especially the outdoor environments such as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and the Tahiti maze. Replays allow for both a traditional playback as well as a music-video styled presentation, complete with jarring camera angles, oversaturated lighting, shifting white balance, and enough quick cuts to would make MTV proud. For the budding photographer, a virtual photo mode allows you to take your own shots from within the game. 64 cameras present every conceivable angle, and each can be moved, rotated, zoomed. You can also add options like shutter speed, white balance, F-stop, and saturation. Photos can even be saved to the memory card or USB stick and then ported onto a PC in standard JPEG format. For the truly technically savvy, Sony allows you to connect select Epson printers via the USB port and print photos directly from the game. It's geek-tastic! In addition to the replay photos, a "Photo Travel" option allows you to setup a photo shoot in one of 15 locations around the world. While not an action shot, you do have more control over these posed images. Despite its overall good looks, Gran Turismo 4 has a few flaws in its glossy exterior. All of the tracks (including the off-road rally tracks) have an impenetrable invisible barrier at the edge. It's impossible to slide off the track or cut a turn by clipping a plastic fence -- modern rally games have long since solved this issue. And the retro "cardboard cutout crowd" phenomenon is also present. In the end, Gran Turismo 4 is one hell of a detailed racing simulation that promises to steal as many hours of gameplay as its predecessors did. It may be short on innovation, which is surprising with close challengers like Konami's Enthusia and Microsoft's Forza in the pipeline, but racing enthusiasts won't be disappointed.

Mocking the game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: August 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The review by Naznin Baldwin from the USA is a mockery of the game. None of the information he states is accurate. I couldnt find any other way of telling you guys but it really needs to be removed. He obviously has not read anything about the game and his information is not only misleading, but it is an outright lie.

Gran turismo 4

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 25
Date: February 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

based on the pictures i have seen this is going to be an awesome video game, probably the best racing game ever. it's supposed to have over 500 cars, which gives a good variety. the only thing that remains a question is when it comes out. I have heard march, april, june, july, and mid summer. if anyone is sure of which one it is please leave a message.

The King of Racing Games!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: November 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is beyond great. During a private screening of the game with my friend I soon realized this game would be more then just another racing game. Through all aspects the quality is flawless. When first playing the game I expected the same old racing game but mostly I was in touch with the old Gran Turismo's which I adore as well. Nevertheless the game had a much wider span of world to cover then the previous Gran Turismos. The gameplay and graphics are untouchable and the networking is a sight to be looking foward to. Unlike other racing games Gran Turismo 4 gives you full realism and for future playing a prototype racing pit is being made. The cars themselves are fantastic. The huge array of different cars is eye boggling and almost made me crap in my pants. The turth of the matter is, is that this game puts the racer into the car. Unlike Need For Speed (Any title including underground 2) which did not incorporate realism Gran Turismo 4 passes even the previous Gran Turismo's. The Customizable solutions a player could come up with are almost uncountable. You can change up to anything and makes you feel as if you are actually the owner of a Mitsubishi Eclipse (Personal fav) or Nissan Skyline. The wheels and rims are also customizable. Just as in GT 3 but about 100X more advanced. This game is extremly beyond its time. All racing fanatics and or GT fanatics should grab this game ASAP. I know I have it on my Wish List and already have it pre-ordered here in J-Land! Just wait until the release and you'll know what I am talking about. This game is enough to make someone cry because of its beauty!

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