IGN Gran Turismo PSP Review

[Terronium-12]

Off the top of my head, something like 700mb.

Not bad at all.

Fine, let's port God of War 1 & 2 straight to the PSP, or maybe GTA: San Andreas, or one of the Final Fantasies? You realize what you are saying? The standards are obviously lower for the PSP, UMD's don't have the space of a DVD or a Blu-ray, it doesn't have the processing power of the PS2!

Actually, unless you're referring to floating point, the PSP has a faster and more powerful CPU on tap, if I remember correctly.

 

[Tornado]

Fine, let's port God of War 1 & 2 straight to the PSP, or maybe GTA: San Andreas, or one of the Final Fantasies? You realize what you are saying? The standards are obviously lower for the PSP, UMD's don't have the space of a DVD or a Blu-ray, it doesn't have the processing power of the PS2!

So? None of that compares in the slightest. Unless you are seriously going to tell me that some menu screens and what would essentially be lines of code would take up 800mb more and tax the processor past its limit, there is no technical reason for GTM to not have a standard career mode. Period.
So, no, the standards aren't particularly lower for the PSP; especially not when the system has been shown to be capable of the exact same experience as console games in the past.

 

[JToipa]

especially not when the system has been shown to be capable of the exact same experience as console games in the past.

I wish to see that exact same experience, seriously show me where you saw it.

 

[FoolKiller]

Again, I have to ask, why is everyone just now getting upset about the lack of career mode? Is it worth arguing over this much at this point, but not when it was confirmed months ago?

1. It has been public knowledge for a long time now without heated debate.
2. You haven't bought it yet, so you can't even say you got screwed.

So, why are there any sort of angry reactions here?



Jesus, I really can't wait until the game launches and all the 4 year members with just 3 posts show up for the first time in two years to go on a rant about how they got ripped off.

I know one thing... That Bugatti Veyron sounds soooooo wrong!

Seriously, if after four full console games of this being an issue for people I really think your anger is over blown. Complaining about it in Gt5 will make sense, but when you have a dumbed down version of GT4 I don't know why anyone would think the sounds would be better.

Of course, I can't judge it because I haven't played it yet. But thanks for letting me know, from your experience with the game, that it sounds wrong.

 

[the Interceptor]

Since a career mode basically is just the same type of racing which simply was organised in a different way, I don't see how that should be impossible to implement on the PSP. Sure, things like a 24h race wouldn't make the slightest bit of sense, and I hope that noone's seriously going to argue against that. But a simple career would, in my humble opinion, improve the overall experience quite a bit. Again, I reserve my final judgement for when I've actually played it, but that's what it's telling me right now.

 

[Tornado]

I wish to see that exact same experience, seriously show me where you saw it.

TOCA Race Driver 2. For all intents and purposes (I had to look for things that might be different and I still had trouble), the exact same game. Test Drive Unlimited is the same way. Ditto Juiced 2 when compared to the PS2 version. Midnight Club 3 would be as well if it didn't have loading problems (they also made the phenomenal LA Remix, so its moot anyways), and Outrun 2006 would be if it didn't have niggling graphical hiccups. If I was to branch into other genres there would be even more games.
This is all besides the point anyways, as it hasn't been explained why a career mode is supposedly impossible in GT Mobile because of the PSP's technical shortcomings, and why we should lower our standards accordingly.

So, why are there any sort of angry reactions here?

I've already explained my reasoning.

 

[Devedander]

Again, I have to ask, why is everyone just now getting upset about the lack of career mode?

Because around here if you talk about potential negatives before the game is out, you get told not to complain until the game is out.

 

[Terronium-12]

Because around here if you talk about potential negatives before the game is out, you get told not to complain until the game is out.

It was never a potential negative though, for the sake of the argument it was a negative seconds after he announced it, and despite what you've said it still hasn't stopped pretty much anyone from complaining.

 

[Devedander]

TOCA Race Driver 2. For all intents and purposes (I had to look for things that might be different and I still had trouble), the exact same game.

