GT Interviews Thread

TGS 2009: Interview: Gran Turismo 5's Kazunori Yamauchi

by Andrew Yoon
joystiq
Sep 28th 2009 12:19PM

During Tokyo Game Show last week we crashed Polyphony Digital's studio and chatted up Kazunori Yamauchi about ... Gran Turismo 6? Wait -- what? Just watch the interview.

Selected excerpts below:



Joystiq: Are there any plans to bring Gran Turismo PSP's "Party Mode" to GT5?

Yamauchi: I'm glad you noticed that. What we really worked hard to make the PSP portable fun and interesting is in those types of details. Obviously, these are ideas we worked hard on and they will be carried over in some form into GT5.

In Gran Turismo, with its ten years of history, the people that who good at playing the game are really, really good at playing the game. Of course, there are a lot of first-time players that want to get into the game, and it was a major theme for us to develop the game so it would be easier for them to get into it. With the party races and these game modes we've developed for the PSP, we've come to one solution for that aspect.




How long did it take to implement damage into Gran Turismo 5?

It took two months to get to where we're at. So it wasn't a matter of difficulty. It was just when we initiated it.




Why implement it now?

One was a technical curiosity as a developer. And the other is that if it will make for clean races, it's a good thing.




How realistic will damage be?

To end with the race with a crash, we can do that now. But I don't think we'll ever have serious crashes, in which the cars are just torn apart into bits or just flattened into a few inches high. Things like that are something I just don't think we'll ever do.

Damage is just one -- just a small aspect of a race. It's nothing that really needs to be focused on.




Will damage affect gameplay?

The level of damage that is affecting the cars -- because the demo is so short, you might not be able to damage the car that much in such a short amount of time. But it''s not a difficult thing to apply the physics of damage to handling and suspension and all that.

The Cologne version actually already had that implemented. Because it had a five minute playtime, I think you're able to see more of the damage affecting the cars' driving then. But the TGS demo is maybe two and a half minutes long, so you might not be able to see it as prominently.




How interested are you in the PlayStation Motion Controller?

Motion controller has infinite possibilities and the level of completion of the actual device is going to be very high just from the start. I think it's going to be very important, but as for its importance in GT, I don't think it's going to have that much of a role in the series. As for the PlayStation Eye, we're probably going to try and use it in Gran Turismo, but we can't go into details of that yet.




What are your plans for Gran Turismo 5?

GT5 is a title that was pretty much remade from scratch, but because we did that, the next version is actually going to be faster -- the time period it's going to be released. But I think when GT5 comes out, we're still going to have things that are left undone, and whether we complete that in GT6, or the next version for PSP, I'm not sure yet. I've been working very hard for the last 15 years, and I think that hard work is just going to continue.




How about a game that really teaches players how to drive?

To make something that's not just about sports driving, but teaches you how to drive safely and teaches you how to drive in traffic -- that kind of educational software, I think, is something that's very important.

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E3 2010 Gran Turismo 5 Producer Kazunori Yamauchi Exclusive Interview

by GTChannel
June 23rd 2010 (released)
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]


Comments regarding November 2nd, 2010 release date

We announced a Nov. 2nd release date at the press conference and we are very happy about it. It gives us enough time to make a Gran Turismo game which is up to par with the standards that everyone has come to expect; we’ll be able to release the game at a high quality level.



What are the new features in GT5?

We stated (?) new courses here this week at E3; city courses of Rome and Madrid, the Top Gear Test Course and the countryside course of Tuscany, Italy. They are all different in many ways and there was a great deal of effort put into accomplishing this.

We also announced the day to night transition, within the game, at E3.

We’ve had this Photo-Mode function since GT4, but this time there was extreme detail put into the cars and courses, almost too much detail. So the upgraded Photo-Mode was a feature that was absolutely necessary.



Recently you have been taking part in actual races around the world. How has that influenced your approach to creating this game?

Driving techniques can be learned from Gran Turismo, but I’ve learned that there is a completely different world of racing out there. I’ve almost fully understood what that world is about, but for now, we’re trying to install that atmosphere of motorsports into GT5.



How have the reactions been at E3 and what are your plans moving forward?

We’re going to push forward until the release date. We received positive feedback at E3, so the team, including myself, is very motivated to run strong until the finish line.

Thank you very much.

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Neal

Nice thread idea, should be a great resource. 👍

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Interview: Inside Line Talks to Kazunori Yamauchi,
Father of Gran Turismo

By Erin Riches
Edmunds Inside Line
June 2, 2009


Inside Line interviewed Kazunori Yamauchi, father of the decade-old Gran Turismo franchise, in Los Angeles after the debut of the PSP Go handheld and Gran Turismo Mobile at E3, and the release of a Gran Turismo 5 trailer. He spoke to us through his interpreter, Takayuki Nushida, also of Polyphony Digital.

Yamauchi was conspicuously mum on Gran Turismo 5 details, but spoke in some detail about Gran Turismo Mobile, which goes on sale October 1. We briefly played a Japanese version of GT Mobile, and among its 35 tracks (60 variations), you'll find the Nurburgring Nordschleife and Laguna Seca -- and, we're told, all the other tracks from GT4.



IL: Any details on when Gran Turismo 5 will be released in the U.S.?

Yamauchi: It's not decided yet.




IL: But I couldn't help but notice the NASCAR and WRC licenses in the GT5 trailer you released today at E3. Why, in particular, did you decide to add NASCAR?

Yamauchi: NASCAR is a very North American motorsport. In Japan, we're very European-oriented in terms of racing, and NASCAR has always been sort of a far existence for us -- we don't know very much about it. I actually had a chance to watch NASCAR in person a while back, and the experience was very eye-opening. We just thought that having this amazing series, including it in the Gran Turismo world, we would have WRC on one side and that would be the European angle and you would have NASCAR for the North American perspective -- that would really widen the field of the game.




IL: I also noticed the damage to the STI in the trailer, so should I take that as a hint that this will be the first Gran Turismo game that shows visible damage when people crash into a wall?

Yamauchi: Yes.




IL: How difficult is it to incorporate that into a racing simulation?

Yamauchi: It's just the order of priority. You have to get the shape of the car and the physics completely perfect to call it a simulator to begin with. Deformation was just something that's lower on the list of priorities to do for a game.




IL: Are you concerned about Forza 3 beating GT5 to market?

Yamauchi: I don't really know that much about the other games that are out.




IL: Did you have any hesitation in doing a portable version of Gran Turismo given the limitations of portable gaming systems, particularly for driving games?

Yamauchi: There were a lot of limitations involved in creating a portable version. Gran Turismo is such a huge game. Gran Turismo has 10 years of history now, and of course there are people who have played it over the years from the first series to our newest, but I thought it would be good to have a new entry point for new users into the series, and that's where this PSP version is kind of placed.




IL: What was the biggest challenge you faced in creating the portable version?

Yamauchi: Simply put, the amount of memory available on PSP is very small. To run Nurburgring on a small machine like that is really hard work.




IL: When users download GT Mobile onto their PSP Go (since it doesn't have a UMD), how much of the player's 16GB will it take up?

Yamauchi: We're making efforts so that it's not going to exceed 1 GB. Otherwise, people are just going to fall asleep and drop dead while downloading.

Scott Goryl (Sony Computer Entertainment America): GT Mobile is also going to be available on UMD for previous versions of PSP.




IL: Had you played many portable games before you started developing this? Do you even have a PSP?

Yamauchi: I actually did try a bunch of them out before we started, and my impression was that there wasn't a single racing game that was worth anything.




IL: Did you play Mario Kart for Nintendo DS?

Yamauchi (laughs): I actually kind of like Mario Kart.




IL: On the DS, where you have the wireless that allows you to play against friends who are nearby, is that how the ad hoc mode on GT Mobile works?

Yamauchi: Yes. Up to 4 players can race each other.




IL: Sixty frames per second is good. How is something like that possible on a handheld?

Yamauchi (laughs): With a lot of effort. Sixty frames per second is something we're really wanting to stick to, because otherwise, we can't call it a game -- or at least I wouldn't call it a video game.




IL: So your favorite track in the game is the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Have you driven that much yourself?

Yamauchi: I think I've had about 10 occasions there.




IL: In one of your Ford GTs?

Yamauchi: I've driven it in the Nissan GT-R, Audi TT, Mercedes C-Class and Mercedes SL.




IL: What do you think of the Nissan GT-R? Would you own one for yourself?

Yamauchi: I actually do have one. I've driven it in various conditions be it on the circuit or winding roads. One thing you really notice is that it's an unnaturally fast car -- and it's very safe and it's very fast.




IL: What color is it?

Yamauchi: Red. It's the default color of the GT-R in the version of GT Mobile you played.




IL: I want to ask you about automated manual transmissions. The GT-R has one. You have a similar transmission in the Mitsubishi Evo. The Audi R8 has R-tronic, just a single clutch, but there are an increasing number of these transmissions on the market. Does this have any implications as far as designing driving games, because it's technically a manual transmission but it functions more like an automatic. Yet, in video games, you have the choice of one or the other. Is this going to force you to rethink how you design games and actually have animation of the driver shifting with paddles?

Yamauchi: Internally, all these types of transmissions are replicated in our games. Of course, you have single- and dual-clutch versions, but the shift timing and torque application and time lag of the shift and all the gearbox characteristics are actually replicated accurately in our games. For example, in GT5 Prologue, the 2007 Ferrari F1 car uses a seamless shifter and that's simulated accurately as well.




