Pinky-raising car count?

Pre-E3 rumors said that there would be over 1000 cars in GT4, but that turned out to be false. The final count is not in, but GT producer Yamauchi Kazunori hopes to exceed 500– which would put it on par with the car count from Gran Turismo 2. (Let’s just hope that the impressive figure of “500” isn’t a product of inflation by half a dozen variations of the same cars in slightly differing trims. A man can only drive so many NSX and Skylines, y’know…and we definitely do not need any more Civics and Accords.)

Caution, exposure!

White rotary

Tight line

Their driving is real, but they are not

The artificial intelligence is supposed to be significantly different in GT4 when compared to the older games. The AI-controlled cars will now be more mindful of their surroundings, avoiding bumps and nudges where possible. Hopefully this means that your rear won't get mindlessly humped by the cars behind you – they'll swerve and avoid if you enter a corner too hot (but in the E3 demo this was not the case).

Father and son

Who's leading?

Someone has understeer

Races will now be closer than they have been in the past because of the new AI. In GT3, you could finish a race tops and waaaay ahead of some of the lesser competition. In GT4, no car will lag behind to the point of embarrassment. While more formidable competition is always a Good Thing, this new AI “feature” worries us because we don’t know exactly how it will work. Does this mean that all slower cars will receive a small amount of “catch up boost” as a handicap adjustment? Some of the fun in racing games is completely obliterating everyone else in lap times. Those familiar with Mario Kart 64 should understand what a “cheating” AI can do to fun factor. But we’re going to give Polyphony Digital benefit of the doubt and assume that this won’t be some simple “cheating” AI.