With GT5 hitting its second anniversary in 2012, Gran Turismo fans could justifiably feel like 2012 was a Wednesday for their favourite game – too long since the previous weekend and too long to wait to the next. But it’s been another good year in the life of the series and of GTPlanet itself and, for the fourth year, we’re looking back at the highlights of the last 12 months.
GT5 Photomode image by ShaolinMasta.
January
A teaser trailer featuring the new Honda NSX concept in a Gran Turismo landscape revealed a never-before-seen circuit. This was later revealed as Special Stage Route X, featured as part of the Speed Test pack.- Alongside the Speed Test pack, six new cars were announced for Car Pack 3 – including the Lamborghini Aventador and the first standard-to-premium conversion car, the Jaguar XJR9.
- The four man GT Academy team – Lucas Ordoñez, Jordan Tresson and newcomers Bryan Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough – get a podium in the 2012 24 Hours of Dubai.
- In less felicitous news, GTPlanet uncovers and investigates a GT5 bug that dramatically affected online play.
- GT Academy‘s return hits the rumour mills, with speculation that Germany will have a standalone event in 2012. The existing drivers also have their racing schedules for the year announced.
February
Ford produces an industry article that recognises games like Gran Turismo as brand ambassadors, driving sales in new markets.- A new v2.04 patch for GT5, in-part addressing the online bug issue, is released. This is quickly followed by the v2.05 minor bug fix two weeks later.
- With an initial launch in Japan, GT5’s new Photo Stream function is announced.
- GTPlanet’s Weekly Race Series celebrates its ninth anniversary.
- While on holiday in Austria and Italy, GTPlanet member Abraxas takes some photos of GT5 Photomode locations – can you spot the differences?
March
- Rumours surface of a Polyphony Digital crew spotted at Bathurst. Later photos and videos from the circuit seem to confirm that scanning is underway for the circuit’s inclusion in Gran Turismo 6.
April
- A second GT5 Asia Online tournament begins.
- The 2012 GT Academy is confirmed to start on May 1st, as a standalone game. Along with the German and European competitions, there will be individual events for Russia and the USA too.
- GTPlanet launches a Google Chrome browser extension.
May
After a single day of competition, 63,000 GT Academy players drive over 2 million miles!- GTPlanet interviews 2011 GT Academy Europe winner Jann Mardenborough – who reveals he’d like a BMW E30 3 series in Gran Turismo!
- Images surface of a reworked Twin Ring Motegi for GT Academy, sparking rumours it may appear in GT5.
- A spate of corner cutting forces a Gran Turismo seasonal event to be cancelled – only the second time PD have cancelled an event.
- Kazunori Yamauchi and 2009 GT Academy winner Lucas Ordoñez race together in the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours, managing a class win. In the British GT support race, 2011 winner Jann Mardenborough sets pole position time and comes close to winning – on his first ever visit to the track!
- A huge v2.06 update is released, bringing bug fixes and speculation, given its size, that it contains future DLC.
- The new “Performance Difference Bonus” for seasonal events – where players who compete in poorer cars are rewarded more – is introduced.
June
For the first time, GTPlanet is given pit-lane access during a GT Academy winner’s race weekend.- Twin Ring Motegi is confirmed as the final event location for GT Academy 2012.
- An official Sony survey mentions a putative GT title for the PS Vita.
- The 2009 and 2010 GT Academy winners find themselves racing against each other at the 24 Heures du Mans. Both manage top 10 class finishes.
- After releasing distance statistics for GT Academy, Kazunori notes that in GT5’s online mode alone, players have accumulated 36.4 billion miles of racing.
- Jann Mardenborough and Alex Buncombe win the Brands Hatch round of the British GT, in the closest finish in the history of the championship – at 0.022s.
- The Twin Ring Motegi DLC is announced for GT5.
July
- GT Academy prizes are distributed to GT5 as those who completed each round are given Academy-themed bonuses.
- The GT Academy USA national finals are held, with a live broadcast hosted by GTPlanet founder Jordan Greer.
