Forza 3 Better Than GT 5, Says Vote

Today, the internet sinks to a new low.

Published 10/06/2009 at 8:00.
By Alex C [nofi].

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Forza 3 Exceeds 1 Million Sales [17]

Sometimes the gaming industry baffles me, and today seems like it’s going to be one of those days, and it’s a three pronged approach to the type of journalism dragging everyone down.

Remember E3, when Microsoft showed off Forza 3 and Sony ran a trailer for Gran Turismo 5? Both looked like really nice games, right? But in a seemingly desperate attempt to grab some headlines, cnet is running a poll to establish which is the best game. “Sure, you could just get both and have double the fun, but only one can be the best,” says the normally reputable site.

It’s probably safer that you just jump to the results rather than getting involved – both have only really been shown on video and so any kind of judgement over which is the “best” will need to be reserved until both are on the shelves, finished and playable. Cheap stuff, cnet.

But then we move onto the Forza Motorsport forums, where Che from the Turn 10 team has been attempting to get Forza fans in on the vote with the promise of a free Unicorn (rare Forza 2 car) to everyone that votes for Forza 3. “We all know which game is [sic] we’d like to see win, so go here,” he says, “and vote for Forza Motorsport 3! Afterwards, come to this thread and post a message letting us know you’ve done it. We’ll gift you a random unicorn!”

The tactic appears to be working. Whether or not any of the 10,000 voters that have opted for Forza 3 have played the game we’re not sure, but we’d imagine not. Likewise for the Gran Turismo 5 fans too, of course, who must also only be basing their voting on a brief trailer, some bullet points and a dash of blind fanboyism.

And then you have sites like PlayStationLifeStyle who are claiming Turn 10 are “using bribes” (their words) to skew the vote. It’s certainly not a bribe, more of an incentive, and we can’t see the problem with that because the votes would probably still fall the same way given the sources of the traffic. The treat of a free rare car is a nice idea, and one that Polyphony might want to keep an eye on.

“What is NOT acceptable,” says John Draisey of PlayStationLifeStyle, “is when a publisher or developer uses bribes to gain an advantage. Che Chou, the community manager at Turn 10, has done exactly this, and we feel compelled to inform our readers about the dishonest tactics that the Forza Motorsport developer has chosen to carry out.”

I honestly don’t see why the site is so bothered about this, and we’re of the opinion that if Sony did this then it would be a perfectly acceptable method of getting traffic to such a nonsensical vote. Still, with the guys from Polyphony very keen (they were hovering around Forza 3, taking notes and asking questions) lets hope GT5 picks up on at least some of Turn 10′s verve.

And let’s also hope that today gets a little less silly. I’m off for a coffee.

Tip: BlingOnMyWrist

Comments

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Vandix | 10/06/2009 08:26
Member
1228 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009

“We’ll gift you a random unicorn!”, imagine getting a pic of a unicorn instead of the Unicorn car.
- benny boy | 10/06/2009 11:33
  Member
  1452 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
  
  The poll might as well have been “Are you an Xbot or a PSFanboy?”. It would have got the same result.
  
  Just to let you guys know, the EU PS Blog twitteded for all followers to vote for GT5 as well but I think it was just a response to the Forza devs who did it a few hours before.
  
  Stil,l it is just a load of pointless crap.
Mick939 | 10/06/2009 08:34
Member
1577 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

… Ridiculous, bribes from real developers for a wimsical vote. This is why i now stay away from microsoft its as if its part of a school ground bullying ring.

How desperate do you have to be to offer a rare item just to try and swing a vote, it now means that the silly thing means even less than it did.
Shrui | 10/06/2009 08:41
Member
261 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008

This Che guy sounds like he is doing his job. Part of being a community manager (on whatever console) will be to drum up rabid fanboyism as part of the marketing. Get this right and your immune to bad reviews or questionable practice as the fans will do your work for you on the internet. inFamous score of 7 being a case in point of When Fans Turn Nasty.

So he starts by saying the GT5 guys were by the Forza booth taking notes like its some admission that Forza is better (and not just part of development of any product) and now he’s pumping up some cnet poll which no one would have cared about in the long run.

He’s playing to the fanboy crowd so he can pretty much do what he likes and get away with it, no one else is really caring except Sony fanboys who wouldn’t buy the game anyway.

The best way to deal with it is to look at it, sigh, get on with life.
Dafro1989 | 10/06/2009 08:55
Member
658 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008

Vote Forza the ‘best’ on a random, unimportant internet poll and get a car in-game?
Wow, Turn 10 must really want to beat out GT5; it’s strange they’re so desperate to appear superior to a game series they called stagnant.
cc_star | 10/06/2009 09:02
Team TSA: Writer
11320 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

Sounds like the guys at forza are doing their job. I’m just hoping GT5 has a soul, because I felt it was missing from 4 & 5p

I like cnet usually but that is lame
- Watchful | 10/06/2009 09:17
  Team TSA: Writer
  2679 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
  
  Asking the question on an American site was only ever going to result in one answer. I just hope GT5 can regain the ground that GT4 lost. Forza 2 had GT4 beaten hands down, yes I know that’s a 360 vs PS2 game, and GT5P hasn’t got me convinced. I still play GT2 as that’s my series favourite.
discharge | 10/06/2009 09:10
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313 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

why the hell do I see a 360 logo on this site?? and why the hell do you sixthaxis guys keep reporting on what the 360 is doing? – can you just stick to PS3 stories and news items, I dont give a monkeys what the other consoles are doing I dont want them, dont care about them, and i dont wanna see em on here again – otherwise its gonna be Jabba time for all of you….grrrrrrr!
- ADPolicenaut | 10/06/2009 09:17
  Member
  79 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
  
  Because it’s important to know what everyone’s up to. Knowledge is power, afterall. Better to keep tabs on how the competition is doing than to remain in ignorance and think everything’s all fine and dandy when the reality is very different.
- cc_star | 10/06/2009 10:06
  Team TSA: Writer
  11320 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
  
  I thought the story was about a PS3 game?
  
