Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3 has added several new features including 3D, Move, car damage and many more. One of those new features is called head tracking and uses the Playstation Eye camera to simulate turning your head side to side to look at your mirrors. On paper, it sounds neat but is it useful? After seeing a video of someone using head tracking in action, we are doubtful about this for the majority of PS3 owners.
When you are typically driving a car the natural movement to look at your left sideview mirror is to turn your eyes and then your head slightly to the left so that you can bring them quickly back straight ahead to see the road. And vice versa for the right side view mirror. However, as you can see in the video below, the same is not the case in Gran Turismo 5. The driver turns his head to the left but then has to cut his eyes to the right to actually see the action on the TV in front of him. And of course, he has to cut his eyes to the left when he turns his head to the right as well.
This movement is counter-intuitive to the natural driving experience and doesn't work for a single screen. However, for those that are willing to shell out the bucks two extra PS3s, two extra monitors, and two extra copies of Gran Turismo 5, we can see head tracking being both useful and neat. A multi-monitor setup will also likely be the only time that Xbox 360 owners will see any benefit using Kinect and a racing game like Forza for head tracking as well. For everyone else, simply using the right thumbstick to turn the view in the cockpit looks like a better solution.
While the vast majority of Gran Turismo 5 owners won't be able to see the benefits of head tracking, it is still nice that Polyphony Digital included the option for those hardcore Gran Turismo racers willing to go all out on a driving setup. Of course, this also depends on how fine a control you can get when moving your head side to side in the final product. The video below seems to indicate it is all or nothing which is another set of problems for the device. We'll reserve judgement though for the final build of the game.
Comments
All of this new tech is nonsense and adds nothing to the game. 3D, motion tracking, ugh.
Just give us a fun game to play, that's all that real gamers want.
@Ex Just like your comment adds nothing to this article...LMAO!!!
Entire game is a gimmick.
You're both idiots.
Most people here have missed the point, which the article sums up perfectly. Its for hardcore fans. If you dont like it, turn it off.
@Ex lol, youre an idiot as well
Sigh at these plebs who comment on crap they haven't even tried, this head tracking stuff is exactly the same as TrackIR that is often used in games like ARMA. The fact that fans of those games approve of it, clearly indicates it is VERY USEFUL.
"For everyone else, simply using the right thumbstick to turn the view in the cockpit looks like a better solution."
Fail
G27, possibly the best wheel for GT5 doesn't even have a quickly accessible d-pad/stick to look around.
"has to cut his eyes"
You are required to puncture your eye balls for GT5? Of course this is 100% effective with multiple displays, but honestly if you have the game it won't take long for you to acclimate.
What the hell head tracking would pretty be the same with kinetic nothing better
If you think that being able to look around while driving a car is a "gimmick" then you are the worst driver in the world and i hope you don't own a car in real life!!!.
So, looking around while driving is a useless gimmick? Then tell me, why is it that when i am taking a turn in real life i tend to move my head (look) right into the turn rather then looking ahead(You are unable to do that with a fix cam and it bugs the f#@$ out of me.)???.
Funny how everyone doesn't seem to realize that the guy in the video could be over-doing his head movements because ether:
a. He is nervous and doesn't realize that he doesn't have to move his head that much.
b. He just wanted to show that he was moving the cam by head tracking and not a stick or d-pad.
Now will everyone PLEASE start using common sense from now on?.
"b. He just wanted to show that he was moving the cam by head tracking and not a stick or d-pad."
*b. He just wanted to make it perfectly clear that he was moving the cam by head tracking and not a stick or d-pad.
"All of this new tech is nonsense and adds nothing to the game. 3D, motion tracking, ugh. Just give us a fun game to play, that's all that real gamers want."
Then real gamers are more worried over tech then the Amish are. better watch out sony is releasing a new line of pants and they have....ZIPPERS...NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!. Do you want gt6 to have horses?. why not get rid of analog sticks and replace them with a d-pad? after all that is what gamers who played fps on the super nintendo had and they were REAL gamers. that will make you REALLY hardcore lol. (and yes they REALLY had some fps on the super nintendo. look it up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZawqQVgkOA)
"If you think that being able to look around while driving a car is a "gimmick" then you are the worst driver in the world and i hope you don't own a car in real life!!!."
^2nd
If you watch the video you will see that the guy in the video isn't even trying to really use headtracking. All he does is quickly switch to the cockpit view then move hes head from left to right without even looking at the screen then switches back to the non headtracking view and resumes playing. If you are going to try and prove whether or not headtracking will work why not find a video that has someone really trying to PRECISELY show it off, and, not some guy that couldn't care less about using it in the right way?.
GT games are the only racing games I like. And to be honest, this head tracking thing looks useless.
"If you think that being able to look around while driving a car is a "gimmick" then you are the worst driver in the world and i hope you don't own a car in real life!!!."
^3rd
Head tracking has been pretty much a standard feature in PC racing games for the last decade. Dozens of games use it and in most of them it is a very helpful feature. In that GT5 video it's simply overdone, a slight movement of head should give you a complete view of the whole cockipt,as long as Polyphony implements that before launch it should be ok
It's unfortunate that the reviewer is basing his opinion on pure assumptions, rather than experiencing head tracking himself.
I've used TrackIR (same type of device) on PC games for a few years, and it is an excellent device. It adds a sense of immersion, and you quickly become acclimated to it.
The action isn't much different than locking your eyes on a point in front of you, while turning your head. If your eyes cannot stay on the same point while your head moves, you really should see a doctor, as it would seem evident that you may have a serious neurological condition.
The great thing about it is that your head uses a controller, which is amazingly adapt at moving independently of your eyes. Assuming you are not an owl.
Everyone that doesn't see the use of head tracking in a racing sim, using cockpit view, just has to try it for himself. Play with it a day or a few days, then play again without it. You will notice the blinders you put up with since then immediately.
All you need is an easy way to setup the sensitivity of the axis.
(In contrast to the conclusion in the article, it's less important with a triple screen setup, you already can see more without moving the camera. Still no reason not to use it.)
And after that, try a flight sim :)
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