Pardon the lack of updates but since I’ve decided to sell my PS3 Phat (which I simply used to watch blu-ray discs), switch it up with a PS3 Slim and got a copy of Gran Turismo 5 last Christmas, free time has been a rare commodity that’s hard to come by :/ So again, sorry for the lack of updates.

As a side note to anyone looking forward to purchasing the game, it does require a TV capable of displaying 1080p video so those with 720p, you need an upgrade. Other than that, all you need to do is pop the game in the drive and enjoy.

60 hours into the game so far and wow, I love the experience. For the first time in my short (relatively, I started with Mario after all :)) sojourn into the realm of video games, so were the times that I caught myself actually shifting in my seat (picture yourself trying to turn, but realize it’s not enough and then your body unconsciously tilts with it :/). My girlfriend calls it geeky but what the hell , I call it immersion. 🙂

Graphics-wise, gameplay-wise, soundtrack-wise, the game is awesome. Both the cars and the tracks are beautifully detailed, making full use of the PS3’s hardware. Gameplay is smooth and sometimes (when you mess around with the settings without knowing what you’re doing lol though I assure you it doesn’t happen a lot as long as you don’t try to compete in a Supercar Cup with a non-pimped up car lol) brutal. While the controller works fine with the game, I do feel that having a driving wheel setup completes the experience. I’ll look into buying one (the Logitech G27 as shown below) and building a box (figuratively) to put it on.

So far, I’m still playing casually (though I want to set a few days to go all out, work isn’t letting me :/), trying to earn credits, playing with performance settings on my car collection then loading up a practice session on some of my favorite tracks so far (Trial Mountain is teh <3 :)) and slaving over the licenses (yes, I really, really, really suck at the licenses test lol, I'm probably getting old :/). For it's multiplayer aspects, the splitscreen is awesome though I still have to try the online multiplayer mode (sloppy connection on my part of the world, my connection to Steam on FPS games seems to be working fine though :/). Still, I haven't given up on TRYING to get online though, so I'll simply update the post or create a new one for that specifically. One big gripe about the game is the load time. It's a real pain to see that loading bar each time you finish a race and try to move to the next one. Even with the game installed on your PS3, it still drags it's feet loading levels. While it's not THAT unbearable, it does douse quite a bit of my enthusiasm with playing GT5 for extended periods. I'm thinking of loading my PS3 Slim with a Spinpoint drive from Samsung or a speedy Seagate or Western Digital Equivalent but that may be for another time as I still have another game to play pictured below
For those wondering, these are the Region 1 and Region 3 copies of Final Fantasy XIII.