Absoultely 👍 Toca 2 gave me hours of awesome racing action on my PSP and totally did it right. And I believe it had a quick race mode for those who just want to plop down and play any old race any old time...

 

[FoolKiller]

I've already explained my reasoning.

But they never said just no career mode, they alwasy said it woudl be mission based, like extensive license tests. It isn't like they hid that fact. The only thing that surprised me was the lack of prize cars in that mode.

Because around here if you talk about potential negatives before the game is out, you get told not to complain until the game is out.

I've seen how this conversation goes with you and I am not starting it.

 

[Tornado]

But they never said just no career mode, they alwasy said it woudl be mission based, like extensive license tests. It isn't like they hid that fact. The only thing that surprised me was the lack of prize cars in that mode.

I'm not sure where you are going with this. The only difference is that everyone staved off the complaining until the game actually came out instead of instantly declaring RUINED FOREVER upon announcement and whining about it from then on. I've seen both sets of fan reactions first hand, and I vastly prefer the former to the latter; at the very least because the former is usually based on actual criticisms and the latter usually isn't.

 

[Devedander]

It was never a potential negative though, for the sake of the argument it was a negative seconds after he announced it, and despite what you've said it still hasn't stopped pretty much anyone from complaining.

Go look at the ongoing "Will Porsche be in GT5" thread amongst others... it doesn't always work that way...

 

[FoolKiller]

I'm not sure where you are going with this. The only difference is that everyone staved off the complaining until the game actually came out instead of instantly declaring RUINED FOREVER upon announcement and whining about it from then on. I've seen both sets of fan reactions first hand, and I vastly prefer the former to the latter; at the very least because the former is usually based on actual criticisms and the latter usually isn't.

It's not you that I am talking about. You didn't act upset or angry, although how you have gotten into the primary back and forth I don't know. My comments are directed primarily at both this thread and the general reviews thread. I am seeing comments about people being pissed off. I don't see what there is to be pissed off about. Disappointed, makes it a deal breaker, sure, but angry, pissed, etc? If people didn't see it before now they see it now and still haven't paid for the game.

As for your feeling that there would be something in its place, I am curious what you call the missions. The only difference I can see, from the reviews I have read, in these missions and a plain linear career mode found in dozens of other games is that GT doesn't force it on you.

 

[Devedander]

Disappointed, makes it a deal breaker, sure, but angry, pissed, etc? If people didn't see it before now they see it now and still haven't paid for the game.

Well when you lead people down a path of expectation and build them up, especially if they may have invested money to be ready for what you promised them (aka purchased PSP or skipped other purchases to save up money etc) you do stand to get people pissed off.

If I tell you "be good all week and diet and I will make you a delicious ham sandwich on saturday" you might be dissapointed if the store is just out of ham on saturday, but if I give you a pickle and cheese sandwich and say "I chose not to put ham in it" then you would probably be psised off.

That's the difference.

As for your feeling that there would be something in its place, I am curious what you call the missions. The only difference I can see, from the reviews I have read, in these missions and a plain linear career mode found in dozens of other games is that GT doesn't force it on you.

As I keep saying... the way most GT's have done it (and most games of this genre) is to have a career and arcade mode. This way nothing is forced on you, you have the option to just jump in and play around or earn your way through the career. Everybody wins. Why change that when it totally works? It doesn't take away anything from casual, short stint players, but this way DOES take away from those who appreciate the career.

 

[TeamStig]

I don't understand why PD felt the need to "water down" GT PSP. If the gameplay is any indication, it proves that the PSP is capable of a console-quality experience. Then why not just give us a full world map, with actual events and some type of reward system? I completely agree with IGN.

I will still buy the game though. I knew from what we heard at E3 that it was going to be simpler than what we're used to, I just didn't know it would be THIS simple. The car collecting should be enough to keep me playing, but it would've been nice to see some structure.

