Matt Ingenthron's Stream of Consciousness

Sunday February 27, 2005

Some weekend sport driving

So, this week I drove an RUF Porsche, a Porsche Boxter, a Mazda Miata, a G35 coupe (the car I own), an RX-8, a Mercedes Benz E55 and a Corvette (C5, no C6 was available). The really cool thing is I drove these all on a couple of different tracks. Laguna Seca, a track set up on the streets of downtown Seattle, Midfield raceway and an anonymous oval track (aren't they all?). I only slid off the track a few times and slammed into a couple walls.

By now you're thinking, what kind of money does he have to do this? Answer: $50.

This was the last of my Christmas gifts. I picked up Grand Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2. I also got the Logitech steering wheel and pedals (a worthy investment) for it, so now I can run all of these tracks from home.

My review? I'm not a big time 'gamer' but I do like a good racing game now and again. The physics are awesome. The car dives when you break, leans on the corner of the wheel you're turning with, the sound is very realistic. When you slam into things you shouldn't (not that I'd ever do anything like that) the image goes all blurry. The controls are better than GT3. In GT3 I almost couldn't stand to drive with the standard controller, as the car never really returned to center. I've never had trouble getting a real car to stay within the lines. :) In GT4 I didn't have that issue. Some of the stuff is a bit fakey, like being able to bounce off the walls and keep going, but I'm okay with the idea that this game isn't about damage to the car and what not. Leave that to metal gear and grand theft auto. Give me realistic physics, images and a realistic game feel. I think I have all of that, but I'll need a few thousand more laps in the driver's seat to get it right.