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Let me first say that I have been a fan of the Sony PlayStation since it first came out and I’ve given Sony a lot of slack seeing as they are playing major catch up here. The PlayStation 2 came out before everyone realized that this online thing was important, so the XBox had a huge advantage getting late into the game. XBox Live is indeed the bar right now in online gaming on the console. Sony has come a long way towards catching up, but still has a long way to go. The ingame XMB is a big start, but here is what I see as the big drawbacks still

• Very few games support the 2.41 features (trophies and custom soundtracks).
• Downloads don’t continue during much of the activities (Watching DVDs, BDs, while turned off)
• The PSN PID is a start, but no XML status feeds exposed to the public internet, so no real time badges, or web2.0 mashup services (like mygamercard.net)
• Better than XBox 360 media support, but still very incomplete. (MKV, various DiVX profiles, various h.264 profiles unsupported)
• The video store is a good start but the selection is weak, and there is no point when I have a NetFlix subscription. A monthly subscription model would go a long way here.
• Content, while the XBLA gets games like Geometry Wars, and Braid, and to date there are no really notable 3rd party PSN titles. Sony truly needs to fix this. Home is not going to satiate us, we want content.
• Japan gets a ton of PS1 titles on the PSN, we have what, 7? The only one we have that I care about would be Castlevania SOTN, the rest are lame. We want more.
• Better “what you are doing” support. It only shows what game you are playing. I spend most of the time watching movies. It would be nice for my friends to know what I was watching or listening to.
• The web browser is pretty sucky, the flash player is total crap. Having YouTube and maybe even Hulu support right from the XMB would be excellent.

I love the PlayStaton 3, I use it for hours a day… to watch videos… There have been a few really amazing titles for the platform, and a few more are coming out but for the most part I spend much more time using the PlayStation 3 as a media platform than a game platform. There have been very few PSN titles worth mentioning, versus the number of times that I am sad that I don’t have XBLA.

Come on Sony, please. This isn’t a huge laundry list, you can do even if you have to beg borrow and steal from XBL.

That is the bar you have to reach.

Everyone is probably talking about the latest installation of the Gran Turismo franchise, as it is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated, flagship titles for the PlayStation 3 platform. Sony and Polyphony have been jumping up and down talking about the improvements to graphics and playability over the previous versions, going even so far as to say the headlights in one of the cars has as many polygons as an entire CAR in Gran Turismo HD Concept, which was based on the Gran Turismo 4 engine.

Let me start off by saying that I believe it. This game is easily the most gorgeous game I have ever played, both the scenery and vehicles are amazingly detailed and smooth. If this is what the PlayStation 3 is truly capable of, then Sony might get 10 years out of the hardware.

So that said, first the disappointments.

1. Interface – This is standard Gran Turismo fare. Not as irritating as GT4, but for pete’s sake guys, this is a DRIVING game, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make it EASY for me to DRIVE. I want to go into a race class (there are A B and C), start a series (Sunday Cup for example), pick a car and DRIVE. Going back to the main menu SUCKS. I just want to DRIVE.
2. SFX – Guys, What the hell? I paid 40$ for this, $50 for GT4, $50 for GT3, and $50 for GT2 and the tire squeal (and most of the engine) samples ARE THE SAME. Seriously, Sony, Polyphony, You guys have some of the BEST minds in Japan, some of the most ENTHUSIASTIC fans, developers, managers, and marketers ANYWHERE. You have HANDS DOWN the BEST engine, platform, and franchise. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FIX THIS. If I could bring myself to use a blink tag, I would. This is UN ACCEPTABLE. My receiver is in Dolby Digital playing this back and it sounds THE SAME as Gran Turismo 2. Weak.

Ok, now the good.

1. This is a TRUE Gran Turismo – The physics of the cars, the attention to detail of the tracks, it is all there.
2. Control – I am using the Logitech Driving Force Pro wheel from GT4 and it is sharp, responsive, and the force feedback works just as well if not better from the previous game. I played through all of C class just now and am sweating and achy. It is a phenomenal sensory experience.
3. 1080p, 1080p, 1080p – This is a reference title for the system. Just go into the game and leave it on loop. The scenery and automotive history shots it shows you while it idles are striking. The game engine renders all 1920 x 1080 of your multi-thousand dollar High Def investment and fills it with joy. It even plays random replays from the internet during the attract demo. You can’t really argue with that.
4. Sound – The menu music is less cheesy and repetative, but it is still electronic lounge. The in-race music I have turned off lest it distract me, so I cannot complain.
5. Cars – A good selection of factory (and a few tuned) cars to play with. I am an RX-7 fanboy and was overjoyed to see it make an appearance. S2000 and NSX fans will be similarly overjoyed. Of course Ferrari makes their Gran Turismo debut here as well. You can’t say anything bad about the interior or exterior modeling of the cars, they are without a doubt flawless. If only they had spent as much time on the SFX.
6. Tracks – Stunning. Just stunning. The High Dynamic Range (HDR) lighting on some of the tracks (like the High Speed ring coming out of the tunnel) really show off the PS3’s nVidia RSX chip. The people are still a little wooden, but at least they’re not 2d sprites anymore. The background scenery is absolutely picturesque. Makes me want to go to Germany and Japan VERY BADLY.

So, in short — if you are a fan of the Gran Turismo series this isn’t a bad buy. It is the first time the US has gotten a ‘Prologue’ but it was really worth the wait. I was originally calling this a $40.00 demo, but it could really almost stand on its own (for $40..) as a really REALLY good PSN title. But do yourself the favor and go out and buy the disc unless you really really can’t be bothered. It is the same price, but you get the movies (not included in the download) and something tangible to hold. The box art is kind of nice, and I bet the install and patch are going to be faster than the download.

Speaking of, the last thought I’ll leave you with is this: I am glad I didn’t get this on release day. The 400MB patch that came out with the game was atrocious to download yesterday (a friend got it last night), it was pretty bearable today. Sony should probably spend some time making sure their PlayStation Network infrastructure has a little more bandwidth and server capacity, the Thursday slowdowns when updates hit are getting a little old, and with all this new content and patches I am sure some users are going to get irritated.

If I were a game reviewer (and I’m not), I’d probably give this a 89/100 keeping in mind that it is essentially a glorified tech demo that we paid for. If this weren’t the preview, I’d probably score it much closer to 50.