Gran Turismo 4
Gran Turismo 4 | ||
---|---|---|
Composer(s) Masahiro Andoh | Isamu Ohira | |
Series | Gran Turismo | |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 | |
Release | ||
Genre(s) | Racing simulation | |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gran Turismo 4 is a 2004
Originally planned for a 2003 release, Gran Turismo 4 was delayed for over a year and a half by Polyphony Digital, and had its online mode removed. The game features over 721 cars from 80 manufacturers, from as early as the 1886 Daimler Motor Carriage, and as far into the future as concepts for 2022. The game also features 51 tracks, many of which are new or modified versions of old Gran Turismo tracks, with some notable real-world additions.
Gran Turismo 4 was well-received critically and a commercial success, becoming one of the highest-selling games of 2005, and the third best-selling game on the PlayStation 2. The Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean releases of the game were bundled with a 212-page driving guide and lessons on the physics of racing. A PlayStation Portable enhanced port entitled Gran Turismo Mobile was originally planned for development, but was later renamed to Gran Turismo, which was released October 1, 2009.
Gameplay
Players accumulate points by winning races in the normal first-person driving mode, called A-Spec mode. Each race event can yield up to a maximum of 200 A-Spec points. Generally, a win using a car with less of an advantage over the
The new B-Spec mode puts players in the place of a racing
Another new addition to the game is the Driving Missions, which are similar in experience to the license tests, but award successful completion with 250 A-Spec points and 1000 or more
A new Photo Mode is included in the game, which allows the player to control a virtual camera, taking pictures of their cars on the track or at specific locations, including the Grand Canyon. This game is able to produce a selection of screenshots with variable compression rate (Normal/Fine/SuperFine) and size (up to 1280x960 72dpi), and the user can choose to save or print to a supported USB device.
Compared with Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, graphics are greatly improved with more detail on cars and tracks (despite running on the same PlayStation 2 hardware). The physics are also greatly improved, with the major upgrade that cars now experience body movement, such as pitching (forwards and backward rolling) under braking. Barriers have considerably more friction to slow down the cars in GT4 (in an attempt to stop the use of "wall riding"), but there is minimal friction between cars, so the advantage obtained by running into the side of another car (instead of braking) is still present. Each of the Driving Missions and Special Conditions events give a 5-second penalty for hitting the walls or opponents' cars in this way, where the car's speed is restricted to 50 km/h (31 mph) until the timer disappears when it reaches zero.
Alternate versions
Prologue
Gran Turismo 4 Prologue (グランツーリスモ4 プロローグ, Guran Tsūrisumo Fō Purorōgu) is a 2003
In Japan, a limited "Signature Edition" featuring the signature of the series producer
In Europe, the game was bundled with a promotional "Making of DVD Video". While intended to be limited content, the DVD-Video was also included in the Platinum re-release. The DVD was later included in the limited Gran Turismo 4 "Special DVD Set" released in Japan on June 28, 2004. The regular edition was discontinued and the game was re-issued under Sony's 'Greatest Hits' line in Japan ("PlayStation 2 the Best") on August 5, 2004[4] and Europe ("Platinum"). As Gran Turismo 4 was intended to be released in time for the worldwide 2002/2003 Christmas release but was delayed, in consolation, Polyphony brought out Gran Turismo 4: Prologue as a sneak preview (including a documentary bonus disc in Europe) to the full experience of Gran Turismo 4.
Though it was necessary to limit the number of cars and courses included, this product still included some of the main features of the Gran Turismo franchise such as races, time attacks and license tests. The sneak preview also expressed the latest technology Polyphony Digital had accumulated over the past two years. Featuring 50 of GT4's then planned 500 cars as well as five courses, this expanded demo was designed as a stop-gap until the complete version was released.
The game includes a Driving School (License Tests) as well as early versions of some circuits, like the
Gran Turismo 4 Prologue has sold 1.4 million copies since its release.
Online version
Gran Turismo 4 Online Test Version (グランツーリスモ 4 オンライン実験バージョン, Guran Tsūrisumo 4 Onrain Jikken Bāshon) is a free 2006 PlayStation 2 game by Polyphony Digital. This is a limited edition of the 2004/2005 racing game Gran Turismo 4 featuring extra online services that were removed from the standard game due to some issues and a lack of time as the game had been delayed several times. Selecting the extra "Online" mode leads to the "Online Home" that features additional game modes, "Quick Race", "Tuned Car Race", "Private Race" (that requires a password) and "Time Attack". "News" inform about the availability for the online courses or special events, with limited date and time. Public online services ended on September 1, 2006.
