It's been known for some time now that Gran Turismo Sport would be getting sunset at the start of 2024, as per the official announcement from the? devs, but it now see??ms that the process will be more thorough than most might've anticipated.

Indeed, while the announcement did specify that Sony and Polyphony Digital would "end the distribution" of purchasable DLCs and online services for Gran Turismo Sport, the expectation was that the game would remain accessible in an always-offline form. This, however, hasn't been the case, as anyone who hadn't purchased Sport before January 31, 2024, at 06:00 UTC won't be able to purchase, download, or play the game at all in the future. The community isn't thrilled about this development.

Gran Turismo Sport is no longer available, but it gets worse

Certainly, one could argue that there's virtually no need for Gran Turismo Sport now that Gran Turismo 7 has superseded the older title, which goes doubly so after the release of the recent SPEC II update. Sport?, however, did stand on its own two feet with a more bog-standard solo mode focusing on regular progression and events, as seen in the older franchise entries. Regardless, it is a shame that such a relatively recent release would be no longer accessible to new player??s.

For those who do have access to Gran Turismo Sport, there's more bad news on the horizon. The game will continue existing in its current, full-fledged state for less than a month. Sport has been an always-online title from the get-go, and as its online services will come? to an end on January 31, 2024, that means large batches of its content will no longer be accessible. This includes:

• Any form of multiplayer
• All player-made vehicle customizations (e.g. liveries)
• Community hub
• Open Lobby features
• Sport Mode features
• Mileage Store
• Trophies

Thankfully, the game's offline modes will remain accessible, with a limited form of progressio??n available as well.

It's a sad day for GT Sport fans, then, though the good news is that the vast majority of Sport's cars are, indeed, available for driving in the newer Gran Turismo 7 title.

The obvious question, though, is whether GT7 itself is due to face a similar fate in a few years. The old Forza Motorsport games are not ??available at all, either, which means that the recent generations of racing games are in a serious predicament, potentially getting lost for good.

Even for those who are sticking with the latest AAA racing game releases, there are some troubling developments. Forza Motorsport, for one, is hardly adding permanent new events to its middling roster. This makes for an air of transience ?in the genre, and it doesn't seem like this will be changing anytime soon.

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Dad of War now $20

Sony has just announced that seven new games will be joining its "PlayStation Hits" lineup. A collection of various popular and best-selling titles, PlayStation Hits lets late adopters get some great titles on the cheap. I know I've certainly used it in the past since I'm a cheap bastard. I also missed God of War last year, but I can't refuse it for $20.

I wouldn't say everything below is worth playing, but you can't really go wrong with these prices. You're bound to find something worth enjoying in each title, even if God of War is the clear standout. Each new game will be available for $19.99 (physically and digitally) startin?g on October 4, 2019.

• Far Cry 4
• God of War
• Gran Turismo Sport
• Rayman Legends
• The Crew
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• Watch Dogs

God of War, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Gran Turismo Sport, and more, available at ?a grea??t new price starting October 4 [PlayStation Blog]

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Hopefully it releases in the next decade

In a recent interview with fansite GT Planet at the Nurburgring World Tour event, Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi teased what the future of the racing series may hold. Speaking with regards to the follow-up for Gran Turismo Sport, Yamauchi stated, "Obviously we're working on the next Gran Turismo already, and the world of sport we've achieved through GT Sport is something I've always imagined to be the future of Gran Turismo. We were able to establish that now."

Yamauchi then explains that while he typically doesn't return to older titles, his recent tours in promotion of the series has been met with fans approaching him and showing love for Gran Turismo 2 and 3, specifically. Seeing that outpouring? of support has spurred Yamauchi to revisit those titles, to which he said, "it's surprising how much I've forgotten!"

Developer Polyphony Digital's push to redefine the future with each entry has potentially distracted them from what made past entries so good. "Having done all these World Tours, it gave me the opportunity to feel the history of Gran Turismo," Yamauchi said. "It gives me pointers and hints of the things we should make sure that we do in the future of the series. I think the next title that we're going to create will be a combination of the past, present, and future – a complete form of Gran Turismo."

That's all I could really ask for, too. I understand that Polyphony Digital tried something different with Sport, but its laser focus on online competition created a package that felt threadbare at release. Even with constant content updates, the game still didn't improve much a year after release. Maybe a single-player campaign isn't the most important t??hing around, but the lack of vehicles and weather effects created a static game that felt stuck between two different eras of racers. The lack of reason to interact with that content was the real stinger, though.

As for what platform the inevitable follow-up will land on, Yamauchi couldn't say. For him, VR seems to be what he is most interested in. "The first thing that’s going to be affected by more power is VR," believes Yamauchi. "I don't think that there's anything else that requires that much processing power. I really like VR; I'm one to believe in the possibilities of it, and it's very suited for a driving game." He explains that VR is something that will continue to get better as GPU power incr??eases, which is what excites him.

So while we're clearly a ways off from Gran Turismo 7, at least we know Polyphony Digital is taking the time to evaluate what made the series so special in the first place. I can only hope they get there because there is no reason why Forza should be running unopposed on ??the console racing front.

Next Gran Turismo Will be a 'Combination??? of Past, Present, and Future' [GT Planet]

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Bring your brolly

Possibly in a move to make British players more immersed in an authentic driving experience, Polyphony Digital will be adding a new "wet weather" effect to its 2017 racing title Gran Turismo Sport.

A recent video posted by the developer lets us see the grim conditions in effect on the game's Red Bull Ring track. In the video, professional si??mulation driver Coque Lopez braves the rain to showcase how this weather will effect the game's handling, so don't go gunning through puddles like nobody's business, lest you find yourself wrapped around a stand full of innocent onlookers. (Unlikely, I know.)

No specific date has been given for the new weather updat?e to arrive in-game, but its shouldn't take too long before da??rk clouds start forming, so better take your coat.

Gran Turismo Sport is available now on PS4.