IL: For yourself on a racetrack, do you prefer a real manual transmission or one of these automated manual gearboxes?

Yamauchi: I like the real manual shifter better. I like that rhythm you have when you're doing your own shifting.




IL: For Europe there was the GT Driving Academy organized in conjunction with GT5 Prologue, and now Microsoft and Audi are going to do something similar to promote Forza 3 -- an endurance race competition. Is that something you plan to do more of in the U.S. and Japan -- where you get the top-ranked online users and let them participate in some kind of competition and potentially let them drive on a track as well?

Yamauchi: Yeah, we do have plans to do something like that both in the U.S. and Japan.




IL: In advance of the launch of GT5?

Yamauchi: Ten years of Gran Turismo history led up to creating that successful young driver. That's something we definitely want to continue.




IL: In the 20-minute documentary that came out when GT5 Prologue was released, you said your vision for what a racing game could be was only 10-15 percent complete. Do you think you might be at 50 percent when the full version of GT5 comes out?

Yamauchi: That's probably a good figure.




IL: In the full version of GT5, do you think there will be any more distinction between U.S-specification and JDM-specification of Japanese-brand car, because for instance now if you choose to race a WRX STI, then you have a right-hand-drive car with the 2.0-liter engine that's offered in Japan (which arguably performs better), but would there ever be an option to choose a left-hand-drive model with the 2.5-liter engine that's used here?

Yamauchi: It's always a possibility that we'll do something like that, but ever since we made the transition to the PS3-based Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and beyond, one car takes so long to make. If we have a right-hand-drive and a left-hand-drive model, it might take 3 or 4 months to create each one. We just have to weigh our priorities of what we can do and can't do.




IL: What aftermarket licenses are you going to have for GT Mobile -- for tire, suspension and brake upgrades?

Yamauchi: In the PSP version, you're not going to be able to change parts and tune your car that way. We won't have specific tire and damper manufacturers.




IL: In the full version of GT5, are you going to let players choose different models and brands of tires to alter the handling characteristics of their cars and increase the realism of the game?

Yamauchi: It's very important to do that.




See more Gran Turismo Mobile screen shots at GTPlanet.

See the Gran Turismo 4 track list.

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Interview: Kazunori Yamauchi

By Tim Clark
Edge Magazine
June 4, 2009


Better late than never? It was certainly true of Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec. But with Polyphony Digital split between development of Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo PSP, both of them overdue, will history be repeated? Shortly after endorsing the newly announced PSP Go, series creator Kazunori Yamauchi spoke to Tim Clark, editor of Official PlayStation Magazine UK.



The PSP version’s been a long time coming. What challenges has it posed?


There were a lot of obstacles: the small screen, the lesser CPU power, the lower graphics processing power, and the small amount of memory. We went through and checked out a lot of the other racing games on PSP, and there’s not a single one that lives up to the Gran Turismo quality. We had to work very hard to get it to that level.




So what makes a GT game on PSP?


All of it, really – there was an unbelievable amount of material that had to make it on to this machine.






As a percentage, how much of Polyphony is working on this version, as opposed to Gran Turismo 5?


The balance varies from day to day. A lot of companies, when they make a PSP version of a game, license the development out to another company. There were times when 100 per cent of our efforts were on the PSP.




Does GT have any competition on PSP?


Like I said, there isn’t a game on there that’s up to par with any sort of racing game. I don’t think there are any competitors.




What do you think of PSP Go?


I like that it’s become very small, and the contrast and colour of the screen has improved over PSP 3000. Just to add: the proper version of GT PSP will load a lot faster than the version we have here.




How big a download will GT PSP be?


Because PSP Go content is only available as a download, our job has been to make it as compact as possible. Right now our target is to get it within a gigabyte.




And DLC?


No.




How about GT5? Is development running smoothly?


It’s going well. We could put it out at any time, or we could carry on working on it. There’s always something to polish.




How will the WRC and NASCAR licences be incorporated?


GT’s always included all different types of race styles, so it’s just a natural progression from that.




Which new cars do you think will prove the most interesting?


We’re still working on it, obviously, but merely from the cars in the E3 demo version, we have the Spec V GTR and the Ferrari Enzo.




Will there be any crossplatform interface with GT PSP?


We’re actually thinking about making the PSP garage compatible with the PS3 garage.




How are you finding the Formula One season this year?


I’m enjoying it. I think Jensen Button’s going to win. Both Lewis and Jensen are great Gran Turismo fans.




Didn’t Polyphony have a hand in the software of the Nissan GTR itself?


The multifunction meter. It’s a monitor that shows the status of the car and driving conditions. Out of the all the monitors equipped in cars these days, I think it’s one of the best.




There was also talk of Gundam having an influence…


It’s not just Nissan. I think all the cars in the world are affected by that Gundam kind of design.



Official PlayStation Magazine UK is still Twittering from the show floor at www.twitter.com/OPM_UK.

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Qore Episode 29 - October 2010
Taku Imasaki - Senior Producer, North America;
Chris Hinojosa-Miranda, Associate Producer, North America



Qore: When you’re in the middle of production, what is your day-to-day like?

Taku Imasaki: Earlier stages of the game, we’re doing a lot of research; going out, talking to car companies. Going to race events, car shows and getting latest and greatest of the American automotive industry. As North American producers, we’re the eyes and ears of our team in Tokyo, in the U.S., but once it gets later in the production, there’s a lot of approvals and submissions that we have to do with car companies. Towards the end of the game, there’s a lot of translation to do from Japanese to English. We put a lot of effort into culturalizing the game to meet local market expectations.




Qore: How do you decide what music goes into such a fast paced game?

Taku Imasaki: Yeah we always...that’s the hardest part, because everybody has different music tastes, even between me and Chris at work, we have different music tastes.

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda: You know Gran Turismo is an ever green franchise, so we definitely want to pay attention to music that’s going to be timeless. We’ve been around for a decade, so the music that we pick is not something that’s going to blow over like in the next few months, it’s something that definitely needs to stand up to history, just as the cars.




Qore: What does it take to actually model a car and get it ready for Gran Turismo?

Taku Imasaki: Well, the modeling all takes place in Tokyo, because the Polyphony team is in Tokyo, Japan. I setup the photo shoots in the U.S., especially for the U.S. cars, because they’re not available in Japan. And once we pick our cars, we usually get ahold of a nice car like this and we setup a photo shoot [speaking with interviewer in front of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG].




Qore [narrating]: After the roster is set, teams in the U.S. and Japan detail cars down to every nut and bolt, setting up photo shoots that include video and still photography of over 1000 pictures per car. The images are then brought back to Polyphony Digital in Tokyo, where the cars are then modeled in meticulous detail, most taking 3 to 6 months to complete.

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda: You’ve got an exact replica of what that car looks like in the real world. Only after that do we start figuring out, okay, what other performance aspects.

GT5 has a brand new physics engine and it’s something that we’ve been constantly evolving since the days of Gran Turismo 1.

Taku Imasaki: They physics engine is the heart of the game. Fortunately we’ve been out there for more than 10 years I guess, and during that 10 years the programmers have been nourishing that physics engine.

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda: Where we are now is that all the data that we’ve accumulated through all the lifetime of the game to really understand that this is physics in the real world. This is how it’s going to affect the car in our virtual world.

I mean, Gran Turismo’s constantly pushing the envelope in terms of technology and having a PS3 with its processing power and HDMI capability; it’s a playing field that’s really, really fun.

Taku Imasaki: The amount of data that the Playstation 3 can handle these days allows us to put a thousand cars in the game and do what we want to do. Our brilliant programmers in Japan, they make it happen. We’re at this point where we can train real life drivers to become race car drivers.




Qore [narrating]: Ready to race? For the first time you can sharpen those skills Kart racing before you risk your million dollar ride. Other new features include realistic damage modeling, customizable race courses, an upgraded B-spec mode where you can direct your own team of AI drivers, and join your friend in the 16-player online mode.

Taku Imasaki: There’s a lot of fans that think that they’re the best at the game, so with the new online feature in GT5, this will be the first chance that people will prove that they’re the best.




Qore [narrating]: In addition to these upgrades and new features, Gran Turismo 5 is racing into the 3rd dimension.

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda: When you’re driving in 3d, you do feel like you have the entire car wrapped around you, especially when you’re in the cockpit view; all the detail that we put into capturing the data is reflected in game and in 3d it’s as if you’re there and the entire thing is just wrapped around you.

Taku Imasaki: We think that it’s the next step to being closer to reality. Whether you can drive faster that way, I’m not sure, it’s all about feeling good, you know.




Qore [narrating]: In keeping with its global focus, the GT team is including some home grown American racing for the first time ever.

Taku Imasaki: In a one step further move to make Gran Turismo America friendly, we decided to reach out to NASCAR, the biggest American autosport. We had to do a lot of research, and go out to a lot of races, and go out to the teams and do a lot of studying to get that stuff in the game. We’re excited, it’s going to reach out to a new demographic and we’ll hopefully get new fans out there.




Qore: And you’ve got Jeff Gordon in the game.

Taku Imasaki: Yeah, we do. He’s going to be appearing a section in the game where he kind of teaches you to drive NASCARs.

[Jeff Gordon speaking] “Hi, I’m Jeff Gordon, professional NASCAR driver. I’m here to teach you driving skills that are unique to NASCAR racing.”

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda: NASCAR is such an important part of American racing culture, that it would not really be fair to not introduce that racing style to users worldwide.




