Gran Turismo....microtransactions!?

[Synergy]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3153775

"According to the Famitsu inteview with Kazunori Yamauchi, Gran Turismo HD will have two SKUs on the PS3. One of these games will ship with no cars, all of them will be purchased via microtransactions.

There are approximiately 750 cars and 50 tracks available for purchase in the GT: HD Classic. Let's do the math:

#750 cars for $0.50-$1.00 (Sony will round-up, don't you think?)
#50 tracks for $1.50-$4.50

A complete copy of the game will cost gamers somewhere between $426.50 and $975, and that's without factoring in whatever Sony decides to charge for the menus (since that's all you'll get with GT HD: Classic)."

O_O O_O O_O

Someone tell me this isn't happening.

[s1lence]

Ugh, that sucks a ton.

I'm sure it will have races that you will need to purchase a shitty ass vehicle in order to do a certain race.

I really hope that doesn't happen that way, but it is Sony so anything is possible.

[Mr Mort]

There's no fucking way Sony would let this happen. Who the hell would actually go for this? I smell BS. I can't imagine this to be true. No one would buy the game. Who wants to pay for a game you can't play, and then pay again just to actually play a little piece of it?

[WanganRunner]

I can see the microtransactions for ADDITIONAL goodies, but the game won't ship with NO cars and NO tracks.

i.e, if the developers had, say, a 700-car game, like GT4, but then wanted to add even MORE content, I would gladly purchase stuff that interested me at $1/car and $4-5/track.

They aren't retarded though, they're not going to ruin the best reputation in racing games by shipping empty product.

[roushimsx]

a) Who the hell is going to want to buy all of the cars, especially when they can just buy the premium version? Most people tend to gravitate towards just a few cars anyway, so the classic may be a cheaper alternative depending on your tastes. If you've got a pokemon fetish then you obviously shouldn't be buying the microtransaction version!

b) Even the premium version isn't going to be "Gran Turismo 5". It's going to be to Gran Turismo 5 what GT4 Prologue and the Gran Turismo Concept discs were to Gran Turismo 4.

In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with doing two SKUs like this, especially if "Classic" is sold at $10-$20. Casual players can pick up "Classic" and buy the most popular courses and cars (or whatever appeals to them) while the more hardcore players can just pick up "Premium" and get everything for $60-$70-$100-whatever-they-charge-for-PS3-games.

People are totally overreacting to this. The only way this could be bad news is if they FORCED microtransactions on people (which is what it looks like might be happening for Warhawk)

[Stark]

"However, right now, details are extremely sparse, and Sony has to have an answer to these questions -- most of the people who can answer are over in Tokyo, we'll update if we hear back."

No official information from Sony means that little article is all assumptions. Did Anthony1 write it? LOL

[Synergy]

"However, right now, details are extremely sparse, and Sony has to have an answer to these questions -- most of the people who can answer are over in Tokyo, we'll update if we hear back."

No official information from Sony means that little article is all assumptions. Did Anthony1 write it? LOL

Bah, I didn't see that part. :roll: My fault, but I still felt the need to post it after picking my jaw up off the ground after seeing the complete pricing. They still might go through with it, you never know.

[Daniel Thomas]

Hey, if the kids are dumb enough to pay $600 for a Playstation console, then they shouldn't act shocked when Sony tries to rob them blind. This is a problem that will continue as long as publishers believe they can sucker the consumer base into shelling out more and more money.

You'll see this happen in the Madden games. EA will continue to strip down the console versions to the bone, and then nickel-and-dime you to death on details. Unless consumers revolt, they'll be boiled alive.

[Oobgarm]

More information here, this pricing model fits an ONLINE ONLY version of the game, which is acting as a hold-over until GT5:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=19852

I personally think this is a decent idea, to a certain extent. You actually use what you pay for. No boring stables of vehicles you'll never use, only what you want. I mean, how many different versions of ONE car do you really need? This idea, if implemented, will work well as an online-only title, I think. However, I think that all tracks should be included. That's really my only gripe.

For a standalone offline game, they should go the route that MS has with Project Gotham 3-adding new cars as a download for a fee. Maybe trim back the number of redundant vehicles, then offer them later as a downloadable.

The idea has potential, maybe not in its current form, but still.

[jajaja]

I can see the microtransactions for ADDITIONAL goodies, but the game won't ship with NO cars and NO tracks.

i.e, if the developers had, say, a 700-car game, like GT4, but then wanted to add even MORE content, I would gladly purchase stuff that interested me at $1/car and $4-5/track.

They aren't retarded though, they're not going to ruin the best reputation in racing games by shipping empty product.

I 2nd this. If the game ships with no cars or tracks it must be free or like $5 or something. This will also make the game require inet connection. In other words, the game will be useless for people who dont have inet.