 

[CaptCalvin]

Absoultely 👍 Toca 2 gave me hours of awesome racing action on my PSP and totally did it right. And I believe it had a quick race mode for those who just want to plop down and play any old race any old time...

Toca Race Driver 2 definitely did NOT have a quick race mode like one that people might expect. It had a bunch of preset championships, with a list of tracks and 2 or 3 cars you can choose from to race with. This means trying to race in a car you want to race in on a track you want to race on was VERY inconvenient, and a lot of times impossible. The game was easily ported to the PSP since it was a bit shallow to begin with, which was hidden/made up for by some excellent presentation. However, the majority of the game ran at 20-25 fps provided that you ran the game with a legit firmware.

 

[ploopsy]

its a freaking hand held version, what the hell did you expect... it's something fun to play while your walking through the mall or on a long boring trip, Yet some people expected it to be a full blown "Console" game.... enjoy it, be happy for what it is,what it has acheived,and what it can do, On a peice of hardware that can fit in your pocket.

+! Thats pretty much what I also thought.

Its a freaking portable game ppl!!! do you really want to sit through hours of gameplay staring at that dinky screen? Do you really want to eat batteries taking an hour to tweak a car?

Portable gaming is better when its straight to the point. I honestly believe that if there was a full blown copy a gt career mode the reviewers will start saying....

"The career mode could have been cut down since I cant stand staring at this tiny screen and wonky controls for 10+ laps"

I can understand if a PSP is the only means someone has to play a video game but that is highly unlikely. I personally dont care that they did not go all out.

 

[LaBounti]

It doesn't take away anything from casual, short stint players, but this way DOES take away from those who appreciate the career.

Watch the E3 2009 PSP portion to see they want more pick up and play, shorter games for PSP. GTPSP is one of those new format games.

Then maybe, just maybe it was meant for those people who appreciate it that much. Its not the Next version of Gran Turismo. Its barely "a" version of GT. As of right the only complaint I have its the same I had with GT5P (GT5Pa full release also with no career mode), is the $40 price tag. Its maybe at least $10 too much for a non full on GT game.

I'll explain what I think and honestly believe what PD's intentions with this is. A career mode to collect cars would ultimately ruin the idea and concept of trading with other users and using those cars in GT5. I think the biggest feature is using it with GT5. If they had a traditional Career mode people wouldn't have to trade cars, ever. they would just buy up everything. Then have an garage of 800 car you chose to buy or win kicking off GT5 with 90% of the available cars. In theory you can do that with the current format but it would take a combination of luck and messing with the internal clock. IGN's review is not based on this concept, its based on"ok this is what they gave us?"

So there is my thought on the secondary purpose of the game. People are hurt for some reason becasue its not gt4 mobile. So there you have its. It is a full "scale" GT game. Just not a traditional one for the the reason I just explained.

 

[Devedander]

Toca Race Driver 2 definitely did NOT have a quick race mode like one that people might expect. It had a bunch of preset championships, with a list of tracks and 2 or 3 cars you can choose from to race with. This means trying to race in a car you want to race in on a track you want to race on was VERY inconvenient, and a lot of times impossible. The game was easily ported to the PSP since it was a bit shallow to begin with, which was hidden/made up for by some excellent presentation. However, the majority of the game ran at 20-25 fps provided that you ran the game with a legit firmware.

Yes in that essence it's not the same as arcade mode in GT, but the point was that there was a career mode (where you worked up a ladder) and a quick race mode that let you choose what you wanted to do as much as you could in that game.

In GT it would be the same except GT has given more freedom in choosing what car on what track, but the point is still that neither mode detracted from the abilities of the other and thus was better than only having either one option alone. Basically the urge to get a quick race in is not a legitimate reason to not have career mode.

TOCA is shallow? I don't really think so... it's not a super deep sim, but it's a solid racer, has a lot of cars on track at once and has visible and mecahnical damage. And remember this game came out years ago...

 

[LaBounti]

Race Driver was far from Shallow. A good Example of a shallow racing game would be the last 4 not including Shift NFS games.