Qore [narrating]: If you’re ready to take part in the Gran Turismo story, just get behind the wheel.

Chris Hinojosa-Miranda: The Story Mode really in Gran Turismo is how far are you willing to push yourself as a gamer.

Taku Imasaki: Our game is all about openness, freedom and we want people to create their own stories in the game, over and over again.




Qore [narrating]: It only takes a moment to see that the GT team’s attention to detail and dedication has made all the difference when the rubber hits the road, so get ready to take the wheel and drive into the future of racing games.

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Dravonic

Thanks for the qore transcript. Nothing new, but still a good read.

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scope72

Hate to interrupt your flow, but I just wanted to stop in and say this is a great idea. And I will start hunting youtube interviews when I get a chance.

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No. 29 and Rising: A conversation with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi

November 2007

He's been on the Motor Trend Power List of the 50 most influential people in the automotive industry since the list started in 2005. Last year, he was at position No. 29, ahead of such industry heavyweights as Takeo Fukui, CEO of Honda, Bill Ford, Jr., and Jay Leno.

Anyone who questions why Kazunori Yamauchi -- president of Polyphony Digital and creator of the highly successful Gran Turismo series of racing simulators -- continues to be ranked so high year-after-year need only examine his body of work, and more importantly, his plans for the future.

As he demonstrated for us last week at the 2007 SEMA show, Yamauchi is ready to take the Gran Turismo franchise to the next level. In doing so, Yamauchi will further blur the distinction between the virtual and real world, and expand the definition of what is called gaming.

GT5 Prologue, the teaser to the fifth iteration of the wildly successful PlayStation series, boasts massive improvements to the gaming experience, including:

• Photo real Hi Definition video at an output at 60 frames per second (twice the rate of broadcast TV)
• Improved artificial intelligence
• 16 competitors per race, up from six
• New tracks including Daytona Motor Speedway
• New models and manufacturers, including Ferrari

But there are other key advancements that go beyond the scope of the traditional gaming experience. Take the new GTTV feature, which is essentially a viewer that utilizes the PlayStation3 networking ability to provide car related video segments. Forget to TiVo the last episode of Top Gear? Can't find the latest Best Motoring DVD? Head to GTTV, where both of these popular automotive series, and many more, including Super GT (formerly JGTC), D1 Grand Prix drifting as well as in-house GT produced content, will be available on demand and advertisement free.

And this creative use of video doesn't stop there. Car buyers who visit virtual dealerships inside GT5 will have the opportunity to view segments on their prospective purchases. Can't decide between GT-R or the Z06? Want to see highlights of new STI before buy it, either in the game or the real world? Hit up the manufacturers in-game for a private viewing of their wares.

The key to understanding why these new features exist and how they came to fruition is that fundamentally, Yamauchi is a car fanatic of the highest order. He put in a Top Gear and Best Motoring viewer, because he likes to watch those kinds of shows. He made it possible to preview all the features of a vehicle before you buy it, because that's the kind of research he does before buying a car. He made it possible to unveil a car simultaneously in the virtual world as well as the real world, because, well, he thought it'd be cool (more on that later). Clearly, Yamauchi is a passionate car enthusiast in a position to create his own vision of automotive nirvana. But don't take my word for it, check out these highlights from our conversation:

On the Tokyo Motor Show car unveilings:

KY: "We are kind of merging the real and virtual worlds. Unveilings of the GT-R and Impreza [WRX STI] took place in real life at the motor show, and synchronized in the gaming experience. For players, before it was unveiled, it was locked. After it was unveiled - please have a go. That's one angle of the two worlds coming together. Taking that another step is our concept of the online dealership."

On track modeling:

KY: “Gran Turismo software designers typically spend at least one week at the track capturing data. Most of this is spent taking measurements, capturing hours of video, and taking up to 80,000 photos.
The team uses architectural plans and blue prints to build the track model.
Afterwards, it takes the team at least one year to graphically model the track.
Yamauchi claims the accuracy of his teams track topography is +/- 1 cm.
The Nurburgring took them a month to do, because all measurements had to be taken at night, when the road was not in use. During the day, they shot all the photos.
Yamauchi claims most car manufacturers do not have the level of information they have on certain tracks.”

On crash damage:

KY: “GT5 Prologue will not support crash damage, although it is in their future plans.
Given the time and expense they go to to make sure even the smallest details are accurate, you can understand why crash damage is such a massive undertaking. (Consider that there isn't a lot of data about crashing a Ferrari 599 at 150mph. How would you find out what the fender does, without crashing one?)
Accurate damage simulation is Yamauchi's dream.”

On what he'd like to be able to do in Gran Turismo that he can't do now:

KY: "There are many many things we'd still like to work on - that we can't get our heads around - but let's say in real life, you're driving and you hit a thunderstorm and suddenly it starts raining. And then it clears up. Sun is coming through the clouds. The car in front of you is creating a water screen and sun rays are hitting it. Not just the weather aspect, but the replication of that - you know, the waterscreen that the car in front of you creates, and the way it sparkles. Things like that."

On the new cars:

Ferrari is in.
Porsche - still not.
Lamborghini - maybe.
Formula 1 cars are still not even a remote possibility (Thanks Bernie!)

We ended our conversation with a discussion of Yamauchi's relationship with the new Nissan GT-R. As is well documented, Yamauchi is quite the car nut. He personally owns many exotic sports car, and is a big fan of the GT-R. Given his expertise, it was quite natural that the GT-R's chief engineer and product planner, Kazutoshi Mizuno, would tap him to join their R&D team to help develop the user interface of the GT-R's trick multifunction display (MFD).
Yamauchi and his team of five engineers dealt with the design and layout of only the menu system governing the vehicle dynamics aspect of the multifunction display. They were not involved with the Carwings navigation aspect, and hence, there is little integration between the two -- which is unfortunate. But, there was a lot of ground to cover - the GT-R's MFD has five modes and sixteen pages of information, covering everything from exhaust gas temperature and boost pressure, to lateral acceleration, lap times, and individual wheel traction.
Yamauchi is very proud of his involvement with the legendary GT-R. And well he should be. In fact, he has already put money down on Vibrant Red GT-R with the Premium package. He doesn't know which chassis number he will receive, but he says Nissan has told him he'll get his early -- within the first week the cars start delivery in Japan. Odds are pretty good that it will be a low chassis number too, given his connections. When the Ford GT went on sale, Yamauchi scored No. 33. When the 350Z came out in Japan, Yamauchi received chassis No. 3. You'd expect nothing less from a true car enthusiast.

Special thanks to Tsubasa Inaba for his translation skills.

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Meeting with Kazanori Yamauchi himself

29th October 2008

Hi every one.

During my trip to Japan couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to visit Polyphony Digital studio. The day I visited the studio was a non-working day for them but thanks to Sony for arranging with K.Y himself to be there just to meet with me.

There were only me and my friend, K.Y, interpreter and a couple of Sony staff. They introduced me and he congratulated me for my wining.

The guy was super cool. He is as kind as you all know him from the videos over the internet, even more, he was so humble as if he didn't do such a great thing to the gamers world.

We spend more than an hour there, and we took a tour of the studio and he explained every section of it .

After that we sit and start my Q&A as if I were investigating him.

I asked a lot of questions, maybe some questions been asked before by magazines, I think other haven't been asked before.

I really want to write everything here but I'll just stick with what’s most important info he gave me.

To be honest a lot of his answers I felt like he didn't want to expose detailed info.

-First of all I asked him about the Nürburgring, when its coming ? and what takes it so long? and I told him that a lot of people waiting for such a great track.

-K.Y simply said its gonna be in GT5

- then I said GT5!!!! Oh my God!! that’s way too far from now.

- "he laughed" and said : why are you saying that?

-Me: because of what I know is that the team still didn't think even of targeting a release date for GT5 and to be honest I don’t believe GT5 will come before 2 years which is a long time

-K.Y : “2 years hahaha, no no. don’t worry much about that its gonna be sooner than expected"

- Me : any hint about when?

K.Y: He laughed again and said soon.

-Me: how do you get the feedback from the gamers of the game ?

-K.Y: we have a staff that surfs the internet specially looking for such details, collected from reviews, forums ....etc.

-Me: is it these information taken only from Japanese gamers?

K.Y: No, we also look into Europe and the US gamers

Me: Any near update coming to GT5 Prologue?

K.Y: we just released the Spec 3 update and about future update there is for sure.

Me: is it soon?

K.Y: "smiled" we will announce it in our website before there is any update. but we will announce the information only before an update is going to be released in a couple of days like what we did in spec 3. Even GT5 will release at the same way "laughing" we will do everything as a surprise.

Me: About being able to have our own private room for racing is it coming soon? 1000's of people were hoping such a feature is coming to the last update (spec3) and I think it’s the most important feature that the game should consist. Rather than what we do now from synchronizing our watches just to meet our friends on a race (and I explained to him how)

K.Y: "laughed" that’s crazy but also that feature is coming to GT5 for sure .

Me: ok there is one question that have never been asked before, and a detail that had never been officially mentioned anywhere which is the "catch up mode" or "Boost" as GT4 stated it, some people call it "Rubber band effect" what’s the deal with that ? Everyone is annoyed of it, is there is any chance to get rid of it in the future?

