Well, I got the 360 then... Initial thoughts?
It's hard to describe really. The disappointment of being right I guess?
Just as I thought, there's just nothing to differentiate between the 360 and the PS3 except for a handful of games. I prefer the general interface on the PS3 (XMB), but the 360 one is fine too. The avatar system isn't as good as Nintendos for producing a simulacrum-of_furie, but it's much better than Sony's offering, as is the whole friend interaction thing compared to the bloated Home thing Sony offer.
There's a general "corporate professionalism" about the 360. It's been designed and implemented by teams specifically working of set issues and advancements. It's very clean and sharp, but feels a little sterile. It's not better or worse than the Japanese approach (which feels a bit disjointed and "we'll just stuff something in and make it fit" that both the Wii and PS3 have) though, just different
It's just... Why is there all this fanboy fighting? They're just different flavours of the same thing. I don't think I'll ever get used to the controller though, but it's not a deal breaker.
So there we are then, the 360 is just another console. It does it's job perfectly well. I'm not going to be forking out for Gold membership though.
As for Forza 4? I got the demo and was immediately underwhelmed. I do like my racing games and it felt very arcade, stupidly arcade in fact. With all assists off and set to full simulation, I shouldn't be able to win races on my first go. Collision was a nuisance too, but better than Shift 2's attempt at it.
However, there's a good feel about it I think and there's fun hiding away in there. It's just a bit of a shock after playing quite hard "sims" like GT5 and Shift 2. It's not as challenging to keep the car on the road, but I've always thought that the "sims" are more unrealistic than a lot of arcade racers (like Grid).
It comes down to the surrounding game system though. GT5 encourages massive amounts of grinding. You can take an F1 car out against a Toyota Yaris, just to get in the laps, complete the series and take your cash. It rarely forces you into a challenge, and the entire game just becomes "half an hour now way I'll lose in this race series to unlock a car I need for a new race series, which I can upgrade to be unbeatable". When GT5 challenges, it's a superb game, but it happens for perhaps 10% of the time you play it.
It's the surrounding system you see that makes a game worth playing or not. Of course, I could make the challenge myself and only race in a Yaris against the other Yaris', but in those cases the game is boring and very, very tough (the AI very rarely makes the slightest mistake). You need it to be fun while you're racing AND have a reason to race.
I can grab Forza 3 for nothing, so I'll start there I think. Any other recommended games (not by Kim) please put them forward. I like slightly quirky stuff generally, nothing that involves shooting unless it's something really special (so not Gears, Halo, etc).
