My activity in the Gran Turismo forums has been limited of late, but I still would love to play GT5. Allow me to make a few notes from my overview of the E3 trailer...
New Metal.
I'd like to welcome two debutantes to the Gran Turismo car lineup: Maserati and Tesla. I've always said in the past that Gran Turismo has ALWAYS had supercars, just that more people care about Ferraris and Porsches and such. The announcement of Ferrari to Gran Turismo with Gran Turismo HD really turned heads (including yours truly). The inclusion of Maserati only enhances what may potentially be the best lineup of cars in Gran Turismo history. I guess if you're going to celebrate 10 years of the Gran Turismo series, best to let the big guns out.
Not to be outdone is the inclusion of Tesla. I'm a fan of Tesla, so this is a lovely addition to the GT lineup.
New Tracks.
I was surprised that there was this newer Rome Circuit. Many of us veterans of the series remember the tough Rome Circuit in GT2 and GT3. I'm not even counting the short course in GT2. This new Rome Circuit looks great, but part of me (as a purist and a veteran) would love to see a return of the original Rome Circuit. Or maybe they do a little justice and bring back Rome-Night, perhaps the biggest waste of a track in Gran Turismo history since there were absolutely NO racing events that utilized it.
Madrid is a beautiful city, but depending on the video I've seen, it looks like Madrid will make you happy if you loved Opera Paris. Madrid looks to be much faster than Opera Paris.
Part of me is glad to see Toscana/Tuscany featured. Another part of me wonders if we'll ever see any kind of point-to-point rally action. The biggest positive to this track is that of day-to-night cycles. I'm pretty sure it won't be relegated to just Toscana, but the sped-up time cycle definitely shows promise of true and proper evolution of Gran Turismo. I always thought PD should try to work on an environmental model. To me, PD kind of learned from rFactor in making the time cycles, because I was reminded of rFactor when seeing day become evening and evening become night. I think (unimportant detail) this is also the first time Gran Turismo has ever been shown at night with stars in the sky.
The Action.
Allow me to say something you thought I would NEVER say- I'm excited about the crashes. Most of you know I could care less about crashes. But after looking at the action from the demo, the impacts looked pretty intense! Take note of that Super GT car that got up-ended from behind and that blue Mitsubishi Lancer that was riding a the tire wall in Tokyo. To me, I think Gran Turismo... while not trying to emulate its biggest rival, is mostly showing a bit more character on the racing side. The only thing more intense would be full damage to all cars from some of these vicious hits. But of course, I don't want Gran Turismo 5 being more like Burnout. We don't need to over-emphasize crashes.
The... Stig?
One of the real stars of the trailer was The Stig. That white racing suit and that helmet are undeniable- The Stig in GT5! I just hope we don't have to hear any kind of strange random music while The Stig is racing...
The Release Date.
November 2, 2010. Unless GT5 is still 90% complete, I'm still convinced it may be some time before July 2011 we'll see GT5. I don't think you can really hate on PD if it's Sony's decision to release the game on a certain date.
Overall, I'm very impressed. I've NEVER stopped caring about Gran Turismo 5. I'm probably the most excited Gran Turismo fan who [still] does NOT own a PlayStation 3 or has even played a single second of "Gran Turismo 5: Prologue." Damned proud of Polyphony Digital. I hope future game shows (especially the Tokyo Game Show) will show even more material.
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