K.Y: "ahhaaa" we put that feature to allow a fair race for everyone for instance, if you started in the 16th position in a rolling start at Fuji-Speedway there is no way to win the race. Also it does help but not that much, it’s only active when the gap is huge (more than 2 seconds). Also there were some events that the RBE were not active. We will only remove it completely only when there is going to be a qualifying laps to sent every on position in the starting grid. Plus only very good and professional players will like playing without it active.

Me : What does it actually do? Is more grip? Or more speed? for the left behind cars. Or less grip, speed for the leading car?

K.Y: It’s a combination of both grip and speed for both.

Then he asked me what’s your favorite track in the game?

I told him Suzuka.

Then he said ok then we'll put an event called super-professional-event where the RBE will be disabled just for you "and he smiled"

Then I asked him about Porsche and Lamborghini’s are they going to be in the game? why isn't already?

K.Y: The thing is we are working on it, because like the Porsche have some contracts with other games manufacturer, and those contracts has just ended so it’s possible for us now to negotiate.

Me: What about the damage feature? How far is it?

K.Y : That’s also coming. The negotiations are taking place already, the only problem is that some manufacturer like Porsche (NOTICE HE SAID PORSCHE, DOES THAT MEAN SOMTHING ALREADY HAPPINING) say's it’s ok to crash and total our cars we have no problem, and other manufacturer like Ferrari say's : we won't allow you to show some damage on our cars even if it’s the side view mirror damage .

Then I asked him is there is anything you can show me that have never been announced or anything new?/b]

K.Y: what would you like to see?

Me: Nürburgring maybe..!

Then we walked to the console and started it, and it started as some data base with a lot of cars names and a lot of tracks, me and my friend tried hard to look into the list, what I can say is that there were a lot of cars.

He asked me what car to chose. I said F430 then he started the game and said here you go give it a try

I was about to cry that moment, a full lap in Ferrari F430 at the Nürburgring and K.Y himself watching me .

After I finished a full lap he said wait ...... he changed something and said here you go... it’s the Le Mans track give it a try.

Everything was happening like a dream to me my mind stopped thinking what’s going on.

After I finished a full lap at Le Mans track I thanked him for his time and took a couple of pictures with him but the surprises didn't stop there.

He bring to me a Ceramic-White PlayStaion3 console and a White PSP and said "if you have some space in the airplane you can take it with you this CW PS3 model haven’t been released yet in the market (I think he mean the Japanese market)

I asked him for a signature on the PS3 and the PSP and he said yes sure

That was one day that I’ll never forget, I really had fun. He was dealing with us as a friend.

I know I missed a lot of questions I didn't mentioned here but this is what I remember and most important info.

Guys please forgive me if my English isn't that good, it’s my second spoken language so please take it easy on me about the grammar and the spelling thing.

Peace

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Exclusive Interview: Gran Turismo Creator Kazunori Yamauchi

3rd June 2009

Kazunori Yamauchi is the creator of Polyphony Digital's "Gran Turismo" franchise for the Sony PlayStation, and an icon of the video game industry. His series has bred critical acclaim, automaker involvement, multiple competitors, and countless automotive enthusiasts in a decade of existence. He's also been a regular on our annual Power List since 2005.

We caught up with Yamauchi at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles after he showed the trailer for "Gran Turismo 5" and announced another iteration of the series, bound for the PSP. The mobile "Gran Turismo," as it's called, features more than 800 cars -- Ferraris included -- 30 racetracks, and runs at a buttery 60 frames per second. The PSP's ad hoc networking function allows four gamers to race against each other, and trade and share unlocked cars.

MT: Why the mobile addition to the series?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Gran Turismo is a very large-scale game, and it took a lot of effort to pack it all into this very small piece of hardware. Now, you can play it anywhere. You can get together with your friends, race each other over the wireless connection, trade cars, and share cars.

It's sort of an entry point into the series. Over our ten years, we've gone from the very basic system to the HD Playstation 3. The advancements have been just massive. But when you get the new teenagers, just getting into cars, just getting into videogames, the latest full-scale game might be a bit too much; the hurdle might be higher for them to just jump in and start playing.

So it's like a return of the original.

The content is very different, but if you made Gran Turismo 1 in 2009, this is probably what it would look like. It's going back to the beginning, back to the basics to get new players into the series, to introduce them to cars.

When was your introduction?

Probably when I was about three. My father used to be a ceramic china salesperson. He would make deliveries in his car and take me along with him. I would be in the passenger seat and he would teach me the names of the cars driving down the street. I always had this natural connection with cars back then, and I think that's what got me started. The first car that I was given was a really old Corolla that my girlfriend gave me way back when; 1982 or something like that.

Growing up, you must've had quite a few favorites.

I still want a Ferrari 330 P4. And an original GT40. Racing cars back then [in the 1960s] are really beautiful.

Your Ford GT must be close.

I like everything about that car. I like driving it, looking at it. It's just amazing.

And your Nissan GT-R? [/b]

It's kind of unnatural, how fast it is. The GT-R is a '07 model. It's in the factory right now being upgraded to '09 specification. I'm thinking about having V Spec parts added to the car.

You're living the dreams of Gran Turismo fans.

It's sort of a mutual relationship. We're guided by users' expectations to make this type of game. We're really supported by everybody's enthusiasm and that really motivates us to continue making what we make. We want to match those expectations.

What's that process like?

The staff and I are always thinking about what can be made better, whether it's how we present the game, the system, the physics involved, or the driving feel. It's a continuous process of thought, and all the ideas that we come up with are poured into the game. It's a combination of a lot of things. We try to improve the system in its entirety.

Do you pay much attention to competition?

Not really, but we know we're monitored by everyone else.

There wouldn't be a Forza if it weren't for Gran Turismo.

At first, we're making sort of a unique game, and then all of a sudden there's all these guys making a similar game. It was actually a surprise to us. For us, it's really an honor that people are trying to do what we do.

NASCAR makes its debut in Gran Turismo 5; what led to that?

I've followed F1 since high school. But NASCAR surprised me. The range of supporters and customers is just amazing. You have people of all ages, from young people to old people. And they always fill their stands! The scale of that show is something that the European racing series don't have.

And the future?

There's no real clear target. As long as Gran Turismo fans have expectations for a game, we have to work harder.

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CES 2010: We Get a Gran Turismo 5 Update from Creator Kazunori Yamauchi

13th January 2010

Kazunori Yamauchi has a thing for all things automotive. Better yet, he has an affinity for all sorts of mechanical creations that happen to travel really damn fast. The man is the type of person that most car guys and gals aspire to be. He owns multiple exotics, tweaks his own tuner rides, regularly mingles with auto industry figures, dabbles in racing, and traverses the globe for the simple pleasure of driving the world's most enthralling machines. During his journeys, he meets plenty of equally enthusiastic and creative individuals who share in his obsession for high speeds and state-of-the-art video game technology. He's a humble individual and, as a perfectionist, strives to produce the best gaming products around.

Yamauchi-san runs Polyphony Digital, or better known as the Sony-owned firm responsible for each of the ever-popular Gran Turismo racing games. When he first established the company in 1998, he set out to translate his love for cars and motorsports into the finest virtual simulator ever created for a consumer audience. Many in multiple industries agree that he's done just that and has continued to do so throughout the four complete Gran Turismo editions.

His team's latest development, Gran Turismo 5, is on the brink of a Japanese market introduction and despite a longer-than-scheduled wait, the charismatic executive points out that it will be the best yet. As you can probably guess, perfection in the video game realm -- or close to it using today's leading tech -- takes a considerable amount of time.
We caught up with Yamauchi-san for a quick GT5 update during the busyness of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Though he wasn't allowed to disclose many sought after details, it was clear that when the time was right, he couldn't wait to reveal them.

(Thank you to Takayuki Nushida for his translation.)

Motor Trend: How far along is GT5 from completion?

Kazunori Yamauchi: It's almost done. We're at the final stages, just brushing up the finishing touches and raising the quality of everything right now.

There'll be 950 cars, 20 locations and 70 layouts. So it'll be packed.

Any EVs and hybrids included?

Yes, definitely. Prius and Tesla will be included, as well as some others in the mix.

Like the new Hondas, the CR-Z and HSV-010GT?

We're working on both cars right now, actually. The LFA too. There are plenty of cars being built as we speak.

We've heard rumors of a track editor. Any comment?

At this point, it's just a rumor. So you'll have to see. (It must be noted, he said so with a smile, leading us to believe that some sort of track editor is in the works for the new game.)

What was the reasoning behind choosing the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG as the cover car for GT5?

It just happened by chance, really. It's really luck more than anything. It was at the most opportune timing. I came across a beautiful new car and met the people making the cars over at AMG.

What's the process like?

Most of the time when we're picking cover cars, we're not actually looking for one. Again, it mostly happens by chance. This time around, we happened to make friends with AMG and when I was allowed to drive on the Nurburgring with the SLS for the first time, I came to realize what an amazing car it really is. It was just perfect for the package cover and that's how it came about.

Did you happen to record a time?

They actually had an AMG test driver driving in front of me in an SL Black Edition and they requested, "Please don't overtake him." So I couldn't really tackle it for time. But I saw him running off the track a few times, smoking the tires and kicking up dirt, struggling to best my pace. It was a really fun experience.

What are some of the features your most excited about releasing to the public?

With GT5, we're striving to redefine the racing game that we started with GT1. The game as a whole is completely new. But online functionality has to be at the top. We've worked so hard on it and we're hoping it's a hit.

Will users be able to set up car clubs and racing leagues?

Yes, they will. But I'm sorry but I can't elaborate much at this point.

