GT5 isn’t a game, claims Shift 2 producer

GT5 isn’t a game, claims Shift 2 producer
James Orry Updated on by

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Sony and Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo 5 is not considered a game by Shift 2 producer Jesse Abney.

Abney told VideoGamer.com that in his eyes, a product needs to meet certain criteria in order to be classified as a game. When judged against this criteria, he believes Gran Turismo 5 falls short.

“I’ve never really considered GT5 a game,” Abney told VideoGamer.com. “A game to us equals fun, equals entertainment – and Need For Speed has always been about entertaining and fun.

“You play GT5, you get a scientific approach to driving. Physics simulations are often subjective, and again – we find we’re not presenting the same kind of physics simulation in the race day environment that GT5 is doing in their driving simulation.”

Despite operating in the same video game genre, Abney concluded that the two titles don’t really compete.

“We’ve never really professed to compete against them, we’ve just said that we want to deliver a fun, exciting, visceral, entertaining racing experience.”

Shift 2 will be released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on March 25.

EA is clearly attempting to differentiate its ‘sim’ Need for Speed spin-off from Sony’s best-selling driving simulator, but we’re pretty confident there are millions of gamers who’d argue GT5 can still be fun and entertaining despite its scientific approach to driving.