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Gran Turismo 5/Gran Turismo 5 Prologue : The Quizz

I got 12/14. Some of these are really tough!

Rumor has it that there will be a $400 PS3 in time for Christmas. With the game likely to cost $60-80, I’m still not sure it’s worth it, even if GT5 is this good.

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So while I work on convincing my wife that a Boxster S is a tremendous idea, I’ve been doing the virtual test drive a la Gran Turismo 4. GT4 actually doesn’t have Porsches in the game due to licensing issues with other titles. But the Porsche tuner Ruf is featured. And because Ruf is so highly respected in Germany, when they tune a Porsche and sell the car, it’s actually titled as a Ruf, not a Porsche! Nice little loophole for Sony to get some Porsches in the game through the backdoor.

So I set up a little pseudo Boxster S challenge that I posted over at VWVortex, where I hang out as Dan337. The Ruf 3400s is basically a Boxster S, but with the 3.4 liter from the 911. And with the production 2000-2002 Boxster S delivering a 3.2 liter motor, it’s already pretty close. The car is fun to drive, and if the gear ratios are even close to the real one, I’m going to get arrested for that 3rd to 4th change — very close ratios at speeds well over the limit

Choose the Ruf 3400 in Arcade mode, at Seattle Circuit. Before you start, rachet down the power in the settings area, to get us closer to the stock Boxster S experience, to 250hp. I did induldge in ’soft’ tires though.

My best was 1:46.x in 5 consecutive laps. Not setting the world on fire, but a respectable lap I think. Give it a go and leave a comment with your time

In other news, I added a handful of new Boxster video links to the Boxster S FAQ over the weekend.

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LINKS

Ruf parts catalog for 986 Porsche Boxster
Ruf 3400s for sale

When the PS2 debuted back in 2000, I happily bought one on day 2 of it’s release for $300. I was just finishing college, and was still playing video games on the Nintendo 64 — Mario64 and Goldeneye especially.

My PS2 has been a trooper, with most of it’s action coming from Gran Turismo and playing DVDs. It’s been sent back to Sony once for the infamous PS2 DRE error and recently crapped out again on me. But that wasn’t a big deal because around the first of the year, I was still thinking the Playstation 3 was going to be released at any time. But come February, I started following the news more closely. Thanks to integration of Blue-Ray and allowing Hollywood to control the specs of the format, the release of the PS3 has been pushed back to November.

[begin rant]
Last week at E3, it was revealed that the upcoming price for the PS3 will start at $500. And the more desirable model with HDMI output for HDTV from Blue-Ray (yep, no HDMI, no HDTV from HD DVD’s or Blue-Ray) will run you $600.

I just read the History of Console Prices over at Curmudgeon Gamer, and his point is well made — that the PS3, when compared to console prices before it, adjusted for inflation, the PS3 is in fact not that bad of a deal.

But I beg to differ. Considering the preferred HDMI-equipped console is a must if you have an HDTV compatible screen, and that a game will now likely cost $80 or more, you’re facing a real budget of nearly $700 to get rolling with a PS3.

My opinion is extremely biased because most of my PS3 use would be for the upcoming HD version of Gran Turismo, “the Real Driving Simulator”. But based on that, consider that a BMW Club membership is $35, and their track days are $125 a pop… Well shit, that’s 5 tracks days! Screw the simulator, I’m leaving the confines of the house for a real driving experience!

And since I’ve only completed like 30% of Gran Turismo 4, I’m satisfying my GT fix with a new, small form factor PS2, which was just got it’s price dropped to $129.

[/rant off]

Update: Looks like the PS3 games may in fact go for $80 or more.

Update 2: Yep, I thought so.

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