GT HD Premium = GT5 Prologue | GT HD Classic = GT:HD at E3

[scooby_dooby]

Do you really want GT:HD that badly?

Now that GT5 has been confirmed for 2008, umm ya! Better than waiting ~2 years. I'm sure the playstation 3 early adopters will too.

It'll probably be a download, great way to encourage people to get online and create their accounts.

 

[Farid]

I knew that I read that somewhere earlier

June the 17th, 2006

Well, I'll give you an example; Kazunori [Yamauchi, producer of the Gran Turismo series] would kill me for this: Imagine Gran Turismo shipping on a disc with one car and one track. And then you can browse, online, a dynamic circuit of vehicles that's growing every day because either the car manufacturers are adding new vehicles or we're adding new vehicles. And you can see a specific-type car that's being called up and say, "I think I'll play with that one. Let me download and play it." Maybe the business model allows you to play it for a day; maybe the business model allows you to own it forever. But that content is now yours on your hard drive. Or [maybe you could download] new tracks, new music, whole games.

 

[Titanio]

Well it may not be quite 2 whole years..

You'd have to weigh it up against GT4 in your PS3 upscaled to HD. Is online worth it? I don't know if it would be for me. Maybe I'd tinker around with it if the initial cost is dirt cheap, with a couple of tracks and cars. But that'd be it. I'd certainly have little appetite for downloading beyond 60 or so dollars worth of stuff.

 

[patsu]

Which begs the question, why are there 2 version? And will they both come pre-installed? IF that's the case, why even have them as seperate versions? Strange...

Could be because their goals are different. The 2 SKU approach should give them maximum flexibility (e.g., Frequency of update, car and track details, full autonomy in exploring alternative business models without hindrance from the traditional model and user base).

I don't think they mention anything about pre-installation yet. It's just our guesses and wishes.

 

[Danalys]

so Classic is GT4 online in HD with an itunes setup.
Premium is a GT5 with packs of cars for sale but only up to a point so they can sell GT5 eventually once they've modeled all the cars they are going to model and with improvements to the engine i should think. i guess PGR started the added car bundles.

all i can say is that considering GT4 and all it's assets as well as tourist trophies assets have already been paid for. it seems a rip to have to pay for those models again to be able to play online in HD. so classic seems a no go. even if the disc is free. i'm assuming they release faster cars later so that you buy to keep a competitive edge. who's going to buy a new track if there is no one else who's bought it to race against?

anyway this doesn't concern me so much since by the time i got a PS3 GT5 would probably be out already or at least coming soon.

 

[Arwin]

Wow, this is really cool ... !

So, to summarise and if I understood it correctly:

GT:HD Classic

This version is what we have seen the most of so far, and features the following:

- Online: Quick Race/Tuned Race/Private Race/Time Attack and several other modes are added. The online will be launched worldwide at the same time. Supports 20 players online (up from 12)
- Downloadable Cars and Tracks. No cars or tracks come with the game, but you can buy your favorte cars and tracks online.

Thoughts

- will this create chaos in online mode, where all my friends will have different tracks? Or will it be a breeze, because half of my German friends are probably satisfied with the Nurburgring and a few different BMW M3s?
- will we only have access to all the cars and tracks that are known so far (750 cars, 50 tracks) or are we also getting newer models. I could imagine that latter option is reserved to the other versions.

GT:HD Premium

This is a preview version of what we can expect in Gran Turismo 5, featuring:

- real-time weather change (yes!)
- highly detailed models, presumably of the quality we saw at E3 2005 (yes!)
- detailed interiors
- 3D spectators
- 2 tracks, one new nature (probably nice looking new design a la Trial Mountain) and one existing city track (presumably revamped Tokyo?)
- 30 cars included
- 2 tracks (existing racetracks) and 30 cars available for download later on
- unknown number of game-modes and events, that do not unlock cars
- unknown online options (none?)

Thoughts

- I assume this one will be actively limited to 60 cars and 4 tracks, but considering the paralel with Prologue, it may have a driving licence module nonetheless, especially if new driving physics have been implemented.

GT5

- will have downloadable tracks and cars (some special ones may cost money, others free)
- will have downloadable tuning parts
- as yet undecided whether these can be traded online
- will have a lot of online features, evolved from the experiences with the GT:HD versions
- has real-time weather change
- in 2008. Let's not spend too many more words on it.

Thoughts
- I think downloadable cars and tracks are great, have been looking forward to that for a long time, and it also may allow GT5 to actually make the 2008 release date, as they can focus primarily on the engine being ready for the cars and tracks that can be finished later and put up for download
- I think downloadable cars are also great because you can get the latest models, and manufacturers are probably going to sponsor some of their latest models, and you can probably get them from your dealer directly in some cases too. Think about it - this already happened in the form of special GT3 and GT4 discs, and now its going to be so much easier and cheaper
- Basically, with HD we are getting its online features as a huge beta, so that they can get it exactly right in 2008
- Will we get a clutch simulation that supports the latest Logitech wheel?

