Don't spooge your pants just yet....
Its not really a true game to be fair. It?s a promotional product using the game to portray a car. Its an interesting concept and Polyphony only pull it off because few games programmers have the time or dedication to produce such a detailed game. I?m sure it will benefit both companies, unless you want a Prius to race about in.
If anything it reinforces the fact that the GT series are driving simulators rather then racing games, but then, driving a car, however physically modelled, is quite dull.
Racing them is much better, but then, this product is not for sale either. I would guess that using games to convey products will be the next big thing as graphical models have been used for years. Why not make them interactive?
Anyway Got hold of this the other day (its about a bit apparently) but this copy was sent by a friend of a friend who lives in Japan. Had agood pllay during the weekend and thought I?d post my thoughts as its not a review as its unfair given the mass of variety on offer here. (Please ignore my sarcasm).
The game features 1 track to play, which is Tsukuba (Japan).
The playmodes are Prius Touring Vs Prius Touring, Prius Touring via orignal Prius. That?s it. No two player modes. You can also watch (replay only) modes of Tokyo City and the E3 featured Italian street track.
A forth option allows you to watch promotion material of the show and the car.
The music used is from GT3 so is unlikely to be featured in the Full/Prologue versions.
Once you?ve chosen the car, you get the choice of around 8 colour schedules. Silvers, Grey and white dues, Black, Blue and Red.
The gameplay has improved somewhat, and is a little more precise then GT3. Being a true race track, the graphics are nice, but scenery minimal so if you like grandstands, you?ll be at home. A small, animated graphic in the bottom left shows you what looks like petrol being pumped around the car engine. God knows why. Some special function in the car itself is likely but not being able to read Japanese I?m not sure.
Its for promotional purposes only so will not be seen in the full game anyway.
Pop-Up was evident once, during a long straight, but this was not evident everytime, going over the same stretch in other races. I?m not sure if pop up could be affected by heat causing problems with the GPU. Will2003 (Ex London Consoles) said my machine was dirty when it was chipped and I?ve not cleaned it since. Given the programming skills of Polyphony and the time they?ve had to refine the (albeit completely new) graphics engine, it could be that. Saying that, in GT3, R11?s industry section had terrible pop up at times although this was not evident throughout. It was certainly not evident during the Tokyo or Seattle stages where you?d have thought it would have been most evident.
The is obviously no crash deformation (this being confirmed ages ago) but the game runs is silky smooth at around 55-60fps (est). The amount of detail in something as anal as a headlight is testament to the effort made by the team.
Finally, the AI. Well, I dunno. I don?t think its that different to GT3 and using cars to cut corners can still be done, without penalty. Of course, racing with all cars of same type was always more challenging in GT anyway. Slipstreaming effects were not really noticed.
I must also add that that ?climing a mountain? feeling that you got with the GT series (from GT2 and on) was that you know the early races are going to be slow paced, given the cars you were able to afford. This is very much in evidence again here, and I believe the lack of a damage model to be a main cause.
It would make the primlinary races far more exciting.
Much of this, no doubt, will be subject to change in the Prologue and Full releases of course, but we?ll just have to wait and see.
I will say this? the A.I. (in current form) is not, seemingly, that much different to GT3.
Extensive play-testing of Prologue will reveal more.
Steve.
Its not really a true game to be fair. It?s a promotional product using the game to portray a car. Its an interesting concept and Polyphony only pull it off because few games programmers have the time or dedication to produce such a detailed game. I?m sure it will benefit both companies, unless you want a Prius to race about in.
If anything it reinforces the fact that the GT series are driving simulators rather then racing games, but then, driving a car, however physically modelled, is quite dull.
Racing them is much better, but then, this product is not for sale either. I would guess that using games to convey products will be the next big thing as graphical models have been used for years. Why not make them interactive?
Anyway Got hold of this the other day (its about a bit apparently) but this copy was sent by a friend of a friend who lives in Japan. Had agood pllay during the weekend and thought I?d post my thoughts as its not a review as its unfair given the mass of variety on offer here. (Please ignore my sarcasm).
The game features 1 track to play, which is Tsukuba (Japan).
The playmodes are Prius Touring Vs Prius Touring, Prius Touring via orignal Prius. That?s it. No two player modes. You can also watch (replay only) modes of Tokyo City and the E3 featured Italian street track.
A forth option allows you to watch promotion material of the show and the car.
The music used is from GT3 so is unlikely to be featured in the Full/Prologue versions.
Once you?ve chosen the car, you get the choice of around 8 colour schedules. Silvers, Grey and white dues, Black, Blue and Red.
The gameplay has improved somewhat, and is a little more precise then GT3. Being a true race track, the graphics are nice, but scenery minimal so if you like grandstands, you?ll be at home. A small, animated graphic in the bottom left shows you what looks like petrol being pumped around the car engine. God knows why. Some special function in the car itself is likely but not being able to read Japanese I?m not sure.
Its for promotional purposes only so will not be seen in the full game anyway.
Pop-Up was evident once, during a long straight, but this was not evident everytime, going over the same stretch in other races. I?m not sure if pop up could be affected by heat causing problems with the GPU. Will2003 (Ex London Consoles) said my machine was dirty when it was chipped and I?ve not cleaned it since. Given the programming skills of Polyphony and the time they?ve had to refine the (albeit completely new) graphics engine, it could be that. Saying that, in GT3, R11?s industry section had terrible pop up at times although this was not evident throughout. It was certainly not evident during the Tokyo or Seattle stages where you?d have thought it would have been most evident.
The is obviously no crash deformation (this being confirmed ages ago) but the game runs is silky smooth at around 55-60fps (est). The amount of detail in something as anal as a headlight is testament to the effort made by the team.
Finally, the AI. Well, I dunno. I don?t think its that different to GT3 and using cars to cut corners can still be done, without penalty. Of course, racing with all cars of same type was always more challenging in GT anyway. Slipstreaming effects were not really noticed.
I must also add that that ?climing a mountain? feeling that you got with the GT series (from GT2 and on) was that you know the early races are going to be slow paced, given the cars you were able to afford. This is very much in evidence again here, and I believe the lack of a damage model to be a main cause.
It would make the primlinary races far more exciting.
Much of this, no doubt, will be subject to change in the Prologue and Full releases of course, but we?ll just have to wait and see.
I will say this? the A.I. (in current form) is not, seemingly, that much different to GT3.
Extensive play-testing of Prologue will reveal more.
Steve.
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