When the original Gran Turismo first appeared for the PS1, many critics hailed it for its impressive physics engine. The hype, as it were, was centered on its realism.
For 10 years now, the Gran Turismo franchise is still selling extremely well. However, through time, the limitations of the game were also being exploited more and more.
The most common criticism was the games' lack of crash physics. The car simply bounced off the barriers when it crashed into them. The same thing happened when a player crashed into other cars. With the proper angle and good timing, a gamer can actually set record lap times by simply bumping other cars: hardly realistic for "the real driving simulator".
Other criticisms were centered more on the acuracy of the driving physics as well. For instance, some gamers argue that the Gran Turismo games (being developed by Japanese programers) give special preference for Japanese car manufacturers. Players felt as though the Japanese cars over performed in the game while the non-Japanese brands felt a tad bit underrated. Other complaints centered on the issue that the in-game handling was too slugish. Others, on the other hand, claimed that the steering was too sensitive.
Of course, unless you have the means to drive the real-life counterparts of vehicles to the limit in actual tracks (like Jeremy Clarkson's experiment in Top Gear) and compare your lap times, the issue regarding the car-handling physics of Gran Turismo will remain debatable.
But it's ok, because I'm not one who has the energy to spend time trying to confirm or refute the realism of the most popular racing game franchise. That debate is never ending.
Rather, I'd like to focus more on the other aspect of Gran Turismo's realism: its visuals.
Indeed, more and more topics keep popping out in the net with photographs comparing real-time graphics (both cars and environments) to the real thing.
Without question, GT5P is one racing game that can fool a casual on-looker.
Although it has to be said that there are some graphical limitations to the game. The most notable one would of course be the trees that are still made up of two crossed polygons. The other issue would be the anti-aliasing within the game.
But then again, such issues are only noticeable when a player frequently pauses the game to search for all of the visuals' short-comings. Gran Turismo's camera work is designed in such a way that all the elements would blend in to produce a natural look thereby creating the illusion that every object is three-dimensional. And for the most part, the background does look good.
Besides, the background's short-comings are easily forgiveable by just the sight of the cars in the game. Boasting 200,000 plus polygons per vehicle including realistic renditions of the interiors.
Details of the interior include the most minor of details like the distinct stitches woven in Ferrari leathers. The cars in GT5P truly captures the aesthetics of their real-life counterparts.
In fact, to some extent, GT5P even adds to the aesthetics of real-life cars. After all, all the cars in GT5P don't have any sort blemish. In simple terms, they are always showroom ready: good enough to be used by retailers to sell their cars.
And I haven't mentioned yet about Kimi Raikkonen's championship winning Ferrari F2007 in the game. That car is just immaculate. GT5P makes you forget some of the reliability woes that plagued it in the first half of the 2007 formula 1 season.
For most mortals firmly grounded on the reality of scarcity, GT5P is the tool for escapism: a world where you can own the most exotic and exclusive cars and bask in their extravagance. It is a world where car buying seems so easy.
As such, GT5P, currently the most realistic looking racing game, may very well be the closest most people will ever get to driving exotic cars. That sounds more like fantasy than reality.
But that's not the game's fault; it's the fault of reality!
For 10 years now, the Gran Turismo franchise is still selling extremely well. However, through time, the limitations of the game were also being exploited more and more.
The most common criticism was the games' lack of crash physics. The car simply bounced off the barriers when it crashed into them. The same thing happened when a player crashed into other cars. With the proper angle and good timing, a gamer can actually set record lap times by simply bumping other cars: hardly realistic for "the real driving simulator".
Other criticisms were centered more on the acuracy of the driving physics as well. For instance, some gamers argue that the Gran Turismo games (being developed by Japanese programers) give special preference for Japanese car manufacturers. Players felt as though the Japanese cars over performed in the game while the non-Japanese brands felt a tad bit underrated. Other complaints centered on the issue that the in-game handling was too slugish. Others, on the other hand, claimed that the steering was too sensitive.
Of course, unless you have the means to drive the real-life counterparts of vehicles to the limit in actual tracks (like Jeremy Clarkson's experiment in Top Gear) and compare your lap times, the issue regarding the car-handling physics of Gran Turismo will remain debatable.
But it's ok, because I'm not one who has the energy to spend time trying to confirm or refute the realism of the most popular racing game franchise. That debate is never ending.
Rather, I'd like to focus more on the other aspect of Gran Turismo's realism: its visuals.
Indeed, more and more topics keep popping out in the net with photographs comparing real-time graphics (both cars and environments) to the real thing.
Without question, GT5P is one racing game that can fool a casual on-looker.
Although it has to be said that there are some graphical limitations to the game. The most notable one would of course be the trees that are still made up of two crossed polygons. The other issue would be the anti-aliasing within the game.
But then again, such issues are only noticeable when a player frequently pauses the game to search for all of the visuals' short-comings. Gran Turismo's camera work is designed in such a way that all the elements would blend in to produce a natural look thereby creating the illusion that every object is three-dimensional. And for the most part, the background does look good.
Besides, the background's short-comings are easily forgiveable by just the sight of the cars in the game. Boasting 200,000 plus polygons per vehicle including realistic renditions of the interiors.
Details of the interior include the most minor of details like the distinct stitches woven in Ferrari leathers. The cars in GT5P truly captures the aesthetics of their real-life counterparts.
In fact, to some extent, GT5P even adds to the aesthetics of real-life cars. After all, all the cars in GT5P don't have any sort blemish. In simple terms, they are always showroom ready: good enough to be used by retailers to sell their cars.
And I haven't mentioned yet about Kimi Raikkonen's championship winning Ferrari F2007 in the game. That car is just immaculate. GT5P makes you forget some of the reliability woes that plagued it in the first half of the 2007 formula 1 season.
For most mortals firmly grounded on the reality of scarcity, GT5P is the tool for escapism: a world where you can own the most exotic and exclusive cars and bask in their extravagance. It is a world where car buying seems so easy.
As such, GT5P, currently the most realistic looking racing game, may very well be the closest most people will ever get to driving exotic cars. That sounds more like fantasy than reality.
But that's not the game's fault; it's the fault of reality!
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