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Gran Turismo creator, FIA plot to 'revitalize' motorsport
Following a recent collaboration with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in which the FIA lent official certification to a number of Gran Turismo 6 tracks - a first for any racing game - series mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi took to Reddit to explain his plans for this new partnership. "In the collaboration that was announced with the FIA, my objective now is to really revitalize and reconstruct motorsports," Yamauchi wrote. "That's also the dream of the FIA chairman and so that's the goals that we're working toward." "The last message in the FIA press conference was that this is for the expansion and prosperity of motorsports for the next 100 years. That's exactly it - I've always wanted motorsports to become as popular as football or soccer and my feelings haven't changed regarding that." For those unaware, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit that governs a massive number of motorsport events around the world. It represents 213 organizations in 125 countries, and is widely seen as the world authority in racing high-tech, exotic vehicles. Obviously it would behoove the FIA to raise interest in motorsport, which ties right into Yamauchi's stated goals to push the sport to new heights of popularity via his development team's fan-favorite racing simulation. [Image: Sony]
Drive Ayrton Senna's F1 car in upcoming Gran Turismo 6 DLC
An update coming to Gran Turismo 6 will allow players to relive the legacy of Brazilian racer Ayrton Senna, Sony and Polyphony Digital have announced. The content, which includes one of Senna's first go-karts and the Lotus 97T Senna drove during his second Formula 1 season in 1985, will be available for free on May 27. The update also includes two Senna Challenges, which test a player's ability to best Senna's times on the same courses he drove in '85. Those that earn bronze or better in a Senna Challenge will earn the Lotus 97T for free, but those that would rather skip the whole "challenge" part can buy the car using in-game currency. Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the Gran Turismo series, called Senna a "personal hero" in the associated press release. "I am honored to be able to introduce him to the younger generation of racing fans through Gran Turismo," he said. Earlier this month, Sony and Polyphony released an update to the Gran Turismo site honoring Senna and the Ayrton Senna Institute. [Image: Sony]
Gran Turismo documentary 'KAZ' coming to Amazon and other services Feb. 5
KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide, a documentary film chronicling the life of Gran Turismo series producer Kazunori Yamauchi, will premiere for Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, and other video streaming services on February 5, Sony announced this week. Directed by Tamir Moscovici (Urban Outlaw, Painting Coconuts), KAZ explores the creation of the Gran Turismo series in the context of Yamauchi's lifelong fascination with cars and racing. The film focuses on Yamauchi's "relentless willingness to challenge himself, to hold none of his past achievements sacred, and push beyond the virtual divide in his pursuit of perfection." The documentary will also begin airing on the Sony Movie Channel starting next month, and will be available for download from the Sony Entertainment Network. KAZ launched this week as a Hulu exclusive.
Gran Turismo documentary 'KAZ: Pushing The Virtual Divide' hits Hulu next week
Come January 22, Hulu subscribers will be given a behind the scenes look at Polyphony Digital's fan-favorite racing simulation franchise, Gran Turismo, with the release of KAZ: Pushing The Virtual Divide. Partially named for Polyphony CEO Kazunori Yamauchi, the documentary "reveals historical footage and never been told stories shared by some of the most influential people in the automotive and gaming industries," according to Sony's official description.
Gran Turismo 7 next year in 'best-case scenario,' developers say
Gran Turismo 6 won't hit retail until December 6, but the developers at Polyphony Digital are already planning Gran Turismo 7 – and they don't want it to take forever. "We don't want to take too long on Gran Turismo 7," series creator Kazunori Yamauchi told Top Gear. "Best-case scenario? Next year. In GT6 we really had to tune the software 100 per cent to maximise the PS3's architecture, but of course the PS4's hardware is much better, so I think the overall quality of the game across the board will be boosted when you come to play it." Releasing Gran Turismo 7 a year after its predecessor would be an impressive feat for Polyphony. We waited for three years between Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6, while the delay between Gran Turismo 4 and its sequel was nearly six years long.
Gran Turismo 6 getting 'fairly large' day-one patch
When Gran Turismo 6 launches on December 6, it will come with a sizable patch. The day-one patch will primarily address a few issues with the game's online features, Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi told Eurogamer, adding that the developer is "still overflowing with stuff we'd like to do. So I think the day one patch will be a fairly large patch." Yamauchi noted the patch isn't out of the ordinary for the developer, as Gran Turismo 5 was updated shortly after the game's launch. "It's the same every time. Everything's very tight. It's an incredibly tight schedule," Yamauchi said. "As to being able to include everything we want to on day one, we probably won't be able to. I think for the 12 months following the release we'll continue to update the software. Because in Gran Turismo 6 we're preparing a lot of different things we haven't even touched on yet."
Gran Turismo documentary announced
Sony has announced a documentary film based on the Gran Turismo racing series. Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi showed off the first trailer for the documentary at the Jalopnik Film Festival held in the Classic Car Club Manhattan in New York. Directed by Tamir Moscovici, the film revolves around Yamauchi's journey to "push beyond the virtual divide in his pursuit of perfection." Sony did not specify when the full film will air, though it wouldn't surprise us if it were closer to Gran Turismo 6's release on PS3, December 6. It also wouldn't surprise us if it were delayed like the game often was.
