John's Review of "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS2)"

This is my first non-Gran Turismo blog entry. I figured I needed to keep this blog fresh to keep things interesting. Just remember this- this was never exclusively a Gran Turismo blog. I have to try new things to keep people like you interested. So allow me to talk about another racing game here.



--- Basics ---
I tend to think of "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" for the PlayStation 2 as a cross between "Need for Speed" games (since NFS: Underground) and Burnout. If you're expecting fantastic crashes, you're not going to find them here. "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" features three different circuit racing modes and five different drifting modes. The races all take place on city streets. But unlike Burnout games or the Need for Speed series, you need not worry about traffic or running into the law. You race a variety of cars ranging from sport compacts to muscle cars to exotic cars. A key element as to what defines you in the "Juiced 2: HIN" realm is your Driver DNA. If you perform overtakes in circuit racing or powerslide a lot, you earn some credit to showcase your overall personality and style in motorsports. You will be able to use drifts to your advantage. Execute powerslides to build up your boost. You can run some of the Custom DNA races to get some experience (as I have), or you can have yourself an amazing career in the Career mode making the most of your cars and your racing. As many as six cars can take the track at once, and you have control in Custom DNA mode to select cars for yourself and your opponents.

Race Modes.
The game features eight different challenges. Most modes allow you to choose how many AI racers to go up against or how many laps to run. Enjoy your racing in eight ways:

* Circuit Race - Do circuit racing on any track from anywhere between one to nine laps.
* Eliminator - This is a knockout competition for circuit racing. The last-place driver each lap will be eliminated until the winner eventually stands tall.
* Last Man Standing - Circuit race event which rewards careful car control. You can hit other cars, but if you hit a barrier at any time in the race, you will be eliminated. The winner is either the one that crosses the finish line first or doesn't hit a wall.
* Drift Solo - Drift mode you go alone trying to accumulate the most drift points in one run.
* Drift Obliterator - Drift mode in which you must try to win the race while making sure to pick up enough drift points each lap to avoid being eliminated. Up to six cars can compete.
* Drift King - Unlike the other two drift modes, this one is a timed event. Your race position does not matter. The winner of this event is the one who makes the scores the most drift points within a given time limit. Up to six cars can compete.
* Drift Endurance - Try to complete a drift course in one continuous drift. The longer you go, the better.

Courses.
You will be racing in a proper world championship of street racing. All races take place anywhere between twilight and maybe midnight or sunrise. You race in London (UK stages), Rome (Italy stages), Bavaria (Germany), San Francisco (US stages), Tokyo (Japan stages), and Sydney (Australia stages, but drift courses only). Each city has three different circuit race courses and two drift courses. The circuit races are designed to offer aggressive, balls-out racing. You have city streets and landmarks to work with, but there are also diverging routes and some off-tarmac sections.

The drift courses are fairly short with plenty of opportunities to go sideways. The challenge here is to rack up as many points as you can in each section. Hold your drifts longer for more points. You can even chain together drifts. For example, if you take one section hard followed by taking a switchback, you can accumulate more points. The most important thing to remember? NO CRASHES! You can actually retain a good deal of your drift points if you hit a wall. You need to work hard to maintain solid drifts.


Action.
The AI in circuit races can be quite aggressive, but nowhere near the thuggish limits of ToCA Race Driver games. While this isn't a Burnout game, you can have a psuedo takedown by knocking someone hard into a wall or into some little island on the road. This is intense racing action. One of the coolest techniques to master is spooking drivers. When you get up close to a driver, and stay with him/her, you'll increase the pressure against him/her. Stay with that driver long enough, and you'll force him/her into a mistake! You may overtake the driver, but it's best you slow up just a little bit to increase the chances of pressuring a lead driver. This will allow you to make a pass for position. The spooked driver could even fall very far back in the pack.

When drifting, the drifts are almost effortless and very easy to control. It isn't like Need for Speed-type games in which you could drift out a Hyundai Tiburon like a Nissan 240SX. And suffice to say, drifting seems more fun in this game than in Underground-type games.

When seeing race replays, the replay will slow down dramatically in situations like getting lots of air, hitting the nitrous, and powersliding. Drift events only show the car from the bumper camera.


Music and Sounds.
You know what I can't stand sometimes? It's when people say "this game has your average dance music," or "your average hip-hop music." How come nobody says "your average rock music" like rock music is exempt from being criticized as generic? The music may be generic, but and Hot Import Nights fan knows that good hip-hop and dance music fill the airwaves. This game is no different. The soundtrack gets a bit old, but it's one to surely get you into the mood. Car engines sound pretty average.


