Gran Turismo 4 - Introduction

Gran Turismo 4 is aracing simulator for the Sony PlayStation 2 which was developed by Polyphony Digital. It was released on December 28, 2004 in Japan and Hong Kong (NTSC-J), February 22, 2005 in North America (NTSC-U/C), and March 9, 2005 in Europe (PAL), and has since been re-issued under Sony's 'Greatest Hits' line. Gran Turismo 4 is one of only two titles for thePlayStation 2 that is capable of 1080i output, the other being Tourist Trophy which was also created by Polyphony.

GT4 was delayed for over a year and a half by Polyphony Digital, and had its online mode removed (later added in Gran Turismo 4 Online test version). The game features over 700 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 favorites, with some notable real-world additions.

The Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions of the game were bundled with a 212-page driving guide and lessons on the physics of racing. A limited edition, Gran Turismo 4 Online test version, was released in Japan in summer 2006. A PSP enhanced port entitled Gran Turismo Mobile was originally planned for development, but was later renamed to Gran Turismo (PSP), which was released October 1, 2009.

In November 2010 the follow-up, Gran Turismo 5 was released, exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

**Source: Wikipedia.org

I was actually in the middle of playing MotoGP 4 for PS2, but a week ago I went to one of the Video game shop in our neighborhood hoping to find an L.A. Noire game for my PS3. Out in the corner, I saw this Gran Turismo game for Playstation 2, which I have seen lying in there for over a year now. Since I have no experience whatsoever with any Gran Turismo game before, I decided to add it to my shopping cart together with L.A. Noire. I'd like to know what it feels like to play the "real driving simulation" game they are bragging about. 

I gave the game a shot for a couple (three actually) of days, to see if it can hook me into it. But, man! When I started playing the GT Mode and passing all the License Tests,  I can't even put my controller down for a moment. I was absorbed by the game itself, to the extent that I have ignored the L.A. Noire and never really opened it. I also made some research in the internet about GT4, and I found out that there's still some more to it than what I have already experienced in just three days. What really captured me was the B-Spec mode. I mean, the idea of developing the skills of your B-Spec driver is wonderful, and I also found some idea posted by other GT4 gamers on how to maximize those B-Spec skills. And they are going to be very useful in the future.

Yesterday, I have made a decision of quitting on MotoGP 4 and start playing GT4 instead. So I deleted all my posts about MotoGP to give way to GRAN TURISMO 4.