- GTPlanet is again invited to the GT Academy UK and Republic of Ireland finals at Silverstone.
- European gamers finally get their own post-Spec-2.0 release in the form of the GT Academy Edition – joining the Japanese Spec II and US market XL editions.
- With a number of GT6 rumours surfacing, GTPlanet opens a Gran Turismo 6 forum.
August
- As the GT Academy race camps get under way, some eastern European gamers are given a surprise GT Academy competition of their own.
- The German GT Academy selects a winner – but, due to an RTL reality TV show following the event, his name is not announced.
- Polyphony Digital crews are spotted for a second time this year, this time sampling some Hyundai cars in California.
- Europe’s GT Academy winner is picked – Belgium’s Wolfgang Reip.
September
- Local sources again spot Polyphony, with truck-mounted scanning equipment at Silverstone.
- A bonus competition is announced for GT Academy Edition buyers in Europe.
- GTPlanet is again given behind the scenes access to Jann Mardenborough‘s RJN team during a race at Silverstone.
- Another new GT Academy region is announced, this time in the Middle East.
- RJN Motorsport and GT Academy lend training and cars to the Mission Motorsport charity, for a 24hr race at Silverstone.
- More DLC is announced to come to GT5 in the v2.08 update.
October
- Gran Turismo is shown running at 4K resolution inside the Sony building in Tokyo.
- A strange online connectivity bug strikes GT5.
- Yet another GT Academy region is announced, this time in South Africa.
- Lucas Ordoñez drives the Nissan DeltaWing to 5th place overall at Petit Le Mans.
November
With GTPlanet in attendance, the GT Awards are held at SEMA 2012, with Kazunori and “Snoop Lion” picking a Mustang/GT40 hybrid as the ultimate winner.- Gran Turismo sales figures are updated, with GT5 selling nine million of the 67.8 million Gran Turismo titles sold.
- Screenshots surface of what appears to be a camouflaged Chevrolet C7 Corvette in GT5’s demo screens, following the v2.09 update.
- The German GT Academy champion is finally announced as Peter Pyzera.
- GT5 turns 2 – happy birthday!
- GTPlanet releases its own book – GTPEDIA: GTPlanet’s Guide to the World of Gran Turismo.
- The mysterious Corvette C7 is confirmed as free DLC.
December
Another new GT5 version is announced – Gran Turismo 5 2013 Edition – for Asian markets.- After months of racing under a pseudonym, Steven Doherty is announced as the US GT Academy champion.
- A surprising use for GT5 is revealed – rehabilitation for spinal injury patients.
- The Gran Turismo series turns 15 years old, with special prizes and events announced to mark it.
- GTPlanet hosts its annual GTPremium pancreatic cancer charity fundraiser.
With plentiful support for the game and teasers on its successor, 2012 really has been a great year for GT5. Adding in unprecedented behind the scenes access for GTPlanet and the launch of our book, it’s been a year like no other for GTPlanet. Let’s hope 2013 can live up to it!
Thank you to everyone who has supported GTPlanet this year – including our friends at SCEA and HPS Jardine. Happy New Year!
See more articles on Year in Review.
All I want from Gran Turismo in the new year is a second race car DLC pack with European TC models. The Ferrari 458, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, Audi R8, BMW Z4, and Aston Martin V12 Vantage models as made into TC is all I want, maybe a McLaren MP4-12C. Running RM/TC races are my favorite but I feel like the lack of cool cars in the category is keeping it from popularity. Right now all we really got is the Chevy Corvette RM’s, the Nissan GT-R TC, and the Mazda RX7 TC. The Subaru Impreza TC and the TVR Tuscan RM can get up that 600-ish pp range but nobody really runs them. Europe has always been the Mecca of GT racing, so adding those 5-ish TC cars, including the most important GT racer of all, the Ferrari, I feel like that is the only way GT racing will ever get popular online. That’s all I want, 5 cars we already have in the game given TC modes. It would be like a whole new aspect has been added to the game because RM/TC racing, with cars that you can personalize your with the color and number, would have about 8 cool options and people would actually run it :)
Also the new BMW M3 would be cool, just because it’s the last year of the famous M3 line. HAPPY NEW YEAR GRAN TURISMO!
