Support NeoGAF

[newsguy]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/643/643992p1.html


Yes, Blim already gave his impressions, but I posted this one because there are a couple of things that caught my eye (good and bad).

The game also sports realistic, detailed interiors and dashboards that animate as they would in real life. If the player uses the handbrake in the game, the animated driver will pull it up in the car. If the player shifts gears, the driver will work the clutch and gear shift. The car models themselves also look quite realistic, and you can even notice little details like the engine gleaming through the grill on the Enzo.

After giving us all the pertinent background information on the game, Nick fired up an X360 dev kit and jumped into PGR 3. The first thing I noticed was that the graphics were definitely toned down from the screenshots we've seen. Although it looked decent enough, the effects weren't pumped to the max and all the texture passes weren't active, so we weren't treated to the amazing visuals we've come to expect from the screens that have been released.

The frame rate was also a bit choppy at this point, but Nick told us that the game was running at about a third of the speed they plan to get out of the final version, which should achieve 60 frames per second.

Project Gotham Racing 3 is officially a "launch window" title, which means that, although no exact date has been set at this time, it should be released by the end of this year. Nick told us to expect a more solid release date around TGS, and hopefully a playable demo in Tokyo.

The "launch window" comment is not cool considering this week has been full of X360 "Q1 2006" announcements.

 

[sangreal]

Same as BlimBlim's basically

 

[Wario64]

well Ridge Racer 6 is coming out at launch, right? just play that till PGR3 comes out

 

[newsguy]

Same as BlimBlim's basically

But did Blim's mention the launch window thing? If he came out and said launch window that all but confirms it's no longer a launch day title. This is big news considering it's easily in the top 3 on most people's launch day list right now.

EDIT: BTW, it's not a personal complaint cause I planned on gameflying this one. While it looks great I'm not a huge fan of the series.

 

[Lunar Aura]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/newsguy/b327c38f.gif
:lol :lol :lol

 

[killermmn]

hahaha youre a jackass :lol :lol :lol

 

[Lunar Aura]

eh? thats newsguys avatar.

 

[newsguy]

eh? thats newsguys avatar.

Yeah, I'm not getting the joke from either of you. I'm a jackass cause of the avatar?

 

[Lunar Aura]

no. i think its hilarious. dunno what killer means. i think he thinks its funny too though.

 

[sangreal]

But did Blim's mention the launch window thing? If he came out and said launch window that all but confirms it's no longer a launch day title. This is big news considering it's easily in the top 3 on most people's launch day list right now.

EDIT: BTW, it's not a personal complaint cause I planned on gameflying this one. While it looks great I'm not a huge fan of the series.

They've always said launch window. The only 2 games I know of that have been firmly announced as day1 are Kameo and PDZ. It is "planned" for day1 though, as of last week.

Launch Window is 2005 so there really isn't a big difference

 

[HyperionX]

I certainly hope there's some way better version running in the background that they're aren't showing anyone, because this is not a good sign. Two impressions both say that the game is running choppy and the graphics aren't quite there yet. Launch is only 3 month away, which means they have about 2 months to fix the problems. Nowhere near enough time to fix problems of the degree we're getting from these impressions.

 

[sangreal]

Reminds me of CES when everyone was predicting doom for forza :lol

 

[Lunar Aura]

I certainly hope there's some way better version running in the background that they're aren't showing anyone, because this is not a good sign. Two impressions both say that the game is running choppy and the graphics aren't quite there yet. Launch is only 3 month away, which means they have about 2 months to fix the problems. Nowhere near enough time to fix problems of the degree we're getting from these impressions.

eh? they arent problems. :lol its a debug copy. when devs are tsting stuff in the game they have a version with many features and functions turned off so they can work without the game itself bogging resourses down. not to mention it was running on old kit.

"the effects weren't pumped to the max and all the texture passes weren't active, so we weren't treated to the amazing visuals we've come to expect from the screens that have been released"

what more than that do you need?

 

[newsguy]

no. i think its hilarious. dunno what killer means. i think he thinks its funny too though.

Oh, ok. With the rampant fanboyism here I never know if people are making accusations :lol Thanks for the compliment though, it took me forever cause I suck @ photoshop.

Sangreal, I wasn't aware of the launch window status. I guess the 3 other titles that got pushed to 2006 caused this to set off a warning light. If it stays in the holiday season it won't matter, I just assumed it was a day 1 title.

 

[OptimusPrime]

Devs show us what they want us to see.

