EA Calls Gran Turismo 5 "Sterile"

[Logan Westbrook]

EA Calls Gran Turismo 5 "Sterile"

Sony's driving series is more about car collecting than racing, says EA's Patrick Soderlund.

It's trash-talking time in the world of racing games, with EA VP Soderlund calling Gran Turismo 5 [http://www.amazon.com/Gran-Turismo-5-Playstation-3/dp/B002BSA1C6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1290523421&sr=1-1] "sterile" and saying that the upcoming sequel to Need for Speed: Shift - Shift 2: Unleashed [http://www.amazon.com/Shift-2-Unleashed-Limited-Playstation-3/dp/B00488PZ2S/ref=sr_tr_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1290523340&sr=8-2] - would offer a more authentic driving experience.

Soderlund said that other games in the Need for Speed series were aimed at a very different audience to the Gran Tursimo series, but that there was a lot of over between Shift 2 and GT5. He was certain that Shift 2 couldn't compete with GT5 in terms of scale, but that the when it came to giving players a taste of what being a real racecar driver was like, it would win hands down. He thought that the car collecting part of the Gran Turismo games overshadowed the actual gameplay, and said that EA wasn't going to take that route with Shift 2.

Soderlund's point - that the most authentic recreation of an experience isn't necessarily the one striving to be the most realistic - is an interesting one, even if it must always be viewed in the context of an EA executive talking about a competing product. That said, you could make the counter-argument that a more accurate simulation is more immersive, and therefore a better representation of the actual experience. Either way, after the years of tweaking and tuning that Gran Turismo 5 has received, I think EA is going to have a hard time convincing anyone that Shift 2 offers the superior driving experience.

Shift 2: Unleashed comes out for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC early next year.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=277204?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-News-RSS]




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[Lord_Gremlin]

I call EA putrid then.

 

[qbanknight]

At least EA finishes their damn games, and at least I can race in them instead of taking hours trying to customize my ride

 

[messy]

I really, really want our game developers to just shut up and focus on making the games better. We do not care about your stupid marketing gimmicks, Soderlund, just FINISH THE DAMN GAME AND MAKE IT GOOD. Are we just seen as a load of magpies by the people we buy from?

More or less. Video games are still a business after all.

OT: not too fussed about racing games. Although I always preferred NFS to Grand Turismo, NFS was just more fun where as on Turismo I just get obliterated every time.

Also need for speed underground featured "Get Low" by Lil' Jon and friends.

 

[XT inc]

Not that I will get to play GT5 the last one I played was on ps2. All I care about is car customization and overall level of fun in the game. Racing has always had an opponent in me as racing sims always get to me. I can't drive in a circle for 4 hours to unlock one car.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

As Interairplay said, developers should start focusing in finishing the games.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

See, if I really wanted to get the simulation driving experiance, I would save up a shit ton of money, hang around the race track, get on a team, and drive cars under Real World conditions. Sure the process might not as short as popping a CD into the tray and saying "Look! I'm driving a car!" but it's a shit load more fulfilling.

That's why I loved Hot Pursuit, it's not 100% arcade like normal NFS games where damage is cosmetic and you can take ANY turn at ANY speed, but it's got enough of your good arcade feel that it feels RIGHT to be playing it on a monitor.

The way I see it: If you wanna make a game, make a game. If you want people to experiance 100% real world conditions, open a racing team

*puts up flame shield just incase*

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Well, this is coming from a company that hasn't made a good driving game since Underground 2, so if I were him I'd keep shtum, especially as GT5 is probably going to decimate Shift 2 in sales figures.

 

[XT inc]

Maybe the case of the game is that its a super niche market. It only caters to the hardest core race fans and everyone else who is content in mild braking around corners and holding down the gas the whole time get left out. That and one spin out and its game over, whoops nicked the grass on lap 42 game over.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Says the developer of sterile sports games and racers.

I rest my case.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

I concur.

GT5 has been dragged out and dragged out. At this point it's nothing more than a soulless, hollow demonstration of pixel clarity.

Watch GT5 unlocks a new High Definiation clarity that al the TVs can't run because they are constricted bu 1080p. That would make me laugh my ass off

Not that I will get to play GT5 the last one I played was on ps2. All I care about is car customization and overall level of fun in the game. Racing has always had an opponent in me as racing sims always get to me. I can't drive in a circle for 4 hours to unlock one car.

Very much true. Hope Pursuit made it so that it's hard to get those -16 second split times (thank god), you actually need to fight for it, but racing around in circle just... bores me... Especially when you get one tire set after 50 laps

At least EA finishes their damn games, and at least I can race in them instead of taking hours trying to customize my ride

Really have to agree with this too

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

The thing that I got the most of out of that was that there is going to be a NFS Shift 2.

I loved Shift so I can't wait for Shift 2! I probably wasn't going to get GT5 anyway. I haven't ever really enjoyed GT games because they just had too many requirements to do different things.

 

[Andronicus]

I'm more of a Burnout/Wipeout kid anyway.

Still, if you get enjoyment out of unlocking all 1000+ cars in GT5, and driving around a single track 50 times in an endurance race, then more power to you. To each their own.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I'd agree if EA wasn't on the verge of canceling this very series two years ago due to low sales...

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

At least EA finishes their damn games, and at least I can race in them instead of taking hours trying to customize my ride

The whole point of almost all NFS games since NFS Underground has been car customization...

 

[TaboriHK]

I really, really want our game developers to just shut up and focus on making the games better. We do not care about your stupid marketing gimmicks, Soderlund, just FINISH THE DAMN GAME AND MAKE IT GOOD. Are we just seen as a load of magpies by the people we buy from?

I've gotta agree. I can't think of the last time I felt the opining of a developer about another developer's game actually amounted to anything other than gift-wrapped trash talk. If your game is better, the number will reflect that. Don't worry EA, you're not exactly an independent developer trying to keep your head above water.