I mean, I know why (graphics!). But I think it's a shame!
Exactly. And graphics are important. Very important. For the sales of the game. Your average Joe doesn't care abput having twntyfour cars instead of sixteen. He doesn't care about wheel support, either, as he's going to play it with a gamepad anyways.
I mean, get yourself someone who doesn't know the game, give them the pad/wheel and ask them what they think. When I did so with GT5, nine times out of ten, the answer would be "Wow, it looks good!". Same for Forza and Shift 2.
From my experience... Graphics > anything else, when it comes to selling car games. Second comes content (car list and track count), I'd asume. Whether the driving physics are realistic or the grid is large or small, that pretty much comes last for most of the buyers.
Out of five million people who bought Forza 3 and six and a half million who bought GT5, guys like us who even care about the physics as much as we do, are the extreme minority. Same for wheel owners.
If a sim is trying to cater to that
huge demographic, it just has to shift the focus accordingly. I mean, give your average player the choice whether to play the beautiful game or the game with the realistic physics - what do you think they'd pick?
Of course, advertising the hell out of games like GTR would increase the sales they get - but I highly doubt they'd ever get to the point of success that GT and FM have reached.
Nah, really, it does look strange.