I know some months before Metroid Prime 1 they started showing the game. They showed the first boss, the plant like creature. The only version I saw in the vids was totaly different when the finished game arrived..........

So anything can happen even with PGR3 :lol

 

[jett]

well Ridge Racer 6 is coming out at launch, right? just play that till PGR3 comes out

We haven't even seen a real picture of that game, I seriously doubt RR6 makes it out this year.

Anyways, tough luck for xbox fans.

 

[Lunar Aura]

Devs show us what they want us to see.

they didnt show US the debug copy. they showed select press the game to show real progress. to show that they stuff they are showing US is indeed real and not all smoke and mirrors. they get the behind the scenes, we get the finished product.

i think ridge racer will make launch. they arent showing it because they are working on it round the clock. no time for press events. look at how hard it is to get info out of bizarre. this is a japanese dev we are talking about here. i say first sight will be at TGS. no sooner.

 

[cyberheater]

Just remember guys. GT5 for PS3 won't be out until 2008 so they've got plenty of time to finish of PGR3.

 

[newsguy]

they didnt show US the debug copy. they showed select press the game to show real progress. to show that they stuff they are showing US is indeed real and not all smoke and mirrors. they get the behind the scenes, we get the finished product.

Exactly, they show the rough parts to people WHO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR. Imagine BC showing this footage to GAF only :lol PGR 3 would be the disappointment total. Game journalists are there to see how things are coming along and from their experience in the industry, they can make an educated guess of what the game will look like and relay that to the reader.

 

[Mrbob]

Sounds decent, but I don't care for this game. Nor many racers. Damn PD0 better deliver if this is the one true AAA launch window title me am disappointed total. :/

 

[Insertia]

After giving us all the pertinent background information on the game, Nick fired up an X360 dev kit and jumped into PGR 3. The first thing I noticed was that the graphics were definitely toned down from the screenshots we've seen. Although it looked decent enough, the effects weren't pumped to the max and all the texture passes weren't active, so we weren't treated to the amazing visuals we've come to expect from the screens that have been released.

They did this with PGR2.

 

[Blimblim]

But did Blim's mention the launch window thing? If he came out and said launch window that all but confirms it's no longer a launch day title. This is big news considering it's easily in the top 3 on most people's launch day list right now.

EDIT: BTW, it's not a personal complaint cause I planned on gameflying this one. While it looks great I'm not a huge fan of the series.

Nick did not mention the launch window thing during my session, but someone else (from playerone.be ?) mentioned this too.
Insertia: We all remember these awful screens posted by Gamespot from the beta build that were using only low quality textures for the buildings:

 

[Lunar Aura]

i'd just like to say i LOVE how the reflections transmogrify into the paint in the pgr3 shot. *swoon*

 

[Mrbob]

Wait, so MS ragged on Sony for not showing gameplay, and now we may be duped with PGR3? The final version is toned down from the shots we have seen? That's what IGN says that the final game isn't as nice as the initial renders shown. Also, another reason I ask is because of this pic:

Those backgrounds textures don't look nearly as nice....especially when you compare it to this:

 

[Stinkles]

I certainly hope there's some way better version running in the background that they're aren't showing anyone, because this is not a good sign. Two impressions both say that the game is running choppy and the graphics aren't quite there yet. Launch is only 3 month away, which means they have about 2 months to fix the problems. Nowhere near enough time to fix problems of the degree we're getting from these impressions.

This post must be from one of the industry's leading coders. He must know more about 360 code than anyone else.

 

[Blimblim]

Wait, so MS ragged on Sony for not showing gameplay, and now we may be duped with PGR3? The final version is toned down from the shots we have seen? That's what IGN says that the final game isn't as nice as the initial renders shown. Also, another reason I ask is because of this pic:

Those backgrounds textures don't look nearly as nice....especially when you compare it to this:

MS held my whole family hostage and forced me to lie when I posted my impressions of the game. Now that they are free I can finally say that it looked like shit.
Or not.
Please, why are you even trying to compare a shot that shows almost nothing of the track side to another that was obviously done to show a landmark of the city?

Stinkles: Everyone here is a technical expert, and also a top notch art critic. I thought everyone knew that. I'm disappointed in you, old boy.

 

[Stinkles]

Because he's 14 and he has a Gamecube/PS2/Whatever. Same reason as always.