Yoshida: Gran Turismo 6 would be 'hard to move' to Vita
Revving up Gran Turismo 6's engines on the Vita would be "really hard" on a technical level, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida told IGN last week. "As you can tell looking at GT6, it really is using PS3 to a very high level," Yoshida said. "In terms of Vita support, I don't expect the whole game to be able to run on PS Vita." Yoshida's statement follows Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi's comments concerning the possibility of GT6 evolving into Gran Turismo 7 for the PS4 during its development cycle. GT6 will be tuned to race on December 6 for the PS3. In the meantime, fans can race to GameStop or Amazon for pre-order bonuses in the form of exclusive cars and in-game credits.
Gran Turismo producer won't discuss release dates for GT6
Gran Turismo 6 is in development, but don't expect series producer Kazunori Yamauchi to dare tread on the delicate ground of discussing release windows or specific dates for the game publicly.Andriasang reports the franchise overseer has learned his lesson, saying at the recent Gran Turismo 5 Asia Championship, "If I carelessly say when it will be released, you'll end up with people saying things like 'it's been delayed again!?'"Gran Turismo 5 was notorious for its long development and delays, which didn't just apply to the game, but to its DLC as well. [Photo credit: Frank Filipponio; GIF source: jockamo]
Gran Turismo 5 'Academy Edition' racing to stores on September 26
This fall marks two years since Polyphony Digital's latest Gran Turismo screeched onto retailer shelves, and four years since the company partnered with Nissan on its GT Academy. As a result, the developer's celebrating with a special edition release of Gran Turismo 5 – "Academy Edition" – replete with the various car packs released since the launch in 2010.More specifically, you'll also get Polyphony Digital creative lead Kazunori Yamauchi's fancy Nissan GTR that he raced in real life during the most recent Nurburgring 24-hour race. If you bought it in real life, it'd cost like a trillion dollars, so this is probably the best way to get access.When the "Academy Edition" of Gran Turismo 5 launches this September 26, it'll cost €29.99/£19.99. The game doesn't have a price or launch date in the US just yet, but we expect to hear more on that front in the coming days.
Gran Turismo 5 getting big update next month, DLC to follow
Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi recently announced on Twitter that Gran Turismo 5 will be widely expanded next month -- though he didn't really explain how. According to the Tweet, the game's "Spec 2.0 update" will launch during the 3rd week of October, with a new DLC pack scheduled to launch the following week. Kaz didn't mention any of the contents of either the update or DLC, leaving us to use our imaginations to determine their constituent features. We're gonna guess the update adds a fifth wheel to most cars, while the DLC's proximity to Halloween ensures it will contain some spooky vehicles, like a ... um, a werewolf bus.
Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi wins class victory in real-life 24-hour endurance race
Alright, stick with us here because we're about to get super inside baseball: In Europe, there's a country called Germany, and in Germany, there's a village called Nürburg. Now, built around Nürburg is the Nürburgring, which is one of the deadliest race tracks in the entire world. The serpentine course spans nearly 15 miles of hairpin turns and arrow-straight straights, and is used by supercar giants like Ferrari and Lamborghini to test the mettle of their latest creations. "The Ring" (as car-folk call it), is home to an annual GT and touring car endurance challenge called the 24 Hours Nürburgring, where teams of drivers from all over the world take shifts racing one car around the track for 24 continuous hours. This year's 24 Hours ended earlier today, with Gran Turismo producer Kazunori Yamauchi and his team claiming a first-place class victory with their Nissan GT-R. Similar to a "Best of Breed" award at a dog show, a class victory means that even though the team may not have placed first over-all, they were still first out of cars of their type. This win comes on the heels of the team's recent victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they grabbed second in-class. Drift past the brake for an exceedingly German video of the car/driver in question, and see if you can spot one of the many boners graffitied around the track. [Thanks, Marco!]
Yamauchi: Gran Turismo 5 to get in-race game saves
So, you're in the middle of the big race. In your sleek, modified land-rocket, you pour through the turns, inching out the opposing steel beasts while hurtling through space at half a football field-per-second. You're playing Gran Turismo 5, of course. You catch the draft behind your rival and slingshot past the -- OH MAN! You're telling us all of Scrubs is on Netflix Instant Watch? Like, every single episode? Sorry, high-intensity driving action, but we're done here. Fortunately, stoppping in the middle of a race won't have to mean losing your progress following an upcoming GT5 update. In a recent tweet, Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi said -- as translated by GTPlanet -- that a feature which will allow players to save in the middle of the game's lengthy endurance races is "currently under development." Soon, friends. Soon you'll be able to watch all the Scrubs you want, and that unforgiving vehicular gauntlet will be waiting for you when you get back.
