The (mis)advantage of being a car designer who happens to write about games is that though I’m overly-ambitious about racing games, I’m also overly-critical. I prefer my car games being purposefully arcade-y or realistic simulations; it’s Mario Kart or Forza, and nothing in-between.

With Gran Turismo 5 finally, finally, FINALLY being released this Fall, it was the perfect time go see what I would hope would be a near-finished product at E3. And, if anything, Sony certainly threw in the kitchen sink when presenting it to me.

Tucked away in the 3D showcase at Sony’s booth was the demo for GT5, complete with motion seating, premium steering wheel, and Sony’s special 3D specs. Sony clearly wanted me to feel like I was on the race track instead of a light- and noise-filled expo. The set-up would have been better showcased in a private demo room. A+ for effort, B- for environment.

The GT series is built around two foci: realistic driving and gorgeous visuals.

I chose to drive the Chevy Camaro, as it was a vehicle that I had driven in the real world and could compare how accurate the driving experience was. The track I opted to race on was a portion of the Nurburgring that would allow me to feel the road differences and textures. The Camaro launched nicely off of the line, and the rumble of the engine felt realistic, albeit a little over-emphasized. I couldn’t tell if the motion seating was D-Box based or a different product, but it did feel like driving on a bump road.

I noticed the Playstation Eye staring at me as well, which could be used for head-tracking. It seemed to track my slighter movements just right when I looked around the interior, but didn’t react as well when I was bumping around and leaning into turns. It sort of felt as if it “turned off” at that point.

The visuals were stunning, as they always are with Gran Turismo games. The details of both the exterior and interior of the Camaro were damn near perfect in replication, and the track looked fantastic as well. The dust physics hat would kick up as cars would eventually pass me (it took me a few laps before I finally got the hang of it) was a terrific touch. Yup, I loved this game’s dirt and dust physics.

This is the most realistic racing game possibly ever created. With super-precise driving mechanics and ultra-realistic visuals, the game may be the most perfect simulation yet. But does that translate into a great gaming experience, or just a highly accurate one? I’m looking forward this Fall to spend more with the game’s real features and find out.

[Images and video courtesy SCEA]