This
This test was not intended to precede a Gran Turismo 4 Online full-scale release but instead to be used as a way to develop and test online features and structures for the upcoming
Motoyama won the test round, a 5-lap Fuji Speedway 2005 race with the drivers' respective JGTC GT500 cars. The actual Top Racer Battle though, a 10-lap Tsukuba Circuit one-make race on board a Mazda Roadster 1600 NR-A '04, was won by Ryo Michigami. Later from August 25 to September 5, 2006, Kazunori Yamauchi the Gran Turismo series producer (re)invited two Japanese and two European professional racing drivers sponsored by PlayStation to enter GT4OL's Time Attack mode Internet ranking chart and, either to challenge him or another guest in a versus race, either to compete with five test drivers in an 8~10 rounds multiplayer online competition called "trophy".[6]
The first guest was Super GT GT500 Nissan Motul Pitwork Z driver Satoshi Motoyama (Top Racer Battle challenger), he entered the dedicated "Motoyama Trophy", a 2-lap 10 races online multiplayer competition, and won three rounds. The second guest specially came from France, Sébastien Loeb, LeMans 2005 PlayStation Pescarolo C60 Judd LMP Race Car '04 driver and WRC champion, he set a new Time Attack Internet record on the 24 Hours of Le Mans' Circuit de la Sarthe I ("Loeb Special Attack") and defeated Kazunori Yamauchi in their Pescarolo Online Time Attack duel on the same circuit (Internet rank 10th vs 11th). The last guests were both Top Racer Battle challengers, one is Ryo Michigami, Super GT GT500 Honda Takata Dome NSX driver, the other is Michael Krumm, GT500 Nissan Motul Pitwork Z driver. They competed with each other in a versus battle then entered a special trophy similar to Motoyama's.[6][9]
A separate online testing campaign, Gran Turismo 4 Online Public Beta, was also held in North America in 2006 for the now-defunct PlayStation Gamer Advisory Panel members, with the same intention and features as the Japanese online test.
Reception
This section may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. . (November 2023) |
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 89/100[10] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Edge | 7/10[11] |
Eurogamer | 8/10[12] |
Famitsu | 39/40[13] |
Game Informer | 9.25/10[14] |
GamePro | [15] |
GameRevolution | B+[16] |
GameSpot | 8.9/10[17] |
GameSpy | [18] |
GameZone | 9.7/10[19] |
IGN | 9.5/10[20] |
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [21] |
Detroit Free Press | [22] |
Maxim | 10/10[23] |
Publication | Award |
---|---|
Game Critics Awards | Best Racing Game of 2003 |
Gran Turismo 4 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[10]
I called Sony and asked it to send me a game chip already loaded with the 700 computer cars. And I am in a position to test out its claims because, unlike most people, I really have driven almost all of them in real life. There are mistakes. The BMW M3 CSL, for instance, brakes much better on the road than it does on the screen. And there's no way a Peugeot 106 could out drag a Fiat Punto off the line. But other than this, I’m struggling: they’ve even managed to accurately reflect the differences between a Mercedes SL 600 and the Mercedes SL 55, which is hard enough to do in real life. There's more, too. If you take a banked curve in the Bentley Le Mans car flat out, you’ll be fine. If you back off, even a little bit, you lose the aerodynamic grip and end up spinning. That's how it is. This game would only be more real if a big spike shot out of the screen and skewered your head every time you crashed. In fact, that's the only real drawback: that you can hit the barriers hard without ever damaging you or your car. Maybe they’re saving that for GT5. Perhaps it’ll be called Death or Glory.[25]
Karl Brauer of
Which brings up the single biggest difference between reality and virtual reality — consequences. A mistake on Gran Turismo 4 costs me nothing more than a bad lap time. A mistake with a real exotic car on a real racetrack is... a bit more costly. The other major difference between virtual racing and the real thing is feedback from the car — or an almost total lack thereof. Yes, the force feedback steering wheel does its best to let you know when you're veering off the track, or sliding the rear end, but none of this comes close to the kind of information you get while driving a real vehicle. And in a car like the Ford GT, that's vital information.[28]
Many reviewers criticized the game for its continued lack of rendered damage. Instead of actual damage, the cars (depending on the speed and angle in which the collision occurred) simply bounce or spin off of the car, wall, or obstacle.
