Ad-Hoc is for multiplayer with others who are in wireless range.
OK didn't know that was in, so that's good. Online almost certainly would have been better, but at least this is in there.
GT never had a story to speak of, just pre-arranged events for money that allowed a free roaming style.
Yeah the analogy there was supposed to be just that without it's core driving mechanic, an RPG is just a bunch of monster fights. That wouldn't be much fun, you need something to bind them. In RPGs it's a story, in GT it's a career mode. It's something to progress through that has some kind of goal.
The irony is that GT PSP is practically taking the exact same model as The Beatles: Rock Band, but The Beatles: Rock Band is getting praised. There is a linear story mode, which primarily unlocks more story mode challenges, but if you go into quickplay all the songs are there, except one. One song.
Actually I think that's drastically different from GTPSP and I think it would have been great to have it set up like that. You note in beatles you get career mode (ie work your way through) and quickplay. Well GTPSP essentially only has quickplay (not exactly but you get the point).
There are people for whom career is only a painful and slow method of getting cars forced down their throat. For them, include an open mode where you can get anything and do anything. Absolutely make them happy! But don't do it at the cost of the others who really enjoy a career mode.
I really think this depends on the individual player.
Yes it definitely does, for some people they won't care what's missing, but when catering to a large audience, I think it's always best to give everyone something. As I said, there is no reason to take away from the arcade experience just to give us career mode, so why make that choice and cut?
Also career mode works as a double edged sword... sure it can be something you don't like the linearity of and get side tracked from, but it is something that you can get back at some point and continue.
And more importantantly for me, it gave me a reason to progress when I otherwise might not have. There are a set of cars I really wanted to drive in GT, then there are cars I really cuold care less about, then there were a LOT of cars I didn't know anything about. Career mode forced me to explore and the result was I found a lot of cool cars to drive I might not have otherwise.
If you are a total gear head and know the specs of every car in GT by heart, then sure you will probably just want to take them all out for a spin. But I would venture the majority of people don't fall into that category and would be served well by having the experience catered to them in bite sized chunks in some kind of order. I know it was great for me.
Now, maybe some people need that forced "career" mode and got bored as soon as they hit 100%? completion. If so, then I agree that this game isn't for them. But if they can enjoy a series of challenges and control themselves enough to complete them without being forced to then they do have a structure there. It is just different.
It's not so much I think that people need it, but that it's very nice to have and then again, why take it out either way? I mean sure you could just go into Madden, and pick teams for quick games and play a season that way, but you certainly wouldn't choose to eliminate season mode because that option is there would you? (and before anyone says it, yes football is totally different from driving, again look for the similarities, not the differences) I think just having the ability to somewhat recreate the missing part isn't an excuse for missing it in the first place.
You may be surprised how many people, especially at GTPlanet, are more in the get them all and take them out on The 'Ring group.
I probably will, but I still say that's a minority of the audience as a whole. And yet again, no matter how it breaks down, why not give the career mode for however many aren't in that group?
Even the worst reviews say the gameplay is there, but they don't like the presentation.
And back to the RPG analogy, a great weapon and spell system with lots of detail and depth and a slew of enemies to fight probably just doesn't cut it if they aren't put together in some meaningful way. I mean imagine in Diablo 2 had just been like a streetfighter layout:
You pick your character, pick all your stats and weapons and pick some oponents. Now you click your mouse until someone dies. Then you go select another matchup and do it again. That wouldn't stay fun for nearly as long now would it?
My biggest fear is that the negative reviews were so stuck on the lack of career mode that they left out some detail that actually prevents me from jumping in and buying whatever is available at that moment.
The biggest problem I foresee happening is if it really is random, random means anything can happen and conceivably you can see any length of either the same stuff over and over or never seeing the one you want. Combined with the fact that apparently you can't tell if you own a car yet without clicking on every car to see the stats, this could be a very painful and drawnout way to get the cars you want/need.
Need a 4WD car for some dirt races? Haven't seen one for a long time? Might not see one for quite a while...
Got all the cars you want except for 3 or 4? Get ready to potentially race dozens or hundreds of races over and over for no reason other than to pass time until you see the one you want.