Gran Turismo Sport: General Discussion

[Imari]

Lets say they are releasing it 28th of march, they might do it like the trailer just poof there it is.

Which would be foolish. For reasons that I'll go into below.

I don't think they will announce it on facebook before it happens. If they don't announce it weeks before then they don't need to deal with fans expecting the beta on 28th hence they have more room to work with. Also PD isn't really like "western" companies that keep their fans hyped with constant screenshots on facebook and so on.

Yes. We know. And that's part of the problem. Also, "western" companies doesn't really count any more now that many Japanese companies also have chosen to follow the path of interacting with their customers. Of the big games that I play, Polyphony are by far and away the most secretive.

For what purpose? How does this help their brand?

The crew and NFS had closed betas so they had to announce release dates and allow people to sign up but GTsport will be open beta allowing everyone to download it of ps store

What is the point of an open beta?

Among other things, part of it is usually to stress test the infrastructure for online so that when release day comes any problems are ironed out and the paying customer gets a good experience. That would mean trying to get as many people online as possible, and that sort of means that it's in Polyphony/Sony's interest to advertise the beta and make sure the game gets the best testing possible.

Closed betas get specific feedback, open betas get as many eyes and hands on the game as possible.

They don't have to do this. But any sensible developer holding an open beta like this for a game that has a major online component should probably aim to have at least one phase where they straight up pressure the system with as many players as they can.

An unadvertised open beta doesn't do the job of being an open beta as well. It's as simple as that. If they don't advertise it, either they're doing it wrong or it's not really an open beta. Which is still possible, no matter what the marketing dudes may say it may just be a glorified demo to try and lure people back after GT6. Which I would argue should still be advertised, but it doesn't require it to fulfil it's purpose.

 

[Texaco]

But.. The Uncharted beta is open and ND didn't announce it until it was ready to be downloaded on the PlayStation store ..

Not saying PD will follow the same path, specially since it'll be the first beta (that the public know about atleast), but you never know till it actually happens.

 

[GTEFGHA]

For what purpose? How does this help their brand?

I guess that's just the way polyphony does things, it doesn't necessarily help them in any way but it's kinda benificial that pd is don't reveal any info. For example a lot of people spoiled fallout 4 because they watched all the trailer analysis gameplays etc etc instead of exploring all those things themselves

GTSport beta will fullfill all the requirements weather it is advertised or not, PD will test the servers and people will be able to see if the game will be any good. They have no need to advertise the beta, other people will do that (youtube channels and gaming sites)

 

[sems4arsenal]

But.. The Uncharted beta is open and ND didn't announce it until it was ready to be downloaded on the PlayStation store ..

Not saying PD will follow the same path, specially since it'll be the first beta (that the public know about atleast), but you never know till it actually happens.

Valid point.

 

[Imari]

But.. The Uncharted beta is open and ND didn't announce it until it was ready to be downloaded on the PlayStation store ..

Well, it was downloadable a few days before it started, but it's a fair point.

I still maintain that if your goal is to stress test online, then you want as many people as possible and that means advertising. Preferably at least a short time in advance so that the grapevine can work. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe for some reason a stress test works better with less people, and visibility for a game that is soon to come out is somehow undesirable.

I fully admit that I don't understand what the 🤬 marketing people are thinking most of the time.

I guess that's just the way polyphony does things, it doesn't necessarily help them in any way but it's kinda benificial that pd is don't reveal any info. For example a lot of people spoiled fallout 4 because they watched all the trailer analysis gameplays etc etc instead of exploring all those things themselves

Pretty difficult to spoil a Gran Turismo game in the same way that you can spoil a heavily story focussed RPG. What are they going to do, tell us that we win races?

But if that was the problem, do what Japan Studio did with The Last Guardian and straight out say that they don't want to release too much information because it will spoil the experience. Although we probably know more about TLG than we do about GTS.

GTSport beta will fullfill all the requirements weather it is advertised or not, PD will test the servers and people will be able to see if the game will be any good. They have no need to advertise the beta, other people will do that (youtube channels and gaming sites)

Yeah, I don't know why they bother putting out any advertising at all. It's just a waste of money that could be better spent on the game.

I say fire all the marketing guys, hire more artists, and just slide the game out into stores with no fanfare. Don't waste money on extravagant release events or marketing campaigns, just make a great game.

Unfortunately, that's not how Polyphony works. When they feel it's their time they'll spend millions on advertising for a few months, and then they'll go radio silent again for the next three years. They blow their load all at once instead of building up to an exciting climax. They're like the proverbial teenage boy: highly energetic but all done disappointingly quickly. What they need is some stamina.

Perhaps they're just emulating their target market.

 

[GTEFGHA]

Yeah, I don't know why they bother putting out any advertising at all. It's just a waste of money that could be better spent on the game.

I say fire all the marketing guys, hire more artists, and just slide the game out into stores with no fanfare. Don't waste money on extravagant release events or marketing campaigns, just make a great game.

