Vaporware, vaporware: Gran Turismo 5

While I may agree in a general sense (I could care less about racing games) that game developers should focus on EVOLUTIONARY rather than REVOLUTIONARY, there are far too many idiots out there who only want the latest shiny game.

It can often be difficult to wait, but I'd prefer developers actually take their time to make sure the game is done well, rather than having them push out some half-baked pile of crap. I personally hate that now console games can be patched like PC games. Time was when console games had to be pretty much perfect at launch, because once you went into production on the game discs, there was no going back. Now developers just push out something that's "good enough" and patch it later like the PC world. Assuming they get around to patching it anyway.

Also, what about people who don't have an Internet connection, or the millions of people who still have dialup access only? Even a small 5MB patch could take hours to download. So imagine those people. They get home with their band spanking new copy of GT5, pop the disc into the system, get settled in on the couch, and fire up the game. Only to find it's a steaming pile of crap, and the "fix" is a 50MB patch that they have to download on a 56K dialup connection. So now they have this brand new game they can't really play, until the phone is tied up for several hours.

...apparent need to model and put every new car into this title. For instance, I've already seen the new Ferrari 458--albeit rather rough--in virtual form for the game, and this is a car that was only release for consideration by the motoring press a few months ago. But hey, Polyphony just HAD to have it in the game at launch anyways. I still say that as new (real) cars come to market, Sony could work the virtual versions of those as upgrades to the game as Polyphony finishes up each game model. At last count, there are supposed to be well over 1000(!) different autos already modeled and incorporated into the game; why is there this perverse need to try to add even more?

The 360 has had Forza 3 since last fall, and it's done quite well for the Microsoft franchise. GT5 was supposed to be Sony's counter-attack last Christmas, but now they're stuck with waiting until THIS Christmas for a response, and even then it's officially only a "maybe"? (This time around, Sony will not commit to a hard date). The PS3 has been doing better of late from a sales standpoint, but it still lags behind; it would behoove Sony to kick Polyphony's rear and tell them to get their act together. I read an article that said that Polyphony has already spent at least $60 MILLION so far (as of last month) in developing Gran Turismo 5. Small wonder that the PS3 brand continues to bleed red for Sony with payouts like that. If one were to guess at the margins Sony gets per copy upon release (after the retailers, distributors and assorted middlemen get their chunk of flesh, too), I'd say that they would have to sell close to 2 million copies at full price before they even start thinking about turning any profit from the title that can justify their continued subsidies for the PS3 hardware that they're still losing money on.

As for download updates: considering that the PS3 (as well as the 360 and Wii) are designed with broadband connections specifically in mind, the length of and the time it takes for any updates or upgrades should not be a significant issue. I'd still say it would be better that as new cars are modeled (Sony in the past has claimed that each car takes about a year to complete a virtual model of to Polyphony's standards), and bundle them up for SALE through their PS3 Online service.

The Gran Turismo franchise has a large, dedicated following. And yes we do want the game to be as realistic a simulation as possible. But enough with the delaying tactics already. There's no such thing as perfection, especially to a gamer, so Polyphony should stop trying to achieve the unachievable.