I am only 5% complete; just need more time and there never seems to be enough to go around.

Are you saying that the game is over after you get the Toyota GT-One because it is so damn good (i.e. one of the best cars in the game), or just because by that point the races get easier? Hopefully you can still have a good time without a car that is balls-out solid, because I would be pretty bitter if the game is no longer fun less than 25% complete.

Either way, it should be in there. Seems like the PAL release is receiving a few added features, hopefully Le Mans is a carry over from NTSC rather than something especially for us.

Reference: http://www.gtplanet.net/for...

You are so spot on about the driving. GT4 = best driving experience.

http://www.tuninglinx.com/h... says this – ‘The Best Tracks… GT4 boasts a 52 track line-up including world-famous circuits such as Suzuka and, for the first time, the notorious Nurburgring Nordschleife and La Sarthe at Le Mans.’ I’ve never pre-ordered before and I’m certain to get a copy anyway but I think I’ll be toddling off to GAME this afternoon, just in case…

I remember all the banter, in the thread where I said there was no chance of the Nordschleife being in GT4…you have to say that La Sarthe with Polyphony physics and a Le Mans-spec sportscar like that Bentley can only be driving heaven. That’s the reason I play these games – racing is secondary with GT. Last time out I got to take a Panoz Esperante GT1 round Monaco for 2 hours and then thrash it around the streets of Seattle, all the while convinced that if I could do it for real it wouldn’t be a million times removed from what I was already experiencing.

The driving is what I play for. Show me the press release that called it ‘The Real Racing Simulator’.

On the AI front; I am going to post more later (hopefully today). It may be marginally better, but not enough to write home about. Do fans of the series even care that the AI sucks? It seems to me that we accept this and move on to playing the game for different reasons.

Are you saying that Le Sarthe (Le Mans) is in the game? I better pay more attention! You remember back in the CG days when we had banter about GT4 being worth the price of admission just for this track? The ‘ring is fabulous – I cannot wait to get a proper race car on that circuit.

The early reviews over here (release date is apparently now March 9th, which is a Wednesday, which is very odd since all our games release on a Friday…GT4 ain’t that special, surely?) suggest that the AI isn’t that much of a step forward, if indeed it’s a step forward at all. Look forward to seeing what you make of it.

I’ve read criticisms elsewhere saying, quite correctly, that the series hasn’t moved on since 1998, that you’re better off playing the original GT than any of the updates and that GT4 is nothing more than a group of extra tracks and cars tacked on to the same old game. Sadly, that’s exactly why I’m buying it – the ‘Ring in a pukka race car with the GT physics engine can’t be anything other than glorious. Same for Sears Point (Infineon Raceway, if we must) and Le Mans. By the way, how long has it been known that they were in the game? I had no idea until yesterday…

Apparently, GT4 owners with a GT4 Prologue save on their memory cards have to complete fewer of the licence tests – presumably the tests are the same in some cases so we aren’t made to complete them twice. Some of the new tracks were featured in GT4 Prologue too – the Italian hilltop circuit (Citta del Aria, I think) is just fantastic, almost like driving around your living room with some of the faster, wider machines.

Nice impressions JC, keep us posted. Oh, and if you need any tips for the ‘Ring, give me a whistle – as well as knowing the layout and lines better than many, I can point out all the accident blackspots, mainly because I’ve tested them all extensively through GPL and PGR. The scrap metal collection I’ve built up…

Cheers,
Adam