Unfortunately, that's not how Polyphony works. When they feel it's their time they'll spend millions on advertising for a few months, and then they'll go radio silent again for the next three years. They blow their load all at once instead of building up to an exciting climax. They're like the proverbial teenage boy: highly energetic but all done disappointingly quickly. What they need is some stamina.

Perhaps they're just emulating their target market.

I wasn't saying that they shouldn't advertise the game, obviusly they will and should advertise the full game but not the beta

 

[Soundtrack]

On the point of a potential spoil, what if Sony themselves considered Gran Turismo Sport enough of a Hit to keep it undercover up until their own big show? If the games ends half as good as PD suggests it is, Sony would potentially have a grade A exclusive in their hands and could well have opted to display it extensively/exclusively at E3...

 

[JTB10000]

I consider 'early 2016' from January to the end of May. There's still lots of time to start hyping up the beta.

 

[Laffinassasin]

I consider 'early 2016' from January to the end of May. There's still lots of time to start hyping up the beta.

As already discussed extensively here the (deliberately) vague dates are highly subjective. Spring was added for extra protection.

Personally, early to me would be up to the end of March at the outside in the "real" world. If I were to say to my boss I'll be in early Monday/May and turned up at 11:00am/14th May, I don't think he'd agree I was early.

Early means near the beginning. Or even before the expected time (which is really funny!)

 

[GTEFGHA]

On the point of a potential spoil, what if Sony themselves considered Gran Turismo Sport enough of a Hit to keep it undercover up until their own big show? If the games ends half as good as PD suggests it is, Sony would potentially have a grade A exclusive in their hands and could well have opted to display it extensively/exclusively at E3...

They will most defnately show off the game at e3

 

[CSLACR]

I consider early to be in the first 10 to 20 percent, being January or February. I can stretch it to first quarter, which adds March.
Adding April and dividing the year into thirds is a huge stretch to my definition, but it being simply the first half of the year? Hogwash to me.
"Early" doesn't mean halfway through.

 

[rono_thomas]

The motive for PD writing early is not to give us a specific date. I would imagine its a group of people sat around a desk, with enough information in front of them to be deciding, "oh this part could cause a delay... this can take so long... can we write March, April, May?"

"Look at all these disgruntled GT fans lets not be specific so as not to cause heartache when we miss the deadline"

"I tell you what lets just say early, that covers everything, all we got to worry about now is being late"

It's irrelevant the way we interpret it, it can mean so many things, PD will release it when they meet whatever objectives they've set - An Ambiguous early statement gives them the biggest scope of getting it done when they say they will.

 

[Laffinassasin]

I disagree, rono_thomas. If PD/Sony weren't sure themselves when they'll be ready then they shouldn't even have given any date, never mind early or Spring 2016.

Don't get me wrong though. The issue of game delays has got much worse all round this gen IMO. U4 on its third delay for example.

 

[synon]

As already discussed extensively here the (deliberately) vague dates are highly subjective. Spring was added for extra protection.

Personally, early to me would be up to the end of March at the outside in the "real" world. If I were to say to my boss I'll be in early Monday/May and turned up at 11:00am/14th May, I don't think he'd agree I was early.

Early means near the beginning. Or even before the expected time (which is really funny!)

I think spring was just another way of saying early, ie spring would be considered early in the year.

 

[Laffinassasin]

I think spring was just another way of saying early, ie spring would be considered early in the year.

(deep breath) Not really. Early means near the beginning (of the year) and spring is March 20th-June19th.

Two different periods IMO.

 

[GTPorsche]

But.. The Uncharted beta is open and ND didn't announce it until it was ready to be downloaded on the PlayStation store ..

Not saying PD will follow the same path, specially since it'll be the first beta (that the public know about atleast), but you never know till it actually happens.

Uncharted 4's open beta was announced on Monday, went up on the store the next day and didn't go live until Friday morning. Not exactly what you said.

 

[synon]

(deep breath) Not really. Early means near the beginning (of the year) and spring is March 20th-June19th.

Two different periods IMO.

True, but if spring were the original period, it would probably be described as early rather than anything else.

 

[Laffinassasin]

True, but if spring were the original period, it would probably be described as early rather than anything else.

You have two websites: PS Blog and Gran-Turismo updated on the 27th October. One says early and the other spring.

They (Sony, PD) haven't changed either in four months to clarify. It is master level Obfuscation.

 

[synon]

You have two websites: PS Blog and Gran-Turismo updated on the 27th October. One says early and the other spring.

They (Sony, PD) haven't changed either in four months to clarify. It is master level Obfuscation.

Well, since I consider spring as early, I'm going for that

 

[Samus]

Some people are still trying to claim early 2016 as being the end of May, somehow?

But.. The Uncharted beta is open and ND didn't announce it until it was ready to be downloaded on the PlayStation store ..

