yay can't wait for your impressions xD

Quick impressions from work - got in late, wonder why?

Anyway, I just took default minimal load to try it out.  By default it's plug/play - 256MB install - tiny.

Speed loading tracks seems fine without full install.

Menus similar to GT5:P but slicker and a very nice home page IMHO.

Graphics - wow.  Very nice from a few races so far.  Handling as expected.  Didn't dissapoint me in the least.  Sound is also good.

Tonight I'll probably try out a few more races then go for the big install to see the difference it makes - I'm guessing faster race load times.

Overall, it's GT, and it's as nice as you'd hope given the taster of GT5:P.

Man, now it's the big effort to start getting all the cars!

Thanks for making me jealous...:D

hows the intro???? post it!

Well, bit more detail now.

First, lot's of options of which I haven't even had time to try all, but so far I've:

1 - bought a car and took part in a few events.  Nice start but as ever with GT there's the sense of the mountain to climb to earn enough to get all the really good cars.  So far so familiar and it was nice to get winning again.  Feel is similar to GT5:P of course.  Driving is good although there is still a bit of a feeling you can play impacts, etc. to cheat your away around a course (note I only did this to test it out!  Honest!)

2 - played around the home page - lots to do there, from jump into your career, buy cars, tune cars, practise courses, etc. plus a mode to take nice pictures of your cars.  I like the concept and it feels clear enough from navigation point of view.  I've hardly touched the community side yet but that'll come in time.

3 - I haven't tried the career where you're more of a manager of a team yet.  I'll try this later this evening, time permiting.  Sounds interesting though.

4 - tried aracde mode - easy to navigate and an easy way to grab a high end car and dive into the game.  Played some snow/rain and was impressed with the effects and the way it changed the handling.

5 - tried 2 player slpit screen.  Played well and no noticeable impact on the handling / graphics although the number of view options seems to be cut down to 2.

6 - observed some damage.  Bit early to tell but seems decent.  Miles away from massive arcade damage more a progression of scrapes, dents and bumps so far.  Felt more natural than most damage models but odd after many games where cars spray bits on major impacts.  Not enough data to say more - I'll have to have a race where I really try and trash the car to see how it goes.

7 - played with course editor.  It's more of a play with some parameters and the game produces the track, but could be interesting.  I hadn't paid much attention to this mode so was curious to have a quick peek.  Not sure if there's enough options to really allow you to feel you've made your own course but probably too early to be sure.

8 - played with GT TV - but doesn't seem fully up yet (i.e. nothing to view but that will probably change from 24th).  I could only watch the openning movie in theatre mode.  All 6.23 seconds of it.  It's a nice intro, stylish going from views of the materials to build cars, to building cars, to glorious shots of racing.  Basically, it makes it clear this game is all about car porn!

I still haven't gone for the big install as speed okay and TBH I'm curious to play it for a day or so then install and really feel the difference.

One other element I haven't tried yet is Eye head tracking.  I have an Eye so will probably try and play with that later to see how it works/feels.

All in all a big thumbs up so far.

Cool, i was curious what the real time damage was like, but so far it sounds very relealistic, and it seems it will show the big type damage when you acrue it. imagine how much fun it will be crashing into your friends car in the online mode and put massive damage into it, lol.

My day one Phat just died , i think it's because it couldn't handle the thought of  waiting any more, but it only had to last 3 more days , GT5 cost my Phat it's life so now the new  slim gets the pleasure.

ur the luckiest man alive

I hope Reasonable will take it easy if I post impressions on his thread ;)

Random Impressions from 3-4 race in arcade and the B license

Graphics : little aliasing, not frame drop so far. Still looks gorgeous if you ask me. I cant comment more on that part (no specialist)

GT mode : I think it will be more "restricted" than before since u need to reach some level before getting access to all the event (and ofc, u also have to pass the license). Each event will require X level and X license. It is like an RPG ;)
I didnt try the B spec mode.
Leveling will also unlock "option" such as karting etc ...

