Gran Turismo HD Is A Total Rip Off

20 Sep

Posted by Darren Stevens as Business, Driving

According to Famitsu, Gran Turismo HD will be released in two versions, one with no cars or tracks (at all) and the other, called “premium” with 30 cars and two tracks. Then the point is to go online and buy additional cars through Sony’s online system. The price of cars will range from $0.43 to $0,80, while the price of tracks ranges from $1.71 to $4.26. There are approximately 750 cars and 50 tracks in the game. You do the math.

Now, any sane person will immediately acknowledge this as probably the biggest next-gen rip-off in 2006. Never mind the $600 console, or the $60 games, selling games “empty” and charging for the content is unheard of in today’s videogame culture. Apparently, milking every penny out of loyal gamers is the true “next-gen” spirit.

Via Beyond3D

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Tags: Business, Driving

49 Responses

TobyT

September 20th, 2006 at 11:47 pm
1

Just when you thought Sony couldn’t possiblty screw you any more, they pull somthing like this off. Shame on them.
Jim2k

September 20th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
2

so you can end up spending $700-800 on a game, if you want all cars and tracks?

I hope there are “sane” gamers and bloggers that will protest against this sort of crap
doom

September 20th, 2006 at 11:50 pm
3

I got a feeling this is not going to happen.

I also got a feeling this post if phoney (a.k.a. fanboy). It’s too surreal to do such a retarded marketing strategy.
Gh3tt0 Child

September 20th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
4

I bet you that will change soon becuase no one wouuld buy that waste of money the whole paying for downloadable content is a waste of money we already paid 50 or 60 bux
doom

September 21st, 2006 at 12:06 am
5

True. But I wonder if it actually is famitsu:P

It would make snese however if the game would be lower priced.

Still I think it is doomed, hence my name ofcourse, because it won’t allow you to do that unlock carreer thing modus and save for cars, which made the original gt’s fun.

I think this is just another STEEM-episode doomed to fail.
God damned steem was a dumb thing to do. Hurting your consumer markt and actually motvitaing people to pirate, to just get that malware shit off your pc.. sorry I’m very off topic:P
jose

September 21st, 2006 at 1:07 am
6

i offcially hate sony if that is true…
doom

September 21st, 2006 at 1:25 am
7

Btw, besides that I post way too much..

It is interesting that this site somehow only posts negative news about the ps3.

That makes it all the more fun to post here MUAHAHA (since chances are that the ps3 will be the biggest console again)
Ryknow

September 21st, 2006 at 1:28 am
8

and you thought horse armor was a ripoff!
David

September 21st, 2006 at 2:45 am
9

Doom, a good reason for all the negative news surrounding Sony is that they are not releasing any good news either. I doubt this is a conspiracy against your favourite, and how everyone points out that negative news is all you see from Sony, but if you have to go to a Sony site to find good news, then there isn’t much good going on. Sony’s batteries have been exploding a lot recently aswell, so this might not be isolated to the gaming division. This idea is terrible, especially when it’s GT 4 in 1080p, making it worth about $10-20 maximum.
David

September 21st, 2006 at 2:46 am
10

Unless they changed that about GT HD, I read that a while ago, but still read in another article about this same topic that the next true GT would arrive in 2008.
Stephen Glauser

September 21st, 2006 at 2:53 am
11

I don’t think it is going to be quite as this post will lead you to believe. I’m sure you can still win the cars by winning races, etc. And I highly doubt that Sony would be stupid enough to only allow users access to .04% of the game’s content (”the cars”) for between $60 and $100. The game just won’t sell. Not everyone is onboard with online shopping yet. What do you do about those people? What about the 16-17 year olds who don’t use credit cards, but still drop the money to buy the game with their summer-job money?

While I agree the concept has some validity, I just don’t see it on the scale implied by this post.
Shaka

September 21st, 2006 at 3:49 am
12

armin,armin at it again….

‘ ‘ Gran Turismo HD Is A Total Rip Off ‘ ‘

1st of all the wii at 250$ is a complete rip off!
2nd why you coping me i was the 1st that came out with the rip off stament.

and yeah to buy online cars sounds very awesome, and its optinal too you dont have to buy this you know.