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Update 1.34 available today

Tarmac-melting racing game Gran Turismo Sport has gotten a new update today, courtesy of developer Polyphony Digital. Update 1.34 brings? a new track to Sony's classy dr?iving sim, as well as five new cars for you to take out for a? test drive.

The new track is Autopolis in Japan, the site of recent Super GT and Super Formula races, renown for its twisty sections giving way to pedal-gunning straights. Autopolis comes in both a standard and "shortcut" configuration. Of course, what is a track without cars? GT Sport offers up five new vehicles for your cruising pleasure. Arriving in this update are the Mazda Eunos Roadster (NA Special Package) ’89, the McLaren F1 GTR – BMW (Kokusai Kaihatsu UK Racing) ’95, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren ’09, Pagani Huayra ’13,?? and finally the Toyota GR Supra RZ ’19. Vroom.

Finally, four new GT League events have been added. The Premium Sports Lounge, the All Japan GT Car Championships, the Gr. 3 Endurance series, and finally Rounds 6 and 7 of the Mazda Roadster Cup, so that should scratch your gear-stick for the time being. Tweaks and bug fixes have also been made across the board. You can find the full patch notes right here. Gran Turismo Sport is available now on PS4.

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Still off track

In the year since its release, Gran Turismo Sport has seen quite a few substantial updates. A new career mode, more tracks, a crapton of cars and even microtransactions: Sport is a much? heartier title than its 2017 incarnation. Even with those additions, though, the core of?? the game still feels off.

I booted up the game a week ago to see just how substantial all of these additions would be. In my review from last year, I ended up scoring Sony’s premier racing franchise a 6/10 and citing a lack of content as my chief complaint. While the content factor has definitely been increased, I think the real heart of my problems with GT Sport?? is just that it puts so many odd restrictions on the player.

Despite having what Polyphony Digital has deemed a career mode now, GT Sport still demands players have a persistent online connection. With more cars coming into the fray, players are still limited in the online “Sport” mode to which vehicles they can drive. Worse stil??l, the “Safety Rating” system has not seen any noticeable change, making for some seriously frustrating moments of tapping a rival and tanking y?our safety score.

In our modern era of post-launch updates and bug fixes, I figured stepping back into the world of GT Sport would yield something more. The game isn’t without its moments, but this is still a shallow shell of what ??the series’ past had on offer for pla??yers. For all the strides made with car customization and minute stat tracking, you still only get around seven cars per manufacturer and no dynamic/alternate time of day settings for tracks.

In all honesty, I feel like Polyphony Digital and Sony have failed to bring the racing series up to next-generation standards. The content on offer does match that of Gran Turismo 3, but that game came out 16 years ago. No amount of restarting development or focus on specific game modes should have come to the conclusion that axing series staples was appropriate for the series’ PS4 debut. Despite now boasting 233 cars and 48 courses (a number that is bloated by having alternate versions as different tracks), the game still feels like a tech demo for a proper Gran Turismo 7.

I definitely appreciate Polyphony tak?ing a fine-toothed comb to its car models and creating photo-realistic environments. While the game doesn’t really hold my attention for long, I am still quite impressed with how excellent the visual design is, especially on PS4 Pro. You can tell nailing the look, sound, and feel of each vehicle was a labor of love from the design team. Everything comes off super accurate and captures the essence of what racing is all about. That being said, what does this offer for fans that have been there for every entry?

Certain concessions might need to happen to evolve a series, sure, but to cut out basic genre options? Did ?FIA regulations really force the odd online restrictions, thus eliminating offline play? What reason was there to excise different class?es in favor of focusing purely on sports cars? These are still questions I can’t quite figure out, though you can now drive a Volkswagen bus around tracks.

My only real conclusion is that online play was mandated so that microtransactions could come into play. For some wild reason, GT Sport now gives players the option to purchase individual cars for around one to three dollars apiece. This only really impacts the added “career” mode, since “Sport” mode has harsh restrictions on which make, model, and year of veh??icle you’ll be driving in. With a super convoluted menu system and some odd requirements the?? farther you get in, the whole system just seems like a way to strangle people out of cash.

The game doesn’t give you an option to buy the car needed for a career event from the career menu, so you’ll need to click an exclamation point, discover which models?? are allowed and then back all the ?way out to the main menu. After that, you’ll navigate the “brands” feature to find the particular manufacturer and then buy whichever car you’ll need. On one occasion, I bought an entirely different car because I confused the model and I had to repeat the process.

Maybe allowing the quick purchase of a car was something that just couldn’t be done in GT Sport. Loading most menus brings up a full-scale model of the vehicle and there could be a possible reason doing that from within career mode wasn’t optimal. What I really think, though??, is that the menu was purposely made tedious to trick people into wasting credits on the wrong car for the job. Why else would microtransactions be added?

At least in the case of money, credits are given out so ??regularly that I can’t even envision a scenario where someone runs out of cash. Since career mode wasn’t even a thing for my review, I ??had a spare 1 million credits laying around for me to make mistaken purchases with. For people starting out, though, this could end up with scenarios where you’ll be making some progress and then get halted because the car you need is far too expensive. You could just slip a few singles over to Polyphony Digital, though, and get right back into the action.

That is mostly a nit-pick, however. In all honesty, the career mode is so forgettable and barebones that it might as well not exist. It is the bare minimum one would have to do to bring a feature into a game and it still acts mostly as a way to prepare you for online competition. That is the true focus of GT Sport and not much else has changed. The lobby system for ??custom races is still ridiculously dead and the “Sport” mode does?n’t fill up the way it used to.

Even with all of these additions to the core game, GT Sport is still just limp. Really and truly, I think Gran Turismo’s days are well behind it. It would take a radical re-invention of the series to bring it up to speed for whatever Sony’s next console ends up being. If GT Sport 2 is just this game but with more that really won’t be good enough. More content is nice, but an actual reason to interact with that content would be better. That is truly what is missing from GT Sport and always has been.