I’ll vote for that.
Yeah, I think.PD is really missing a great opportunity with their TC/RM concept. We can’t tune the current line up of GT’s TCs and RMs to a specific class ie. 600hp 1200kg racers like I do with the older LM/GTS/1 models from ’97-early ’00s.
If PD would provide us with modern IMSA type “GTO/1” and “GTU/2” class racers and special events to support the series, it could spawn some really great online competition. I dabble with this concept with my ‘winged warriors’ in my HighPerformanceStreet lobby/room but they are generally too heavy and have no front downforce adjustment and I have not succeeded in garnering any interest.
Its not last year for the m3 they are still going to continue making m3 but just 4 door though and replace 2 door m3 with all new m4 its pretty confusing
Yeah I worded it wrong, it’s the last year of this M3 variant and apparently it as a 2 door I guess? Idk why they wouldnt just keep the M3 2-doors and make the M4 a 4-door. Oh well, it’s the M8 I’m looking forward to anyways, but that’s 2 or 3 years out.
As far as GT classing I agree with the weight and hp deal, and all they really need to do is let us add more ballast, without getting into the nitty-gritty. I’m kind of surprised PD hasn’t done something like make their own GT ranks, like PD1, level PD2 level, etc. They never really created any kind of GT classing. But yeah, I hope they do more for the RM / TC cars that seem forgotten about.
That and I think that the trouble stirring up interest is that when it comes to running actual race cars people identify more with the ones they would actually see on the track. The Corvette we can see and people identify with. The GT-R is the only other one you see but I think PD has made a lot of people tired of GT-R’s at this point. People run the RX-7 and it is valid but you don’t actually see that in the track. Adding a Ferrari, because Ferrari and Porsche are the first 2 that come to everybody’s mind when you think GT racing, is the most important one I think, since we obviously can’t get Porsche though I wouldn’t protest a premium RUF with a race mod. Then those other commonly seen European ones lime I mentioned before would be good because they all would be cars you would think if before the GT-R. The Corvette is kind of oar with those European ones.
Yeah id prefer the M3 as 2dr and M4 as 4dr, the M8 will hopefully go like stink
It’s all about that Gran Turismo babyyy!!!!
Happy new year to all GTPers!!
And to you too
Ah, another year well spent with GT5 and GTPlanet, sincerlly, i won´t ask much to PD for 2013 and alot of people should do the same, some have to realize that PD is probably busy making GT6, and they can´t focus all of their time in DLC and making the game even better with things like improving the car sound or converting every Standart to Premium, that would just make PD even more busy and delay GT6, as for me the only thing i ask for PD is to keep on bringing the great Seasonal Events and great times to all the players!
Have a wonderfull 2013 PD and GTplanet, and keep on bringing the fun!
Another great year with GTPlanet and GT5. Happy new year everyone
I’ve been waiting ever so patiently for this new NSX concept car to be released as DLC. Where is it?! It’s been nearly a year! D:
You and me both buddy. The NSX may be the only Japanesse car model that I really like and PD is dangeling that carrot just infront of me for way too long now, lol
I agree 100% with TokoTurismo. We absolutely NEED better engine sounds. I’ve been doing a lot of iRacing lately and the biggest disappointment when I come bak to GT5 is the engine sound. Wimpy, sewing machine sounds. The engine sounds for the V8 Supercar, Corvette C6R and Cadillac CTSV-R in iRacing are simply AWESOME. I could lose myself in GT5 for hours if it had these kind of engine sounds. The engine sound is one of the MAJOR inputs you get from playing any sim racing game.