0.40$ for a car sounds about right alot better then 5$ for a horse armor.

armin like always hating on Sony for no reason and trying to make this a big deal when it isnt.
Old School gamer

September 21st, 2006 at 4:05 am
13

I find it funny how you say spending more money on a game is very awesome. I think you’re in denial. No one thinks it is awesome to spend more money on content that should be included anyway.

And what about the two tracks that you failed to mention? That’s very awesome too, right? You’re a fucking tool fanboy. Get over yourself.
dfyb

September 21st, 2006 at 4:08 am
14

why can’t you report accurately? you have no idea what this game is about yet you report on it as if you know the facts.

first off, it is HIGHLY unlikely that GT:HD classic will cost anything — if they do charge for it, it’ll probably cost no more than $10.

GT:HD classic is not a full gran turismo game — you don’t unlock tracks or buy cars with in-game money. you just buy cars/tracks so you can bring them online — you only pay for what you’ll use for online racing. yeah, that’s right, GT:HD classic is JUST online racing — if you wasted money and bought all 750 cars, you’ll never use hundreds of them. you’ll buy a few cars from a couple different classes and that’s all you’ll need. chances are, only those who are REALLY into the game will spend more than $50. most people will spend far less, and actually be saving money. you can start off with one car and one track (hell you might not need to buy any tracks if you can join a game with any track, which is likely, since you’ll be able to race against cars you don’t necessarily own). you’ve spent like $5 and you’re playing the game online as much as you want — that’s a pretty damn good deal. if you like it and want more cars, buy a few more. you’ll never need an excessive number of cars because the only thing you’d be doing is racing online; you’ll just want your favorites.

the korean MMO scene has pioneered a new business model for online games, and what sony is doing with GT:HD classic looks to be heavily inspired by such games (they’ve even mentioned doing a game similar to this in interviews). with no or very little cost up front, the games become MUCH more accessible and you get a lot more players. games like this have the potential to become much more popular than a game that costs upward of $50 just to get in. it heavily benefits the online community. only those that are really into the game will likely end up spending more than the conventional $50 per game.

premium will likely cost no more than $20.

gran turismo 5 is the next GT game where you have a career mode etc. GT:HD is more of a preview, and only an idiot would think they’re a rip off when they actually have a clue about what they’re reporting on.
mike

September 21st, 2006 at 4:27 am
15

it is kind of a big deal if you pay $60 for a game, beat it 100% in true GT fashion and only to have to buy a bunch of cars and tracks. Paying $60 for a game and having to shell out more for content that should be included does not sound awesome.
OSX

September 21st, 2006 at 4:28 am
16

Hey…shh….hear that….the apologists are on the march!

Way to be Shaka.
meh

September 21st, 2006 at 4:42 am
17

Er, I’d imagine the cars and tracks are in the game (read: on disc), unlockable by some key that you download through Sony’s PS3 Online Experience or whatever they’re calling it. Give it a few days and some 12 year old will post the appropriate keys somewhere.

If they’re actually offering GT4 cars as downloadable items that aren’t on the disc, now that’s something — could end up as a PS3 take on “Wii For Mii” if they went the right way with it.
PapaStu

September 21st, 2006 at 5:00 am
18

So if all the cars were .41 cents a pop your looking at $307.50 (750 x .41) and if all the tracks were 1.71 your looking at another $85.50 (50 x 1.71) for a grand total of $393.00 JUST for the cars and tracks. Add that to the 600 dollar PS3 your looking at just over a grand to play GT:HD with all the tracks and cars (at a minimum).

I’m sold!
lolz

September 21st, 2006 at 6:50 am
19

As still unofficialy stated in day before Tokyo Game Show, Gran Turismo HD should be available in December in Japan for all lucky PS3 owners there.

The New Famitsu states that game will come with two modes (releases?) “GT HD Premium” and “GT HD Classic”. It remains to be seen what this means. Also, the offical GT japanese site has put up the new section titled “GT meets PS3″ dated 22-24/9, which are official dates for TGS 2006. Link: http://www.gran-turismo.com/jp/

Official info and other details are coming as Sony’s conference approaches.

Also, there is sight of first new track in GTHD: The Eiger Nordwand, Switzerland.