Gran Turismo 5 creator wants monthly updates, plans premium car upgrades
Gran Turismo 5 may be out in stores, but its creators don't consider their work complete just yet. Since its release, Polyphony Digital's racing game has already received a few updates, with more on the way. Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi explained to Famitsu that "it would be good to have one update every month." Of particular note for car enthusiasts would be the expansion of the game's premium car offerings. Although the game launched with over a thousand cars, only one fifth of the vehicles are represented with "premium" models, which feature higher resolution textures, fully modeled interiors and undercarriages, and damage modeling. Yamauchi promised that new premium cars would be made available for download, but Andriasang notes that he failed to confirm whether or not the updates would be free. Although the team is working on adding new features and updated models into GT5, there are a few items you shouldn't expect via patches: new cars and courses. "They may be added as expansion content," Yamauchi explained, "or we may leave it until the next title."
Yamauchi talks future Gran Turismo 5 updates, cut features
You didn't really think that work was finished on Gran Turismo 5, did you? Car-obsessed creator Kazunori Yamauchi has been fielding questions from fans on his Twitter feed (translated at GTPlanet), revealing that a variety of fixes are in the works -- but also shedding light on some features we'll probably never see. Yamauchi confirms that his team at Polyphony Digital is working to implement mechanical -- not just cosmetic -- damage in GT5 sometime in early December. Less time-consuming fixes include nixing the game's odd-looking "blocky" shadows, adding more online functionality (the lounge is mentioned) and possibly offering the option to disable the HUD overlay. Work to support Logitech's G25 and G27 racing wheels in still underway, he adds. As for what we won't be seeing, it sounds like face-tracking in GT mode and YouTube uploading of replays are out due to memory constraints. We'll also never get a chance to experience the cut "free roam" mode, in which players would have been able to drive around the gameworld, obeying traffic laws and stopping to get out of their cars to explore on foot. We imagine this was referred to internally as the "We Need Another Year of Development Time" mode.
Gran Turismo 5 hampered by internet congestion, patch coming Saturday
Sony's advice to those currently having hiccups with Gran Turismo 5 is to temporarily disable internet access on their consoles. Eurogamer reports that the game's constant online connection, even while navigating single-player content and menus, is causing "longer than comfortable lag." Sony has confirmed the game "performs online access not only when participating in online races and using community features, but also when starting the game and during the various screen displays in GT Mode." This is causing "online congestion" and the publisher is working on "several different solutions" to improve the network. One of the solutions should come this Saturday, November 27, as GT creator Kazunori Yamauchi says a patch will fix several issues, including "the usability of the game to make it a better experience." He noted the game's data center was "set up to handle 500,000 connections, but the number of connections we received greatly exceeded that amount and there was a high chance of experiencing problems as a result." Wait, wait, wait. Gran Turismo 5 was designed in such a way that it constantly pings a data center that was only set to handle half a million connections... for a Gran Turismo game? It sounds like Sony hired the same consultant Battlefield developer DICE uses to come up with its launch week capacity requirements.
Gran Turismo 5 retail discs spotted in Europe
Over the weekend, a handful of tipsters sent Gran Turismo fansite GT Planet photos of what appeared to be retail versions of Gran Turismo 5. The photographic evidence began to pile up, and it seems that some gamer slash gearheads in Europe are already playing the game -- this is, of course, after the game was delayed to an unknown release date. Additionally, the game's entire Trophy list has been revealed, adding fuel to the fire. At the very least, this confirms GT5 director Kazunori Yamauchi's statement about discs for the game already being in production, though it doesn't put us any closer to knowing when exactly the game will finally arrive at retail. Will GT5 follow the path of the Sega Saturn and simply become available "right now," whenever the publisher deems it so? It certainly seems possible as of this report. But then, we all know how well that went for Sega's game console.
Yamauchi insists Gran Turismo 5 discs being made 'as we speak'
It appears Gran Turismo 5 may finally be finished. After countless delays, series creator Kazunori Yamauchi told car enthusiast website Jalopnik that the discs were being "stamped as we speak," while making a disc-stamping motion with his hands (seen above). While retailers have recently placed skepticism on a pre-Christmas GT5 release, today's news should provide some hope for fans. Those Blu-ray manufacturing plants should be able to press a few million copies in time for a holiday release -- unless Yamauchi insists on making these discs personally. By hand. Each and every one of them. [Thanks, Pat. T; photo credit: Frank Filipponio]
Gran Turismo Anywhere brings the web, more features to GT5
At some point, Kazunori Yamauchi and his team at Polyphony Digital are going to be forced to stop adding functionality to the eternally in-development Gran Turismo 5. Until then, they continue to announce new features at every major press event. At this year's TGS, it's "Gran Turismo Anywhere," a new web portal for the racing sim. Features of GTA – actually, let's just call it Gran Turismo Anywhere – include My Home, which includes message boards, photo sharing, and the like, as well as Remote Races, which isn't real-time racing over the web, but rather a racing team management simulation. Yamauchi also announced the X1, a virtual super car in Gran Turismo 5 that seeks to answer the following question: "What would a racing car, freed of all technical regulations look like?" Because F1 cars, rally cars, NASCAR cars, and go-karts just weren't enough, now GT5 also has make-believe cars in its virtual garage. Some more pics of Yamauchi's presentation after the break, but first a poll! %Poll-52886%
