Dude this game is sick! But It only has 4 playable cars. The GTR, EvoX, BMW 135i and CFX1? (Slow) the fastest car is by far the Evo X (in the game at least) and the graphics just look superb.
Sounds like you got the free demo, not the released product. The demo should also have the IS-F and WRX STi playable...not sure why you don't see them. The Suzuka Circuit is the only playable track in the demo as well.
And you haven't seen anything yet. I borrowed the game over the weekend and the London track is gorgeous. I've been trying to earn enough to buy the Audi R8 to complete the B Class Race Events...I'm just over 13,000,000 credits (need over 16). I tried the game both with the standard dual analog controller and with the Driving Force Pro. I recorded replays of equally smooth driving with both controls...GT does a great job with both, but the Driving Force Pro is still the best way to go.
For those of you thinking about importing the Japanese release of Prologue specifically for online play, you may want to hold off. It took me a ton of attempts spanning the entire weekend to stay connected long enough just to download the patch that enables online play. Every attempt produced an error...written entirely in Japanese so I had no idea what was the reason for my failed attempts. I finally managed to successfully complete the download Sunday afternoon around 5pm...but I gave up on connecting to any multiplayer racing events after failing to do so for the next hour.
Today, I installed the game on my dev station at work. It had no problem downloading the patch. I was also able to connect to actual online racing events, but races are only open to specific cars on specific tracks with specific conditions that you cannot edit.
I focused on the London circuit, which allows maximum of 8 players. My first few races were between 2 and 4 players...and were relatively lag free. One opponent was in a Nissan Skyline GT-R V.spec II Nur '02 that seems faster than my Acura NSX '91...but, what was more annoying, is that any time I started in front of him, he would bump me on the third or fourth corner, causing me to spin out and fall too far behind. What's strange is that the game does penalize you for doing so (speed limited for a period of like 5 seconds...during which your car is ghosted so that you don't become an obstacle for other cars), but my opponent didn't seem to be incurring a very long penalty. I never beat him, but did come close once (he pushed me out of the way on the inside of the final turn). Later in the day, I finally got a 7 player and 5 player race going, but both games were plagued by horrible lag (my car and environment played as smoothly as single player, but my opponents jittered wildly and the simulation of their cars made it seem like they were skidding - they even kicked up particle smoke and generated screeching sounds).
BTW, the '91 NSX feels especially slow in the London circuit...and acceleration in second gear seems unexpectedly slow. I wish they had the six speed configuration...I'd bet that the gear ratios of the six speed are better suited for a tight course like this...almost every other car in this event seemed a lot faster than me in the corners and I wouldn't have thought many of them would be. This is the list of cars eligble for participation in online events versus the NSX:
- Acura NSX '91
- BMW 135i Coupe '07
- Lotus Elise 111R '04
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GSR '05
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR P.P. '07
- Nissan Fairlady Z Version S '07
- Nissan Skyline Coupe 370GP Type SP '07
- Nissan Skyline Coupe Concept '07
- Nissan Skyline GT-R V.spec II Nur '02
- Nissan Skyline Sedan 350GT Type SP '06
- Renault Clio Renault Sport V6 24V '00
- Subaru Impreza WRX STI '07
Lag totally killed a 5 player race I did on the oval at Daytona (which is open to as many as 16 players). Victory here relies upon drafting. I strangely incurred penalties and would lose control of my car for no apparent reason. The jittery nature of some of the opponent cars meant if I got too close to one, I could get bumped by them with far more force than should be possible given our relative speeds and trajectory.
I'm not necessarily saying the online play is messed up...just that it isn't necessarily going to be a great experience until more local servers are online. And, since this release is only in Japan, I don't suspect we'll see that until the Prologue officially comes here.
Did I mention it is a total trip to see the interior of an Acura NSX in the game? It even has the embossed Acura lettering on the steering wheel and the Bose label on the tape deck.
I would like to at least be able to play the newest demo "Prologue" but I'm not in Japan.....
haha man why do they have to torture us? The PS3 has been out for how long? 
Theres a Lexus IS-F Im dying to drive!!!! And the NSX looks absolutely real... 