Graphics. This PS2 title has some lovely graphics. Unfortunately, the cars don't look very good. If you put importance on crashing and damage graphics, you're not going to find it here. Not even paint scrapes. The urban environments look amazing. The German courses feature the only non-modern city settings as you race in a beautiful country-type setting under starry skies.



--- Career Mode at a Glance ---
Career Mode is where you acheive your fame. When you begin, you take two initiation tests. The first is a circuit race followed by a drift event. Before races in this mode, you have the option of betting that you'll win the race against your rival(s). You can initially bet anywhere between $1,000 and $5,000. If you back out of a bet, you'll pay a penalty for backing out. You can choose from a variety of cars in the game. It's recommended you find a "Good Drift Car" seal of approval to take on the drift events. You will begin in the Rookie League. The next level is League 7. You can then race all the way to League 1. After League 1 is the World Class. And finally, the HIN Elite is the highest class of racing you can go. Be sure to earn your way up to each level.

At your garage, you are able to apply visual modifications as well as unlocking performance packages to help boost your car's performance all the further. Visual modifications include body kit parts (purely aesthetic), a new set of decals (you can unlock extra packs), and simple touches of paint with many options by which to paint up your car.

Tuning options will allow you to increase the performance of your car including making it as competitive as possible. I don't believe you have any control over tweaking the performance of your car beyond these tuner packages. You won't have to worry about Extreme Nitro until you reach League 5.

When you're done in this department, all that remains is for you to go racing. To be promoted to another class, you must clear a variety of goals. These include things like powersliding a certain number of times, spooking certain drivers, picking up a certain number of drift points, and more. You don't need to accomplish these things all in one race. For example, you can easily acheive the three seconds of air time by racing in the San Francisco circuit races. You can actually accomplish more than one goal in just one race or in a series of races.

That's it! No go kick ye some arse, ja?





--- Final Verdict ---
This game reminds me a lot of "Need for Speed: Underground" action, only without having to deal with traffic or evading the police. This reminds me a lot of "Burnout" games, only not with overhyping crashes. To me, I think this is a breath of fresh air in regards of illegal street racing games. There are many ways to enjoy the racing action in this game. If you're looking for car damage of any extreme, you won't find it here. But if you're looking for a very decent racing game experience, you can't go too much wrong here. Customization and such is very good for this arcade-type racing game. "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" isn't exactly a must-play, but a very good game for fans of illegal street racing and drifting. For an arcade game like this, nothing seems overhyped.

I credit this game to the tune of 80% approval.

GT5 Commentary: Gran Turismo Needs a Greater Overall Racing Presence... to an Extent

Please check out my video:



Why I love the Gran Turismo series is because I'm able to race as hard as I can, but then come back down to go down to go tune cars and simply relax. Gran Turismo doesn't have any real deal in which you feel like you're in a proper racing-type environment. You know, it doesn't sometimes feel like you're part of a racing team or that you're actually involved in racing, though you are racing cars in the game. It's basically collect-and-race. What I'm envisioning for GT5 is that I FEEL more like I'm in a proper racing series in a game without being severely commited or obligated to race. Or that I have contract offers or something. Basically, something in the general realm of feeling like part of a race team going up against other teams in the game would suffice.

This blog entry mostly involves establishing a better motorsports presence. A future entry will include how to actually implement a racing-type atmosphere.



Liveries.
Something I'm reminded of as far as racing against other team cars is playing "ToCA Race Driver" games. Among the fictional championships, you actually see cars painted up for racing, even if it's a street car just painted up in a racing way. That is what I'd like to see. I want to see fictional (just to avoid having to pursue copyrights) teams. I want to see Polyphony Digital's creativity in utilizing some kind of livery editor or in trying to specially paint-up cars just to get the feeling that you're racing against team cars and other teams. When I look on the track, I don't see a bunch of other cars- I see other drivers and other teams after the same thing I'm after. The series has yet to capture this feeling to a great extent.

Character to Championships.
The Gran Turismo World Championship is a championship that's of great importance to me in Gran Turismo games. So I want it to have some extra character outside of just showing up with a super-fast car racing a bunch of events. I want to feel like I'm engaged. Immerse me in a pure racing environment to where I feel like other Gran Turismo racers look up to me and others as part of a championship. In other words, make us feel like we're on TV with the lights on bright. Make me feel like it's primetime, and I'm in the race of my life. So how do you acheive this? One such way is to basically come along with various championships featuring various cars and tracks. I think more championships should feature race-prepared vehicles so that it feels like proper racing championships. Qualifying isn't necessary, but at least bring it back to help.

