[Renwood]

Late 2009, early 2010, I think. Thirty dollars would have been a better price-point (and a few bucks than that for a direct download from the PS Store). With that said, for a more casual player like myself, there's plenty to keep me interested for the amount of time I plan to spend. Seventyish cars to purchase, six tracks; no, that doesn't stack with the huge amounts of content they cram into the final products (I think its up to 900 cars for GT5), but its still a good amount for me to play with when taken on its own. Remove the "GT" title, and I think a lot of the expectations lower. Its still on the low side, but I payed full price for MotorStorm, which had a similar low number of tracks. That was too much too, but it didn't hurt my actual fun in the game much.

If they can add a dozen or so new cars and maybe two new tracks through DLC, all the better, so long as its properly priced.

One thing I usually think about when I hear that the Prologue is a ripoff is the obverse of that statement; given how much is stuffed into the full game, sixty dollars is a great deal if you're into the series. And I think the price is as much about securing a chance to have a peek at the game a year before it ships as much as anything else.

I was talking with a friend who won't buy Prologue because he doesn't want to encourage other developers to take this "charge for a demo" route, but I have to wonder how many would actually be able to pull it off. Smash Bros. could release a light version, I suppose, given all the extras crammed into the game. Metal Gear already does have its director's cuts that come out later. Halo 3 made you buy Crackdown.