Update: December 29, 2004
After years of development and delays, Gran Turismo 4 finally reaches the eager hands of video racing aficionados the world over. After viewing the breathtaking intro, players may select from Arcade Mode or Gran Turismo Mode. If choosing the latter, 10,000 credits are bequeathed and racers are sent on their way. After testing a few cars on a few rolling start races this morning, we're impressed. The overall level of detail is high and the "feel" of the different cars is unique and convincing from the cornering down to the shuddering collisions when running into a wall. After the first race, we paused the game every now and then to take in the backgrounds and examine the intense details that Kazunori's team put into the game. Nice touches include fully functional pit crews, an exhausting amount of tuning/upgrades, two used car dealerships, drift-capable dynamics (there are also tracks tailored for drifting), and LAN battle mode. A Photo-Mode allows for taking screen caps from the GT4 game to 8M memory cards or pen-drives (Sony sells one on their site that is 128MB) which may then be transferred to PC or printed on Picture-Mate and other printers. Every copy of Gran Turismo 4 is bundled with a bonus 210-page Reference Guide which features roughly 100 vehicles from the game (car illustration, specs, short synopsis), tuning, and detailed track guides on glossy paper. The Asian version of Gran Turismo 4 contains a JAPANESE game-cd and a JAPANESE manual. There is no difference other than the distribution mark on the back of the DVD case and the game will work on all Japanese, Asian, and Korean PS2 consoles. Please note that NCS will stock the Japanese version of Gran Turismo 4 on Thursday, January 13 for customers who prefer that version. Note: Gran Turismo 4 is mastered on a dual-layer DVD9 disc. If you do not have a Japanese PS2 and are playing the game with Swap Magic, the Flip-Top, or a modified console, please be aware that the game will not work if your method of playing imports does not support DVD9 discs.
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