...if we imagine that a low car count, and with it a low variety (excluding duplicates, which don't really dampen that variety as much as people like to make out, annoying though they are), constitutes a less than "excellent" experience in that particular dimension of the whole package, surely the sensible thing to do might be to add more variety in some way?
Sure, the Standards don't look as nice, but it's a compromise. As someone who lamented the loss of variety in GT3, and openly wished for the GT2 cars to be included as legacy assets (as I'd seen done in other, unrelated games before), I see the Standards in GT5 in a different light to most.
+ google.
GT3 contrast is, dare I say it, perfect.
A number of people bring it up as the ideal model of what Kaz should have done in GT5, a similarly bold leap in technical innovation on a hard-to-develop-for next gen system, and PD's biggest seller to date. "GT5 should have been a much smaller, more focused quantum step like that, not the daring quantum leap which clearly fell flat." I wish I could fall so flat.
Except they ignore a lot of lamenting that went on at the time. I was unaware of GT Planet back then, but I did catch posts at gaming mag sites which offered forums. A whole lot of people kept their PS1s handy, or in my case, Bleemcast, to enjoy the sheer depth of gameplay, features and that godly car lot. There was a lot of lamenting going on over GT3. Fewer cars by far. Lots of event recycling. No cool used cars with different performance levels to discover. No Race Mod. Missing, much loved tracks. Fewer cars by far... yeah, that was the most stated lament.
We were so utterly starved for the sequel that there were conniptions over every GT4 delay. It didn't help that the pics and videos made GT4 look like our dream Gran Turismo, so when Christmas 2004 went by, we were pretty despondent. And many of us were shocked when some still sang the praises of GT3 after GT4 was finally released that February in the west. I'm still hard pressed to remember just what was so alluring about that lesser game, in every respect.
This is a different day to be sure. The GT5 love/hate divide is pretty stark, and it's even there regarding GT6 to my astonishment. But I'm still dubious of how many are stubbornly clinging to resentment over GT5 that they'd just as soon quit the series, or wait out for a PS4 Gran Turismo. This game is being compared to both Drive Club and the sweet looking Forza 5 on systems that almost make the PS3 look like an old Commodore computer. Improved in almost every respect, if not all, on technically obsolete hardware! This is just crazy.
But what I think is crazier is all the prejudgment over a game they haven't touched, nor will anyone till just shortly before December. They want hard facts to chew on, details about their pet peeves being remedied, from sucky sounds to a Livery Editor that should be "technically possible." Some of us like Griffith500, TokoTurismo, another_jackhole and myself among many others, have faith that those unrevealed improvements are going to be there in abundance. Some see Kaz's perfectionism bringing another stumble. We see what amazing feats have been accomplished, the result of perfectionism properly applied, and trust that it's just the tip of a glorious iceberg. Some of you feel Titanicked, the rest of us see a scenic ocean voyage ahead of us that's fun to navigate. As with all things GT, we'll see, and in just a few weeks.