Non-video-game publications made some positive reception too. Sean Cunningham of Maxim gave the game a perfect ten and asked, "Is GT4 more fetish than game? Probably. But if this is a fetish, then put a leather hood on us and whip us till we bleed!"[23] Jason Hill of The Sydney Morning Herald gave it all five stars and stated that the game's biggest strength "is the realistic handling. You feel every nuance of the car's movements, weight shifts, and suspension, particularly with a Driving Force Pro steering wheel. This is a peerless driving simulation that will test even professional drivers".[32] Charles Herold of The New York Times gave it a positive review and stated that while the game "aims for realism, it occasionally falls short. Competitors drive like mindless automatons, seemingly unaware of your existence. Cars can take endless amounts of damage, allowing you to control your turns by bouncing off other cars like a pinball. If a track doesn't have walls, like one set in the Grand Canyon, then an invisible barrier prevents you from going off track".[33] However, Jim Schaefer of Detroit Free Press gave it three stars out of four and stated that "GT Mode does a great job of organizing your choices on a large home map. You can leave your garage to race, or jump over to ogle new and used rides at domestic and foreign dealerships, take on special challenges and buy parts upgrades".[22]
Awards
- E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Racing Game[34]
- IGN: 5th best PS2 game of all time[35]
Sales
By February 2005, Gran Turismo 4 had sold more than 1 million units in Japan.
By March 2016, Gran Turismo 4 had shipped 1.27 million copies in Japan, 3.47 million in North America, 6.83 million in Europe, and 180,000 in Asia for a total of 11.76 million copies.[1] It is the third highest-selling game in the Gran Turismo franchise, ahead of Gran Turismo, but behind Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec.[41]
References
- ^ a b c d e ""Gran Turismo" Series Software Title List". Polyphony Digital. December 2011. Retrieved 2012-05-23. An earlier version of the page included separate sales figures for Korea and Southeast Asia; however, the current version of the page combines sales from the two regions into one figure (Asia).
- ^ Thorsen, Tor. "Toyota offering free Gran Turismo 4 demo disc". GameSpot. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ GT4 official website – Racing Pack Archived June 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gran Turismo 4: Prologue official website Archived October 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ""GT Force Pro" product page". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ a b c d "Gran Turismo 4 Online official website". Gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ GT4 Online Beta 본격 시동 Jinoopan, July 8, 2006 Archived October 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Top Racer Battle event in the game's official website Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gran Turismo 4 Online (Sébastien Loeb) Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine – video (English version)
- ^ a b "Gran Turismo 4 for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ Edge Staff (March 2005). "Gran Turismo 4 Review". Edge. No. 147. p. 78. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (2005-03-09). "Gran Turismo 4 Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ "グランツーリスモ4". Famitsu. January 2005.
- ^ Mason, Lisa (March 2005). "Gran Turismo 4". Game Informer. No. 143. p. 120. Archived from the original on 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Fart of War (2005-02-23). "Gran Turismo 4 Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2005-03-05. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- Game Revolution. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ a b c d e Ekberg, Brian (2005-02-22). "Gran Turismo 4 Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Williams, Bryn (2005-02-28). "GameSpy: Gran Turismo 4". GameSpy. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Sandoval, Angelina (2005-03-01). "Gran Turismo 4 – PS2 – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Ed (2005-02-22). "Gran Turismo 4". IGN. Archived from the original on 2005-02-23. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Davison, John (April 2005). "Gran Turismo 4". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. p. 98. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
- ^ a b Schaefer, Jim (2005-03-06). "ZOOM!". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on 2016-01-10. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ a b Cunningham, Sean (2005-02-22). "Gran Turismo 4". Maxim. Archived from the original on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Top Gear, Season 7, Episode 6 2005.12.27
- ^ a b Clarkson, Jeremy (2005-08-07). "Pass the joystick, sonny, this is the future of driving (Gran Turismo 4)". The Times. Archived from the original on 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2014-03-12.(subscription required)
- Edmunds.com. Archived from the originalon 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Kaehler, Justin (2005-09-23). "Laguna Seca Wrap-Up". IGN. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Brauer, Karl (2005-10-06). "Ford GT vs. GT4 Introduction". Edmunds.com. Archived from the original on 2005-10-23. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ a b c Sapieha, Chad (2005-03-15). "Gran Turismo 4". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Fahey, Rob (2004-09-24). "Sony drops online from Gran Turismo 4, hits Christmas release". GamezIndustry. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Pavlacka, Adam (2005-02-17). "Gran Turismo 4". Yahoo! Games. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Hill, Jason (2005-03-05). "Speed freaks". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Herold, Charles (2005-03-17). "Realism on the Track, Surrealism in the Jungle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ Nihei, Wes (2003). "2003 Winners". Game Critics Awards. Archived from the original on May 15, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
- ^ "The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time – PS2 Feature". IGN. August 10, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
- ^ "Gran Turismo™4 for PlayStation®2 Will Launch February 22, 2005 in North America". Sony. 2 February 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ "Annual Report 2005" (PDF). Sony. 2005. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the originalon May 20, 2009.
- Gamasutra. Archived from the originalon September 18, 2017.
- ^ Reed, Kristan (3 May 2006). "2005 UK Sales Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ^ "製品情報 | Polyphony Digital - ポリフォニー・デジタル". 2018-04-27. Archived from the original on 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2019-09-13.