In addition to adding some character to championships, perhaps make certain championships and races to where you need to be invited or something to compete in them. For example, some championship series can have "Knockout Qualifying" like in F1 where you narrow the field down to where the best cars try to maintain their status and avoid qualifying guaranteed last place. It may mean you're in championships for longer than you want, but at least you feel more engaged in a championship than more like "get me in, get me out."


The Other Drivers.
You make an effort to make your car the best on the track in addition to showing off the best of your skill. Why don't some of the other AI racers have this sort of soul in racing? I'm not saying make them look more like this is a reality TV series than a video game, but at least show some properly-painted and tuned up cars either at your level or at a level higher or lower than you. GT4's Difficulty deal for Arcade Mode races and Family Cup events gives you a sort of barometer to work with. Imagine going up against 15 other drivers with cars tuned at your level or somewhere above/below your level. Obviously, better driving skills by the others also help.


This "...to an Extent" Thing.
I mention that I'd like to see a better motorsports presence in GT5. However, I still want to still know I'm playing a GT game rather than a full-on, hardcore racing sim. I don't want this to be a game that controls my life when I play it. The key point I've mentioned is cool-down. I want to still be able to compete in whatever I like without having to feel seriously under contract or something to race in a certain series, thus banning me from competing in others.



The Gran Turismo Way of Life.
Here's what I'm thinking. Sixteen cars usually show up for race day. I put a lot of faith in the car I've bought and tuned up to compete in racing competition. This same feeling is the kind of feeling and heart I'd love to see in Gran Turismo 5. To an extent, I want to feel like I'm more involved for when I'm in racing competition. I'm not just racing against AI or human drivers, I'm up against teams. Again, make it LIKE I'm part of a race team in proper championships, without feeling like a GTR or ToCA Race Driver where I can't really enjoy my cooldown periods after races. Will GT5 have this? Will there be this level of immersion? We shall see.



Feel free to comment at will!

GT5 Commentary: More National and International Championship Series?

This blog entry contains some thoughts of mine in regards to the possibility of expanding GT5's motorsports hierarchy a bit more. You may have seen my videos about if other international locales will help expand Gran Turismo's worldwide view a touch more. I'm going to use insight to help offer views of what if a national and/or international championship would enhance the Gran Turismo a touch more.





--- Championship Racing: Perspective ---
The game for perspective as far as geographical region championships go is "ToCA World Touring Cars." I chose not to use the American name ("Jarrett and LaBonte Stock Car Racing"), simply because you're marketing touring cars to be like stock cars. That's not right. But because a NASCAR name is given, it increases its value in the US. Shame. Anyhow, on to the real point of this.

ToCA World Touring Cars allowed you the opportunity to race around the world with various cars around the world. In Career Mode, you have seven National-level championships, three International championships, and one World championship. Each of those championships had their own cars available for you to race within each championship. The National-level championships are as follows:

* North American Championship (United States and Canada)
* South and Central American Championship (Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina (mostly Latin America))
* British Championship (United Kingdom)
* German (Germany and Austria)
* Mediterranean Championship (Spain, France, and Italy)
* Japanese Championship (Japan)
* Australian (Australia)

You need to gain enough points to enter the International races. Those races include:

* Pan-American Championship (United States, Canada, and Latin America)
* European Championship (United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, and Italy)
* Asia-Pacific Championship (Japan and Australia)

And finally, you take on a worldwide schedule. This will likely include cars and tracks from the world over.



The Gran Turismo series has matured in a way that there is more an international presence in selectable cars and different tracks to race. Most people who are usually critical of the GT series has talked so much about how there's too much Japan and not enough of other countries represented in GT. It's mostly understandable to have a touch of bias in what kinds of courses are usually shown. Polyphony Digital is Japanese, so there's a bias towards Japanese more than American or European cars and tracks. Yet, I see very few complain of British bias in Codemasters. Some people, I swear, have some kind of "always hate Japan" mentality. I don't get it.





--- Can Proper Regional and National Championships be Possible in GT5? ---
To have proper regional championships, you need a variety of courses based in various locations. A rule I go by is that you need at least three tracks from one nation or international region to have a proper championship in a video game.