You need to get yourself a racing rig set it up with surround attach a Buttkicker Gamer 2 and nice set of headphones. I garauntee that you will change your opinion. I have a Next Level Racing GT Extreme rig hooked up with a Logitech G27 wheel and Z506 5.1 speaks (more than ample when attached) with a BKG2 and Sennheiser HD280 Pro (these produce sounds the way the are meant to be heard as they are pro level studio cans used by producers). As close to a proper hydraulic set up but at a fraction of the price.
ahhh… Good times this year… ( ;
I’m so hyped for GT6’s rumored tracks selection, and because its going to include a large set of tracks (I hope). I excited! With GT5’s serect upgrades being known, I know for sure GT6 is going to have them. Hope everything is imporved in it though, but always got my fingers crossed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this year, and really hope next year would a blast! :D Can’t wait to hear if GT6 would be at E3 2013.
Happy new year GTP and everyone. :)
I hope you are right about an E3 announcement. PD needs to keep the hype going. In years past, competition wasn’t as tight. Now that Forza is a force to be reckoned with, the GT series needs to start blowing people’s minds. As it stands now, GT is still supreme, but with Microsoft and Turn10 doing what they do, releasing games faster and getting progressively better, PD needs to keep the pace up. I can see GT6 being the best racing game ever; but progress and marketing is key…along with listening to the gamers on what is needed and where to make improvements.
Agreed. What I want to see GT6 improve on is mostly engine sounds, since that’s one of the most important things racing games always need, and also customizing and a livery editor added in. Mostly PD needs to improve on almost everything in their next game, so they do need to start listening to their fans more and get back on track.
Don’t forget about Project CARS, next year is gonna be extreme for PD. Since 2 years has passed so far, hopfully PD has everthing prepared and done, not for prologue, but for a full game. E3 2013 is my best bet for Kaz to come out to announce GT6.
Thank you Polyphony Digital and GTPlanet for another wonderful year! We love you.
2013: Year of GT6 for PS4
(PD Please!!!)
+1
It has been a wonderfull year !!
Lets hope 2013 wil be even better !!
Best wishes for everyone !!!
If the plastation 4 is announced next year, we could see a taster of gt6! We got a preview of gt5 when the playstation 3 was announced in 2005 (although it was known as vision gran turismo at the time) my hopes are high for both playstation and the gt series next year!
Happy New Year :D
Happy New Year GTP !
Happy new year!
Every other weekend (alternating now with Horizon as opposed to FM4), I’m still playing Arcade mode. A-level difficulty with AI aggression turned up to 10, ABS at 0, full damage and 6-10 laps on hundreds of created circuits with variable weather. Despite how much I want GT6 and its Bathurst, I still just don’t seem to be getting sick of GT5 at all. Much like every single one of its predecessors, I’ll be playing it all the way up to the day of its successor.
Wow, almost a whole year with no DLC. I don’t know why I even bother having hope that PD will listen to its fans. I’d rather them be greedy as hell like forza than have them brush it off like it isn’t a big deal. Almost every other racing game gives DLC, you’d think literally the most popular racing game in the world would get the same but no
Didn’t we all get a free Corvette DLC a month or so ago?
And the GT-R N24 racecar, the BRZ and the HSV-010. Everything is being saved for GT6 it seems, which I’m perfectly okay with.
GT5 DLC in this year has been a great disappointment indeed, bearing in mind that we have only 200 premiums and at least 100 standards worth converting into premium. Probably everything is being saving for GT6 but that game will obviously be released on PS4. I don’t want to buy another console for cars that should already have been premiums in GT5. PD should give us more DLC cars (because 3/4 of cars are standards),which certainly would be reused in GT6. So if you want you might wait for GT6 and PS4 but I don’t. It would be fair if PD released about 30-40 new premiums as DLC.
^ As much as I want PD to release new DLC for GT5, they really to focus on making GT6 for the PS Omni (aka PS4). Imo of course.
need*
Useless to have hope when it comes to expecting what PD and Kaz will do next… Delayed releases, video quality that matches intro quality and Porche.
‘Standard Cars’? That was really unexpected. I have the audacity to think PD should DLC all standards as premiums before the next edition. Bet they will continue doing that. At least they gave us cockpit views for them.
Also, I don’t want to buy another console for GT6.
