Hey folks, so who else feels like a jackass for caring about that kid who was never in the balloon? Come on…raise your hand….it’s ok, I do too. Glad he’s safe, but seriously, WTF is wrong with his parents tying up a huge balloon in the backyard with a ROPE? How much is a chain and lock these days? You have 3 small boys and a flying machine in the backyard; of course a sturdy knot will be enough to stop them. I mean, at least when the Baby Jessica thing was over there was an actual baby in the well and we could all feel good about it. Now we all just feel like we tried to cash a check from a Nigerian King…shame on them….anyhow….

Welcome back! Thank you for continuing to check out the new blog. For this entry I’m going to go ahead and talk a bit about Gran Turismo PSP. I was going to talk about Final Fantasy Dissidia too, but since the GT piece went long, I’ve decided to save Dissidia for another post. Let’s jump in shall we?

Gran Turismo PSP

Yes, it’s real and it’s out. Only 5 years in the making and it’s almost a complete game; way to go Polyphany Digital. If you must know, the graphics are good, the sound is good, and the controls are good. It’s Gran Turismo so all of that is pretty much to be expected. However, if you’ve read or watched anything about this game since the release, then you’re probably already familiar with the big news; there’s no career mode. That’s right, none at all. Everything you do in the game is a la carte, and you know what? I’m actually having a good time with it. Once the game is booted up, you have the option of running a Time Trial, completing a Race Event, completing a Drift Event, or tackling a series of License Tests. Really, the only thing the game is lacking with the exclusion of a career mode is a defined order to the races. For some folks, this has turned out to be a deal breaker, but I actually find myself liking it. Since the career path has been chosen for me, I’m not stuck racing in any cars or events I don’t like. Sometimes I want to race on a circuit, other times I feel like doing some rally racing at the Grand Canyon. Either way I’m accumulating money to buy cars, and I don’t have the nagging feeling I should be doing some other race to “progress” my career. It’s all the fun, and none of the tedium. I can simply enjoy the driving.

The lack of a career mode isn’t the title’s only quark. The way the game handles car selection and dealerships is equal parts genius and frustration. Just like the other games, you drive cars to earn money to buy cars to earn more money to buy better cars and so on….you’re all familiar with this GT Circle of Life.

In GT-PSP, you still purchase cars from a dealership, but the twist is that you only have access to 4 manufacturers per in-game “race day”. What that means is each race/trial/test you complete in-game counts as 1 day on the calendar. Every other day in-game, a new set of manufacturers appears and you can purchase their vehicles. Even more confusing is that you can only select from 10 of the manufacturers cars per day so with some of the larger companies like Toyota or Nissan you won’t have access to all of the cars even when they show up as a dealer. I thought this would suck. In practice, it’s actually a little fun. I know, crazy, but true.

So what the hell makes this randomization even remotely fun? It’s the same reason why people love to choose the mystery door instead of the sure bet; the element of surprise. The desire to see what dealers and cars are going to be available next has actually kept me going for “just one more race”. Once I complete a race or two, it’s fun to see what dealers have cycled in and what cars I can choose from now. Even better is when I’ve been saving up for a car and the manufacturer shows up again. Will the car be there? Or will I have to wait a bit longer. On paper this should be maddening, and I’m just as surprised as you are that I’m enjoying it. But there’s just something about the lottery style car purchasing that keeps the game interesting. I’ve already raced 50+ races and done half the license tests, yet there’s still manufactures I haven’t seen and new cars are still showing up for the companies I have seen. That’s exciting, and it’s managed to keep the game fresh in a way I didn’t expect.

So would I recommend GT-PSP to a friend? That’s a tougher question than it should be. Just because I’m enjoying the games lack of structure, doesn’t mean someone else will. The huge range in scores for the game is a testament to that. It’s a cop-out, but I really wish there was a demo for the game. It’s the only way to really know if it’s gonna “click” with you or completely turn you off. Technically, as I mentioned, the game is sound. The graphics, controls (even with the nub), and sound are all top notch. If I had to choose I’d lean toward giving the game a buy recommendation because even if you find that don’t like the missing career mode, you’re still left with a damn good racer with an excellent feel, a ton of cars, and a great selection of tracks. And that’s something I think any racing fan can enjoy.

-Steve

And in case anyone was curious, i’m playing on a PSP-2000 model.