Forza Motorsport 5 car list compared to Gran Turismo 6 car list: Do we need that many Skyline's?

[Parasondox]

Hello again Escapist.

I'm a racing fan through and through, from Rally to F1, to Dakar to World Endurance (Lemans). I also like playing the video game versions of these series and the cars involved, which has now brought my attention to Forza and Gran Turismo, two racing games that advertise "Racing Simulator". At the moment I am not talking about whether they are good or not compared to each other but I had to have a look at the list of cars available.

Forza Motorsport 5: http://www.videogamer.com/xboxone/forza_motorsport_5/news/forza_motorsport_5_complete_car_roster_revealed.html

Gran Turismo 6: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-05-gran-turismo-6-a-list-of-all-1197-cars

Yes Gran Turismo 6 has more but lets look closely here. Why do they need 41 different Skylines in which some are exactly the same? Out of 1000+ cars, only already 200+ will be Premium. Oh my god do they need to add 3 different Prius', do we need any at all? Do there need to be that many variations of Civic's, Lancer Evo's and Impreza's?

For those who don't know a premium car in GT5/6 are cars that are added on with extreme attention to detail that looks and sounds good when driving and a "standard" is basically a copy and paste car that was take from previous Gran Turismo titles of the past that look past gen and sometime from PS1 era. So they look and drive terribly.

Reason why I have brought all of this up is because when the list of cars came out for Forza 5, fans and general gamers were for some reason "disappointed". Really? That's a good list and 200+ cars is far than enough compared to 1000+ that's far, FAR too many. And also don't be surprised if you don't see Porsche's, they don't like to lend out their name for what ever reason.

Is having too much just, I don't know... unneeded? What are your thoughts on all of this and yes I know Forza 5 is next gen on Xbox One only and GT6 is current gen with PS3 only.

 

[Able Seacat]

I prefer Forza to Gran Turismo myself and I wouldn't get any benefit from having all the different Skylines and wouldn't want to spend a lot of time racing in a Daihatsu.

But I guess there people out there who are fanatic about a particular car and would get enjoyment out of racing and tinkering with a garage full with every different version of the Honda S2000 they can. Sure it's more niche but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

To me it just comes down to personal preference and what you're looking for from the game.

 

[Zenn3k]

From a cars perspective, Forza is usually better, at least for my tastes (which happen to be American Muscle cars).

However, Gran Turismo's racing engine has in the past been much better then Forza. Forza 3 and 4 for example, don't feel as nice to drive as GT5 did, it feels much more "arcade" in Forza, thats just my take on it anyway.

But yeah, I really don't need that many Skylines.

 

[Maxtro]

Instead of pointing out how many skylines there are, you might want to look at how many unique cars the game has.

Also nobody knows how many premium cars the game will have or how poor that the standard cars look.

 

[AgedGrunt]

I'd guess it's mostly a cost/licensing issue. GT has always over-represented Japanese automakers; it's nothing new. Not that it isn't frustrating, it's one of the reasons I switched to Forza along with the fact that big engines don't sound like leaf blowers.

No matter how it's looked at though, the car recycling is just plain laziness. I'd rather have a few hundred quality designs than a padded roster.

 

[an annoyed writer]

I find that for some reason I like games that have more "normal" cars, like Driver: San Fransisco and Forza Horizon a lot more. I find the super-sporty stuff that a lot of games focus on to be a bit boring, since every car is a race car, and therefor much less special than something like that in real life.

 

[josemlopes]

No matter how it's looked at though, the car recycling is just plain laziness. I'd rather have a few hundred quality designs than a padded roster.

I agree, it really is quality or quantity in this case.

 

[WindKnight]

Reason why I have brought all of this up is because when the list of cars came out for Forza 5, fans and general gamers were for some reason "disappointed". Really? That's a good list and 200+ cars is far than enough compared to 1000+ that's far, FAR too many. And also don't be surprised if you don't see Porsche's, they don't like to lend out their name for what ever reason.