Also, some light has been added to Classsic & Premium modes:
GT HD Preimum will use full PS3 hardware, potential, while GT HD Classic will be based on GT HD Demo. It is somehow now obvious that both modes will be included on the same disk.
However, GT Classic mode will feature over 50 courses for online racing and online will be 100% included in the game. There is notion about weather changes, but still not mention about being real-time.
New tracks and cars will be offered to download: car is to cost from euro 0.33/USD 0.42 to euro 0.66/USD 0.84, while tracks from euro 1.32/USD 1.68 to euro 3.30/USD 4.20.

READ THAT AND GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT PLEASE
Sheep Licker

September 21st, 2006 at 7:06 am
20

Sony do it again…

Just when you think Sony can’t do any worse… I don’t know how true this is, though. It could be fake. However, if it is true, Sony are goners.
Jim2k

September 21st, 2006 at 10:42 am
21

Shaka: It is unbelievable how blinded you are by Sony’s PR.
DigitalBattle is the only blog that dares to post critical stuff about Sony (and other consoles).

You tell me where the positive ting is about charging for cars and tracks separately, ripping off the customers?
MrFuNKy

September 21st, 2006 at 2:18 pm
22

Maybe they will make us pay for gasoline in the game to run the cars as well??
XBOX Snippets

September 21st, 2006 at 2:40 pm
23

[...] PS3 News -Gran Turismo HD will have no cars or tracks “According to Famitsu, Gran Turismo HD will be released in two versions, one with no cars or tracks (at all) and the other, called “premium
Anuban

September 21st, 2006 at 6:06 pm
24

“# dfyb Says:
September 21st, 2006 at 4:08 am

why can’t you report accurately? you have no idea what this game is about yet you report on it as if you know the facts.

first off, it is HIGHLY unlikely that GT:HD classic will cost anything — if they do charge for it, it’ll probably cost no more than $10.

GT:HD classic is not a full gran turismo game — you don’t unlock tracks or buy cars with in-game money. you just buy cars/tracks so you can bring them online — you only pay for what you’ll use for online racing. yeah, that’s right, GT:HD classic is JUST online racing — if you wasted money and bought all 750 cars, you’ll never use hundreds of them. you’ll buy a few cars from a couple different classes and that’s all you’ll need. chances are, only those who are REALLY into the game will spend more than $50. most people will spend far less, and actually be saving money. you can start off with one car and one track (hell you might not need to buy any tracks if you can join a game with any track, which is likely, since you’ll be able to race against cars you don’t necessarily own). you’ve spent like $5 and you’re playing the game online as much as you want — that’s a pretty damn good deal. if you like it and want more cars, buy a few more. you’ll never need an excessive number of cars because the only thing you’d be doing is racing online; you’ll just want your favorites.

the korean MMO scene has pioneered a new business model for online games, and what sony is doing with GT:HD classic looks to be heavily inspired by such games (they’ve even mentioned doing a game similar to this in interviews). with no or very little cost up front, the games become MUCH more accessible and you get a lot more players. games like this have the potential to become much more popular than a game that costs upward of $50 just to get in. it heavily benefits the online community. only those that are really into the game will likely end up spending more than the conventional $50 per game.

premium will likely cost no more than $20.

gran turismo 5 is the next GT game where you have a career mode etc. GT:HD is more of a preview, and only an idiot would think they’re a rip off when they actually have a clue about what they’re reporting on.”

Uh … I think this pretty much says it all. Did anyone even read through this? It makes a lot of sense if this is the approach they are taking and the game is 100% online only. Anyway I’m looking forward to hearing the FULL story. Surely no one thinks Sony is that idiotic to apply the current gaming model to this game in terms of pricing. And no they are not trying to be like Sin Episodes (which sucks big time anyway … but that’s another post and topic) … that much I can see and I am not a big Sony fan.
Marquee

September 21st, 2006 at 6:32 pm
25

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

PGR4 ftw!!!

Shaka I lol @ u!
u compare something like a $2 horse armor where i can then use in game on any horse.

But with the shit you can’t even complete the game 100% because it’s so much money. wait u got 300+ $$$ to get all the cars and tracks?? u know these sort of things use to come with games.

WTF a car racing game with no cars! lol wtf?!?!
Lemond

September 21st, 2006 at 6:40 pm
26

Shaka’s posts are quite amusing. He seems to be a hardcore Sony fanboy / Nintendo hater, which is a hilarious combo these days.

