GT5 Prologue seen driving into uncanny valley
by Ross Miller 
{ Dec 10th 2007 at 4:00PM }
In watching new trailer for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which debuted during last night's Spike VGAs, Joystiq's own Griffin McElroy made a strange and unintentionally philosophical observation: can mechanical objects cross into the uncanny valley? Can a computer-generated car be so detailed that it edges too close to reality and minor differences become glaring issues? Judge for yourself; the video is embedded above.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
L.Gregan @ Feb 24th 2008 8:24AM
GT5 P looks awesome
Shape @ Dec 10th 2007 4:07PM
The lack of skidmarks on the pavement and the lack of damage to cars in collisions are NOT "minor differences!"
Fernando Rocker @ Dec 10th 2007 4:08PM
Looks like GT4 in HD.
T-Roy @ Dec 10th 2007 4:13PM
GT4 was in HD
Fernando Rocker @ Dec 10th 2007 4:20PM
It was 1080i upscaled from 480.
It looked worse in 1080i than in 480p.
T-Roy @ Dec 10th 2007 4:31PM
You forgot to say "In my opinion"
HTH
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 4:34PM
No Fernando, it was in 960x540px60.
It wasn't upscaled, it was natively rendered at this resolution. And it looked better in 1080i than 480p, but not by a ton (mostly due to the PS2's wonky anti-aliasing).
d3rr1ck64 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:37PM
Fernando, every PS3 owner hates you and your ceaseless PS3 bashing. Why don't you go die somewhere in the 360 comments?
thehunter1320 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:42PM
i like you, fernando... and i own a PS3
put i also own an xbox 360 and my PS3 hasn't even been plugged in since february
ruibing @ Dec 10th 2007 11:45PM
Seriously, if you guys watch a HD trailer of GT5 Prologue and actually played GT4, you would be singing a much different tune. Even graphics aside, GT5 Prologue basically solved the only two problem I had with GT3&4, which was the lack of damage modeling and on-the-rails AI drivers.
Shagittarius @ Dec 10th 2007 4:09PM
I didn't think it looked 'Uncanny' at all. If you mean it doesn't quite look like filmed vehicles then thats a different story.
However definately the best racing game graphically I've seen yet.
LilCo187 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:20PM
It's only the best racing game you've seen yet becuase it's on PS3. Let's just clear the air now and save us all alot of time.
Mike @ Dec 10th 2007 4:40PM
@LilCo187
I couldn't say it any better. You are absolutely 100% right!
The game looks awesome!
Bloo @ Dec 10th 2007 4:44PM
"However definately the best racing game graphically I've seen yet."
I played the Japanese demo back to back with Forza 2 (same track) on a 60" 1080p TV and the *only* thing that looked better in GT5P was that there were less jaggies. The in-car views were also nice but everything else was better on Forza 2 (especially the lighting)
B1gC72 @ Dec 10th 2007 7:06PM
and the fact that GT5 Prologue is a DEMO means nothing to you guys right? how can you compare a full game (Forza 2) to a game that is just a demo version of the real thing? damn haters. this game is beautiful just like every other Gran Turismo game. stop the hate!
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 8:21PM
You're joking me. Forza 2 looks okay. It looks NOTHING like this. For starters, it has no in-car mode.
sifer2400 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:08PM
eh looks like all other GT's ....
Hashbrown_Hunter @ Dec 10th 2007 6:47PM
...is that a bad thing?
Ron Coobie @ Dec 10th 2007 4:09PM
I don't think I'll be able to play this game. The grass isn't uncanny enough for me.
The cars are uncanny. The cockpit cam is uncanny. The drive by shots are uncanny.
The garage is not canny. The smoking tires are canny. And the grass... the grass is frickin canny.
Fernando Rocker @ Dec 10th 2007 4:10PM
Burnout it's more fun that GT.
Jerk Face @ Dec 10th 2007 4:13PM
Those two games aren't really for the same people, though. I'm a huge gear head and GT really appeals to me, whereas a more simplistic game with less customization does less so.
ViagraFiend @ Dec 10th 2007 4:19PM
Yeah, because Burnout is a racing sim...
joeyg @ Dec 10th 2007 4:30PM
my name is fernando and i shit on ANYTHING sony does for the hell of it.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 4:35PM
They're two different games. Burnout is more fun for most people than GT. It's also more fun for most people than Forza or TOCA 2, and definitely GTR2.
You're measuring the game by the wrong yardstick.
simmcity @ Dec 10th 2007 4:40PM
Troll Much?
reiji @ Dec 10th 2007 10:02PM
You mean when you guys race you don't mash the gas, drift around corners going 100mph, and plow through oncoming traffic? Who knew?
Lekko @ Dec 11th 2007 1:41AM
If you consider Burnout a driving sim...
you really really suck at driving. Also, you're probably dead.
Ron Coobie @ Dec 10th 2007 4:10PM
the physics are uncanny
Wonderflex @ Dec 10th 2007 5:24PM
Agreed. After playing this game off the Japanese PSN (which I highly suggest you do as well) - you will be floored by how much you notice the physics when watching replays.
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Dec 10th 2007 4:11PM
Yes, yes, I don't care.
When is the US release date???????
Jake @ Dec 10th 2007 4:11PM
Game looks fine to me.
Nessuno @ Dec 10th 2007 4:11PM
I don't think this is an uncanny valley issue. It's more of a "developers going overboard with effects" issue.