Is Porsche involved in this edition?

Sadly no. There were some licensing issues.

How much will users be able to significantly tune their cars? Which type -- stock or tuned -- do you prefer?

They will be able to tune cars. It's another detail I can't disclose. But as for which type of car I prefer, I like both very much. I have both stock and fully modified cars in my garage.

Speaking of your cars, is your GT-R back from Nissan?

Yep. It's been fully upgraded to 2009 specifications with a few SpecV parts included here and there for a custom feel to it.

You're a very busy man nowadays. How often do you drive your personal cars?

You're right. Sadly, not that much. I find that nowadays time is hard to find, especially with GT5 culminating and also since I've recently started racing regularly last year. But that said, I do drive quite a bit. I try to get into every new car that's released in Japan.

Will you pursue racing as more than just a hobby?

Of course, I have no ambitions to become a professional driver. Racing is very segmented into levels with a clear career path. Like me, not every racer strives to be an F1 ace. I simply race to race and become a better driver on a particular circuit.

For me, racing is treated more like pastime. It's something that I can go do every weekend. I'm fortunate enough to treat it much like golf. Everything I learn on track also feeds back directly into Gran Turismo.

Racecar versus a tuned car.

A racing car is purpose built for a particular setting. You're more at one with the machine than you could ever be in a tuned or production car. That's one of the beauties of racing. Again, we're striving hard to communicate these differences in GT5.

Any favorite racing series?

I have no set favorite. If it has wheels and goes fast, I'll watch it.

That sounds like all of us here at MT. How about a certain driver?

Well, that depends on the series. For Formula 1, it has to be Ayrton Senna. In WRC, it's Sebastien Loeb. He's a great friend of mine -- a really good guy. We hang out quite often.

For North American racing, my pick would have to be Jeff Gordon. I once attended an event where I was his passenger in a rally car, and man, the guy can really slide!

So he's a pretty well-rounded driver then.

Definitely. His car control was more than impressive.

Favorite U.S. track?

While I haven't raced in the U.S. much, I have competed on Thunder Hill. I like that track very much. Other favorites are Laguna Seca and Sears Point.

Tracks in the U.S. are vastly different than they are in Europe or Japan. There are many more elevation changes, reverse banks, and sharp switchbacks. I'm a big fan of them.

One car that you haven't yet driven, but would love to.

McLaren F1 hands-down. The new Tesla S too.

Some of our readers would like to know about in-game weather changes and skidmarks. Will they be included?

I'm hoping our players won't be caught up with minor details. If they pick at every little thing, nobody will be satisfied. It's the overall evolution that will impress. Skidmarks should be of no concern. (He says with a laugh).

What's your opinion of 3D gaming?

The technology has come far, but it's still in need of major developments. Once it's up to par, it will be great. The GT series will be right there ready to adopt it.

You're a well-known perfectionist. Will it ever stop? Is GT6 being worked on?

GT5 will come to an end somewhere -- we've been working on it for five years since GT4. What's to come after that we can only see once GT5 is out.

GT5 is completely different from GT5 Prologue and GT PSP. It's something completely new. It's really got our soul in it.

Are you headed to this weekend's Tokyo Auto Salon?

Yes, my team and I will be there. We're planning to have one of the biggest GT5 displays we've ever built. There will be more manufacturer agreements announced there as well. It'll be a great show for us.

And lastly, when's it going to be released?

March 2010 is still the target release date for the Japanese market. As for North America, nothing has been set.

We can't wait.

(EDIT: Sony Entertainment Inc. in Japan announced today another postponement of Gran Turismo 5. As of January 13, 2010, the anticipated Japanese market release date is indefinite, as is the North American debut.

Our source at Sony Computer Entertainment America stated the delay is a result of "further testing and development.")

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Interview with Shuhei Yoshida (President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios)

15th June 2010

Q: What can we look forward to when Gran Turismo 5 releases on PlayStation 3?

SY: Gran Turismo 5 will offer gamers an experience more rich, more in-depth and more exciting than they might expect - even from a series as closely identified with innovation and invention as Gran Turismo. Not only will Gran Turismo 5 deliver an even more comprehensive set of cars and courses than gamers saw with previous iterations, it will also feature new game-enhacing graphical effects such as damage, night racing and weather.

These innovations are twinned with the option to join millions of like-minded individuals globally within the Gran Turismo community and to find a driving experience to suit, whether that is taking on the Top Gear test track, chucking cars around stunt arenas, go-karting, creating and sharing your own track or intense head-to-head races. Who, where and what to drive is completely down to the individual.

This time around Gran Turismo is likely not just to be the definitive driving experience but a definitive gaming experience full stop.

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Gran Turismo 5: Reality Bites

16th September 2010

With Gran Turismo 5's launch date set for November 2, the long wait for millions of gamers will soon be over. While many will be looking forward to the upgraded graphics and physics of the game, many more will be wondering one thing: Just how real is GT5?

The answer? So real that it perfectly mirrors actual racing. Now that may sound like a tall order, but in a world exclusive, we co-drove with Yamauchi in this year's Nürburgring 24-hour race and witnessed him prove beyond a sliver of doubt that performances in the game are attainable in real-world racing.

Driving a virtual near race-spec Lexus IS F in a just-completed GT5 version of the Nürburgring full 24-hour race course (a world-first and highlight of the new game), which links the legendary Nordschleife (north loop) to the F1 GP track, Yamauchi did two qualifying laps. One, at 100 percent "game" speed, pushed the IS F to its limits and beyond on some corners. His time? Try 9 minutes 38 seconds.

"In the game," explains Yamauchi, "you have the luxury of being able to push the car to 100 percent, and not worry about going off. But in the real world, you must tone that down to somewhere around 95 percent, so that you retain a small margin for error. You must remember that you are racing against REAL cars at speeds topping 150mph with REAL hazards and REAL guard rails." So on his second GT5 qualifying lap, he drove as if he was qualifying for the real world, and posted a time of 9 minutes 48 seconds.

During the actual Nürburgring 24-hour race on the following day, behind the wheel of the World Car Awards' Lexus IS F race car, Yamauchi posted a fastest lap time of... you guessed it: 9 minutes 48 seconds, an unbelievable feat that had us all doing a double-take. His performance shows GT5 is as close to real world racing as you can get, without actually jumping into a real race car.

For the record, this writer, who co-drove with Yamauchi and cut his Nürburgring teeth on GT4, posted a game lap time of 9 minutes 55 seconds, and got within 5 seconds of that time in the real race, an event that is almost impossible to get a clean lap.

GT5 under the microscope

So what is GT5 all about? What were the challenges in creating the fifth edition? We caught up with Yamauchi at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show to find out.

When Gran Turismo debuted back in 1997, it came with the catchphrase "The Real Driving Simulator." And in the four editions since then, GT's "as-close-as-you-can-get-to-real-driving" thrills have changed the face of driving games, racking up over 56 million sales worldwide.

Now, after a long (some might say way too long) six-year gestation period, Gran Turismo 5 is finally here. And having test driven the game, we can safely say that the all-new version will once again totally and radically redefine the genre, boasting industry-leading graphics, state-of-the-art physics and a driving experience that is as close to the real thing as possible.

But up until now, we've only been able to bring you snippets of information about the incredible developments in GT5. However, the covers finally came off on September 16, when game creator Kazunori Yamauchi revealed specifications at the Tokyo Game Show at Makuhari Messe, 30 minutes east of Tokyo. In an exclusive interview, the enthusiastic producer let us in on some of the behind-the-scenes creative challenges.
"GT5 was a very complex project, something I liken to the Apollo Project. It took 6 years, but we are very close to launch now," said Yamauchi. Costing 50 times more to develop than the original Gran Turismo of 1997, GT5's budget was disclosed at $60 million. And that's no wonder when you consider that Polyphony Digital (the company that makes GT) had 150 staff across the globe working on the game for more than half a decade.

But the biggest change in GT was the switch in the media platform explains Yamauchi. "In the six years it took to develop GT5, digital media made significant advances with the biggest change being in TVs, which transformed from SD to HD. That means that TVs can now process six times more information as well as being compatible to online games."

"And that was one of our biggest challenges," he acknowledges, "time. It's important to understand that one race track takes two years to develop, while each car takes around six months to create."

Yamauchi's decision to compete in a real race at Nürburgring comes from his passion for cars and racing, but more so from his firm belief that the Gran Turismo series mirrors the real world, and that skills attained in the game are 'transferable' to real life racing. But while his game and real world lap times might be identical, he told us that there were things he noticed on the real track that could be added and amended on the current game.

"It was only when I launched the IS F over the Nürburgring numerous jumping spots (in the real race) that I realized the landing areas were not all flat, as I originally thought in the game," he says. "Some landing patches are sloped to the left, some to the right. This is just one of the many challenges of the track, and amendments I will make to the game. As I pushed the car around the 15.5-mile track, I also realized that some details were different. Some trees which drivers use for cornering or braking markers were not quite in the right place, while some small buildings need to be adjusted too."

But what Yamauchi and his team have created is sensational, and will take the gaming industry by storm. Here are some of GT5's highlights:

In addition to incorporating 3D racing for the first time, it will offer over 1000 cars split between 200 premium and 800 standard cars, and Lamborghini and Bugatti make their first appearance.

