This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec for PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec for PlayStation 2 is a car racing simulator in which you build a garage and enter increasingly demanding events. You start with a modest budget, choose a first car and earn prize money for other vehicles and parts. Licence tests teach you braking points, corners and how to distribute speed over a lap. A faster engine helps on the straights, but poor tyres or an unsettled steering input can immediately wipe out that gain.
In the garage, you change parts and settings to make a car better match a circuit. Road cars, racing cars and rally cars call for different habits: on loose surfaces, you need to anticipate sliding and the next corner earlier. You enter individual races, championships and longer events. Some events impose conditions on the car you enter, so a powerful vehicle is not automatically the right choice for every starting grid.
For a shorter session, choose Arcade, where you can select a car and track more quickly. With two controllers, you can race each other on the same console in split-screen. The pressure-sensitive buttons on the DualShock 2 help you apply the throttle and brake progressively. Replays let you watch a run again, while further attempts on the same track reveal how much difference a later braking point or a smoother corner exit can make.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
Polyphony Digital brought Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec to PlayStation 2 in 2001; the European edition arrived on 20 July. Sony published the first full Gran Turismo game for this console after the two instalments for the original PlayStation. The move to new hardware particularly changed the presentation. Cars received more elaborate models, while light, reflections and heat above the asphalt played a bigger part in how a race was shown.
The developers retained the idea that a racing game could also be about car ownership and preparation. Earning a licence, saving money and deciding which parts to buy turned the championship into a longer undertaking. The official Piggyback guide therefore covered not only circuits, but also cars and settings. This shows how important understanding a vehicle had become within this approach, alongside actually completing a fast lap.
The A-Spec name belongs to this original PS2 release. The later Gran Turismo 4 expanded the series further with features including B-Spec and a different collection of cars and tracks. In between, Gran Turismo Concept took a shorter approach centred on unusual models. Within that development, the third instalment marks the move to PS2: an extensive career with parts and prize money, alongside more direct racing without first having to build an entire garage.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo 4 continues collecting, tuning and earning licences on PlayStation 2. Its larger selection of cars and circuits gives you more directions in which to develop a garage; B-Spec also lets you direct a driver. Gran Turismo 3 keeps that career more manageable and has you do the driving yourself. Their connection lies in preparation: tyres, entry requirements and money for parts remain as important as a fast lap.
Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva applies the same attention to handling, but shortens the route to unusual cars. You unlock tracks and vehicles through licence laps and race victories, without Gran Turismo 3's extensive purchasing and tuning career. The objective therefore shifts from financing your own garage to completing one new challenge after another. If you mainly want to try different concept cars, this game hands you the keys sooner.
Tourist Trophy also comes from Polyphony Digital and lets you practise braking points and racing lines. However, you ride motorcycles, giving lean and the rider's position an influence on cornering. You earn new machines through challenges rather than Gran Turismo 3's car budget. The familiar licences connect the games; the sense of balance means that the same kind of corner calls for different actions.
Ridge Racer V also has you learn circuits and set increasingly sharp times, but builds its racing around long drifts and immediate reactions. You do not have to manage an equivalent garage with purchased parts. In Gran Turismo 3, you prepare a car for a particular purpose and brake to preserve grip. The choice is therefore chiefly between the rhythm of a controlled lap time and deliberately sending a car sliding through a corner.
TOCA Race Driver 2 combines diverse racing classes with a career centred on a driver. You switch disciplines more often and follow a more clearly structured career story. Gran Turismo 3 focuses more on your own vehicles, purchases and gradual garage development. Both games demand careful braking and track knowledge, but TOCA sets the next assignment, while Gran Turismo more often leaves you room to choose an event yourself.