Last I heard on the Porsche issue was that EA owns the exclusive license to the brand for videogames, and stopped sub-licensing them to other companies even though Porsche were pretty much begging them to let the Porsche's be in forza 4 (which did lead to an eventual DLC pack).

Anyways, just glad my lil lady the Lotus Exige is still there (even if its going to be a long long long time bfore I get a XB1 or forza 5). she's not the best car ever, but I do adore her.

 

[NiPah]

Forza is a great game, I haven't played the latest iteration Horizon but 1-4 were fun racing sims. Gran Turismo is also an amazing game series, the first one was way over my head as I was young and stupid, but 3 and on were great (I'll admit 5 got a little boring after awhile, never got all the way through it).

Now we're on to the next iterations, I'd love to own Forza but it'll be years before I own an Xbox 1, if ever, so doesn't really enter my radar. Gran Turismo 6? Maybe, but I'm really wishing for a PS4 port later in life so I'm holding off.

On the discussion of cars, I feel having more is certainly a point in favor of Gran Turismo, I'm interested in learning how different cars handle, I want to drive that 90s Japanese mini van to see just how it feels cornering, being allowed to tinker with and drive a large number of low to enter level cars is exactly what makes me enjoy Gran Turismo so much. Forza? I enjoyed it more for the race and strategy involved, the cars were less important to me while paying attention to tires, break temp, and where to corner were the core gameplay elements. All in all both are great for different reasons, yes the copy/pasted low quality car models is an annoying gripe (no they don't look PS1, even the subjective qualifier of "looks like" won't win that argument).

I will end by saying Gran Turismo's attention to track replication is more note worthy then car model details, and also the lack of was a qualm I've had with previous Forza releases.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I really wish someone would combine the driving physics and track-list of Gran Turismo with the customization and presentation of the Forza series. That would be an awesome racing sim.

 

[Glover09]

I too am a racing fan, but the issue isn't just this. Yes, it seems half the damn list consist of Japanese sports cars, and you aren't the only one wishing they take pruning shears to most of them, but as Kaz has stated in the past, GT more focused on the car than the event. Think about this, why is GT the only series that I know of that gives almost each car a background history. I do enjoy the racing, but GT5 was/is a letdown.

Then there's Forza. In my personal experiences with the series, Turn 10 focuses on the spectacle more than anything else. Even though it isn't a main-line game, Forza Horizon is the best example of this. My problem with Forza, Microsoft aside, is that I find the racing to be boring early and frustrating late, leaving a small comfort zone that doesn't really last too long. Forza is also pretty good with manufacturing a sense of speed, but with all the Hyper-Exotica being pumped into it, that's probably a given. Even though I lack creativity on any scale, I do think the paint editor may be one of the better ones, but I can't because I can't bring myself to play them long enough.

 

[Parasondox]

Reason why I have brought all of this up is because when the list of cars came out for Forza 5, fans and general gamers were for some reason "disappointed". Really? That's a good list and 200+ cars is far than enough compared to 1000+ that's far, FAR too many. And also don't be surprised if you don't see Porsche's, they don't like to lend out their name for what ever reason.

Last I heard on the Porsche issue was that EA owns the exclusive license to the brand for videogames, and stopped sub-licensing them to other companies even though Porsche were pretty much begging them to let the Porsche's be in forza 4 (which did lead to an eventual DLC pack).

Anyways, just glad my lil lady the Lotus Exige is still there (even if its going to be a long long long time bfore I get a XB1 or forza 5). she's not the best car ever, but I do adore her.

Damn you EA!!! Seriously how come EA has so much power when it comes to the NFL and FIFA and Porsche and others?? Should that be another thread for another day?