Gamers may choose from over 60 circuits including the newly added Tuscany, Madrid, Rome and Indianapolis tracks.
On the new and much talked about Top Gear airstrip course layout, you will be able to trade lap times with the BBC show's resident racer in the Stig Challenge, and even show Tom Cruise how to corner with four wheels on the ground in the "Reasonably Priced Car," although the Hollywood star does not appear in the game.

In a surprising development, you will not only be able to drive NASCAR racers on their home territory against well-known drivers in the Jeff Gordon NASCAR School, but you will also be able to take them onto the Nürburgring. "Initially, I didn't think it would work that well," Yamauchi confesses, "but when I took Jeff Gordon's car onto the Nürburgring, it performed extremely well and was a blast to drive. You have to try it," he beams.

Other firsts for Gran Turismo 5 include night racing in varying weather conditions, karting, vehicle damage rendering (in three stages), vintage Le Mans racing between Ford, Ferrari and Jaguar, and rally driver instruction by world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who makes a special appearance in the game.

Employing his real life experience as part of a racing team charged with creating the most competitive Lexus IS F race car possible, Yamauchi joined ex-Indy racer Hideshi Matsuda, British driver Owen Mildenhall, this writer and Toyota Europe to develop a machine that boasted sufficient down force and high speed cornering stability. His relief when the rear suspension was adjusted to a setting he recommended and his beaming smile when an ex-Toyota F1 rear wing was fitted were moments that stand out in my memory.

At the same time he was secretly developing the ultimate race car for GT5, appropriately titled Project X1 Prototype. Developed with the Red Bull F1 team and with Red Bull's design genius Adrian Newey as technical advisor, it was borne out of a simple Yamauchi question: What would a racing car, freed of all technical regulations, look like?

"We pushed the boundaries of what's possible to come up with the fastest race car on the planet," teases Yamauchi, who gave us a split second, abstract glimpse of the car. All I can tell you it has a shape that conjures up something between a Le Mans race car and an F1 machine. We'll have to wait until early November to see the full picture.

Apart from being able to choose between three new Nürburgring settings -- the Nordschleife, the F1 Nürburgring track and the full 24-hour race track (a combination of the two), the track and course side structures have been recreated in even more detail than GT4, and with all of the track's wild graffiti to near-perfect reality.

To mirror reality is the goal of GT5, and so designers have incorporated plumes of grey tire smoke, sparks and cone that fly when hit by over-zealous drivers. Go off and you will not only notice more realistic tire-over-apex sounds, but dust and leaves are now thrown into the air as you slide across grass and gravel, fighting to get back onto the track. Once your tires make it back onto the asphalt, it will take several corners to regain full tire grip, yet another trait that mirrors real driving.

GT5 also sets new standards in visual effects and dynamic lighting and is the first game to realistically recreate the passage of time. "It will be possible to start a race in broad daylight and finish after the sun has set," explains Yamauchi. And you will be able to drive at night for the first time using either low or high beam headlights.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

In the actual Nürburgring 24-hour race we placed fourth in class and 59th overall, out of 196 starters. Up against class rivals including two works Lexus LFAs, four Aston Martins including a Rapide and V12 Vantage, an R8 and a Corvette, "fourth was a very good result" for the World Car Awards team stresses Yamauchi. And with a trophy, plus a special clerk of the course trophy for "Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Motor Sport," Yamauchi left the German track with plenty to digest, and loads of real world experience to feed into the next edition of Gran Turismo...

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Neal

Motor Trend - No. 29 and Rising: A conversation with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi
http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/112_0711_kazunori_yamauchi_gran_turismo_5/index.html

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No. 29 and Rising: A conversation
with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi

By Edward Loh
Motor Trend
November 2007



He's been on the Motor Trend Power List of the 50 most influential people in the automotive industry since the list started in 2005. Last year, he was at position No. 29, ahead of such industry heavyweights as Takeo Fukui, CEO of Honda, Bill Ford, Jr., and Jay Leno.

Anyone who questions why Kazunori Yamauchi -- president of Polyphony Digital and creator of the highly successful Gran Turismo series of racing simulators -- continues to be ranked so high year-after-year need only examine his body of work, and more importantly, his plans for the future.

As he demonstrated for us last week at the 2007 SEMA show, Yamauchi is ready to take the Gran Turismo franchise to the next level. In doing so, Yamauchi will further blur the distinction between the virtual and real world, and expand the definition of what is called gaming.

GT5 Prologue, the teaser to the fifth iteration of the wildly successful PlayStation series, boasts massive improvements to the gaming experience, including:

• Photo real Hi Definition video at an output at 60 frames per second (twice the rate of broadcast TV)
• Improved artificial intelligence
• 16 competitors per race, up from six
• New tracks including Daytona Motor Speedway
• New models and manufacturers, including Ferrari

But there are other key advancements that go beyond the scope of the traditional gaming experience. Take the new GTTV feature, which is essentially a viewer that utilizes the PlayStation3 networking ability to provide car related video segments. Forget to TiVo the last episode of Top Gear? Can't find the latest Best Motoring DVD? Head to GTTV, where both of these popular automotive series, and many more, including Super GT (formerly JGTC), D1 Grand Prix drifting as well as in-house GT produced content, will be available on demand and advertisement free.

And this creative use of video doesn't stop there. Car buyers who visit virtual dealerships inside GT5 will have the opportunity to view segments on their prospective purchases. Can't decide between GT-R or the Z06? Want to see highlights of new STI before buy it, either in the game or the real world? Hit up the manufacturers in-game for a private viewing of their wares.

The key to understanding why these new features exist and how they came to fruition is that fundamentally, Yamauchi is a car fanatic of the highest order. He put in a Top Gear and Best Motoring viewer, because he likes to watch those kinds of shows. He made it possible to preview all the features of a vehicle before you buy it, because that's the kind of research he does before buying a car. He made it possible to unveil a car simultaneously in the virtual world as well as the real world, because, well, he thought it'd be cool (more on that later). Clearly, Yamauchi is a passionate car enthusiast in a position to create his own vision of automotive nirvana. But don't take my word for it, check out these highlights from our conversation:

On the Tokyo Motor Show car unveilings:

KY: "We are kind of merging the real and virtual worlds. Unveilings of the GT-R and Impreza [WRX STI] took place in real life at the motor show, and synchronized in the gaming experience. For players, before it was unveiled, it was locked. After it was unveiled - please have a go. That's one angle of the two worlds coming together. Taking that another step is our concept of the online dealership."

On track modeling:

KY: “Gran Turismo software designers typically spend at least one week at the track capturing data. Most of this is spent taking measurements, capturing hours of video, and taking up to 80,000 photos.
The team uses architectural plans and blue prints to build the track model.
Afterwards, it takes the team at least one year to graphically model the track.
Yamauchi claims the accuracy of his teams track topography is +/- 1 cm.
The Nurburgring took them a month to do, because all measurements had to be taken at night, when the road was not in use. During the day, they shot all the photos.
Yamauchi claims most car manufacturers do not have the level of information they have on certain tracks.”

On crash damage:

KY: “GT5 Prologue will not support crash damage, although it is in their future plans.
Given the time and expense they go to to make sure even the smallest details are accurate, you can understand why crash damage is such a massive undertaking. (Consider that there isn't a lot of data about crashing a Ferrari 599 at 150mph. How would you find out what the fender does, without crashing one?)
Accurate damage simulation is Yamauchi's dream.”

On what he'd like to be able to do in Gran Turismo that he can't do now:

KY: "There are many many things we'd still like to work on - that we can't get our heads around - but let's say in real life, you're driving and you hit a thunderstorm and suddenly it starts raining. And then it clears up. Sun is coming through the clouds. The car in front of you is creating a water screen and sun rays are hitting it. Not just the weather aspect, but the replication of that - you know, the waterscreen that the car in front of you creates, and the way it sparkles. Things like that."

On the new cars:

Ferrari is in.
Porsche - still not.
Lamborghini - maybe.
Formula 1 cars are still not even a remote possibility (Thanks Bernie!)

We ended our conversation with a discussion of Yamauchi's relationship with the new Nissan GT-R. As is well documented, Yamauchi is quite the car nut. He personally owns many exotic sports car, and is a big fan of the GT-R. Given his expertise, it was quite natural that the GT-R's chief engineer and product planner, Kazutoshi Mizuno, would tap him to join their R&D team to help develop the user interface of the GT-R's trick multifunction display (MFD).
Yamauchi and his team of five engineers dealt with the design and layout of only the menu system governing the vehicle dynamics aspect of the multifunction display. They were not involved with the Carwings navigation aspect, and hence, there is little integration between the two -- which is unfortunate. But, there was a lot of ground to cover - the GT-R's MFD has five modes and sixteen pages of information, covering everything from exhaust gas temperature and boost pressure, to lateral acceleration, lap times, and individual wheel traction.
Yamauchi is very proud of his involvement with the legendary GT-R. And well he should be. In fact, he has already put money down on Vibrant Red GT-R with the Premium package. He doesn't know which chassis number he will receive, but he says Nissan has told him he'll get his early -- within the first week the cars start delivery in Japan. Odds are pretty good that it will be a low chassis number too, given his connections. When the Ford GT went on sale, Yamauchi scored No. 33. When the 350Z came out in Japan, Yamauchi received chassis No. 3. You'd expect nothing less from a true car enthusiast.

Special thanks to Tsubasa Inaba for his translation skills.

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Neal

Kazunori Yamauchi’s Best Interview, Ever – Interview by GTPlanet member Ahmed Al Azmi with Kazunori Yamauchi
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=111878

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Meeting with Kazanori Yamauchi himself

Ahmad Al Azmi (Ahmed El Azmi) (super_fla)
GTPlanet
29th October 2008



Hi every one.