 

[Devedander]

Watch the E3 2009 PSP portion to see they want more pick up and play, shorter games for PSP. GTPSP is one of those new format games.

Then maybe, just maybe it was meant for those people who appreciate it that much. Its not the Next version of Gran Turismo. Its barely "a" version of GT. As of right the only complaint I have its the same I had with GT5P (GT5Pa full release also with no career mode), is the $40 price tag. Its maybe at least $10 too much for a non full on GT game.

I'll explain what I think and honestly believe what PD's intentions with this is. A career mode to collect cars would ultimately ruin the idea and concept of trading with other users and using those cars in GT5. I think the biggest feature is using it with GT5. If they had a traditional Career mode people wouldn't have to trade cars, ever. they would just buy up everything. Then have an garage of 800 car you chose to buy or win kicking off GT5 with 90% of the available cars. In theory you can do that with the current format but it would take a combination of luck and messing with the internal clock. IGN's review is not based on this concept, its based on"ok this is what they gave us?"

So there is my thought on the secondary purpose of the game. People are hurt for some reason becasue its not gt4 mobile. So there you have its. It is a full "scale" GT game. Just not a traditional one for the the reason I just explained.

I guess it comes down to do you look at GTPSP as:

1 A game for your PSP that you will pay for and have been waiting patiently for since it was first supposed to be GT4 Mobile at launch.

2 An accesory for GT5 that will allow you to wet your whistle while waiting for GT5 and depending on luck might help you get a jump on your car collection in GT5.

As a PSP owner (but not PS3 owner) I would think it's only fair that tie ins with GT5 should be considered, but those who are buying this as a PSP game only should also be considered.

Also I don't understand how the career mode would ruin trading or the tie ins with GT5... from IGN's review it sounds to me like trading is broken already anyway as you can only give someone all the cars they don't have, not just certain cars. So if you have that Supra I want, but you also have 350 other cars I haven't unlocked yet, but want to get on my own... we are stuck.

 

[CaptCalvin]

Yes in that essence it's not the same as arcade mode in GT, but the point was that there was a career mode (where you worked up a ladder) and a quick race mode that let you choose what you wanted to do as much as you could in that game.

In GT it would be the same except GT has given more freedom in choosing what car on what track, but the point is still that neither mode detracted from the abilities of the other and thus was better than only having either one option alone. Basically the urge to get a quick race in is not a legitimate reason to not have career mode.

TOCA is shallow? I don't really think so... it's not a super deep sim, but it's a solid racer, has a lot of cars on track at once and has visible and mecahnical damage. And remember this game came out years ago...

Well I did enjoy the game. I really liked the way the career mode is set up in fact. An almost completely linear path of said preset championships makes sure you're always driving different combinations of cars and tracks and in the end you get a taste of almost the whole game.

IMO it would be nice to have something similar in GTpsp because I don't see a point in a traditional GT mode without the ability to buy after market parts, but it would be MAAAADDD long because there are 800 cars as opposed to TOCA's 50 or so.

 

[Devedander]

Well I did enjoy the game. I really liked the way the career mode is set up in fact. An almost completely linear path of said preset championships makes sure you're always driving different combinations of cars and tracks and in the end you get a taste of almost the whole game.

IMO it would be nice to have something similar in GTpsp because I don't see a point in a traditional GT mode without the ability to buy after market parts, but it would be MAAAADDD long because there are 800 cars as opposed to TOCA's 50 or so.

I don't see why it would have to be too long... you don't have to earn every car in career mode, you just have to earn at least one car for each class of tournament or race. So you could complete career mode with only a handful of cars, but if you did very well or went back and raced more, you could then earn the others you wanted.

 

[CaptCalvin]

I don't see why it would have to be too long... you don't have to earn every car in career mode, you just have to earn at least one car for each class of tournament or race. So you could complete career mode with only a handful of cars, but if you did very well or went back and raced more, you could then earn the others you wanted.