 

[stroopwafel]

Well, in fairness don't you already need to be a car nut to properly enjoy GT? Considering the time and dedication it takes to progress in this game. I enjoy racing games but more in the 'casual' sense not to drive 800 different grocery getters along some sterile track at a snails pace. I want to drive sports cars at insane high speeds while being chased by cops, you know the Criterion stuff. If anything GT5 was more an interactive car glossy than a proper game. Though admittedly if you really like cars you must be in some kind of heaven with this. I have to say though that GT probably has the most realistic simulation of actual car handling in a videogame. Atleast of the (many) racing games I've played.

The only reason I would buy GT6 now would be if it had some kind of 'casual' mode that unlocks all the cars from the start. Or atleast make it super easy. In GT5 it took ages. And then you still had to be very selective about what car you chose. It's too bad b/c there are certainly parts I really enjoy about GT(espescially the superb car handling) but they make the game way too inaccessible for my taste.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

I own Forza 5 and the car list is a little bit spartan compared to Forza 4 and even moreso compared to GT, however Forza has all of the cars you "want" to drive. After screaming around Sebring in a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, taking a step down to a Hyundai Veloster really isn't as much fun; so the idea of racing the same tracks in GT in two versions of a Skyline just seems like a chore.

The Forza games have always held a bit more of the fun factor for me than the GT games so I am a little biased though.

 

[Weaver]

GT5 also had tons of Skylines. Why is anyone surprised they did the same thing over again?

 

[Parasondox]

GT5 also had tons of Skylines. Why is anyone surprised they did the same thing over again?

Surprised because we don't expect developers to be this extremely lazy when adding in new cars but rather they just copy and paste from past games... or did I just basically point out what other developers do also?

 

[Davey Woo]

I used to play Gran Turismo on the PS2 (Gran Turismo 1-3 ASPec) and then switched to Forza when I got my Xbox 360. The thing I noticed about the difference in car rosters is, as you say, in Gran Turismo they have many different versions of the same car. Also they have a lot of cars that just aren't really good for racing, especially early on. Things like the Chrysler PT Cruiser or the extensive selection of SUV's. Whereas Forza has a very focused selection of cars, and they usually have the top-of-the-range 'sports' models of whatever cars they do have, which makes a lot more sense to me. I also love the customisation and tuning options available on Forza, which, compared to the Gran Turismo games I played was much more intricate.

 

[shootthebandit]

With 200 being "premium" does that mean only 200 have a cockpit view? I hated how GT5 only certain cars had the cockpit view forcing me to use 3rd person on the others. I could use bumper cam with the HUD dials but it ruins the immersion completely

Im happy that GT6 has the 2011 clio cup R.S I actually own one of these bad boys and since i can track my GPS and use it to create tracks in game im going to be a very happy chappy breaking the forth wall and trying to beat my ingame lap times in real life

What really bugged me about GT5 was that it made me do a lot of NASCAR american bollocks. I wanted to go round suzuka or silverstone or nurburgring not go round and round and round a circle 20 times like someone whos lost signal on a satnav just before a roundabout

 

[AD-Stu]

Disclaimer: as a PC gamer I don't play either series.

If it were just Skylines they were doing it with I could maybe see your point - but looking down the list they seem to have done the same thing with all sorts of models. I don't see the need for a dozen variants on the 3000GT or the RX8 or the S2000 but they're all in there too. Just stuff for the detail nerds I guess

 

[Parasondox]

With 200 being "premium" does that mean only 200 have a cockpit view? I hated how GT5 only certain cars had the cockpit view forcing me to use 3rd person on the others. I could use bumper cam with the HUD dials but it ruins the immersion completely

It will have cockpit view but I guess its a black box like at the final few updates for GT5. Look;

Bugatti Veyron cockpit - http://lolcanosaurus.com/temp/GT5_pics/Spec_2_cockpits/DPP_0001.JPG

Aston Martin Vanquish cockpit - http://lolcanosaurus.com/temp/GT5_pics/Spec_2_cockpits/DPP_0004.JPG

No imagination, just a boring dull cockpit of nothing.