You remember back in high school when you saw that hot cheerleader who winked at you whenever she saw you in the hallway. She would smile at you every time you see her and she appears to be leading you on. You finally get the courage to ask her out and she accepts. You go out with her a few times, only to find out that behind those beautiful smiles and curvy figure... she is dumb as dirt. A few weeks later, you meet another girl in your Biology lab section who is also radiant and beautiful. You'd think she would be dumb as dirt as well, but on the contrary, she is smarter than you!. Wow what are the odds. So, you ditch the hot stupid cheerleader and you start a relationship with the smart and attractive schoolgirl whom you end up marrying. So why do I bring up this story? Because back in 2000 and 2001 we saw the exact same thing happen in the video game industry. Xbox had just come out and it displayed its amazing power with its beautiful graphics. It showed considerable improvement in graphics over the previous generation of consoles and delivered amazing framerate capabilities. There was just one problem... with the exception of Halo, the games on the Xbox at that time had horrible gameplay. Yes, the games looked good, but once we saw past the graphics we were left with an empty hole inside. After Xbox thrilled everyone with its amazing graphics, Playstation debuts its own system, the Playstation 2. Sure, it didn't have the graphical power that Xbox did, but it delivered exciting gameplay that made you look past the framerate issues with the screen. All you could concentrate on was finishing the game because it was so good. Still, we were wondering and telling ourselves the same thing, "If only the PS2 would come out with a game that was good and had awesome graphics like the Xbox." Well... that theory came true in 2001 when Sony released Gran Turismo 3: A-spec. The game left all racing fans, including myself, with their jaws dropped to the floor. No one had ever seen a racing simulator that was more realistic. On top of that, the gameplay is so deep, that it would take days and maybe even weeks to finish. Heck, I have the game and I still can't finish it. The game is so unique from other racing games that it wasn't about smashing cars, or running over signs. It was about timing, precision, and balance. This is the game of a true racer. Owning a garage full of beautiful cars, and even the first car that is still in your garage because of its sentimental value and all, never felt so satisfying. Its crafty gameplay of having tournaments and getting specific licenses to play certain races made the replay value of this game very high. There was always something to do in this game. It looked good, but it also impressed me. Microsoft had the looks to turn your eye, but Sony had the brains, and it also managed to have the looks to go along with it as a bonus. Gran Turismo 3 was, and still is, the most influential game in the racing genre.