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Getcha motor running

An announcement from Sony and developer Polyphony Digital has confirmed that a brand new update is rolling out for sleek racing title Gran Turismo Sport on PS4 today. Update 1.25 brings ??with it a selection of cars and a new track with which to burn rubber.

Among the new vehicles on offer are the compact Mini Cooper "S" '65, the Herbie-like Volkswagon 1200 '66 and the high-performance Ford Mark IV Race Car '67. This completely free addition to the title also includes a track based on Austria's ??Red Bull Ring.

In addition to the new content, three new GT League events will be set live; the Group 3 Cup - Amateur League, the Beetle & Samba Bus Festa - Beginner League and finally the Nostalgic 1979 - Professional League. You can find the full patch notes right here and check o??ut a trailer featuring the new content below.

Gran Turismo Sport is available now on PS4.

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Sony does what Microsoft don't...

Just days after the announcement that Turn 10 Studios would be removing loot boxes from Forza 7, Polyphony Digital has announced that Gran Turismo Sport will be receiving microtransactions for its in-game store. I'm kind of baffled at the flip-flopping that is going on between these two games. Gran Turismo Sport seemed to be on a good path with its added "GT League" career mode and free extra cars, but now we're head??ing back into nonsense territory.

For the most part, the new July update is actually chock full of good stuff. I'm mostly in awe of how Sony just casually throws in the mention that you can outright buy cars in GT Sport now. Anyway, the biggest addition has to be the?? new "Circuit de Sainte-Croix" circuit that comes in three configurations along with more events for "GT League." As well as that, seven new cars are available (and not available through microtransactions). They are as follows:

• Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ 2017 (Gr.X)
• Mazda 787B '91 (Gr.1)
• Ford GT LM Spec II Test Car (Gr.3)
• Ferrari 250 GTO CN.3729GT '62 (Gr.X)
• HONDA S660 '15 (N100)
• Honda Beat '91 (N100)
• Daihatsu Copen Active Top '02 (N100)

As for the microtransactions, all cars that cost le?ss than 2,000,000 in-game credits can be acquired directly through the PlayStation Store. The service will launch tomorrow in Asia and America while it won't launch until August 2 in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and?? Oceania.

You can catch a trailer below for a look at the new cars in mo??tion. I suppose the added microtransactions aren't horrible, but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Introducing the "Gran Turismo Sport" July Update: The Mercedes F1 and a New Track Join??s the Lineup [Gran Turismo]

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New cars, events and a new track

It's been quite some time since I thought about Gran Turismo Sport, but developer Polyphony Digital has been trucking along with updates to the game. The newest patch hitting the game, the "May 2018" update, will be landing on May 30 and introduce a whole slew of new content to chug through. In addition to one new track, the famed Circuit de la Sarthe, Sport wil?l receive new GT League events and nine? new cars.

This trailer lays out the new rides you'll be seeing. While I'm not particularly big on any of them, I know Destructoid's own Dan Roemer is interested in the Fiat 500 F. Maybe I can finally play this game with a friend, though waiting around for online ev?ents to start is a bit of a drag.

Gran Turismo Sport - May Update 1.19 | PS4 [PlayStation via YouTube]

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VROOM VROOM

It has been some time since we last heard about updates to Gran Turismo Sport, but with the game being in a much better state than at launch, I'm eager to check these new features out. January?'s patch is a bit li?ghter than the December one, but it still includes a couple of neat cars, some new tracks and even some new events for the "GT League" campaign.

The first bit is four new events for "GT League." They each focus on a?? single racing discipline and two of them lock you to specific car manufacturers. The first is the "Raptor Survival," which is all about Ford F-150's. The second is "J-Sport Meeting," which deals with Japanese sports cars. In third comes "La Festa Cavallino," where you'll race in Ferrari's and the f?inal event is the "Gr.3 Endurance Series," which is all about long duration races.

New tracks include the "Monza Circuit" (which was available in Gran Turismo 5 and 6) and three variations for the "Autodrome Lago Maggiore (a new course to the series). The ten cars include a mix of different models from popular manufacturers, the best of which is the now di??scontinued Dodge Viper GTS. How Dodge can just get rid of their most iconic car is beyond me, but I suppose you have to make way for the Demon.

New Cars

• Toyota Supra RZ (N300)
• Toyota 2000GT (N200)
• Toyota FT-1 (N500)
• Jaguar XJ13 (Gr.X)
• McLaren F1 (N600)
• Ferrari 512BB (N400)
• Ferrari 330 P4 (Gr.X)
• Lamborghini Diablo GT (N600)
• Ford GT (N600)
• Dodge Viper GTS (N500)

New Tracks

• Monza Circuit
• Autodrome Lago Maggiore "Centre" Layout
• Autodrome Lago Maggiore "East" Layout
• Autodrome Lago Maggiore "West" Layout

The update should be live on the PSN right now, but the website doesn't actually mention a date. That being said, I did have it download earlier when I was fooling around on my PS4, so you shouldn't need to wait to get in.

Introducing the 'Gran Turismo Sport' January Update: ??Adding Monza Circuit and New Sports Cars [Gran Turismo]

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Because one month after launch is still launch

For some odd reason, Gran Turismo Sport launched with an always online requirement. Even with a stronger focus on online racing, locking players out of most modes when offline was just baffling. Why you couldn't take a photo of your car when offline is beyond me. With Sport's upcoming patches, that online requir?ement is going to get tweaked.

The first new update, which will be coming on November 27, will add a few cars and lay off on some of the online requirements. You'll be able to utilize the Livery Editor, Scapes (photo) mode and play the "Campaign" while not connected to the internet. The second update, which is planned fo??r December, will ?add a more traditional career mode to the mix called "GT League."

In Sony's own words, "Launching in December, we’ll be introducing a brand new single player mode called 'GT League'. Based on the old 'GT mode' of previous titles, players can now look forward to racing through a series of cup competitions from beginner to pro levels, and even partake in endurance races." Sounds like something that should have launched with the game. Alongside that will come 12 new vehicles which? are? listed below.