Not saying PD will follow the same path, specially since it'll be the first beta (that the public know about atleast), but you never know till it actually happens.

Difference with the recent Uncharted beta is before hand the game itself was actually well promoted, there had been a few trailers, extended gameplay footage, and it had been seen at major gaming conferences. The game itself was very much in the mind of gamers even if they weren't interested in it.

GT Sport on the other hand, I imagine many casuals have forgotten about it or don't even know it exists.

 

[TS050]

Early 2016 is the first three months, just so we know, guys.

If PD are releasing their beta this month... I don't see how many will be able to pick it up, as there hasn't really been any promotion or advertisement since PGW.

They should've started advertising and hyping the game up a long time ago.

 

[rono_thomas]

Some people are still trying to claim early 2016 as being the end of May, somehow?

Early 2016 is the first three months, just so we know, guys.

Again this is what early means to you, but put yourself in PD's shoes, a little difficult who knows how they think or operate, so what do you have to go by, you have their track record of what they will do and when they will do it.

Do you still honestly believe that when PD write "early" that it couldn't be May, or that it couldn't mean anything after the first three months? Do you honestly believe that they have this sort of definitive date and they think the best thing to do would be to announce as it early 2016??

 

[Samus]

Again this is what early means to you, but put yourself in PD's shoes, a little difficult who knows how they think or operate, so what do you have to go by, you have their track record of what they will do and when they will do it.

Do you still honestly believe that when PD write "early" that it couldn't be May, or that it couldn't mean anything after the first three months? Do you honestly believe that they have this sort of definitive date and they think the best thing to do would be to announce as it early 2016??

It's the specificity of May from certain members that I'm finding odd. I understand early can be interpreted many ways but I'm struggling to understand how it could mean up to the end of May specifically. Jan - Mar, Jan - Apr, perhaps Jan - Jun, buy Jan - May? How? Is June to December late in the year? Why the uneven split?

Anyway to answer your question no, I don't believe they had a specific date in mind and that is exactly why they said 'early'. What we don't know is what they consider early, and what their rough target is. As I've said a few times I consider it Jan - Apr.

 

[rono_thomas]

It's the specificity of May from certain members that I'm finding odd. I understand early can be interpreted many ways but I'm struggling to understand how it could mean up to the end of May specifically. Jan - Mar, Jan - Apr, perhaps Jan - Jun, buy Jan - May? How?

I can only think that maybe they just expect the worst, I would love for it to be released early as early would be defined regularly, its just that well its just PD so when I look at the word that PD has written, early, its more for me that they haven't written as March or April, I mean if they thought this was the case then why not write it that way?

I have a strange question - The north American sites of this GTSport announcement (Canada & United States) have a prefix at the bottom of the page, *as of March 2015, where none of the other pages do. Does this mean that the GTSport webpage was drafted as early as March 2015? or does it mean nothing at all?

 

[Samus]

I can only think that maybe they just expect the worst, I would love for it to be released early as early would be defined regularly, its just that well its just PD so when I look at the word that PD has written, early, its more for me that they haven't written as March or April, I mean if they thought this was the case then why not write it that way?

It obvious gives them a rough window to aim for, even if internally they target March for example. If you target March and say March, it gives you no wiggle room, you need to have it done for March. If you say 'Early' you can still target March internally, but it gives you room to move in either direction.

I have a strange question - The north American sites of this GTSport announcement (Canada & United States) have a prefix at the bottom of the page, *as of March 2015, where none of the other pages do. Does this mean that the GTSport webpage was drafted as early as March 2015? or does it mean nothing at all?

That is a note for the sales figures at the top of the page, nothing to do with GTS.

 

[rono_thomas]

Then wouldn't they use sales closer to the October that they released the GTSport announcement? Or is this something that they only find out every 12months? My point being if you sat down in March to draft this announcement then yes you would use March's cumulative sales figures, but say you sat down in September, wouldn't you use August's cumulative sales figures for example

Do not know what happened then ^^

 

[Samus]

I don't know why they used that date, probably the end of the Fiscal year, but that's what it is. On other language sites they've just written it into the sentence.

The latest instalment of the Gran Turismo franchise, which as of March 2015 has sold over 75 million copies worldwide, is
coming to PlayStation®4 with the name “Gran Turismo SPORT”!

 

[rono_thomas]

I reckon somewhere there is a PD employee, sat down with some popcorn, Loving life because his/her job is too monitor what goes on Forum threads like this - My message to Him/her would be salted popcorn is far better than sweet and I hope your enjoying the show.

 

[chzsln485]

I reckon somewhere there is a PD employee, sat down with some popcorn, Loving life because his/her job is too monitor what goes on Forum threads like this - My message to Him/her would be salted popcorn is far better than sweet and I hope your enjoying the show.

They just like watching us squirm...

 

[PzR Slim]

I consider 'early 2016' from January to the end of May. There's still lots of time to start hyping up the beta.

In what other area would 42% of the way through something be considered early?