Did PD arse up the Top Gear licencing?

[cuco33]

Forza series = Copy of everything in GT5 (Starting from photomode and top gear), but more appreciated, maybe because of Micro$oft has bribed all the critics.

Sure... it's M$'s money and not the game being as good as it was to deserve those scores...

In gaming, especially racers, they all copy each other. PGR was copied, NFS was too, TOCA as well, not just GT or Forza being copies. They all do it and it's what competition brings. Us gamers end up benefiting from the competitions with inclusions like online, damage, photo/video modes, etc.

 

[cuco33]

PD did mess up the license, but to be honest, the TG Test Track wasn't the great addition that I thought it would be.

Maybe standing starts and leaderboards would change that, but I dunno. It's just a pretty bland track at the end of the day.

*shrugs*

The track itself is OK and is more legendary being TG's test track then it being a great one. I first tried out the track in some PC mod (forgot which one) and thought it wasn't that great of a track. Still it's fun if we can mimic the tv show with standing starts and have leaderboards. PD could always patch that stuff in in my book

 

[cuco33]

It might be a little to late for for that. If Turn 10 has the license it will just be a track with nothing Top Gear about it.

What we know so far is that FM4 will have standing starts, leaderboards and the Kia Cee'd with the video replays being the same ones used on the show. Also the game was said to launch with JC being the main voice over, a bunch of TG events like car soccer, and a few other tidbits. It's far more than what PD did with the Top Gear license but PD can always patch stuff to their game. They aren't 'locked out' like MS does (I believe MS allows 1 free patch but then charges the developer for any other patches after the free one).

Will GT be able to call it the Top Gear track if they dont have the rights?

GT should still have rights to call it the TG track. The license was for use in GT5 so they should still allowed to call it that as it's still GT5. I'm a huge TG fan and I hope PD adds more to GT5, even if it's just some patches like bringing us standing starts.

 

[deep_sky]

Sony should still have the license for a long time.

It would be a shocking oversight from Sony not to have expected MS (or anyone else) coming in wanting the test track and TG license and not putting in place contracts that preclude someone stealing away content.

At the end of the day, I think PD just dropped the ball, and MS nabbing the license had little to do with GT5's poor implementation.

Maybe one day we'll know.

 

[trk29]

Will GT be able to call it the Top Gear track if they dont have the rights?

For future games it would be a possiblity that the track wouldn't make it in. But as far as the track in GT5 whats done is done, unless they got forced to change, or take it out with a update.

 

[yoman297]

PD got stuck up the arse with everything they did in GT5.

 

[bullet360]

To be honest i wasnt really looking forward to doing any events lime the soccer or the "inevitable 16 year ild druver " test... I watch the series i think thats enough... I just want to race the track, And im happy with that.... Sure presumptions were made about the stig beig in it but didnt TG and thr stig just start a feud about the stigs identity before the release of gt5... So ya i can see that pd pulled the plug on aome stuff just like it did witb many more things... But i see gt5 as a foundation for the future releases such as gt6 7 and so on... Really all i was lookibg for out of gt5 was the online racing... And im satisfied...

 

[sher_da_putt]

Turn-10 must have been thinking back in november: 'DAMN, they got the top gear test track!.... Wait what is this... rolling start? I can't drive the reasonably priced KIA.... and all the camera angles are wrong..... HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Ok lets do it the right way.'

 

[phil-t]

I think all PD had to do was allow standing starts, and have leaderboards just for this track would have massively made it more useful, but having done some standing start competitions on various forums, we did find that lap times are very much not comparable to the real show, and I don't expect T10 to be any different, and we all know that innacurate to the real world laptimes, no matter how much it doesn't bother me because I know it's a cruder simulation, not actual real life, a lot of fanboys and casual people would jump on this and use it for lots of silly arguments.

Do I think Kaz missed the trick with TG? yes and no, I think from Rallying/Nascar/Karting he was just giving little glimpses, and this is also a little glimpse, but obviously as a TG Fan, I really think he should have done much more.

 

[shirakawaa]

[...]My guess is Turn 10 bought the rights to The Stig.

And now we know that they bought Clarkson as well..

BBC can't give exclusive rights to a single company.
I think the reason is that because it's publicly funded.

 

[TenEightyOne]

BBC can't give exclusive rights to a single company.
I think the reason is that because it's publicly funded.

Exactly this. People are confusing "licence" with "exclusive licence".

Aunty makes money by selling merchandised contracts to as many buyers as possible. As I said before, TG and Doctor Who are great money-spinners. There's no reason why more than one company shouldn't be able to buy rights to use the name/image.

As far as FM3 and GT5 both dropping their advertised 'Stig' content... there was a court case in the UK whereby a publisher was allowed to run the Stig's book (written in morse code, presumably) despite opposition from the Beeb.

The wider implication was that Ben Collins gained the right to use the Stig's name and image in addition to the BBC's rights to said name/image. That made any pre-struck merchandising deals subject to review.