New Hands-on Preview
IGN have once again come up with the goods, this time in the form of a new three page hands-on preview. Here are some of the most interesting bits of the article:
Whereas most every racing game gives you direct control over your vehicle, Tourist Trophy is a little bit different in that it simulates the movement of the bike which is directly based on the movement of the rider. In essence, you’re controlling your on-screen biker who’s controlling the bike.
…the way each biker rides his motorcycle can drastically affect your performance and riding style. In the Arcade mode, you’re given three quick style options: In, Out or Default. In means that your biker will lean deep into each turn, looking as if he’s about to fall off. Out means that he drops the bike in each turn, but his body remains more upright, while Default is somewhere in-between.
The camera defaults to a third-person view, but you’re also given front bumper and cockpit views. … The cockpit view actually puts you in the driver’s seat, where you can read the actual dials and such on each bike, all of which is unique to each motorcycle.
As it’s set to ship to stores in the US a couple months after it hits Japan, the US may see a few additional bikes here or there that didn’t make it into the Japanese version, though we’re not told what they might be nor the chance of something like this happening.
There will be a few brand-new courses in the game [as opposed to Gran Turismo courses] that are famous for being motorcycle courses in real life, though those have yet to be unveiled.
One major difference to the Career mode here is that money does not come into play. You can still upgrade your bike and tweak its specs, earn a garage-full of rides and such, but all of these things are earned in races rather than bought with cash.
One thing that many more people will love than hate is that license tests have been scaled back a bit. You still have to pass license tests to qualify for races, but the total amount of licenses and the tests required for each one have been reduced.
IGN have also updated their videos section with 8 new videos.