During my trip to Japan couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to visit Polyphony Digital studio. The day I visited the studio was a non-working day for them but thanks to Sony for arranging with K.Y himself to be there just to meet with me.

There were only me and my friend, K.Y, interpreter and a couple of Sony staff. They introduced me and he congratulated me for my wining.

The guy was super cool. He is as kind as you all know him from the videos over the internet, even more, he was so humble as if he didn't do such a great thing to the gamers world.

We spend more than an hour there, and we took a tour of the studio and he explained every section of it .

After that we sit and start my Q&A as if I were investigating him.

I asked a lot of questions, maybe some questions been asked before by magazines, I think other haven't been asked before.

I really want to write everything here but I'll just stick with what’s most important info he gave me.

To be honest a lot of his answers I felt like he didn't want to expose detailed info.




-First of all I asked him about the Nürburgring, when its coming ? and what takes it so long? and I told him that a lot of people waiting for such a great track.

-K.Y simply said its gonna be in GT5




- Then I said GT5!!!! Oh my God!! that’s way too far from now.

- "He laughed" and said : why are you saying that?




-Me: Because of what I know is that the team still didn't think even of targeting a release date for GT5 and to be honest I don’t believe GT5 will come before 2 years which is a long time

-K.Y : “2 years hahaha, no no. don’t worry much about that its gonna be sooner than expected"




- Me : Any hint about when?

K.Y: He laughed again and said soon.




-Me: How do you get the feedback from the gamers of the game ?

-K.Y: We have a staff that surfs the internet specially looking for such details, collected from reviews, forums ....etc.




-Me: Is it these information taken only from Japanese gamers?

K.Y: No, we also look into Europe and the US gamers




Me: Any near update coming to GT5 Prologue?

K.Y: We just released the Spec 3 update and about future update there is for sure.




Me: Is it soon?

K.Y: "Smiled" we will announce it in our website before there is any update. but we will announce the information only before an update is going to be released in a couple of days like what we did in spec 3. Even GT5 will release at the same way "laughing" we will do everything as a surprise.




Me: About being able to have our own private room for racing is it coming soon? 1000's of people were hoping such a feature is coming to the last update (spec3) and I think it’s the most important feature that the game should consist. Rather than what we do now from synchronizing our watches just to meet our friends on a race (and I explained to him how)

K.Y: "Laughed" that’s crazy but also that feature is coming to GT5 for sure .




Me: Ok there is one question that have never been asked before, and a detail that had never been officially mentioned anywhere which is the "catch up mode" or "Boost" as GT4 stated it, some people call it "Rubber band effect" what’s the deal with that ? Everyone is annoyed of it, is there is any chance to get rid of it in the future?

K.Y: "Ahhaaa" we put that feature to allow a fair race for everyone for instance, if you started in the 16th position in a rolling start at Fuji-Speedway there is no way to win the race. Also it does help but not that much, it’s only active when the gap is huge (more than 2 seconds). Also there were some events that the RBE were not active. We will only remove it completely only when there is going to be a qualifying laps to sent every on position in the starting grid. Plus only very good and professional players will like playing without it active.




Me : What does it actually do? Is more grip? Or more speed? for the left behind cars. Or less grip, speed for the leading car?

K.Y: It’s a combination of both grip and speed for both.




Then he asked me what’s your favorite track in the game?

I told him Suzuka.

Then he said ok then we'll put an event called super-professional-event where the RBE will be disabled just for you "and he smiled"




Then I asked him about Porsche and Lamborghini’s are they going to be in the game? Why isn't already?

K.Y: The thing is we are working on it, because like the Porsche have some contracts with other games manufacturer, and those contracts has just ended so it’s possible for us now to negotiate.




Me: What about the damage feature? How far is it?

K.Y : That’s also coming. The negotiations are taking place already, the only problem is that some manufacturer like Porsche (NOTICE HE SAID PORSCHE, DOES THAT MEAN SOMTHING ALREADY HAPPINING) say's it’s ok to crash and total our cars we have no problem, and other manufacturer like Ferrari say's : we won't allow you to show some damage on our cars even if it’s the side view mirror damage .




Then I asked him is there is anything you can show me that have never been announced or anything new?

K.Y: What would you like to see?




Me: Nürburgring maybe..!

Then we walked to the console and started it, and it started as some data base with a lot of cars names and a lot of tracks, me and my friend tried hard to look into the list, what I can say is that there were a lot of cars.

He asked me what car to chose. I said F430 then he started the game and said here you go give it a try

I was about to cry that moment, a full lap in Ferrari F430 at the Nürburgring and K.Y himself watching me .

After I finished a full lap he said wait ...... he changed something and said here you go... it’s the Le Mans track give it a try.

Everything was happening like a dream to me my mind stopped thinking what’s going on.

After I finished a full lap at Le Mans track I thanked him for his time and took a couple of pictures with him but the surprises didn't stop there.

He bring to me a Ceramic-White PlayStaion3 console and a White PSP and said "if you have some space in the airplane you can take it with you this CW PS3 model haven’t been released yet in the market (I think he mean the Japanese market)

I asked him for a signature on the PS3 and the PSP and he said yes sure




That was one day that I’ll never forget, I really had fun. He was dealing with us as a friend.

I know I missed a lot of questions I didn't mentioned here but this is what I remember and most important info.

Guys please forgive me if my English isn't that good, it’s my second spoken language so please take it easy on me about the grammar and the spelling thing.

Peace

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Neal

Motor Trend – Exclusive Interview: Gran Turismo Creator Kazunori Yamauchi
http://wot.motortrend.com/6549875/a...-turismo-creator-kazunori-yamauchi/index.html

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Exclusive Interview: Gran Turismo Creator Kazunori Yamauchi

by Carlos Lago
Motor Trend
3rd June 2009


Kazunori Yamauchi is the creator of Polyphony Digital's "Gran Turismo" franchise for the Sony PlayStation, and an icon of the video game industry. His series has bred critical acclaim, automaker involvement, multiple competitors, and countless automotive enthusiasts in a decade of existence. He's also been a regular on our annual Power List since 2005.

We caught up with Yamauchi at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles after he showed the trailer for "Gran Turismo 5" and announced another iteration of the series, bound for the PSP. The mobile "Gran Turismo," as it's called, features more than 800 cars -- Ferraris included -- 30 racetracks, and runs at a buttery 60 frames per second. The PSP's ad hoc networking function allows four gamers to race against each other, and trade and share unlocked cars.



MT: Why the mobile addition to the series?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Gran Turismo is a very large-scale game, and it took a lot of effort to pack it all into this very small piece of hardware. Now, you can play it anywhere. You can get together with your friends, race each other over the wireless connection, trade cars, and share cars.

It's sort of an entry point into the series. Over our ten years, we've gone from the very basic system to the HD Playstation 3. The advancements have been just massive. But when you get the new teenagers, just getting into cars, just getting into videogames, the latest full-scale game might be a bit too much; the hurdle might be higher for them to just jump in and start playing.




So it's like a return of the original.

The content is very different, but if you made Gran Turismo 1 in 2009, this is probably what it would look like. It's going back to the beginning, back to the basics to get new players into the series, to introduce them to cars.




When was your introduction?

Probably when I was about three. My father used to be a ceramic china salesperson. He would make deliveries in his car and take me along with him. I would be in the passenger seat and he would teach me the names of the cars driving down the street. I always had this natural connection with cars back then, and I think that's what got me started. The first car that I was given was a really old Corolla that my girlfriend gave me way back when; 1982 or something like that.




Growing up, you must've had quite a few favorites.

I still want a Ferrari 330 P4. And an original GT40. Racing cars back then [in the 1960s] are really beautiful.




Your Ford GT must be close.

I like everything about that car. I like driving it, looking at it. It's just amazing.




And your Nissan GT-R?

It's kind of unnatural, how fast it is. The GT-R is a '07 model. It's in the factory right now being upgraded to '09 specification. I'm thinking about having V Spec parts added to the car.




You're living the dreams of Gran Turismo fans.

It's sort of a mutual relationship. We're guided by users' expectations to make this type of game. We're really supported by everybody's enthusiasm and that really motivates us to continue making what we make. We want to match those expectations.




What's that process like?

The staff and I are always thinking about what can be made better, whether it's how we present the game, the system, the physics involved, or the driving feel. It's a continuous process of thought, and all the ideas that we come up with are poured into the game. It's a combination of a lot of things. We try to improve the system in its entirety.




Do you pay much attention to competition?

Not really, but we know we're monitored by everyone else.




There wouldn't be a Forza if it weren't for Gran Turismo.

At first, we're making sort of a unique game, and then all of a sudden there's all these guys making a similar game. It was actually a surprise to us. For us, it's really an honor that people are trying to do what we do.




NASCAR makes its debut in Gran Turismo 5; what led to that?

I've followed F1 since high school. But NASCAR surprised me. The range of supporters and customers is just amazing. You have people of all ages, from young people to old people. And they always fill their stands! The scale of that show is something that the European racing series don't have.




And the future?

There's no real clear target. As long as Gran Turismo fans have expectations for a game, we have to work harder.

