I mean that has licensed tracks and cars that you can modify in stupid fun ways? The last time I played Gran Tuismo was on a PS3 and I played it so much.
I have purchased a few games over the years, Project cars 1-3, Asetto corsa, Forza Horizon, The Crew 2… all of them were interesting in some ways, but I just miss grabbing a boring car and modding it to stupid power levels and racing it at Laguna seca for example.
I mean there is Forza Motorsport (2023). Personally i’m not a big fan of this particular iteration but its pretty much the only game which checks all your boxes on Steam.
Or you could check out PS2 Emulation with PCSX2 and the Spec II Mod for GT4. PS3 Emulation for GT5 and 6 still isnt perfect and pretty demanding for the hardware but also worth a look. I think there is the “master mod” to spice things up? Like why search for an imitation if you can have the original?
I didn’t even think about trying to emulate. What does it take to do ps3 emulation? Would it run in the steam deck?
I’m going to frontload a few links:
https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page Emulation Wiki(very good)
https://retrogamecorps.com/2022/10/16/steam-deck-emulation-starter-guide/ he has also a YT channel and lots of other guides
The emulator itself is RPCS3 but you can use probably frontends like Emudeck or Retrodeck to make things easier.
To obtain the gamefiles you either get them from your modded PS3 or you make a visit to r/roms.
I dont have a steamdeck so idk how well the GT games would run. It really depends on the game. Demon Souls or Skate 3 probably run just fine. MGS4 on the other hand is really taxing even on the newest desktop hardware. The GT games are probably somewhere in the middle. Check youtube, there are high chance somebody already uploaded steamdeck gameplay.
Otherwise i cant recommend the GT4 Spec II Mod enough. Upscaled GT4 still looks fantastic and even more so on a handheld screen.