Some gamers may complain about realtime damage being present in a real-to-life racing simulator but real racing simulator fans know that damage is a necessary aspect of racing; it keeps newbs from taking advantage of a race online; it also moderates the pace of a race and it makes you care more about your car. So for real racing fans it’s time to compare what sort of damage will be present in both Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 3.

Now given that the car manufacturers weren’t for full-on realtime damage in either Forza 3 or GT 5 (because it could reveal faults in cars that they don’t want the public to know about) both games do offer enough damage to radically alter gameplay.

For advanced players who have the lead in a race, the damage factors can help prevent opponents from taking risky moves such as bumper bumping or side-swiping. For players who aren’t in the lead the damage can also work as an advantage by spinning out an opponent which can cause problems to the opponent’s suspension or wheel alignment. The damage also ensures that players have to really master each car on each track to avoid paying out unnecessary expenses from collisions and crashes.

The following four videos compare the damage in both games.

In the first trailer of Forza 3 a player uses the demo to see how much cosmetic damage the cars take in head-on collisions and in the second video the devs showcase what the effects are when simulation options are turned on and the car is pretty much immobile.

For Gran Turismo 5 the two trailers showcase the damage effects on a Subaru and a Ferrari, as players take crash courses into walls, objects and other cars. The first trailer is a series of collisions with walls and objects at moderate speeds and the second trailer is the Ferrari going full speed ahead into barriers and walls.

The videos basically work as a good showcase for what gamers can expect from both games and the extent of the damage present in Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5. For more gaming insight and media, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games.