Why was Gran Turismo popular?

[Zod95]

Intrinsic said:

Zod95 said:

rolltide101x said:

Because it is the best racing simulator ever created? I have played the vast majority of racing games out there and nothing comes close to GT. I also wager you have not beat GT at the higher levels if you think having a better car is all you need

Far from true. There are plenty of other games that simulate racing much better. Road cars with unrealistic handling racing in made-up tracks on made-up championships with made-up rules on a made-up career with made-up money is not that simulating.

Road cars? unrealistic handling? made up tracks????????

You can't possibly be talking about gran turismo. There is a reason why even F1 drivers use the game to warm up and refamiliarize themselves with the tracks. 

I don't understand your question marks. Do you honestly think Gran Turismo doesn't have road cars, unrealistic handling and made-up tracks?

Maybe this can help you:

As for the handling, I could talk about all the VG racing experts that talk about rFactor, LifeForSpeed, GTR, among others, when discussing which racing game is the most realistic, and that don't even consider Gran Turismo. I could talk about all the comparisons that experts make between Gran Turismo and reality, or even other (less pretentious) games, where GT fails miserably. But I will just leave here some funny videos for you to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWQfdSfIRVI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0rivBIGxLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7RhyKiG1RA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgO9ZInobUw

And there's much more to enjoy.

Regarding your last sentence, F1 drivers are not gaming experts. They eventually know what sells millions. They hardly know what isn't mainstream. If there's a reason (assuming what you say is true) I would say it's ignorance.