November Update

• ISO Rivolta Zagato VGT
• Audi R18
• Shelby Cobra 427

December Update

• Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD)
• Nissan Skyline GT-R V spec II (R32)
• Nissan Skyline GT-R V spec II Nür (R34)
• Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
• Lamborghini Countach LP400
• Ferrari F40
• Ferrari Enzo Ferrari
• KTM X-BOW R
• Suzuki Swift Sport
• Volkswagen Sambabus Typ 2 (T1)
• Chris Holstrom Concepts 1967 Chevy Nova
• Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (C3)

Polyphony Digital is also planning on adding new tracks and around ??50 cars between now and March of next year. It seems all of this content will be coming for free, as well, so there?? won't be any reason to not check it out.

One of my biggest complaints with Gran Turismo Sport is that it felt like a tech demo. I can understand wanting to take the series in a new direction, but there really wasn't enough content to ?justify a $60 purchase at launch. The introduction of "GT League" may just change my opinion of the game, since there would finally be something else to do instead of waiting around for online races to start.

Now we just need Forza 7 to dump loot boxes and I'll be in racing bliss.

Gran Turismo Sport: Incoming Updates Add New Cars??, Offline Play, GT League & More [PlayStation Blog]

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Available in North America

While there will almost certainly be more options for would-be PlayStation VR buyers later this month as we inch toward Black Friday, Sony has a new bundle that might speak to racing fans. It throws in a physical copy of last month's Gran Turismo Sport at no extra cost, so it's that, the headset, a PlayStat??ion Camera, and "an updated version of the PS VR Demo Disc" for $400 U??SD and $500 CAD.

I'd half-forgotten that GT Sport supports virtual reality until I saw this news. It's not across the board, tho??ugh -??- you'll be able to play one-on-one races in VR Drive mode in the Arcade.

It's also worth reminding that Sony is coming out with a PlayStation VR revision (model number CUH-ZVR2) that supports HDR pass-through with an updated Processor Unit, meaning you won't need to mess with any cords to see HDR content on your TV. This new model also has a thinner connection cable and shifts the headphone jack to a better, more integrated spot. If you end up going for this GT Sport bundle, you won't get these helpful tweaks?? -- it contains the original PSVR model.

Introd?ucing the PlayStation ??VR Gran Turismo Sport Bundle [PlayStation Blog]

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Sport Model

Developer Polyphony Digital is a group of perfectionists. Its attention to detail has led to the creation of some of the most detailed car models on the market. The realism presented in the Gran Turismo series is unmatched on consoles and ea?ch successive release has upped the ante in terms of the amount of cars a?nd tracks available to the player.

While the more recent entries may have been too bloated for their own good, the first entry on PlayStation 4 sees Polyphony Digital strip back to the point that this feels like an entirely different series. This isn’t your father’s Gran Turismo and it probably won&rsq??uo;t be one you’ll return to for very long.

Gran Turismo Sport (PS4)
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Released: October 17, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Gran Turismo Sport marks a bold new direction for Sony’s flagship racing series. Instead of providing the extensive museum of cars and massive list of player options, Polyphony Digital has de?cided to pare back the focus of the game to become an official FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) representation of motorsport racing.

As such, GT Sport is an online-only title. If you want to make any progress in your career or collect any of the 162 cars available, you’ll need to be connected to the internet. Even the incredibly basic career mode requires a persistent connection per FIA guidelines. The reasoning behind this is to avoid any kind of cheating or unfair advantages while racing online, but it brings up so many questions about the odd requirement??.

Since the career mode is, essentially, a glorified Driver’s Ed test, why Polyphon??y saw it fit to restrict that to an online connection is beyond me. You never race any other players during these tests, so what was the point? Even if you accept the p??rovided answer, the career is so short and devoid of different challenges that it comes off feeling like an afterthought. If you hunker down and focus on each test, accepting a bronze just to coast by, you could be done with everything in roughly three hours with only better medals enticing you to return.

That isn’t to say the information isn’t useful. Before each test, you can load up a video tutorial (that requires a connection to YouTube) that will walk you through what each challenge requires and the information contained is pertinent to real-life driving. ??I doubt anyone reading this is actually training to become a NASCAR racer, but these are some thoroughly explained tests ??that are all curated to make you a better driver.

As I progressed through the career, I did notice my lap times decreasing and my overall understanding of the handling in GT Sport becoming better. I suppose the short length can be forgiven for that (since the game had a tangible impact on my abilities), but if you have no interest in online competition, the only thing you’ll gain from playing GT Sport is be??tter driv?ing skills with nowhere to use them.

Anyone without a persistent online connection can play ??the “Arcade” options available. These include things like time trials, single race options, a VR mode, and even a drift challenge mode, but without an online connection, you won’t be able to save your progress. All of those hard-fought lap times and money earned will be for naught.

To make things worse, arcade mode locks most of the courses out if you aren’t a specific driver level, so with no ability to save, you won’t even be able to race on most of the game’s courses. Even if you could use them all, GT Sport’s stripped-back approach sees only 28 courses being available with some having no alte??rnate variations. Weather and time of day are also static, so some courses don’t even provide the option of mixing things up with rain or nightfall. This is not a game with a lot of content and there doesn’t seem to be any plans on adding more.

I find it hard to believe the FIA had such a big issue with Gran Turismo 6’s track editor that they demanded it be removed from any future entries. Having such a feature would definitely have extended the life of this game, but the FIA requirements mostly stifle the ability GT Sport has with making a connection with anyone. You can only race the same c?ourses so many times before you’ve seen it all and without differe??nt routes or variations, the lack of content is going to catch up to most people quickly.

At least there is a livery editor, for once. You can customize each of the meticulously modeled cars to look as goofy or as professional as you want. In typical modern triple-A fashion, some options from the editor are missing at launch (like custom image uploading), but this feature finally brings Gran Turismo up to speed with its competition.

