What do they mean by an 'outdated' car list?

[Ryan81]

I've seen some people refer to the fact that GT6's car list is 'outdated'

What model year would constitute 'outdated' exactly? 2011? 2006? There are quite a few cars in the game which came out this decade so why all the moaning and groaning?

 

[Tornado]

A large portion of the car list are Japanese cars from between 1990 and 2000. In fact, they are by and large the same cars that GT2 had, but now there is less variety and more duplicates. That is the only era/region that gets any sort of meaningful variety. And those cars are increasingly irrelevant; neither important enough to be called classics in most cases even if they were old enough, nor new enough to draw a direct connection to the increasingly divergent path modern cars are taking. And the longer PD holds on to mid 90's used Imprezas rather than covering cars from other areas of similar vintage (nevermind cars from other decades) or new cars, the more dated the car list will be.

 

[Ryan81]

To be fair, the new premiums added this time round have largely come from Europe and the U.S. Look at the SEMA winners- two Camaros, Jay Leno's Oldsmobile Toronado, two Plymouths, a Firebird, Cadillac, Tesla, Fisker, quite a few Chevys and Fords etc. Almost no Nissans except the GT3 Nismo, couple of Hondas, couple of Mazdas etc.
It's true that the Japanese cars dominate but then, it is a Japanese company and it's no doubt easier for PD to model them because they are so common, unlike European and U.S. cars which are not that common in Japan, especially the more exotic manufacturers.

 

[jonjwlee]

Newer Ferraris are rather underrepresented in GT6. There have been a number of new road-going Ferraris launched since the 458 Italia in 2009, you know.

At least they really bulked up their classic collection this time. They only had the 512 BB and F40 last time...

 

[Nielsen]

I think people need to realize that it's only in the real world cars can get outdated.

At least they really bulked up their classic collection this time. They only had the 512 BB and F40 last time...

You forgot the 330 P4.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

Part of the problem is that since so many cars were ported from GT4, the car list is littered with '03 and '04 models, which were obviously brand new and bang up to date when that game was released, yet now just seem irrelevant. Porting in all the regional variations of certain models (MX-5/Miata/Roadster/Eunos Roadster, etc...) doesn't help either.

 

[CarBastard]

Simple. Look at the amount of cars in the game that actually are 2013 or 2014 models. Then double check that list with cars that have made a big media impact this year.

And also, what Tornado said.

 

[Aftrbrnr]

Tornado's post kind of hits the spot. I do think it is easier to understand what he is saying with tangible examples, though. I find when it comes to racing games with licensed cars, a lot of the time they tend to put in cars sometimes on the only basis because they were new at the time, and that being the only factor. They may not necessarily be fast or even performance cars, but they just happened to be new at the time the game was created. I think the ultimate example that speaks this the most is GT2's inclusion of the Dodge Intrepid, a mid-sized sedan that was new at the time and is now generally seen as forgettable by many people. Most telling about these types of cars is video games tend to ignore them once the new factor wears out, note that the poor Intrepid has not made an appearance in a GT game since 2, and I predict it is unlikely it will return. The second most notable example I would say is the the Opels and Vauxhauls that appear in GT5 and GT6, most of them were new back when they first appeared in GT4 but most of them were not notable, the bulk of those car line-ups were compacts or sedans that were new circa 2005 but being just Plane Jane commuter cars are not memorable and look dated in these recent GT games now that the "newness" factor has worn out.

This phenomenon does not only afflict "ordinary" cars, look at most racing games (with licensed cars) from 2000-2002 and you'll notice the 2000 Ford Mustang Cobra R was a staple of many of those titles. Now, outside of Forza and GT (and I would say its existence in the latter franchise is the result of using dated assets rather than PD really caring about the car) it hardly makes a splash in recent video games. I would say the fact that while at the time being the ultimate performance Mustang, better performing variants have come along with time, some of which were not race oriented as the Cobra R and came with more comfort and convenience features. Heck, I would say even certain supercars have been forgotten by video games and the media in general: I remember in the early to mid 2000s the Saleen S7 was trendy and featured in commercials, movies, video games, etc. - now Forza and GT are pretty much the only ones that still pay homage to the car.

I do think the interesting thing about racing games with licensed cars is because of the general trend to try and fit the newest stuff in, they inadvertently become time capsules as time goes on of what was considered "cool" and/or the newest at the time. Take '80s games such as Test Drive 2 with the '80s supercars such as the Countach, F40, and Testarossa. Because of the "new" fad, these cars tend to be squeezed out of recent video games in favor their newer counterparts (example: Need For Speed), and a lot of the times its only games with monster car lists such as Forza and GT that still include them.