Well, that's just my first reactions to this. I must say, I was only expecting GT:HD and perhaps a faint glimpse of GT5, so this is already better.

GT:HD with 20 cars alone is a lot more than I expected, and makes me very happy! Especailly if the other 19 are online buddies rather than GT's old AI

 

[StefanS]

If GT: Premium is hard-core driving simulator - that includes damage Sony!- which is absolutely realistic, I might be interested. Otherwise no thank you.

GT:HD Classic not interested at all.

NOW TO THE BIG WTF!
pay per car, pay per track??? That's just ridiculous. What an insolence! What's next pay per level up? Insert 50cents to continue?

 

[Ben-Nice]

How much can they charge for the game? This is silly unless the game is freaking $10.

 

[Farid]

If this thing turns to be true (not that I don't believe the news, but Polyphony Digital tend to announce a lot of things only to release very few stuff), there's no way they'll make it available as is - with no car and no tracks - on shelves. No reason to have a BRD full of nothing but an UI and their easy listning elevator types of music tracks.

It would be a completely online game, given that you'd need online to download cars and tracks anyway.

Anyway, all in all, this news made me appreciate the fact that I loathe Gran Turismo and all the simulation type of games. Arcade gameplay, for life!

 

[darkblu]

good, so i can get my ps3 in 2008 when its price will hopefully be more to my liking. now, where are the famitsu scans? : )

 

[StefanS]

Does anybody else notice how ridiculously expensive GT4 would have been?

-> The equivalent of GT4 content would cost you:
721*0.5+51*3= 513,5 $

Used an average 0.5 USD for the cars; 3 USD for the tracks

EDIT: Sorry, had to vent my anger

 

[patsu]

*nod* *nod* Just like it will cost you USD 10,000 to buy all iTunes tracks. You're assuming there's no bulk discount. You're also assuming a players want to race with all the cars.

But your concerns are valid. Currently, we do not know whether the consumers at large will benefit from the move. It is probably one of the reasons why PD makes it into 2 SKUs. The people who bought into the concept may be different from (or a subset of) the regular GT customers.

 

[Angelcurio]

If they dont give me choice to get the full game paying full price (read $60), then i am not interested.

I want a full game, not paying for half made concepts.

Seriously, i am a big gran turismo fan and i dont want to be sucked into this, i simply want a full game.

 

[djdev]

I personally think it's crazy. How much money do you want Sony to milk out of you. It's nice to have downloadable tracks and cars, but when you have to kick out money for it especially when GT:HD Classic doesn't even come with any. That's ridiculous. If this is where the future of gaming is going. I want no part of it.

 

[djdev]

If they dont give me choice to get the full game paying full price (read $60), then i am not interested.

I want a full game, not paying for half made concepts.

Seriously, i am a big gran turismo fan and i dont want to be sucked into this, i simply want a full game.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[one]

If this thing turns to be true (not that I don't believe the news, but Polyphony Digital tend to announce a lot of things only to release very few stuff), there's no way they'll make it available as is - with no car and no tracks - on shelves. No reason to have a BRD full of nothing but an UI and their easy listning elevator types of music tracks.

If they have models already complete, they can put them on BD and sell only keys to unlock them to save some HDD space.

 

[avaya]

Being the GT whore I will buy this for GT5 Prologue but what the hell do they think they're doing with Classic? To buy all of GT4's cars and tracks you would be spending >$140.

This is crazy, sure they want to charge a premium for downloaded content but make it reasonable!

You are effectively ending up paying 3 x GT4's price for the same content. If it's new content then that's fine, I can live with that, so can most people but for the same old crap you're charging three times the price. WTF is up with that.

The price for the tracks and cars should be halved, at least, with Classic being a free piece of software since you're paying for absolutely nothing at the beginning.

If they do this to GT5, they will have, in one fell-swoop, destroyed their biggest IP.

 

[Arwin]

*nod* *nod* Just like it will cost you USD 10,000 to buy all iTunes tracks. You're assuming there's no bulk discount. You're also assuming a players want to race with all the cars.

Agreed. Because on the other side of this scale, a couple of guys who aren't ready to shelf 60$ (or more) for the full game, can just download two tracks and 10 cars for less than 10$, and still have a fair bit of online fun.

But your concerns are valid. Currently, we do not know whether the consumers at large will benefit from the move. It is probably one of the reasons why PD makes it into 2 SKUs. The people who bought into the concept may be different from (or a subset of) the regular GT customers.

Well, surely, noone is going to spend 500$ on GT cars right now, and if they don't handle this carefully, you'll also get the usual illegal trades. We'll probably get discount packs, special offers, maybe even subscriptions. We'll see.

 

[Angelcurio]

I think that the right thing to do is release a full game with a considerable amount of cars and tracks. Then, months later after the game release, they should have car packs available for download. But the full game? that´s insane.

 

[tuna]

I think Classic is great. I am the type of gamer who really likes to perfect one course/car and when I really have mastered the course I might want to move on.

Think Sega Rally on the Saturn. 4 tracks and 3 cars but more fun than almost all other racing games.