I just played...

[Nick]

I just got Gran Turismo 5 for $10 on Amazon.

It looks absolutly lovely compared to the older GT games. Smooth lines and reflections. I can actually tell what I am looking at most of the time. Game play is nice on the PS3 controller wilt all its analog sticks, buttons and paddles, but I ordered a wheel anyway.

My only complaint is that two of the cars I tried to buy so far were unavailable when I hit the in-game purchase button as being DLC. This is really annoying as the car is just a spreadsheet of values and a model. Why not include them all? Anyway, the copy I bought came with a voucher for all the DLC up to mid-2012 so I used that. But rather then just making the cars available to buy it just gives them to you. So you can start the game with one of the best cars if you want. The fun before was struggling in your barely capable honda  prelude to get a few more thousand to buy an RX7 so you can move to the bigger races. Not coming in last and still making 5k after 10 races. Grumble. I think it might be too easy compared to older versions. Getting last place in races still gets you $2k (as opposed to just getting a few hundred or nothing)

BUT! It really shines in the special events categories. Those are actually challenging (and have much higher prizes) You get disqualified for hitting other card to hard or going off track. Imagine racing the Top Gear test track in a VW van against 11 other VW vans and starting in last place. No money unless you finish in the top 5. Now that is actually a little exciting.

Also, I am thinking of making a racing seat out of the wheel controller and a honda chair

[Cody]

DLC seems to be ruining games if you ask me. Buy the game but you have to pay to get important parts of the story in some cases...

Anyway, GT is a great game that I miss. And I just played a game called Transcripted. Got it for $2.49 in a Steam sale. It is a 2D shooter where you take on the role of a nanobot sort of thing battling an infection inside an infected human. Pretty fun.

[Nick]

Is it like Contra at all?

To be fair to GT5, there are more then 3000 1000 cars that the game comes with. The DLC is for some tracks (There are already lots and you can make your own. Maybe download community ones too. But I'm not sure on that.) The DLC is mostly for cars that came out ofter the game was released, even though they show up in the new car dealers. All the cars in the used dealer are there and ready to go, many of the new cars are too.

So far I have resisted using the Redbull super car that came with the DLC voucher and have been racing my supped up mini cooper (Which is also what Star has been calling her new car recently. His real name (currently) is actually Fergus.)

[Cody]

The character in the game actaully makes a reference to Galaga. I am not sure that is really accurate, but it is that sort of style but with more of a puzzle element.

[zourtney]

I just played Gran Turismo (5) yesterday. It was fun; I haven't played it in so long! I gave the Red Bull car a spin, but spent most of my time breaking in the Toyota FT86. If the real cars drive anything like in the game (I assume they do), it'd be a fun, low horsepower car. And hopefully, twenty-something years from now, some shady guy in an adjacent state will be selling a pair of these in questionable running condition and no titles. I'd jump on it this time. 

[Nick]

We should race sometime! GT5 has online capabilities after all. I have tried a few online races, only one was actually set up by serious players... the others were just dumb and annoying.

[Cody]

I actually tried to play the original Grand Turismo not too long ago. Wow it looks WAY worse than I remember. It was still fun though. Brings back memories...searching for that great used Toyota that can get me through my first race!