 

[jet1911]

Wait, so MS ragged on Sony for not showing gameplay, and now we may be duped with PGR3? The final version is toned down from the shots we have seen? That's what IGN says that the final game isn't as nice as the initial renders shown. Also, another reason I ask is because of this pic:

Those backgrounds textures don't look nearly as nice....especially when you compare it to this:

IGN didn't saw the final version of the game so how could they have come with something like that?

 

[Mrbob]

MS held my whole family hostage and forced me to lie when I posted my impressions of the game. Now that they are free I can finally say that it looked like shit.
Or not.
Please, why are you even trying to compare a shot that shows almost nothing of the track side to another that was obviously done to show a landmark of the city?

This is the first PGR3 thread I remember seeing.

Glad you got your family back, though.

PS - Please link me to your impressions.

 

[Prine]

Dear god Mr Boob is such a Drama Queen. Makes something out of nothing

 

[Nightbringer]

Perhaps I am starting to become paranoical but I see the same problem that DC had, that the Xbox had and now 360 has the same problem. The problem are the plastic textures, the scene is astounding, but the cars and the buildings seem made of plastic.

 

[Blimblim]

This is the first PGR3 thread I remember seeing.

Glad you got your family back, though.

You would not be glad if you knew them.

PS - Please link me to your impressions.

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_1859_en.html

 

[Blimblim]

Perhaps I am starting to become paranoical but I see the same problem that DC had, that the Xbox had and now 360 has the same problem. The problem are the plastic textures, the scene is astounding, but the cars and the buildings seem made of plastic.

The buildings look like they are made of plastic? I definitely can't agree here. I think Bizarre really nailed the lighting for the buildings.
For the cars it's another story, true enough.

 

[Lunar Aura]

Wait, so MS ragged on Sony for not showing gameplay, and now we may be duped with PGR3? The final version is toned down from the shots we have seen? That's what IGN says that the final game isn't as nice as the initial renders shown. Also, another reason I ask is because of this pic:

bwah? the final version isnt toned down. it wasnt a finished version. it was a debug version with effects and textures toned down for work on the game. 1/2 of this board is not only 12 but illiterate as well. WTF?

 

[newsguy]

I created this thread to show that: IGN is yet another source who comfirms this game is set to run at 60fps, and that it won't be a day 1 title (which was already known, it was news to me). Now I come back and people turn it into "OMG PGR3 is doomed!!" :lol
How can this article be spun into that? IGN clearly states that these graphical effects were not "active."

 

[Lunar Aura]

2nd grade reading comprehension is why. i think launch years kills brain cells in certain posters. it may not make launch but it may make christmas. then again compare timelines of those crappy PGR2 shots that were released. if it were around the same time then i'd say its safe to assume the game will make november. You have to remember bizarre has wasted no time creating gameshow demos like they did with pgr2. its been all work on the game. I think a recent article at bizarre stated something about game testers so thats a pretty good sign as well.

 

[Lunar Aura]

wow. the game world looks rather spartan in pgr2 compared to pgr3. HUGE difference in polys

dec 02

july03

novembe03

online shot with details reduced before the bitching begins...

add to the fact that BC has pooled in help from MGS and outsourcing and i'm pretty sure november is still in the cards.

heres a real zinger. a march 2001 shot of PGR. elements clearly ported from MSR DC in the beginning and they still made xbox launch.

 

[mrklaw]

There's more talk of games being launch 'window' and not launch 'day'? The only two we have confirmed as launch day are Rare games? Have they announced Duke Nukem Forever for launch as well?


It is a little alarming that PGR3 is running sluggish with the detail turned down. Sluggish with the detail on, or fast with the detail off I could understand. But isn't it quite a long way to go from 15-20fps with low detail and less texture passes to 60fps all features on?

If my fingers cross any more tightly they'll fuse.

 

[Endymion]

Everytime I look at the picture above I can't help but think: "Wow, that's impressive". I have some shots from PGR2 for comparison. I took them myself when I enjoyed the game last year (so no doctored anti-aliased stuff from press kits), and the jump is truly phenomenal:

 

[isamu]

well Ridge Racer 6 is coming out at launch, right? just play that till PGR3 comes out

If RR6 turns out to be a launch title with spectacular nex-gen visuals and a rock solid 60fps, what will that say about Bizarre's developing talents compared to Namco's?

 

[isamu]

Everytime I look at the picture above I can't help but think: "Wow, that's impressive". I have some shots from PGR2 for comparison. I took them myself when I enjoyed the game last year (so no doctored anti-aliased stuff from press kits), and the jump is truly phenomenal:

I actually think those are impressive screens.