The OP is very flawed and you have yet to acknowledge the points I rased in my post. 

i definitely agree with you on the content bit, i've played gt 5 now for several hours and i don't think i've even completed a third of the events yet

but isn't the damage unlocking thing a myth? i'm nearly at level 30 now and i think that i've seen damage on cars from the beginning when i messed up during races

btw i think he was being sarcastic

Before the iPod, MP3 players weren't as popular. They were the first major hit in that field.

I don't enjoy Racing Sims so I don't know much about their history but from what I know, Gran Turismo is a defining title in that genre (like the iPod was defining for MP3 players) that weights a whole lot in the balance.

As long as GT produces quality titles, their legacy will be enough to pull in the sales despite the quality of competing products (like Forza).

Let me first start out by saying quality is definitely objective. There is the general populace that agrees with what quality is but there are other outlying people that would disagree with what the general populace thinks.

Sales do equal quality but it certainly isn't the only factor.

I would say the two biggest factors of sales are brand name and quality depending on where the game or franchise is within it's life. When a game first starts out, quality is it's biggest sale factor but when it becomes an established franchise brand name becomes the key factor in sales. It's also important to note that brand name and quality can feed each other with each game to make a super franchise such as COD.

Here is what I would say are the biggest factors of sales for new IP's and established franchises (I won't be adding genres because different genres have different caps on sales expectations). I'm probably missing a factor or two here.

New IP's: quality > advertising > word of mouth > what console it is on in any given region (different regions generally have slightly altered taste) > other similar games in that genre on the same console > what studio developed it (which is the only form of brand name a new IP really gets).

Established Franchises: brand name > quality > advertising > word of mouth/it's whats "in" (think all my friends have it) > what console it is on in any given region (different regions generally have slightly altered taste) > other similar games in that genre on the same console

This a 1000 times... lets just look at vanquish

This is truth.  I remember the review situation with GT5 very well.  Reviews were coming out filled with misinformation because quite a few reviewers did not play long enough to adequately detail the game or did not understand the game enough to explain it.  They didn't actually review the game, only the first part.  The car damage thing, for example, had a lot of people confused.  Some reviewers were saying damage was unlocked, while others, who clearly did not play long enough at all, were saying that only minor damage was in the game.  In reality, it's pretty simple; only special models, such as pure race cars, show extensive damage.

The depth of GT5, and the continuing extensive support of the game with updates, kind of exposes the flaws in depending on reviews written at release by media outlets that rush through games to increase their review volume.

I know that the OP created this thread to discredit Gran Turismo 5, but in reality all he's really doing is shining a light on why Metacritic score is often a poor way to judge quality.

I'm not sure what to make of this thread. Is this a joke thread?

I mean, isn't it obvious that some great games don't sell well, and some mediocre games sell really well? Beyond Good & Evil sold 500,000 copies, and Mario Kart Wii sold 32 million more than that.

And just because the critics polled at Metacritic gave a game an aggregate score of 90 doesn't mean YOU will think it's a 90.

So 1) a game high in quality is not guaranteed to sell well, and 2) critical consensus is not always a good indicator of popular appeal. But we all already knew that.

≠

it's a thing

Bumping this so that everyone can see what a fraud pezus is. Could a mod please lock his thread? Thanks in advance.

There's nothing to acknowledge...your suggestion was good, but I can't really change the OP at this late stage