License : if you try the "demo" of a test, you will have an endless replay showing you the "perfect way" and a girl voice giving you some tips.

Replay : well, u can pause, take photo, not sure if it was present in GT4. The photo can be taken from different camera and, on some, you can manage the angle and the distance. There are more option to monitor your race. It is pretty and entertaining.

Cockpit view : well, it is pretty but I m far more used to the "FPS car" view. So, it is not that usefull IMO

Driving : Not a specialist here too. I play on the pad, I was afraid to not be "good enought" ... but that was ok. I did not feel lost at all. I can control my car pretty well. Good impression so far.

Rain : it is quite good even if, in summary, everything just turn "grey" (foggy silent hill mode lol) and each car just get a "rainy smoke effect" behind it. Indeed, it is really : rainy AND foggy.
One thing that disapointed me is that the rain in the cockpit view is not that "pretty"' compared to what I thought looking at video on youtube. It is a bit "blurry", not that clean. I dont know. Not important IMO.
One little thing that I liked (outside the lack of grip on wet road with my Elise oversteering and me trying to control it :D) is the way your light reflect on the car just in front of you when you are close to it. It will modify it color and make it "yellowished" (sort of).

Editor : sure you dont control everything but it will be very good to test your skill on an unlimited new track. You define your "type of track", then the number of section, then the section themselve : road width, complexity and something else that I forgot.

AI : well, this is GT. Do not expect marvel. It is not a big issue for me but at one point, I was overunning a car with my Elise from the right side (so I was between a car and a wall) and the guy decided to follow it own path so he sligthly blocked my car agaisnt the wall during some seconds : pretty unfair if u ask me. Also, I doubt it did it on purpose : he just decided to stick with his path and that is it !

Bumping : just going to say that car seem to stick less to the road, to be less stable meaning that impact (wall or others cars) may make your car jump a bit more than before. good to me

Damage: well, I didnt directly check for this. Also, I played on arcade so I was not expecting anything. During my races with the Elise on High Speed Ring, despite some "light" impact with wall, I didnt notice anything. Neverhtless, my last race on Arcade was on the Ferrari F40 on Trial Mountain. I did some big mistake during the race including some serious wall hiting at some point. I didnt note any change in my car behaviour. But, looking at the replay, I realized that my very first wall hiting succeed to "press" the right front side of my car and slightly starts to remove the lower part. It was quite good if you ask me because I didnt do it in purpose. Also, after the 5 turns and others wall impact (I have  not played this race very well :D), my Ferrari front side was really in bad shape ...
I would have appreciate to have more "painting removed/scratched" on my car but deformation was still good.
So, damage were not as bad as I thought if you ask me.

Overall :

Well, it is a given : GT is GT and stay GT. You get overall more option, more cars to drive, more mode to use etc ... But the overall feeling is the same and, in a way, this is kinda expected. I doubt there is a big leap with GT5prologue graphically. It is the same engine.

Neverthless, from many report, the "driving physics" are said to be better than anything on console and to be greatly improved over GT5p (better speed feeling and better car sound too)

Finally, when I think about people expectation or hype, I realize that PD should have not go the way they did with GT5. It is not a problem of timing (delay) : it is a problem of timing and statement. When you say you want the best experience (that is why it is late right ?), that you take your time, that you need more time and you are going to include weather, damage, editor track etc etc ... people conclude : so full dynamic weather implemented ! full real time damage ! etc ...
That is the problem : editor track is not "full", you cant do everything and some people may be disapointed with it.
Same go for the damage and the standard vs premium car:  PD should have told everybody way earlier (and CLEARER, not yes/no, depending on the interview) : we dont make cockpit view, full damage, full tuning on all car. Same goes with the weather : no weaher on all track, no full dynamic weather. etc etc etc ... 

Then people may have waited GT5 has one of the very best racing game on console (and it is !) but not as the ULTIMATE PERFECT DEFINITVE RACING SIMULATOR EVER !

The damage is a tricky one to judge, isn't it?  I'm going to really try and force some the next time I play - which will be shortly!  Heh, heh.