I picked up Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2 the day it was released. I spent a bit of time with it the first couple of days but ended up putting it down shortly thereafter.
Then I put it back in the PS2 Sunday night.
I haven’t watched any TV programs since then. I’ve been on my PC at home long enough to check my email and do a bit of surfing the in AM before I go to work. Thats it.
I have been spending probably between 4-6 hours a night with it. Its just so god damn addictive. The more I watch it, the more I am floored by the graphics (it looks soooo damn good. Especially the replays) and just how “intricate” it is. Loose a race. Buy some parts. Run race again. Didn’t win? Buy more parts. Still didn’t win? Tweek the parts you have. Repeat.
I started out with a late 80s Mazda Miata. Ticked it out with a Turbo kit and Racing transmission (amongst other goodies). Got it to around 340HP before I realized I needed a bit more “car” to compete with the rest of the pack that was starting to come out.
Right now I have my Black Z06 Corvette at about 711 HP and she goes like a rocket. But I can still get beat every now and then… especially that damn Laguna Seca track. Next adujustment to it is a $75,000 engine rebuild that will take me too 838 HP. I have won several races with it and a couple championships. I am finally getting my car inventory up to snuff so I can run in different classes (AWD, RWD, FWD, Turbo, Etc).
Anyhow, if anyone else here is playing GT3 I’d like to hear about it. If you own a PS2 and have the slightest intrest in racing games and do not own it yet, buy it!
Started out with the Miata as well… tricked it out and got it to 333HP. Then said to hell with it and bought an NSX. Got all my licenses and ran the endurance races. Now I have Formula 1 cars that I race with mostly. The F090(NA) and the F687(Turbo) are my two favs.
I also have a 1640HP Escudo that I bought for a million dollars. Drives like crap and doesn’t turn, but damn if nothing will out accelerate that thing.
Here’s a tip: When you first get a car, before you drive it or do anything to it, give it a car wash and an oil change. You’ll increase the stock horse-power that way.
Laguna Seca is probably my favorite course. That corkscrew turn is absolutely deadly, and my insatiable desire to screw all the other racers makes it fun for me to run them off the road at that point. I love that I can run that course correctly. IIRC, Laguna Seca(IRL) is actually the deadliest course in the history of racing.
My least favorite course: Cote D’azur. That thing is a bitch and a half. Took me forever to finally figure out the mechanics of it. My next least favorite is SS Route11. Good lord if they put another turn in there. Thank G-d you don’t have to race Complex String in actual competition.
I now have about 100 different cars… each one for a different speciality race. Some for FF, some for MR, some for series.
Glad to fins someone else who enjoys the game bernse… I know I do. One last tip: DON"T PLAY GT3 AND DRIVE!! I keep forgetting that my 99 Sable is not an Esperante, and will not handle like one.
MMmmmmmm… You know, I’ve got about $250,000 in the bank right now. I’ve been saving them for something special. A good mid-engined car may be in the offering tonight
Glad to hear someone else is enjoying it too! The thing I am curious about is this. I know its been in development for a couple of years now but it is still a 1st year title for the PS2. I am curious to see what GT4 will look like since this already looks stunning.
BTW - How are those endurance races? I did a quick glance at a couple (I don’t have the license yet) but I am guessing that a couple will last upwards of 2 hours. That is starting to sound a little, ahem, LONG.
The shortest one, “Super Speedway”, took me approximately 2 1/2 hours actual race time to complete. I definitely didn’t do it in one sitting. The others took considerably longer. SS Route11 took me close to 3 1/2.
I did get the F090 from the Super Speedway race. Trust me, when you get that car, it will completely change the game for you.
I’m working on finishing the Professional league right now. Then it’s off to the Rally racing… Now, “that’s” hard.
I’d love to check out that GT3. I was an avowed GT1 and GT2 junkie (I own both games) on the Playstation 1.
How about this for a tale of woe - my last foray with GT2. I was in the habit of picking up and playing the game a couple of hours in the afternoon everyday. Between getting home from work and eating supper. And I was progressing nicely. I had won all the little races, I built up my garage to a respectable 15 or so cars, I found the one setup that assured me of victories (you know how you get that car setup so it’s just under the HP limit and has all other tunings cranked so you know it will provide you with all the victories you need at that one level so you can get the cars you need to win at the next level).
Then - GLITCH! - all the cars in my garage dissapeared. And before I had figured it out, I SAVED THE GAME! With no cars in my garage!!
Oooh, the scream that came out of me that day. I’ve been too discouraged to even pick it up since.
I feel for you. I did virtually the exact same thing when I was playing the original Gran Turismo when I had my Playstation. I was heartbroken. I didn’t play the game again for something like 3 years.
:stands up: Hello, My name is Ninja_rydr and I am an addict!
My room-mate just bought PS2 & GT3 (I’ve had mine since the day they came out). I’ve gotta get a link cable so we don’t have to use the split screen when we race. Does anyone have all their gold licenses yet? Now all we have to do is wait for SECA to get the PS2 online.
I’ve had a couple million just accumulating, but I have no reason to spend any of it. The Formula cars are just so dominant, I went from having close races with an 800hp Jaguar Road Car to lapping others in the 600hp F 090. Now my only ambition in that game is to get the F 868 (I think), which is basically a 900hp version of the F 090. I’ll tell you what, that Formula race at the end of the Proffesional mode is HARD!
I’m with you, Jack. I would so love to have a PS2 just so I could play GT3. Unfortunately I just bought school clothes for the kiddies, so I’m gonna be in the po’ house for a long long while.
I’ll just have to console myself with GT2. I’ve got all the races won (well, everything except the manufacturer races – there’s too many and I don’t feel like buying all those cars) and unlocked the event generator. Holy crap, is it hard! You can take your best car and the game sets up a race with similarly equipped cars. I tried it on the Expert setting and got my ass handed to me.
Between Triple Play Baseball, Escape From Monkey Island, and GT3, it’s a wonder I ever tear myself away from the PS2 to sleep or shower or eat. I even bought the steering wheel and pedals set to drive while playing GT3.
[Simpsons’ comic book guy]
Greatest racing game ever.
[/Simpsons’ comic book guy]
So Crunchy, as Whammo asked, How do you like the wheel? I tried one in the store (it wasn’t hooked up to a PS2 though) and I thought it felt a little “bulky” if that makes sense.
Do you have to clamp it to a table or something? Do you find you get finer control with it?
I don’t think I have a Legitech Wheel. It just says “Performance” on the box. It’s got suction cups to put it on the table, but they’re detachable if you just want to just set it in your lap (there’s a post to go between your legs, and you sit on the base for stability). The pedals are separate from the wheel and if you don’t want to use them (but I do, I like the realism of it) you can use buttons on the wheel that are the same as the buttons on the control pad.
I find I get better control from the wheel, but that’s just me.
Aaaah, I love this game. My current best car is the Gillette race car, which I won a while back. I also have a 900+ HP Emphatically-Not-A-Porsche that kicks ass too. Sadly, I haven’t played it in a while, and now that I’m working two jobs, I don’t know when I’ll get back to it. Oh, well.
