Anybody got it yet?

Spent a little time on the Novice and Junior licenses last night, and the following is a little cautious because I’ve had complete changes of viewpoint about a moto game before, namely MotoGP on the Xbox; I thought the game was great at first because of the graphics, but once I got past the license requirements, it became apparent how rotten the game was. That said …

TT is looking very, very good. I turned pro mode and failure conditions on, and it feels great so far. Turn-in on the bikes seems sharper than GT4, but exiting corners requires more throttle control. The controls aren’t intuitive yet; the difficulty for braking and accelerating is doubled by the addition of rear brake control and tucking behind the bubble. It’s the sort of difficulty I love, though. Add a manual transmission, and it requires more finger control than piano scales. My button set-up is:

Left stick: steering
Right stick: gas / front brake
R1: rear brake
R2: tuck
L1: shift up
L2: shift down

Though the bikes don’t become airborne in a highside and seem to slide sideways too long before toppling over, it’s not a bad model (certainly better than the Xbox’s). The bumps in Deep Forest really come through when traction is barely available.

Very happy they included 1st-person view and not just the 3rd- and cockpit view; I really dislike bobbing mirrors and bars.

So far the impression is that it’s a better moto game than Namco’s MotoGP3, and since I’m in the States, it takes some of the sting from Namco delaying MotoGP4 yet again.

[alyinsanfran]

Nice shots! I love the one of the wheelying RG500 looking at the camera. Awesome.

[Dom]

Originally Posted by alyinsanfran

Yeah I'll have to borrow my wife's USB stick.
It's really not all that hard, but you need a decent controller. I got rid of my otherwise nice wireless Logitech, as it just doesn't have the 'feel'. I went back to my original Sony controller.
It's quite easy to make the bike do what you want, and just like the real thing it's all about getting the machine to the absolute limit of traction and line holding. I had a good long hit on the RZ500 and it was pretty damn close to how they used to be. And I noticed the difference between that and the RG500, which surprised me. There's a race GSXR400 which I raced myself back in the day, and it sounded right and held the right lines.
There's a bunch of really nice little touches too. Hitting L2 makes you crouch for speed, and you notice the difference in wind noise as you get behind the screen! I use the 1st person view which is real nice. The only fault I've found so far is that you can't turn off the ghost, so if you keep hitting the same lines it can be a bit annoying. Maybe I just haven't figured out how to turn it off yet.
Wheelies are pretty easy, as are stoppies. Crashes look great and happen at reasonably realistic moments, though you get away with a lot of things in the grass that you really woudn't.
I finished the novice license, took about 30 minutes or so and wasn't difficult.
It's even better than I expected, I can see I may as well glue the disc tray shut 'cause I won't be putting anything else in the PS2 for the next year!

Sounds fantastic, I just hope I get my copy soon.

RC45 and El Duderino, welcome to the forum. Those pics are fantastic, thanks for sharing 'em.

I might make a new section for posting photos from the game as more and more people get copies, but for now feel free to start topics for pics.

[MotoDude]

Getting it today. Have to drive 30+ miles into town. Bad planning on my part, should have ordered it online.

[Dom]

Nice. I'm hoping I'll get my copy tomorrow or Monday, but that's assuming that it was sent out on the 4th and that their shipping is on the preferred side of '4-8 days'.

[GB24Hours]

Hi everyone...

My name is Glenn, and I've had the pleasure of being the caretaker of Gran Turismo By Numbers (GTBN) www.granturismobynumbers.com for several years. Dom has recently contacted me about this site, and it looks like this is shaping up to be a darned nice place to chat, learn, and share with your friends with the common interest in TT and MotoGP.

Although my interests are weighted more towards cars than bikes, I'm looking forward to trying my hand at TT, as it seems to be a bit of a "sister" title to GT.

Take care, and see ya 'round the boards!

"GB"

[alyinsanfran]

Hi Glenn, it sure is a sister title, and I think you'll like the difference in progression system it uses. I think GT could use such a simplified way to pick up vehicles to be honest, and I played right back to GT1.
TT is a top title, you'll enjoy it.

[Dom]

Originally Posted by GB24Hours

Hi everyone...

My name is Glenn, and I've had the pleasure of being the caretaker of Gran Turismo By Numbers (GTBN) www.granturismobynumbers.com for several years. Dom has recently contacted me about this site, and it looks like this is shaping up to be a darned nice place to chat, learn, and share with your friends with the common interest in TT and MotoGP.

Although my interests are weighted more towards cars than bikes, I'm looking forward to trying my hand at TT, as it seems to be a bit of a "sister" title to GT.

Take care, and see ya 'round the boards!

"GB"

Welcome to the forum Glenn, good to have you here.

My copy of TT arrived earlier. First impressions are that it's at the very least on a par with IOM TT Superbikes and that the main Tourist Trophy mode is an improvement on the GT setup - ie no need to spend ages riding around on the slowest thing imaginable for ages before getting something with a bit of power.

It doesn't seem to really live up to 'the real riding simulator' but it's still seems realistic enough to be a lot of fun. That said I've not had a go on 'pro' mode yet so maybe that will make a big difference.

Photos to follow later today.