Shaka, by no means quit posting your opinions. We’d all love to know what you think.
Algumas coisas… « FelipeCN

September 21st, 2006 at 6:42 pm
27

[...] Gran Turismo HD virá SEM carros ou pistas: Você comprará o jogo e deverá baixar carros e pistas a partir da rede on-line da Sony… O preço dos carros será de U$$0.43 a U$$0,80, e o das pistas será de U$$1.71 to U$$4.26. Só espero que o jogo seja barato e que a Sony venda os conteudos pro PS3 aqui no Brasil. [...]
doom

September 21st, 2006 at 7:19 pm
28

Dunno, sounds fishy to me.

Nintendo hater, which is a hilarious combo these days.

It’s always good to spew on nintendo. It’s for kids. You know maturity and stuff, casting away the childish ways:P
Shaka

September 21st, 2006 at 9:11 pm
29

This is a rumor and one thats spreading like wildfire on the internet forums!

as usuall why only the negative Sony news are the ones the nintendo fanboys like to spread on the internet.

this just concludes the nintendo fanboys have no life. they spend most of their time on the internet hating on Sony just beacuase its the kool thing to do.

A tool is a tool. and yeah nintendo is for kids and it sucks.
Videogame Money

September 21st, 2006 at 11:28 pm
30

[...] For those interested in Gran Turismo and Sony’s continuing efforts to ruin pretty much everything, here’s a story about how the next Gran Turismo is going to run you $1,000. [...]
dominant

September 22nd, 2006 at 12:06 am
31

i don’t see why they just don’t wait and release the full game. it seems like a lot of wasted money producing a game that really has no substance… i dunno this is all news to me, i was under the impression that gt:hd was going to be a hi def version of gt 4.
Shaka

September 22nd, 2006 at 12:24 am
32

Yeah Vision GT is GT$ runing in 1080p glory on possible in PS3 and no its not GT5.
dominant

September 22nd, 2006 at 2:19 am
33

yes i know its not gt5… sony is so gay, i can’t wait to see their top spot go crashing into the ground because of their arrogance. i want to buy a ps3 just to smash so there is one less ps3 in this world.
Shaka

September 22nd, 2006 at 3:16 am
34

‘ ‘ because of their arrogance. ‘ ‘

That is nintendo.
Emerald

September 22nd, 2006 at 3:21 am
35

‘ ‘ because of their arrogance. ‘ ‘
Sorry, that’s Sony.
enmasse

September 22nd, 2006 at 4:50 am
36

No surprise. Bethesda is doing it already with Oblivion. Charging a game with removed content only to sell it later.

It was well too obvious that others would follow like a plague. You can however murder or rape stupid fan boys on spot who will defend and justify every stupid shit like this and will buy every fucking rip-off piece of crap. Some of such places where you can find a host of idiocy is The official Elder Scrolls forums, for instance
Chat, befriend, meet, rape and kill the fanbois.
doom

September 22nd, 2006 at 12:26 pm
37

Hmm GT isnt made by sony but by polyphony digital.. dunno what reasoning you have by putting the finger at the console producer here… ooh yeah ur a fanboi
bi0nikr

September 22nd, 2006 at 4:42 pm
38

I really have no problem with an ala carte pricing model for games if say the base game is $20-$30. As a casual gamer I’d pay $30 for Madden that has a handful of bad playable teams, then pay another $2 per playable team. I usually end up only playing with 4 or 5 teams anyway, so as a consumer I win since I paid $40 intead of $50-60.

As another example maybe you pay another $5 for the dynasty features. You’re giving gamers a choice on whether they want to pay for certain features whereas they don’t have that choice now.

If you’re a hardcore gamer and paying $70 or $80 to play with every team and feature, you’re putting so much time into the game that its still only costing you 25 cents per hour or less which is a clear bargain compared to the 98% of other activities you could be doing.

