Yes, I'm aware they have their own racing series. I'm just wondering if there's something else in play here to explain why the series hasn't progressed beyond higher polygon counts.
Perhaps that "something" IS Kaz. Maybe he's just more of a car fan than a racing fan, and as long as he helms the project, it'll never be more than what it is now.
Well... First of, I think what's holding GT5 back so much is how focused PD are. So focused in fact, that they don't seem to have the slightest idea what the competition is doing or what their audience (aside from the ever-happy fanboys) want.
I doubt that GT5 is exactly whaat Kaz wanted it to be. I severly doubt that. But I don't doubt that PD went on and developed GT5 like they did with every GT prior to it, completely ignoring what the competition has been doing for half a decade. And that's the whole problem: They're five years behind in terms of game design.
I mean, compare, say, GTA: San Andreas and GTA IV, or Red Dead Redemption. There's a huge progreession between all of those, every single one refininig the whole gaming experience.
Gran Turismo
never did that. The biggest thing they've accomplished is a mediocre damage model and repaintable cars. And both of which are limited, even.
But enough about GT... The Shift-team seems to have set game development goals for their title that I as a player share and identify with (I like to RACE opponents who will overtake me and leave me in the dust if I make a mistake, not a train of sightseeing AI drivers who I have to keep track of how many laps I am in front of). SMS also seem to work much more efficiently towards that goal, and I am happy to support such an effort by pre-ordering their game.
👍 I totally agree with that.
Plus, one thing I like about SMS: They seem to keep in touch with their fan base. I mean, I've seen more comunication by SMS with their players through the Speedhunters FAQs then PD ever did.
Cause i do not think Kaz experienced blurring of anything except when he lost his contacts. Just because Shift does blurring, vibrations and in-cockpit movement does mean it's right.
Ever driven a car at high speeds? And I mean,
high speeds. Your peripheral vision
will start to blur as the environment flies by. Going fast enough, you'll even start to develop a tunnel vision, because most of the stuff that you're not focusing on is bllurring due to the speed.
Of course, a game can hardly simulate that, without a tripple screen setup. However, GT5 not doing anything in that regard is definitely no better than Shift blurring stuff.
Challenging AI ... just get in one of the online leagues, no AI needed.
I still don't get why multyplayer would be an excuse for the lack of a good AI. Especially because you should be able to fill the grid in a multyplayer race with AI drivers...
To me the physics seem like just a decent generalisation, but I won't get into that as it's going way OT... 
