Gran Turismo 5 Collector's Edition

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Sale Price: $199.88
Today's Bonus:

A note on the downloadable content:

You get 5 really sweet Chrome Line cars (427 Shelby Cobra, BMW M3, Audi R8, Lambo Mercy, MB 300SL).

A note on the "Collector's Edition":

-I destroyed the custom packaging trying to get the game out; "Custom" equates to a bigger box with fancier cardboard.

-The keychain is decent, but I probably won't use it for anything.

-The die-cast model is cool albeit a little on the small side.

-The book is awesome. It has tips on everything from suspension and engine oil to the rule of thirds when taking pictures. There's also a listing of all the car makes/models in the back.

If you have your own music on the PS3, I recommend making a playlist of driving music before starting the game. You have the option to play your own music while racing.

The game asks if you want to install data files onto the PS3. This is supposed to speed up various processes in the game by taking up 8GB of HDD space. Just as a word of warning on this, the prompt says 20 minutes, but it was twice that for me, in addition to various initialization screens. This could be because of my aftermarket HDD. I don't know for sure. Also, be careful when peeling the silver sticker off the promo insert. You don't want to risk tearing the paper and losing your downloadable content.

I also wanted to give a shout-out to Amazon for delivering it to me 5 days earlier than estimated.

Car notables for me in GT5...

Old:

Plymouth Superbird

Mercury Cougar XR-7

RUF CTR "Yellow Bird"

New:

Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 Super Veloce

HPA Motorsports FT565 Twin Turbo Audi TT

It's like GT had a high school reunion, but also invited the new kids.

New GT5 features:

-You need to create a driver BEFORE you start any races. I assumed that the game wouldn't let me use DC cars in A/B-Spec races so I blew my seed money on a used car out of ignorance.

-Selectable Soundtracks You can choose from various music genres.

-B-Spec is comparable to GT4, but a new feature is that your driver will get agitated by his surroundings, i.e. the computer getting all Dale Earnhardt on your bumper.

More to come.

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Please note, this is a review of the value added items included with the Collector's Edition of Gran Turismo 5. A proper review of the game itself is not possible without investing a great deal of time in it, as Polyphony Digital has packed this game with SO MUCH content for absolute automotive enthusiast to digest(this is a good thing!)

Collector's Edition Box and packaging: It's an attractive package/box that folds open, encased in an embossed, branded slip cover. Will look nice on display. Upon folding the box open, the spine, glue, and binding separated, leaving ugly exposed white portions, like a poorly removed sticker. This was disappointing. The contents on the other hand, were neatly packed and fit into each compartment with no risk of destroying the packaging when removing each item or placing them back inside.

The stainless steel keychain looks good from far, but on close inspection, mine had visible pitting and burrs. Laser etching of the GT5 logo was good, but the machining of the keychain itself was poor. I've seen Chinese manufactured, unlicensed GT branded stuff of better quality. Kind of disappointing. Nonetheless, it's still going on my keychain.

The die cast GT5 R35 GTR is really sweet. Very good detail work, decal placement is precise, and will make for a great addition for collectors of die cast cars. I would have preferred a die cast Mercedes SLS or a Ford GT, but the GTR is really quite well done.

The Apex car guide is a nice little book. Not quite large enough as a coffee table piece, but the content is great. The book goes into great detail with the minutiae of various motor's inner workings, driving dynamics, and many other automotive related subjects. I did notice a couple editing errors (duplicate words, missing punctuation), but they are easily overlooked. The content is very Japanese centric in its approach to notable automotive historical events; this may upset some people. Paper stock is ok, but mine had some waviness to the pages. I anticipate that I'll read this book several times, over a series of bathroom trips.

Unlockable cars (M3, 427 Shelby Cobra, Audi R8, Murcielago, 300SL) are very cool.

Certificate of Authenticity It's authentic alright! Just don't believe you have a super rare thing with the collector's edition. My serial number was in the 42,000's-that's more Collector's Editions out there than sales numbers in a year for some games.

Overall, the Collector's Edition value added items are good, but the quality is hit and miss. I am satisfied with the purchase, but if I wasn't in such a rush to play this game after waiting for so long, I would wait until after Christmas when you could probably snag the Collector's edition for a bit less. I'd recommend the Collector's Edition for hardcore fans of the series and fans of all things automotive.

As far as the game goes, I am greatly enjoying it so far and looking forward to the countless hours I will inevitably spend trying to get 100%.

Buy Gran Turismo 5 Collector's Edition Now

The collectors edition is great I love the Apex book and the die-cast model 1:43 scale of the Nissian GT-R. The image quality is amazing so is the sound. The cars are just beautiful. Get this game is you love racing and great cars OVER 1,000 Cars !!.

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I highly recommend this game for anyone. Many hours of adrenaline rush.

Don't stay up too late playing.

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Great graphics, great engine, great selection. So glad to see the license system reduced in terms of necessity. Only complaint is the sound, really.