The previous generation of car games went overboard with sun flare and spark effects. This time, it seems that they really want us to notice that the cars are reflective. Yeah, we get it.
gonk @ Dec 10th 2007 4:30PM
yeah, real car racers don't coat their cars with an inch of wax before every race and during each pit stop
gta: san andreas is my favorite driving game ever (so far). great controls, fairly accurate damage mechanics, and you're not stuck on a donut track
Joe Smith @ Dec 10th 2007 4:16PM
The big nono they are doing is having the surfaces be too reflective. A lot of early 3D car games had that problem but it got sorted out pretty quickly. Most cars are not made of mirrored glass. Maybe the artists on GT should go to Siggraph and take some lessons in realistic surface rendering. Or look at PGR or Forza.
Sean @ Dec 10th 2007 9:28PM
Forza looks like a cartoon beside this game!!
reiji @ Dec 10th 2007 9:50PM
The point is that the cars get dirty over time. Have you played GT4? When you buy a car, it's nice and shiny, but after a few races it loses it's gloss (until you wash it). I'm sure GT5 will be the same way.
Gokie @ Dec 10th 2007 4:18PM
The uncanny valley effect has more to do with the attempt to show emotion with near-realistic graphics than the near-realistic graphics itself, so no, I don't think mechanical devices, cars especially, would really fit. The issue with GT5 is pretty much what Nessuno said - PD going way overboard with special effects that does not make the game seem any more realistic.
Jeff @ Dec 10th 2007 4:18PM
It looks beautiful, and I find the reflectivity more stylistic than anything else.
ExcaliburUnited007 @ Dec 10th 2007 4:23PM
Ummm....it looks like any other of the top graphically powerful next gen games...pretty.
And in all honesty to me it doesn't seem to be that much better or different than any other next gen game.
But besides that racing sims have never been my thing. I'm really more into NFS and Burnout.
Anyways I don't see why it would be impossble to not differentiate between that vid and real life.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 4:39PM
Looks great to me. Yeah, it's imperfect, but it just doesn't set off the "uncanny valley" problem for me.
It's great the graphics are wonderful, but I sure hope they've fixed the AI. Polyphony Digital could learn a lot about AI from Forza or GTR2. It would be a shame if this game comes out with the same AI problems as GT1 through GT4.
AstroZombie @ Dec 10th 2007 4:41PM
Yeah, the cars are a little too shiny, but those in-car shots look pretty amazing.
Naota @ Dec 10th 2007 4:45PM
Looks fine to me, this and MGS4 will be my eventual reason for purchasing a PS3. I'm hoping for some sort of massive price drop for next xmas. ATM I'm approaching Wii60, assuming that it'll be under my tree this year, so maybe next year I'll be Pwii60?
CharleyTony @ Dec 10th 2007 4:45PM
I played with all the previous GT games before and I liked them very much, this one looks really good, the graphics look as good as PGR4 (at least) and my guess is the physics will be on par with Forza 2.
The only thing I dont like is when I played the demo on a PS3, the track was some kind of mountain road and at some places there were invisible walls to keep you on the track, this trick might have been okay in the PS1 and PS2 days but if my car suddenly stops, can there actually be something to stop it please ???
PS: I wish they keep the old interface between races where you actually had to go to the dealership to buy a car, not check out a list of cars like in Forza
(and Im a Forza 2 and PGR4 fan ...)
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Dec 10th 2007 8:25PM
There are no invisible walls in the GT HD Demo. The thing that stops you is the set of flags on plastic poles. Yes, it's unrealistic that those flags could stop your car, but they don't qualify as "invisible walls" because they are visible and in fact quite well marked.
All racing games do stuff like this, unless their tracks are all walled tracks. Forza has areas that slow your car to a crawl unrealistically. It's a sim racer. You're supposed to stay on the track anyway.
Organic_Shadow @ Dec 10th 2007 4:45PM
WOW a lot of swipes at Sony stuff in the main post lately...
Karen @ Dec 10th 2007 4:48PM
I love the Panasonic ad right at the beginning...
I noticed the uncanny valley right away the cars look like toys almost and I'd love to see some car damage and skid marks to raise the realism.
Jake @ Dec 10th 2007 4:48PM
Since GT5 is a sim, people expect everything to be geared towards realism. People that know the GT series better know that it is a styled sim. The physics sacrifice a little to make the racing funner. The graphics are sacrificing some realism for stylism and (I would assume) a funner experience for more people.
It isn't like the GT devs are thinking "Wow, more reflective surfaces and lighting effects makes this game look more realistic". They were thinking "hey, this looks cool. Hey, that is funner when you tweak the physics a bit that way."
GT5 will be a great game because it will have enough realism for gear heads and enough style and unrealistic fun stuff like tracks you'd never actually race on for your slightly arcadier racing fans.
Andrew @ Dec 10th 2007 5:37PM
Can you say 'funner' about ten more times so my head does, in fact, explode?
accidental @ Dec 10th 2007 5:26PM
I don't agree, I played the demo and I didn't like the uber realism. I loved the GT series in my youth, but I've since been turned right off. Perhaps it's just me that's moved on.
Tony @ Dec 10th 2007 4:49PM
"Or look at PGR or Forza."
Just because they couldn't, doesn't mean Polyphony shouldn't.