{"id":2182,"date":"2013-01-23T18:18:09","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T18:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2182"},"modified":"2013-01-23T18:19:23","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T18:19:23","slug":"my-top-100-29-gran-turismo-3-a-spec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2182","title":{"rendered":"My Top 100: #29 – Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2001<\/a>

2001 – Sony Computer Entertainment (PlayStation 2)<\/p><\/div>\n

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I’ve already mentioned why I haven’t included many racing games on my countdown, even though I like racing more than any\u00a0stick and ball sport.\u00a0 I’m obsessed with it, in fact,\u00a0so that might\u00a0explain why I’m so nitpicky when it comes to the games.\u00a0 If it’s a simulator, I’m not going to put it in a list of “games”!<\/p>\n

The Gran Turismo<\/em> series\u00a0falls right in the middle, though.\u00a0\u00a0They aren’t casual “pick up and play”\u00a0racing games, but at the same time, I wouldn’t go so far as to call them simulators.\u00a0 You can tinker with just about everything under the hood, accumulate cash and further your in-game career…\u00a0 on the other hand, the\u00a0minute you hit the track, you can either choose to race like a pro (precisely hitting apexes, drifting and using pit strategy) or race like an idiot (walls can be your friend)!<\/p>\n

The visuals for Gran Turismo 3<\/em> were looking incredible long before the PlayStation 2 was even released.\u00a0\u00a0It\u00a0was “just a tech demo” shown somewhere in 2000, so nobody really knew what the end product would end up looking like.\u00a0 Still, it was enough to generate quite a bit of hype for its 2001 release.<\/p>\n

I picked it up in August of ’01, and thankfully, it was the same racing that I fell in love with during that summer of ’98.\u00a0 Just much nicer-looking!<\/p>\n

We’re coming up on 12 years since it’s been released, and I’ve been picking away at it ever since, trying to achieve 100% completion; getting gold on all license challenges, winning every race and every championship (including endurance races), getting every car in the game into my garage…\u00a0 absolutely everything.<\/p>\n

Granted, I’ve only been playing it here and there whenever the mood strikes me.\u00a0 Some of the longer races aren’t as easy to put time aside for, but one day, I’ll get them all done.\u00a0 Whenever that happens, it will be fantastic.<\/p>\n

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