  Had a quick look at the title and my thoughts are confirmed.
- TctclMvPhase | 10/06/2009 13:36
  Member
  818 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
  
  I agree with discharge.
  
  @ ADPolicenaut: The reason most of us hate fanboyism is because it spends so much time worrying about the competition that it ignores that games can be fun independent of the experiences found on the other platform.
  
  @CC_Star: What exactly have I learned about this game by reading this post? This post is not about the game. It is about some silly contest and the fanboy reactions. The article goes to great lengths to point out that this vote has almost no basis in fact because noone involved has actually played both.
  
  This does seem to be becoming a trend. I couldnt remember the last time I saw a 360 logo on the site before a few weeks ago.
- Carl | 10/06/2009 15:58
  Member
  888 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
  
  Yeah i agree. Increasing amounts of 360 news coming up here. Yeah sure it’s nice to know about the competition but seeing as this is the “European PS3 news”, that kinda means it’s PS3 news. Not just general gaming news
- LuckySe7en | 11/06/2009 06:08
  Member
  5 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
  
  I have to agree with you Discharge. This is a PS Site they seem to have an awful lot of news that is Xbox 360 related.
  
  Generally PS Sites cover PS news. Go figure.
  - nofi | 11/06/2009 07:47
    Wants a custom tag.
    5421 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
    
    Can nobody in this comment thread see the Gran Turismo bit, or are your fanboy blinkers really that blind?
  - LuckySe7en | 11/06/2009 08:20
    Member
    5 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
    
    Now you can do better then that man. You seem to be the head guy in charge shouldn’t you be more of an master of ceremonies and less confrontational?
    
    Debating my ability to read on a website is completely counterproductive. Obviously I can read. I can type too. For my next trick I will chew gum and walk, all by myself!
    
    We are all aware that this particular story has a PS bend to it, but there seems to be more attention on the Xbox 360 then their was previously on this site. It prompted me to register and share my feelings. It just seems somewhat out of place on TheSixthAxis.
    
    For the record I turned in my fanboy blinkers years ago, they were made illegal along with radar detectors in the great state of Virginia years ago.
  - nofi | 11/06/2009 09:04
    Wants a custom tag.
    5421 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
    
    @LuckySe7en – have you guys really nothing better to do? Sigh.
  - TctclMvPhase | 11/06/2009 13:43
    Member
    818 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
    
    @nofi – Can you not see that the Gran Turismo bit really has nothing to do with Gran Turismo?
    
    …and yes I am at work, so I dont have anything better to do. We are simply concerned that the quality and high standards we have come to expect form this site have gone into decline. We no longer have the rating system to give feedback on whether the stories are worth it so we have to resort to commenting.
  - nofi | 11/06/2009 13:57
    Wants a custom tag.
    5421 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
    
    @TctclMvPhase – you’re welcome to leave comments on everything this site offers, but don’t expect me to agree with everything everyone says. We’re free to cover whatever stories we want, and will continue to do so, and at least half the team here are proud Xbox 360 owners too.
    
    I remember a similar situation with PSP fans when I decided to start having PSP news alongside DS news when I ran a Nintendo DS site a while back. Who knows what’s going to happen to TSA down the line, huh?
jimmy-google | 10/06/2009 09:11
Member
2697 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009

So they’re getting people to vite which game that none of them have ever played is better than the other – no holes in their logic there clearly
Colinbarr66 | 10/06/2009 09:14
Member
1399 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009

This poll doesn’t reall affect the game in anyway. Im still looking forward to Gran Turismo 5

As I’ve said before this is pretty clever marketing by Forza as they can claim it is the most anticipated racer
Gamoc | 10/06/2009 09:18
Member
1285 TSA Points | Member since: Forever

Wow, this poll is useless, considering that nobody’s played either. Cnet, I admonish you.
- Gamoc | 10/06/2009 10:08
  Member
  1285 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
  
  Can you imagine their astonishment at my admonishment?
tyrant161 | 10/06/2009 09:35
Member
506 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009

The only reasons for Forza3 winning this poll is
1-because there are more Xbox360 owners and
2-because Turn10 offered all 360 voters a free car download for voting.
Obviously Turn10 were worried then…where as Polyphony Digital dont need to worry at all.
Gran turismo 5′s attention to detail and sheer content(WRC,Nascar etc) is allready far surpassing the content that Forza3 is offering.
Having played Forza2 on 360 (Yes i used to have one, till it died of RROD on me and i got PS3) i can honestly say that the Forza games are’nt too bad, but they dont come close to the Gran turismo series. The only thing i thought was really good on Forza2 was the customisation options when painting your car…yet the actuall game still fell short in terms of quantity and visuals when compaired to Gran turismo3 on PS2.
OK Forza3 looks a lot better than Forza2, but then it had to because of the dissapointment with Forza2′s visuals but it still falls short of the spit and polish that Gran turismo 5 has…in fact it doesnt look as good as GT5 Prologue and thats been out ages!
KEEP TRYING FORZA….YOU HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE YOU CAN REALLY TAKE ON THE DADDY OF RACING….GRAN TURISMO 5.
- wedgehog | 10/06/2009 10:57
  Friendly
  788 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
  
  Looking at the 2 videos GT5 looks much better than Forza3, there really is no competition as GT5 wins by miles.