Where to begin with this one? Maybe at the end and work backwards
If you're intending to purchase GT5 then you may as well get the PSP game as the garage looks like it will be transferrable to the big daddy game.
This raises the question, how do you sell the same game twice? Polyphony Digital's answer to that question is simple. Strip out the 'game' from the PSP version and push it as a way for GT zealots to build up a huge garage of stock cars ready for pimpage in the full PS3 game.
In other words there's no career mode or car upgrades in this game, just straight up racing, TT, drift and driving test modes. Hell there's not even online play, only Ad Hoc linkup although with the new Ad Hoc party PS3 server that may not be such a big deal.
Technically though the game is pretty ninja. Save for some horrible tearing the graphics are impressive and smooth (only 4 cars per race though). The handling model is also very engaging, probably the best on the PSP I've experienced. It does still suffer from that old GT irrecoverable overstear problem, but otherwise you can drift and grip to your hearts content; top stuff.
There are a couple of niggles. Firstly you have to select manual gears, if that's how you roll, for every (54) driving challenge, which is a real ball ache and the loading times are just horendous even navigating the menus results in huge loads (PSP 1000), restarts in the race are virtually instant mind. There is an option to install data to the memory stick, but it needs nearly 1GB and I've only got half of that. I suspect that might improve loading times, but can't test it obviously.
Oh and someone really should have checked the car descriptions over, there's some pretty horrible english and spelling errors, feels unpolished as a result.
Any questions?
What HAVE you been drinking?
Seriously though, is it nub or pad? In theory a stripped down GT game would be a GD (good) game. Although the underlying physics of GT have alway felt fundamentally very wrong...
So using the nub, or if I was a PSP game designer... although I am over qualified as I like games... wahahaha... but what you do is, instead of left to right and that whole 1990s idea... you do the, and I've mentioned this before, and thinking about it carefully, a brilliant idea, use the circumference of the range of the movement of the analogue doofer and immediately you have yourself a WHOLE NEW WAY OF PLAYING(TM).
Not sure what you would get if you flicked and if you'd have to track motion around the circumference using wizards and encrustations maybe even carbon dating.
There is NO chance this has been done before...
I always remember the excellent control method on Need For Speed on the 3do, diag right up for a broad turn, right for a normal turn and diag down and right for a tight turn, which I don't believe has ever been recreated since... not even on the ports to other consoles of that game, OR I am completely mistaken, but I do remember getting uppity about it back in the day, that why didn't all racers implement this idea as it was excellent.
The Lotus Challenge game on the PS2 has exactly the control scheme you describe. It was a bit odd in reality, but actually sort of ok.
Cool, I'll have to look out for it.
Was it the only way to play?
I mean, the abstraction of steering to digital or a sort of insane variable resistor is quite insane. At least in a strange way the circumference idea has a direct link to reality in a terrible way... in the sports cars as you know, they rarely go beyond 180 anyways. I think the only problem here is thumb articulation.
Nub or Pad man?
GT PSP does both nub and pad infact the controls are 100% configurable so you could use the shoulder buttons if you're a total sadist.
In the Lotus game the circumference control (not the marketing term they used) was optional, but it sort of made it more fun.
Oh and I'm playing on the nub because I'm hard as innit.
Just looking up Lotus Challenge, I think that appeared in my mental wake of playing alot of LeMans on the DC... so anything of that ilk was basically going to have to be utterly brilliant to survive... according to Felix Wikipedia Lotus Challenge appeared on the cub in 04 and the box in late 04 and was first released on the ps2 in 01... what the heck is that all about a 3 year gap!
A Kuju game too, which is insane, they have quite a eclectic catalogue... never did bother with Geometry Wars Galaxies... never did bother with Geometry Wars for that matter... I digress.
Shoulder butters were pretty handy for the old Ridge Racers I seem to recall, I am still in the PSP free camp tbh... should really get a 3000 what with its component out and flowing catalogue of quality titles I can bathe in.
Toys r us are doing Geometry Wars Galaxies on the Wii for a fiver btw.
Lotus challenge was 'ahem' supplied to me when I was reviewing for the other site. It was a total Lotus geek fest which obviously for me was wicked. Very strange game I recall stunt driving levels and odd speed camera trap challenges. Actually thinking about it I should pick up a copy too as it had some neat ideas for its time.
I'm sure 2nd hand PAL cube copies are lining the shelves in all average to poor game emporiums. That'll work on my PAL Wii y'see, PAL Wii 1 Import Wii 20,000. I think the PAL Wii had one more point, but got taken away on a technicality, maybe it was 50Hz only.
Oh yeah... I went there.
I bought the digital release, so the loading times are super quick as they're reading off the memory stick. Overall though, I'm liking how the singleplayer works as you can race pretty much what track you want from the off. It's very dip in and dip out, which suits the PSP well I think. I also agree on the handling, they kept it pretty simple and quite arcade focused so the cars feel more taut as a consequence. Normally, I find Gran Turismo games a bit laborious but this is, as you say, pretty ninja.
Interesting. Looks like I will be needing that Memory Stick Duo upgrade then so I can install the GT data to it.
Purchased a Delorean on Friday. The rosta of cars in this thing is huge! (Arguably too huge...) I'm still hoping to try this out over the Adhoc Party service at some point.
When the badgers is the Lotus dealership going to kick in for me. I need my Loti innit.
I must admit to using the D-pad for this. After a great deal of using two PSP's and the online mode I was able to buy all the cars, the majority of which can be shared with someone else's PSP. If anyone wants to pad out their garage I have Ad Hoc party so add my PSN name (RogsR34UK) and send me a message.
I may well take you up on that offer. However the worry is that I'll never play the game again once the garage is maxed out. 'Spose there's the driving challenges.
You won't get every car. It is mostly the expensive ones that are not shareable such as the F1 Ferrari so you will have plenty of work to do to get the rest.