Being so focused on online competition, you’d think GT Sport would deliver without question. Sadly, this also seems like a half measure. Being FIA regulated, the online races are very realistic and have a level of competition that is hyper-professional. Before you can even enter into anything, you’ll have to watch a video that instructs you on the proper etiquette of racing and introduces you to the new “Safety Rating” system that GT Sport employs for online competition.

This “Safety Rating” is a measure of your ability to drive safely and avo??id being a jackass. If you’re ramming other cars or trying to pull off stupid stunts on the track, your safety rating will go down and you’ll be matched with other less careful drivers. While the theory is sound, the implementation is incredibly flawed. For instance, someone rear ending your car results with you losing safety points, which makes no sense.

That then leads to making it incredibly difficult to regain your safety rating, since having other imbeciles bumping you all the time means you’ll barely make enough poi??nts to actually recover from genuine mistakes. I know real drivers aren’t bumping each other or slamming into walls all the time, but when stuff like that does happen, the game should have a better understanding of who initiated the incident to properly rate ?players.

With that out of the way, your only options in the game’s “Sport” mode are three daily races and a competition bracket. Since competitions won’t be live until November 4, you’ll be limited to daily races that go live every 20 minutes. What this means is you can only race about three times an ho?ur, since each provided track has a countdown timer for signing up and requires you to put up a qualifying lap along with racing between four and six laps around the course.

I like the attention to realism, but this makes for some extremely limited pickings. A private lobby system does allow players to make up their own stipulations and select any track, but most people aren’t racing in these lobbies for it to really matter. A lot of the competition, in general, has dropped out of the sport mode, too. When I first started playing on release, I could easily find a 24-person room, but now I’m struggling to get more than 11 people in races. That might have to do with the botched safety rating (since I’m sitting at a C for some reason), but it is concerning for the longevity of GT Sport.

With all the gameplay and feature shortcomings, at least Gran Turismo Sport looks photorealistic. I thought Forza 7 was mindblowing, but certain aspects of GT Sport blow Turn 10’s production out of the water (even on the base PS4!). The shadow detail and dynamic lighting lend a sense of depth to each scene, but? the car models, in particular, can pass for real life. This feeds into the game’s “Scapes” mode (which lets you pose the cars on top of real-life photos) very well, but my god is there so much detail packed?? into these vehicles.

That probably explains why there is such a small selection of cars, since each one has been remade from scratch, but I don’t feel that was a compromise worth taking. One of the joys of Gran Turismo’s past was amassing an army of cars to drive in literally any condition or style. GT Sport’s stripped-down approach sees the selection limited to only track vehicles and usually just four from each manufacturer. It lacks? diversity, but it also just plain lacks substance.

I feel that is the best way to describe Gran Turismo Sport. The game has a razor-sharp focus on what it wants to deliver, but does so at the cost of diversity and content. I suppose quality should always be more important, but for $60, you’d figure GT Sport would at least be comparable to past entries in the series. This comes off feeling like a tech demo for what Polyphony wants to do with Gran Turismo more than a full game.

I could take the lack of content if the gameplay options gave me more to do. Seeing as how even the online modes have weird time limits or aren’t fully ready, Gran Turismo Sport is honestly not worth looking into at the moment. Maybe this will mature into a better racing game in the future (much like Driveclub), but you can presently get so much better on PS4 that I’m not sure why GT Sport wasn’t delayed to add some more content. The ulta realism isn’t enough to justify the cuts done to the core GT gameplay of the past.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: Gran Turismo Sport appeared first on Destructoid.

Sever maintenance

Once upon a time, Gran Turismo was the undisputed champion of console racing simulators. It paved the way for many of the features we take for granted in modern racing games and developer Polyphony Digital has always striven to be at the top of its class. Gran Turismo had such a striking sense of ??realism that just watching the games i?n motion was a pure joy.

Somewhere along the line, Gran Turismo stopped being so relevant. Competitors (chiefly Forza Motorsport) stole the crown and Sony’s relaxed development cycles and constant releases of what amounted to demos confused players about what the next entry even was. It’s been quite a confusing mess since the release of Gran Turismo 3.

While the intentions behind Gran Turismo Sport, PlayStation 4’s first entry in this storied series, are noble, this really feels like a full-priced demo more so than the next best thing in racing. That GT Sport also features some pretty anti-consumer practices with its always-online requirement ?makes it? even harder to swallow.

Gran Turismo Sport (PS4)
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Released: October 17, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

To start off, if you have no intention of playing online races or have spotty internet, Gran Turismo Sport is not for you. Not only is most of the game focused on preparing you for entering online competitions, but most of the game is also not available if y??ou aren’t connected to Sony’s servers. The “career” mode acts like an extended Driver’s Ed class, but you can’t even access that if your internet?? goes down.

That is where I start to get confused. Why are simple things like driving challenges and a tutorial locked to an internet connection? The relatively neat “Scapes” mode, where you super impose your car onto real-life photos, is also not even available if you aren&rsqu??o;t o??nline. How does that make any sense? You can’t even look at your purchased cars in the garage if you aren’t online, so obviously someone really wants to make sure you aren’t cheating.

That someone is the FIA, or the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Sony has partnered with the FIA to ensure that Gran Turismo Sport is one of the most realistic racing games around. They have a strict set of guidelines for ensuring that motorsport racing is fair and balanced, so I suppose posing cars in photos also falls under those stipulations. While I’m being facetious with that last bit, FIA seems to be needlessly restrictive about what can and cannot be pla??yed offline.

That being said, if you’re fine with the online requirement, you’ll find that GT Sport is one of the most realistic racing experiences around. Forza has always straddled a line between realistic and arcadey, but GT Sport just goes full on into its subtitle, “The Real Driving Simulator.” This feels remarkably similar to Assetto Corsa and even excludes such features as rewinds to make y??ou really commit?? to your actions.

