Looks good, but these days I'm so cautious about bullshots that I'll wait for some gameplay footage.

Good, then average, then good, then average, then crap, I believe.

Well that might partly explain why I've never been played nor had any friends who had any game in the series.

(Side note) When is GT5 coming out?

That is because mario kart is on Wii, different audience = big seller

GT and Fonza on HD console system = simulators = big sellers

EA NFS team strategic plan:

MANAGER: "FUCK ME GUYS, WHY DON'T WE MAKE 4 DIFFERNT NFS GAMES THIS YEAR and milk this dying cash cow, a GT and FONZA CLONE for 360 PS3, a mario kart clone for Wii, some random crap for the DS, and something else for the PSP with the NFS label slapped on it."

 EA = COPY CATS = BIG SYSTEM SELLERS because too many idiots fall for it.

I remember when they said we would spend actual time developing a new one longer to freshen the game up.

Yet only months ago we got a new NFS game, and now they showing more. This franchise is dead to me.

Some point in the next two years or so. Not fiscal year 2009, apparently...

Grid was brilliant. Graphics are good to great. But the gameplay and career mode are brilliant. Genuinely the last time I had this much fun with a racer was Mario Kart 64.

It's kinda half sim half arcade. The balance is perfect. Should really pick it up.

I can understand opinions. But seriously dont understand the whole GT5 better thing. Unfortunately Forza 3 isnt shown to be able to compare. But seriously, look at IGN's response. The fact that Shift uses full post processing effects in game and GT5 doesnt (I think KZ2 is the first game to use it and we saw the effects there) shows how advanced graphically Shift is for a racer.

IGN say

"It's from the cockpit that the game really shines, however, with Slightly Mad Studios conjuring one of the most visceral sensations of speed we've witnessed in a game. Stick the throttle to the floor and the din of the engine becomes overbearing, all manner of post-processing effects creating an intimidating roar. The depth of field shifts as the car reaches top speed, the camera subtly moving back to mimic the driver's head being forced back by the velocity, and the hands on the in-game wheel visibly tighten - it's enough to rapidly accelerate your heart-rate.

This effect is extended to the crashes - should you have a collision the camera shakes violently with the impact, the screen blurs and in the aftermath it's possible to hear the driver's pounding heart. The result is dizzying, with the effect intended to instil a true fear of crashing - and it's a trick that really pays off. Tie in the aforementioned audio assault and some particularly violent force feedback and Need for Speed Shift makes for a truly sensational drive."

Now thats what I call next gen innovation for serious racers.

GT5

Shift

The materials are much more detailed in Shift.

"The depth of field shifts as the car reaches top speed, the camera subtly moving back to mimic the driver's head being forced back by the velocity..."

Please, never put "serious racers" together with what transpires from the previous IGN quote.

There's no such thing in real physics as being forced back by the velocity: the apparent force is proportional to the _acceleration_

 Funny. I have been in a doubled drive F50. If your floor it yes absolutely your head is forced back. It's called G-force.

Funny, being a theoretical physicist and having written software and built hardware for pro-level flight simulators you would think I would know what I'm talking about :)

Pleeease, go back and dust your high-school physics textbooks...