To use Gran Turismo 4, here are some international championships that are possible on tarmac circuits. And I will use hypothetical names:

--- GT4 Regionals ---
* American Championship
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, Seattle, and El Capitan)

* European Championship
(Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)

* French Championship
(both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Opera Paris, Cote d'Azur, and George V. Paris)

* Continental European Championship
(Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi)



* Japanese Championship
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba)

* Asia-Pacific
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, and Seoul)



--- GT4 Internationals ---
I will use "Pan-America" to mean both North and South America, even though all the North American races in GT4 take place in America.

* Pan-America vs. Mediterranean
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, Seattle, El Capitan, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)

* Mediterranean vs. Asia-Pacific
(both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, and Tsukuba)

* Asia-Pacific vs. Pan-America
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, Seoul, Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, Seattle, El Capitan, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Opera Paris, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)





What if you could combine all real-world courses and locales from past GT games including some from Tourist Trophy and GT5: Prologue? This would be your end result:

--- GT Regionals ---
* American Championship
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, both Seattle versions, El Capitan, and both Daytona configurations)

* European Championship
(Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, both London configurations, and Eiger Nordwand)

* French Championship
(both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Opera Paris, Cote d'Azur, and George V. Paris)

* Italian Championship
(both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)

* Mediterranean Championship (including Tourist Trophy)
(Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo (Valencia), Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, Eiger Nordwand, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)

* Japanese Championship
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba)

* Asia-Pacific
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tahiti Road)



--- GT Internationals ---
I will use "Pan-America" to mean both North and South America, even though all the North American races in GT4 take place in America. Mediterrenean mostly pertains to mostly all European courses, though I have had ideas of European and African courses in GT5. Asia-Pacific mostly pertains to Asia (including Japan), though I seriously wish to see events in Australasia (mostly Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand). Asia-Pacific may also mean if any other venues on Pacific islands are possible.

* Pan-America vs. Mediterranean
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, both Seattle versions, El Capitan, both Daytona configurations, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, both London configurations, and Eiger Nordwand)

* Mediterranean vs. Asia-Pacific
(Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, both London configurations, Eiger Nordwand, Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, and Tsukuba)

* Asia-Pacific vs. Pan-America
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tahiti Road, Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, both Seattle versions, El Capitan, and both Daytona configurations)



As a little note, various cars can be entered into such championships. So for the Asia-Pacific vs. Pan-American championship, you may not be able to bring your BMW Z4 to compete unless there are specifications prohibiting certain nationalities of car from entering. But for the most part, I have this all in the basis of any nationality of car being acceptable to race. Then again, one could make the case that it wouldn't be very fair to enter a Japanese car into a Pan-American vs. Mediterranean championship. Your call.





--- Solidifying an International Championship Base for GT5 ---
Polyphony Digital will need to come up with more new courses for GT5. The key areas are in some places that have never been featured in a GT game (and may make good locations for events): Canada, Latin America, Scandinavia, Africa, Middle East, South and Southeast Asia (excluding Hong Kong), China, Australasia, and (maybe) Polynesia. A cheap way to get more racing out of such locales would be to find a track that can have multiple configurations. The Motegi tracks and Suzuka configurations are prime examples.



--- Do Nationalities of Car Represented in GT Need Suitable Venues in Their Native Lands? ---
I think to enhance the international appeal, you need to have venues for that specific nation. Every nationality of car needs at least one track from that nation for a proper "home field advantage." Look at GT4. America's completely represented, Japan has LOTS of tracks, France has a good deal of GT courses, Germany has a venue (by the way, if they are going to have the Nürburgring Nordschleife, at least include the Nürburgring F1 circuit just so that you aren't forced to race the super-long Nordschleife all the time), Italy is represented fairly, and even South Korea has representation. GT4's car nationalities without a track in each nation includes the United Kingdom, Denmark (Spyker), Spain (SEAT), Belgium (Gillet), Sweden (Volvo), and Australia.

For the unrepresentated nations, an effort to find various courses would be a great idea. The United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia have lots of courses. As for places like Belgium and Sweden, you have two options: put them into seperate championships, or incorporate both countries and try to find some suitable racing locales. So you might use Belgium for some German racing action like at Spa-Francorchamps or Zolder. You may include Sweden for some Swedish venues (like Mantorp Park or Anderstorp), or you may include some Finnish or Norwegian tracks for a Scandinavian Championship. Australia is a special case. You may have racing in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The best thing to do here is to look for Australian venues while also looking for a New Zealand venue or two.

So indeed PD will need some more venues to sweeten an already tasty pot.





I may edit this post to include more information. But for right now, that concludes my commentary on proper regional racing both in national and international region settings.