[darkpuppet]

Well, I finally got a bit of seat time with Gran Tourismo 5 Prologue for the PS3, and I have to admit, while it's impressive, it does have some shortcomings.

I have to admit, I'm a bit disappionted by it.... I was expecting something more. The AI is more appropriate of a bumper car simulator and cars still don't show damage and have the same basic physics model we've had since GT 1.

Definitely worth a download when you get a chance, but not the mind-blowing experience I was hoping for.

pros:
- Amazing car models -- featuring real-time, real-world reflections (ie, check out the garage with a non-red car to see what I mean).
- In-car cam is absolutely amazing (press 'select' to toggle between view modes)
- Menu sreen features amazing details that you can even zoom in on via the R1 button.
- Classic GT handling, and support for logitec racing wheels.

cons:
- more an evolution of the GT series than something that feels truly next-gen - changes are nearly imperceptible until you use the incredible in-car view
- game experiences some minor slowdown with more than 5 cars clustered together at one time (AI slowdown?)
- AI still plays bumper cars
- Still no car damage
- HDR contrast pwns my standard def TV...makes complex tarmac turns hard to decypher visually. This is with the standard composite cable -- I switched back to the composite when my components were experiencing some colour banding issues with the TV (never had such a problem with the PS2 using the same cable).