You also cannot take shortcuts of any kind, since the game will place you back on the track behind your point of diversion. This can really screw up your placing, but I feel it’s perfectly fine and preferable to how Gran Turismo 4 did basically nothing to punish people looking for a shortcut. It all falls into GT Sport’s philosophy of?? training you for honest onl?ine competition.

Before jumping online, you’ll need to watch some training videos that explain all the details of how this new Gran Turismo works. Here you’ll be shown the proper ??etiquette of racing as well as get a quick explanation of the brand new Safety Rating system.

Being cribbed straight from iRacing, a Safety Rating is a score based on how safe of a driver you are. If you are constantly ramming people or pulling stupid stunts on the track, your Safety Rating wi??ll drop and you’ll be matched ?up with other irresponsible racers online. I like the idea, but the implementation of this system is flawed.

The biggest compla??int is that your own personal Safety Rating will drop when another player collides with you. You can be cruising fine and making perfect turns, but if some jackass decides to rear-end you, your rating is going to drop. The reverse is the same, too; you can be drafting an opponent who then decides to slam on the brakes to piss you off. You’ll inevitably collide and then lose some of that rating.

That oddity aside, the online racing is pretty fleshed out. There are a variety of options available for different races and the lobby system for making custom criteria ?is extensive. At least that shift away from single-player content hasn’t resulted in an online option that feels half-baked. I’m not sure why competition races are still not active (the first going live on November 4), but the online is definitely an improvement over p?ast titles.

What hasn’t been improved is the car or track roster. I can understand wanting to cut out the fluff of Gran Turismo 6’s 1,226 cars, but how did Polyphony? Digital think dropping the count? to 1/10th of the selection was the correct response? Browsing the in-game store for cars is depressingly small and it really makes that $60 price tag sting.

The tracks on offer are also severely cut back, featuring roughly 1/4th of the selection from 6. This one makes less sense to me since you’d think a??n online racing game would want to give players as many options as possible. Instead, you’re going to be racing on the same 28 courses for the majority of your time and there aren’t even many variations ??for different circuits. It is an incredibly limited game in terms of actual content.

But hey, Gran Turismo finally has a livery editor! You can also make custom driver outfits without having to resort to loot boxes, so that is cool. The customization aspect of Gran Turismo has finally caught up to the competition. Even sharing content is just as seamless as Forza, so you can get an abundance of designs just? by taking a quick look online. At least you can personalize that small list of cars to your heart’s content.

So far, I’m just not sure what the idea behind Gran Turismo Sport was. I can understand wanting to focus more on online competition, but did that need to be at the expense of cars and tracks? Did it also mean completely foregoing a campaign mode and demanding players connect to Sony’s servers? That doesn’t sit right with me??.

At the moment (at least from my roughly seven hours of playtime), I can’t really recommend Polyphony’s latest installment. This reminds me of GT5 Prologue, where it was cool, but obviously a work in progress. GT Sport doesn’t label itself as that, though, so clearly this is meant to be the next step in Gran Turismo’s evolution. It also costs full retail price and will potentially have DLC down the line, so that really stin??ks.

_{[This review in progress is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review in Progress: Gran Turismo Sport appeared first on Destructoid.

I was in the market for a new car, I guess

It's not so often that we see ridiculously expensive bundle packages for upcoming video games. THQ still holds the record with their Saints Row IV Million Dollar pack, but the Taiwanese market is getting a pretty excessive Gran Turismo Sport bundle of its own. It's not enough to include the game with a PS4 Pro, because that would be reasonable; no, this bundle includes basically everything needed to transform GT Sport into a real simulator as well as a car.

Not adopting any real special name, the Gran Turismo Sport Super Bundle includes the game with a 1,000,000 credit head start, a PS4 Pro, a full PlayStation VR bundle (that is the headset, two controllers and PlayStation Eye camera), a year of PlayStation Plus, a Sony Bravia 4K OLED television, the Thrustmaster T-GT race wheel, APIGA's AP1 racing seat and a brand new 2018 Mazda MX-5 with custom GT decals. Th?is will retail for? NT $1,398,000 (or roughly $46,300 USD).

In all honesty, that isn't the worst thing in the world, but you could actually acquire all of the individual pieces for a lot less. Hell, you could buy another Bravia 4K television with the savings and I know past Gran Turismo games supported multi-monitor modes. The most unappealing thing about this bundle, for me, is the Mazda included. I really don't like Mazda's, but they are one of the cheapest ways to feel like you're driving a sports car.

At any rate, ??I guess we can add this to the list of ludicrous collector's packages. I'm still waiting for a first-person shooter that will include an actual gun with its bundle.

'Gran Turismo Sport' Super Bundle comes with a real Mazda Miata [Auto Blog]

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Offline players beware

Always online DRM has been a hot topic for years now. While I can understand wanting to combat piracy, putting such a stipulation mostly hurts legitimate buyers when server issues crop up. Gran Turismo Sport looks to be the next game that suffers when offline, ?since playing without internet ?limits you to only arcade mode with no ability to save. Just let that last bit sink in.

So say you run out and grab your copy today (something I will ?be doing soon), but there is some issue with your ISP that prevents you from connecting to the internet. Well, I guess you won't be doing much with you brand new, fully priced game. Campaign mode, buying new cars, viewing your garage, car livery editing and even taking photos won't be available to you. At least you can play split-screen.?..and have limited VR use...

To be fair, Sony did warn about this on their blog last month. As they stated, "GT Sport will require an Internet connection for the majority of functionality." Apparently, though, the requirement was, "to ensure that progress, car availability, and driver ratings ??are properly maintained at all times."

Part of that also has to do with the FIA, which is the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. They are a global organization that runs and maintains world motorsport and have partnered with Polyphony Digital to ensure that GT Sport is as accurate as possible. I guess to reach that level of integrity means ?that people with crappy internet connections just have to suffer.