That could work, but the story was my main motivation for playing through the career, even though it took me like 50 tries to win the Aston Martin DB7 on iced lake championship. Honestly, I can't imagine a GT game having a story. It's like trying to imagine a Microsoft Flight Simulator story.

 

[GTO_VR4]

Dont really care for career mode on a handheld. As long as I got my time trails and tuning, im good. BTW, whats the word for tuning in gt psp? PLEASE tell me PD did pull a GT5p when it comes to tuning!

 

[Goldfingiz]

IGN reviewer is bitter because there's no career mode. Get over it, this is a portable game. I'd hate to be in the middle of a career and have to turn it off because I arrived at a location or my battery is about to die. Personally, I love to race against friends and try to beat my own times on a track. This game seems awesome for that.

Having access to only four dealers per day can become frustrating, but it also keeps the game fresh. It will be a reason for me to turn it on every day to see which dealerships are available. It will also make that car you've wanted for a while that much more exciting, and you will appreciate it more. I also think it will pace the game nicely, instead of going out and buying every car you want as fast as you can.

As long as the gameplay is solid, and it seems like it is according to the review, then I'm happy with what I see so far. We will have GT5, most likely in a few months, for that career mode experience.

 

[Alonsomania]

The four manufacturers a day issue does keep things somewhat interesting. You would want to do another race to see if brand x comes up and your favorite car is for sale.

It does somewhat compare to the used car list, doesn't it?

 

[Devedander]

IGN reviewer is bitter because there's no career mode. Get over it, this is a portable game. I'd hate to be in the middle of a career and have to turn it off because I arrived at a location or my battery is about to die.

So are you saying you count out any game that can't be beaten on one battery pack? No MGS? No God of War? No GTA?

Come on, on a system with a sleep mode and the ability to save that argument just doesn't hold water.

Personally, I love to race against friends and try to beat my own times on a track. This game seems awesome for that.

Great for you! No one was saying those things should be taken out, just like other GT's that had both an arcade and a career mode.

Having access to only four dealers per day can become frustrating, but it also keeps the game fresh. It will be a reason for me to turn it on every day to see which dealerships are available. It will also make that car you've wanted for a while that much more exciting, and you will appreciate it more. I also think it will pace the game nicely, instead of going out and buying every car you want as fast as you can.

Unless you are waiting for a decent offroad car to do some dirt tracks and one just won't come up... until your battery dies

As long as the gameplay is solid, and it seems like it is according to the review, then I'm happy with what I see so far. We will have GT5, most likely in a few months, for that career mode experience.

I keep seeing this "we will have GT5 soon"... well that we can only include people who have or can afford a PS3... not really a great solution if you ask me.

 

[Bank]

Good God, I know why there is anger and disappointment swirling around. But..

How important is a career mode in a portable game to some of you?
I hope people don't just want to to have a reason to finish a game. Long in-depth career mode is best on consoles (unless it's a platformer and RPG then it needs stories). It's perfectly ok and a great addition in mobile Racing games as well, but not as necessary.

But like I said, I do understand why anger is going around.

P.S.

I hope nobody brings up RPG's as a relating subject to this ever again.
An RPG needs a career/story. Or it's not role playing. You can't do anything, it'll just be a 3D space to test out animations - etc.
Without a career, can you still 'drive' in a racing game? Yes you can. Will it become anything else other than a racing game? Nope, I dunno', I don't think so.

I wasn't planning on sounding negative I hate people who complain all the time about video games. So if I sound like I'm complaining about the whiners, then I'm sorry haha

Take what I said very lightly.

 

[MarcoM]

The four manufacturers a day issue does keep things somewhat interesting. You would want to do another race to see if brand x comes up and your favorite car is for sale.

It does somewhat compare to the used car list, doesn't it?

Indeed. It took me also several months to get all cars. Using the spreadsheet I found on this site. Gotta catch 'm all

Initially I found it strange, the only four dealer restriction. But now it starts to makes sence.

Waiting.... waiting....