Money and resources is always a logical issue.
I’m keeping at least $10 bucks in my PSN wallet. I feel (and hope) that next year PD will surprise us with Spec III and a couple of new additions to the car dealership.
I know that at least the Delta Wing, the “unwrapped” C7 Corvette(<= pretty much guaranteed) and the new NSX will be a possibility. However I wish that they add some other cars that will be a true surprise to all of us.
Other than that, a few tweaks to the game would be welcomed.
Man I’ve been doing that since August, keeping moony in my PS wallet
I wonder whatever happened to that NSX Concept?
I know someone that actually has the nsx on order and with the stats. It’s the complete opposite from impressive. Because of its hybrid mix, it lost all sport car potential hp wise and torque wise. The only thing that was cool about it was the look. I went to see it at the international auto show( Detroit auto show) but that was only a prototype. Now if you look at the official design. It’s just as boring as the old nsx just with flashy lights. That’s just what I’ve seen by the stats. But when he actually gets the car ill let u know if its Gt worthy or not. Ps. I’ll also be at the reveal if the new c7 corvette on the 13th
Hmm its been a while since the nsx concept was announced, so where is it?
If the sources you speak of are true, then the NSX may not be worth the time and effort. But looking how the Polyphony team handles hybrid cars (or seeing that they are implemented in the game even as DLC), I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in GT5 or GT6 in the future. The teaser trailer is now over a year old, and no new information has been revealed in Gran Turismo since.
Oh well, we’ll be seeing the seventh generation Corvette soon! I’m also still waiting on the 2013 Viper. Can’t have a Viper+Vette rivalry without both models now, if that makes any sense! lol
I’m also kind of surprised we haven’t seen the Nissan DeltaWing in GT5 yet!
DeltaWing isnt actually owned by NISSAN. Kaz wants a DeltaWing in GTSeries in the future he will have to go to CGR (Chip Ganassi Racing) as they actually own the rights to its design.
NSX concept is rumored to be a GT6 vehicle now…Oh well.
Dont see why a Vette vs Viper rivalry is dependant on GT5 getting a 2013 model of the Viper. Not to mention, a lack of info on GT5 even getting that car in the future.
Actually Chip Ganasii’s affiliation with the deltawing was as part of a group of owners and other names from around the indycar paddock that wanted the car to be the new indycar in 2012. They obviously lost that bid to Dallara, but Chip Gamasii never owned it. Dan Gurney’s All American Racers is the group that designed and made the car, so AAR is the group they would need to tall to. Nissan has a pretty small stake in the car, about a 1×3 inch badge on the Cheverolet WTCC engine made in… Germany, not japan. The car is also built off the tub of the failed Aston Martin AMR-One. But AAR is the group that actually owns it so they would need to ask Dan Girney, idk what kind of marketing rights Nissan actually owns for it.
Heres hoping Kaz has a few more surprises for us GT players for 2013!
You forgot about the Twitter party put on by GTPlanet and Nissan during the final episode of GT Academy on Spike…featuring Trivia with great prizes.
Not alot happened this year for GT. 2011 was a better year.
Great write up. Long live Gran Turismo and GT Planet…
Nice write-up. My favourite news of 2012 GT5 wise were the photostream (yep, I actually still use it) and the DLC. Nice to read how we all were excited about new DLC coming and how the rumors went around, it feels so far behind to me now, well maybe except the C7 reveal and release, can’t believe it’s ‘only’ been a year since stuff like Route X and the Aventador were released for GT5.
Oh, and the performance difference bonus is a good sign PD are learning and listening to fans too. Came a bit late, hopefully GT6 will have race restrictions and such award bonus systems from the start.
Add “gt5 is hacked by a gtplanet member” ?
Well I wouldn’t call it hacked. He just had a look at the indivual files. Then said rightfully that he wouldn’t send things about that weren’t suppose to be. Something I think he deserves respect for.
“Hacked” sends out the wrong signals… “decrypted” or “decoded” sounds better.
He Nsx trailer and GT ACADEMY enduros we’re excellent highlights