So if you don't have the best internet around or really want to play GT Sport while in an RV at a race track, you're go?nna be out of luck. Hopefully the rest of the game holds up, ?because this restriction is already causing some alarm bells to ring for me.

Gran Turismo Sport is extremely limited in offline mode [Ars Technica]

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Race Day

Hey ?guys, I'm launching a new show for Destructoid's YouTube channel! Using a name I've been kicking around since my old blogging days on Screwattack, DEMOlition will be a series where I take a first look at demos and betas of upcoming games while giving my first impressions on them. It may be a well worn idea, but I feel that the entire experience of playing something for the first time can be just as valuable as putting in tens of hours and writing a review.

For the first entry in this series, I took a look at the Gran Turismo Sport open beta to see how it stacks up to the series' past and the current competition of Forza Motorsport 7. To say that racing games don't make the most exciting videos would be an understatement, b?ut there should be some useful information contained in this video to help you guys get an impression of how Polyphony Digital is transitioning their long running series onto the next-generation Sony console.

This may be a little rough around the edges, but I'll be taking any feedback from you guys and hopefu??l??ly improving any future videos. I like the low production approach I'm taking since most people won't be playing games with flashy graphics or catchy theme tunes. Maybe I can record a cover of The Police's "Demolition Man" on my bass, though; that would be neat.

The post Video – Gran Turismo Sport beta impressions appeared first on Destructoid.

There are some hoops to jump through

I hope you aren't burned out on racing games for the year. Following a delay, Gran Turismo Sport is pushing toward an Octo??ber 17 launch, but ??before then, you'll be able to go hands-on with a demo.

There are some less-than-ideal restrictions, however. The demo itself is time-limited and will run from October 9 through October 12, with PlayStation Plus members? getting a head start on pre-?loading beginning October 7 at 8:00am Pacific and playing on October 9 at 12:00am Pacific. Non-members will be able to download and then play the demo starting October 9 at 6:00pm Pacific.

The good news is that credits you earn (up to $1 million) and vehicles you unlock will carry over to the full version of Gran Turismo Sport. "At the start of the demo, d??rivers will have the option to experience a taste of Sport, Campaign, or Arcade mode. New features such as the innovative Scapes Photography mode and Custom Livery Editor are also available for the very first time."

Sony also notes that we'll be able to rac??e offline in two-player split-screen.

Gran Turismo Sport: Free Limited T??ime Demo Launching ?October 9 [PlayStation Blog]

The post Lo??ok out for the limited-time Gran Turismo Sport demo appeared first on Destructoid.

Nice

Once upon a time Gran Turismo was a force to be reckoned with. I'd argue it's still relevant, but in the '90s and early 2000s a new Gran Turismo was coming out every few years, until the series kind of stopped in 2013 with GT6. Now it's poised to make a return with Sport, which is due in October.

One point of contention with GT6 however was its microtransactions. Slowly but surely the practice wormed its way into several racing series like Forza, and with GT6 Sony succumbed as well. That's all changing with Sport though, as series creator Kazunori Yamauchi noted that Sport won't contain microtransactions.

This is probably a late in the game decision from Sony, knowing that their install base should see them through. Plus this doesn't preclude DLC ?of any kind of course.

Gema Show Indo [YouTube]

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Don't be surprised if it's delayed though

I could never get into Forza. No particular reason, just didn't click with me (though I still want to give Horizon a go). For realistic driving games, I played the poop out of Gran Turismo 4 after my f?riend got me hooked on it. No, I definitely did not copy his file with the endurance races completed or anything.

Anyway, after missing 5 and 6, I think I'm ready to try my hand at Gran Turismo again with Gran Turismo Sport this fall on October 17, 2017. Europe gets it a day later on October 18. I'm sure it won't look as pretty on my regular PlayStation 4 as it would on a PS4 Pro, but as long as I can smash super cars up against walls until they spin around like a tornado I'll be satisfied. But seriously, I'm starting to apprecia??te the simplicity of driving games more. No complex systems, just drive and listen to music or podcasts.

The post Gran Turismo Sport finally has a release date appeared first on Destructoid.

E3 Trailers

Moments prior to Sony's E3 press conference, a couple of Gran Turismo Sport trailers were uploaded which reveal that the game is scheduled for release worldwide in Fall 2017. Not to be outdone by Forza Motorsport 7, it will ru??n in 4k resolutio?n at 60 frames per second.

I've been catching up on racing games the past several months, except for these two series. Gran Turismo 4 took a considerable chunk of my time when it released on PlayStation 2. I hope Sport can steal me away again.

The post Gran Turism??o Sport will run in 4??K at 60fps this fall appeared first on Destructoid.

Get your name in now

Polyphony Digital is prepping a closed beta for this year's Gran Turismo Sport and if ??that sounds like something you'd like to spend time with, let's get right ??into it.

The multi-phase beta begins on March 17. Phase one is US PlayStation Network users (sign-ups here), while phase two will open up to European users (click away!). Be sure to check your PSN messages.

Folks who get in will be able to "choose from a select r?otation of cars and tracks each day" and delve into the Driver Profile to see their Sportsmanship Rating (on-track manners) and Driver Rating (overall speed and performance). Here's an example of what that stuff looks like in-game:

Unlike the last attempt at a beta, which was canceled as a time-saving measure only for GT Sport to be delayed anyway, it seems like this one will? for sure happen. Feels like a long road to release, doesn't it?

Gran Turismo Sport Closed BETA Announcement [Gran Turismo]

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I love you, and I miss you

Hall-of-fame Brazilian racer Emerson Fittipaldi has finally seen his dream supercar not only realized, but featured in the upcoming Gran Turismo Sport. Italian car design firm, Pininfarina, is set to reveal the Fittipaldi EF7 Vision Gran Turismo at the Geneva Motor Show this Thursday. It joins 20 other cars in the Vision Gran Turismo program, in which Polyphony digital called out to car manufactures to make an ??"ideal GT." 

