GT4 Prologue - who's going for it?

[Geoff D]

I've managed to talk myself out of it, which is a good thing - I'm all for demos & the like, but this one's too pricey - although I understand you get a fair chunk of the game to mess about with. I appreciate that the devs suggest this to be a GT tutorial, but playing devil's advocate for a moment - if it's simply a tutorial, then why not release a 1 track, 3 cars to choose from race? For free?

Any other thoughts?

[tankplanker]

It does seem like Sony where planning on releasing the full GT4 complete with limited edition consoles and steering wheels before Christmas, and where caught out by the delay to GT4.

So they had to produce the demo in or miss out on the limited edition console sales.

Or may be not

I'm getting it, complete with the wheel as can't wait for my next fix of GT. Still undecided if I am going to get the matching console (and stand, memory card, additional controller), it would be a nice collectable.

[PeteJ]

I'll probably get it as I'm a bit of a tart when it comes to new games (paying ?30 for both Biohazard trial and Viewtiful Joe\Biller Hatcher demo).

When is it out and how much is it going for?

[Geoff D]

When is it out and how much is it going for?

'Tis out next week (4th) & Playasia & Lik-Sang have it for $34.90

[Mr Ono]

May get it.

There was that Toyota Demo version out not long ago as well.

[Che Musashi]

For fans of steaming media sony made this 15second advertisement:

http://www.playstation.jp/ch/cm/asx/cm_gtpack_bf.asx

[wod]

i'm going to get it. i love gran turismo and want this for my collection of them. wheres the cheapest place to buy it from ?

[tankplanker]

Yay, play-asia have posted my copy today, hopefully I should have it by Saturday.

[Rushy]

Not a chance in hell, Sony can go and burn for this. It should be a demo disk for the amount of stuff you get, or at least reasonably priced (e.g ?9.99).

I've got to many other great games to be playing rather than half finished games which have splipped there release dates. The worse thing is I know many people will buy it and chances are Sony will start to do this for more games.

[uiruki]

Not a chance in hell, Sony can go and burn for this. It should be a demo disk for the amount of stuff you get, or at least reasonably priced (e.g ?9.99).

I've got to many other great games to be playing rather than half finished games which have splipped there release dates. The worse thing is I know many people will buy it and chances are Sony will start to do this for more games.

What? The demo is selling for 2,800 yen (some ?15) recommended price compared to a likely 6,800 for the full game, and it's more than likely been released as Sony had big plans for the GT Force Pro and Ceramic White PS2s come Christmas. They needed to put something with it, and why not let the GT-heads buy it separately? They'd just complain if they couldn't. It has a significant amount of content anyway, including five completely new tracks. From what I hear you will even be able to play it online when the full version comes out and the servers go up. The game is evidently nearly done engine-wise, just that Yamauchi and co can't get the game content in the cars and tracks out to their exacting standards fast enough.

Myself, I have plenty of Gotham left to play but I know that I'll be going for it when I can, possibly with the wheel. Now, if I had still been in Japan and that wheel had been delayed because of a silly thing like the game being delayed, I'd have gone off it - I need a PS2 wheel anyway

[Salsa Party Animal]

Why bother, just enjoy PGR II for now and buy the finished game in Spring or whatever. (Assuming you have both console) I will get GT4 from USA once it is released.

[TheForce]

Not a chance in hell, Sony can go and burn for this. It should be a demo disk for the amount of stuff you get, or at least reasonably priced (e.g ?9.99).

I've got to many other great games to be playing rather than half finished games which have splipped there release dates. The worse thing is I know many people will buy it and chances are Sony will start to do this for more games.

I totally agree, were is it going to ??.... since when do we have to pay so much for a "demo" because in my eyes it's nothing more than a demo, don't get me wrong I can't wait to get my hands in GT4, but it's crazy that to enjoy everything I have to buy the demo and after that I have to buy the full game for the full price. Excellent thinking of Sony to get some extra money in the pocket. I remember getting free demo cd's from sony back in the beginning of the psx and now when they're the biggest players in console land we have to pay for something like this ! I think Sony could reward it's loyal customers with free disc for anyone wo buys the steering wheel or the console or one of their games.......

[Commander Marklar]

There is a lot more to the game than a typical demo and it is only ?20, so do hush now

[tankplanker]

I don't think its as bad value as you state - most demos only come with one or two levels with a handful of selectable features.

This has license tests, five tracks, and more than 50 cars.

It would be better to compare it to the motor show edition of GT3 as it is similar in size and scope.

[IcePak]

I agree with what Edge mentioned about this topic in issue 131. Releasing games in this style (ie trial version) for a decent price (nothing over 10 pounds) would be a good way for developers to test the waters - to see if the market will buy and play a game like that, and to see what needs to be improved in the game. That way we as consumers get better games, get to help with the development process (ie limited QA testing), and this could possibly help the price of full retail games fall.

I think that this is a good move, and hopefully a new trend for the games industry will develop out of it. I don't know how much this version of GT4, but I'm guessing it's higher than it should be.