Now that the technology is there for the ala carte model and games are more expensive to produce, get used to this.
All Things News

September 22nd, 2006 at 5:14 pm
39

[...] Straight from DigitalBattle: “According to Famitsu, Gran Turismo HD will be released in two versions, one with no cars or tracks (at all) and the other, called “premium
dominant

September 22nd, 2006 at 5:42 pm
40

“Hmm GT isnt made by sony but by polyphony digital.. dunno what reasoning you have by putting the finger at the console producer here… ooh yeah ur a fanboi ” - doom

i don’t care who made it, sony has final approval for its release… and i’m not a fanboy, i’ve owned every console system since the nes and i actually have a ton of sony products.

honestly i would buy a ps3 if it didn’t include the bluray… because honestly sony has a horrible track record at releasing new media formats… not to say that bluray can’t win because it does have some advantages, but it also has some disadvantages. but as a consumer i want the choice to decide whether i buy that or not.

but honestly, how pissed are all of you going to be if bluray does not succeed?
Rey King Jr

September 23rd, 2006 at 12:51 am
41

Absolute joke, i was actually offended reading that, spending 600 plus dollars on a game to have all the content? id like to spit in the eyes of those who made that up, and you stupid fanboys foaming at the mouths in your quest to protect your beloved sony, wander if you’d show the same love to your own family.
Scum.
Kaiser Soze

September 23rd, 2006 at 10:04 am
42

“ooh yeah ur a fanboi”

Doom & Shaka: Why dont you two just admit you’re Sony fanboys. It’s so obvious you are, and besides, there’s nothing wrong in admitting that. It’s just becoming a joke that you two claim you’re not fanboys, and calling everybody else Nintendo fanboys, not xbox, because we accidentally dont like the price of PS3. There’s nothing wrong with being a fanboy, and nobody will think less of you if you admits that you are fanboys
doom

September 23rd, 2006 at 12:12 pm
43

”but honestly, how pissed are all of you going to be if bluray does not succeed? ”

It has a high chance of succeeding due to it’s space capacity, but if it wouldnt, who cares, I just need the games. Maybe the games will be like 10% more expensive due to relatively higher production costs in years time, but the games will still be there, just like nintendo cartridges and so on.

I honnestly give no f*ck about hd or blu ray video, since I already got dvd and the internet. The old and good movies can’t be improved much by a higher resolution anyway.

But ofcourse I’m only speaking for myself.
Shaka

September 25th, 2006 at 2:23 am
44

‘ ‘ No surprise. Bethesda is doing it already with Oblivion. Charging a game with removed content only to sell it later. ‘ ‘

Oh yeah Oblivion is coming to PS3 and you know with the huge Blu-Ray store they can easily put all the good extras in there.Blu-Ray 25gb FTW.
Philip

September 25th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
45

I’m skeptical. Until I see hard proof I’m not convinced EITHER way.
emmersonpoole

October 14th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
46

Its simple, if you dont like the way the game is marketed then dont buy it and they wont produce another one. Looking at the positives of the idea, you will at least hopefully be able to buy exactly what you want and use it as you wish, no more having to complete endless cycles of races just to get the shiny motor you have set your heart on. Of course for online gaming there will be the problems of racing against that guy who has all the cars and I dont see how they can balance the different performance levels of the different cars to give fair races. I should point out I think the buying everything you need sucks and I wont be buying this game in this format and if true sony needs to sit down and think long and hard about whether this really is the way to promote its new console.
Monarky

December 2nd, 2006 at 11:35 am
47

Well folks Polyphony has announced that GT-HD was just a port of Gran Tourismo HD will be downloadable for free in Dec.! They have now said the real Gran Tourismo 5 will be released sometime next year! So Sony and it’s Developers are using “Sun Tsu” tactics and there will be plenty more I’m sure!
web-cracker

January 18th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
48

first of all the game will be published on decemeber 1 2007 second of all you have to pay for this shit as mentioned in consumer electronic show. third of all you have to be really realy retarded no life idiot to pay money for it more thn the system costs and they should go and protests this shit for paying to unlock stages i understand if you wanna play online and there is a monthly subscription that is ok( not ok but what the F****) so if they start doing that, and they actually SUCSEED on it imagine what the other companys wil do they will do the smae shit as Polyphony did with GRAND TURISMO HD( well they havent done it yet but they said the will and they will do it
dan "games" philmore

October 6th, 2007 at 6:46 am
49

Gran Turismo is a suck game anyway never liked it ..

Really a game like Burn out is 100000% more fun to play the that suck of a game …