A release date more specific than "2017" for the game is still unknown, leaving it just as unobtainable as the car itself for now. Perhaps it is to be expected given the brand, but Gran Turismo Sport is graphically stunning. It makes me want to get a PS4 and h?igh resolution TV so I can turn around, drive the wrong way, and cause? a huge pileup in 4K.

The post Legendary racer’s dream supercar featured in Gran Turismo Sport appeared first on Destructoid.

Gotta Go Fast

Gran Turismo games are infamous for taking a while to come out and Gran Turismo Sport is no differe??nt. We have a shiny new trailer to get e??xcited about, but still no specific release date. It is currently slated to release worldwide sometime in 2017 for PS4.

The post New Gran Turismo Sport t??railer at PlayStation Experience 2016 appeared first on Destructoid.

For Gran Turismo Sport

When I was growing up, there were certain companies or franchises that were synonymous with delays -- and given the amount of polish Gran Turismo always had, that series constantly came to mind.

It's happening yet again too, because while Gran Turismo Sport was set for a release this?? year, it's been pushed back into 2017. And that "2017" is the window, as no further details have been shared. "More time to perfect" the game was the reason given by Kazunori Ya??mauchi, the head of developer Polyphony Digital.

In many ways, Forza and several indie racing games have surpassed the GT series, so I'd love to see it return to form with Sport. Maybe it's been?? moved ??to a Neo optimized release?

Gran Turismo Sport Update [PlayStation Blog]

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'The new standard in racing'

With E3 kicking off next week and not enough attention to go around for every game with a presence at the show, publishers are pushing up some of their announcements in an attempt to gain more traction this week. That's exactly the case for this Gran Turismo Sport "E3 trailer."

It's much the same as last month's debut gameplay trailer, but there's a quick look at the social s?ide of the game, the livery editor, and photo mod?e.

While Polyphony Digital is really leaning into online competitions for this "eSports-focused" installment, there is also offline racing with a Campaign mode and Arcade options (Single Race, Time Trial, Drift Trial, and 2-Player Split Screen)." Reactions seem mixed from long-time GT players. As an outsider to the series and occasional racing game fan, Sport looks fine to me.

There won't be a beta as previously planned, so we'll just have to wait un?til Novem??ber 15 for the full release.

The post Gran Turismo Sport has some bold claims in its E3 tr?ailer appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm ok with this

Gran Turismo is a series that aims for the stars, but it looks like Sony is being a bit more realistic this time. Speaking to GT Planet, producer Kazunori Yamauchi confirmed that conditions for the upcoming Sport would be solidified before a race is ran, and?? that no parameters (like night and day cycles or weather) would be altered.

Yamauchi elaborates, stating, "We opted to not have the tra??nsitions in the race this time in order to raise the frame rate and the quality of the image *during* the race. So the user will be able to set that before they enter the race. So you’ll still be able to have night races, morning, races at dawn, dusk, and so on.”

I feel like Forza 6 did a pretty amazing job at not sacrificing quality to keep in some amazing details, but if Gran Turismo Sport can actually stick to a high consistent baseline I'll be happy to kick ancillary things lik?e weather shifts to the curb.

GT Sport Will Not Feature Dynamic Time or Weather [GT Planet]

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Pushing through with the beta may have delayed the game

The beta for Gran Turismo Sport has been cancelled.

The demo was announced last year, but now the game is confirmed for release in N??ovember, the beta has been canc?elled in o??rder not to delay the game.

Talking to VideoGamer, creator Kazunori Yamauchi said: “That's something that I'm very, ?very sorry about. In order to do a beta test we have to make a gold master of the beta test code, and for us it actually takes as much effort as to?? finish the real master code of the actual game.”

"Just because it'??s beta, we can't just throw it out there. It's required that in order to do an open beta we have to create a proper master for it, and considering the release timing that we announced, we decided that we just don't have enough time to do two gold masters for the game. By omitting that it saves us about three months of time."

Gran Turismo Sport releases on PlayStation 4 on November 15 in North America, ??and November 18 in the UK.

HAPPY FRIDAY! <3

The post Gran Turismo Sport beta cancelled appeared first on Destructoid.

The beta has been scrapped

Racing fans now know when the green flag will wave on Gran Turismo Sport. Polyphony Digital's Pla?yStation 4 racer speeds off the starting line on Nove??mber 15 in North America and Asia. The UK has a three day wait for a November 18 release.

The news comes out of a showcase for Gran Turismo Sport that took place in London. Along with the release date, other details have surfaced about the game. As reported by Daily Star, Gran Turismo Sport will have 137 cars ??at launch, 19 track locations with 27 layouts, and dirt tracks make a return. Also, game director Kazunori Yamauchi said that a beta is no longer taking place.

While Sony has been mostly mum on Gran Turismo Sport ever since its Paris Games Week reveal, the publisher has been revving its engine as o??f late. In the lead-up to E3, Sony has started the push toward its six-month marketing cycle. This is just the first lap; there are surely many more to follow.

Gran Turismo Sport r?elease date and more revealed - New pictures now LIVE [Daily Star]

The post Gran Turismo Sport gets a November 15 rel??ease date appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm so curious to try this in VR

It has been about six months since that initial Gran Turismo Sport trailer out of Paris Games Week, and we h?aven't heard a whole heck of a lot about the PlayStation VR-compatibile sim racer since. We're fast approaching E3 (here comes that familiar combination of excitement and dread!), but we won't need to wait until mid-June to get another update on the game. How's next week sound?

Polyphony Digital has a streaming event via YouTube planned for Thursday, May 19 at 10:45am Pacific. If you just want some fresh details and a new trailer for Sport, that'll be up first.

The stream will th?en switch over to the serious stuff: a pre-season test of the FIA Gran Turismo Championship Cups (the Nations Cup and the Manufacturer Fan Cup), with awards to follow.

So, a teaser f?or a teaser, essentially. But good to know!

New Gran Turismo Sport Footage Debuting Liv??e May 1?9 [PlayStation Blog]

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