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Neal

Motor Trend – CES 2010: We Get a Gran Turismo 5 Update from Creator Kazunori Yamauchi
http://wot.motortrend.com/6629343/e...ate-from-creator-kazunori-yamauchi/index.html

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CES 2010: We Get a Gran Turismo 5 Update from Creator Kazunori Yamauchi

by Nate Martinez
Motor Trend
13th January 2010

Kazunori Yamauchi has a thing for all things automotive. Better yet, he has an affinity for all sorts of mechanical creations that happen to travel really damn fast. The man is the type of person that most car guys and gals aspire to be. He owns multiple exotics, tweaks his own tuner rides, regularly mingles with auto industry figures, dabbles in racing, and traverses the globe for the simple pleasure of driving the world's most enthralling machines. During his journeys, he meets plenty of equally enthusiastic and creative individuals who share in his obsession for high speeds and state-of-the-art video game technology. He's a humble individual and, as a perfectionist, strives to produce the best gaming products around.

Yamauchi-san runs Polyphony Digital, or better known as the Sony-owned firm responsible for each of the ever-popular Gran Turismo racing games. When he first established the company in 1998, he set out to translate his love for cars and motorsports into the finest virtual simulator ever created for a consumer audience. Many in multiple industries agree that he's done just that and has continued to do so throughout the four complete Gran Turismo editions.

His team's latest development, Gran Turismo 5, is on the brink of a Japanese market introduction and despite a longer-than-scheduled wait, the charismatic executive points out that it will be the best yet. As you can probably guess, perfection in the video game realm -- or close to it using today's leading tech -- takes a considerable amount of time.
We caught up with Yamauchi-san for a quick GT5 update during the busyness of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Though he wasn't allowed to disclose many sought after details, it was clear that when the time was right, he couldn't wait to reveal them.


(Thank you to Takayuki Nushida for his translation.)




Motor Trend: How far along is GT5 from completion?

Kazunori Yamauchi: It's almost done. We're at the final stages, just brushing up the finishing touches and raising the quality of everything right now.

There'll be 950 cars, 20 locations and 70 layouts. So it'll be packed.




Any EVs and hybrids included?

Yes, definitely. Prius and Tesla will be included, as well as some others in the mix.




Like the new Hondas, the CR-Z and HSV-010GT?

We're working on both cars right now, actually. The LFA too. There are plenty of cars being built as we speak.




We've heard rumors of a track editor. Any comment?

At this point, it's just a rumor. So you'll have to see. (It must be noted, he said so with a smile, leading us to believe that some sort of track editor is in the works for the new game.)




What was the reasoning behind choosing the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG as the cover car for GT5?

It just happened by chance, really. It's really luck more than anything. It was at the most opportune timing. I came across a beautiful new car and met the people making the cars over at AMG.




What's the process like?

Most of the time when we're picking cover cars, we're not actually looking for one. Again, it mostly happens by chance. This time around, we happened to make friends with AMG and when I was allowed to drive on the Nurburgring with the SLS for the first time, I came to realize what an amazing car it really is. It was just perfect for the package cover and that's how it came about.




Did you happen to record a time?

They actually had an AMG test driver driving in front of me in an SL Black Edition and they requested, "Please don't overtake him." So I couldn't really tackle it for time. But I saw him running off the track a few times, smoking the tires and kicking up dirt, struggling to best my pace. It was a really fun experience.




What are some of the features your most excited about releasing to the public?

With GT5, we're striving to redefine the racing game that we started with GT1. The game as a whole is completely new. But online functionality has to be at the top. We've worked so hard on it and we're hoping it's a hit.




Will users be able to set up car clubs and racing leagues?

Yes, they will. But I'm sorry but I can't elaborate much at this point.




Is Porsche involved in this edition?

Sadly no. There were some licensing issues.




How much will users be able to significantly tune their cars? Which type -- stock or tuned -- do you prefer?

They will be able to tune cars. It's another detail I can't disclose. But as for which type of car I prefer, I like both very much. I have both stock and fully modified cars in my garage.




Speaking of your cars, is your GT-R back from Nissan?

Yep. It's been fully upgraded to 2009 specifications with a few SpecV parts included here and there for a custom feel to it.




You're a very busy man nowadays. How often do you drive your personal cars?

You're right. Sadly, not that much. I find that nowadays time is hard to find, especially with GT5 culminating and also since I've recently started racing regularly last year. But that said, I do drive quite a bit. I try to get into every new car that's released in Japan.




Will you pursue racing as more than just a hobby?

Of course, I have no ambitions to become a professional driver. Racing is very segmented into levels with a clear career path. Like me, not every racer strives to be an F1 ace. I simply race to race and become a better driver on a particular circuit.

For me, racing is treated more like pastime. It's something that I can go do every weekend. I'm fortunate enough to treat it much like golf. Everything I learn on track also feeds back directly into Gran Turismo.




Racecar versus a tuned car.

A racing car is purpose built for a particular setting. You're more at one with the machine than you could ever be in a tuned or production car. That's one of the beauties of racing. Again, we're striving hard to communicate these differences in GT5.




Any favorite racing series?

I have no set favorite. If it has wheels and goes fast, I'll watch it.




That sounds like all of us here at MT. How about a certain driver?

Well, that depends on the series. For Formula 1, it has to be Ayrton Senna. In WRC, it's Sebastien Loeb. He's a great friend of mine -- a really good guy. We hang out quite often.

For North American racing, my pick would have to be Jeff Gordon. I once attended an event where I was his passenger in a rally car, and man, the guy can really slide!




So he's a pretty well-rounded driver then.

Definitely. His car control was more than impressive.




Favorite U.S. track?

While I haven't raced in the U.S. much, I have competed on Thunder Hill. I like that track very much. Other favorites are Laguna Seca and Sears Point.

Tracks in the U.S. are vastly different than they are in Europe or Japan. There are many more elevation changes, reverse banks, and sharp switchbacks. I'm a big fan of them.




One car that you haven't yet driven, but would love to.

McLaren F1 hands-down. The new Tesla S too.




Some of our readers would like to know about in-game weather changes and skidmarks. Will they be included?

I'm hoping our players won't be caught up with minor details. If they pick at every little thing, nobody will be satisfied. It's the overall evolution that will impress. Skidmarks should be of no concern. (He says with a laugh).




What's your opinion of 3D gaming?

The technology has come far, but it's still in need of major developments. Once it's up to par, it will be great. The GT series will be right there ready to adopt it.




You're a well-known perfectionist. Will it ever stop? Is GT6 being worked on?

GT5 will come to an end somewhere -- we've been working on it for five years since GT4. What's to come after that we can only see once GT5 is out.

GT5 is completely different from GT5 Prologue and GT PSP. It's something completely new. It's really got our soul in it.




Are you headed to this weekend's Tokyo Auto Salon?

Yes, my team and I will be there. We're planning to have one of the biggest GT5 displays we've ever built. There will be more manufacturer agreements announced there as well. It'll be a great show for us.




And lastly, when's it going to be released?

March 2010 is still the target release date for the Japanese market. As for North America, nothing has been set.




We can't wait.




(EDIT: Sony Entertainment Inc. in Japan announced today another postponement of Gran Turismo 5. As of January 13, 2010, the anticipated Japanese market release date is indefinite, as is the North American debut.

Our source at Sony Computer Entertainment America stated the delay is a result of "further testing and development.")

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Neal

Motor Trend – Gran Turismo 5: Reality Bites
http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1009_gran_turismo_5/index.html

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Gran Turismo 5: Reality Bites

Peter Lyon
Motor Trend
16th September 2010


With Gran Turismo 5's launch date set for November 2, the long wait for millions of gamers will soon be over. While many will be looking forward to the upgraded graphics and physics of the game, many more will be wondering one thing: Just how real is GT5?

The answer? So real that it perfectly mirrors actual racing. Now that may sound like a tall order, but in a world exclusive, we co-drove with Yamauchi in this year's Nürburgring 24-hour race and witnessed him prove beyond a sliver of doubt that performances in the game are attainable in real-world racing.

Driving a virtual near race-spec Lexus IS F in a just-completed GT5 version of the Nürburgring full 24-hour race course (a world-first and highlight of the new game), which links the legendary Nordschleife (north loop) to the F1 GP track, Yamauchi did two qualifying laps. One, at 100 percent "game" speed, pushed the IS F to its limits and beyond on some corners. His time? Try 9 minutes 38 seconds.

"In the game," explains Yamauchi, "you have the luxury of being able to push the car to 100 percent, and not worry about going off. But in the real world, you must tone that down to somewhere around 95 percent, so that you retain a small margin for error. You must remember that you are racing against REAL cars at speeds topping 150mph with REAL hazards and REAL guard rails." So on his second GT5 qualifying lap, he drove as if he was qualifying for the real world, and posted a time of 9 minutes 48 seconds.

During the actual Nürburgring 24-hour race on the following day, behind the wheel of the World Car Awards' Lexus IS F race car, Yamauchi posted a fastest lap time of... you guessed it: 9 minutes 48 seconds, an unbelievable feat that had us all doing a double-take. His performance shows GT5 is as close to real world racing as you can get, without actually jumping into a real race car.

For the record, this writer, who co-drove with Yamauchi and cut his Nürburgring teeth on GT4, posted a game lap time of 9 minutes 55 seconds, and got within 5 seconds of that time in the real race, an event that is almost impossible to get a clean lap.

GT5 under the microscope

So what is GT5 all about? What were the challenges in creating the fifth edition? We caught up with Yamauchi at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show to find out.

When Gran Turismo debuted back in 1997, it came with the catchphrase "The Real Driving Simulator." And in the four editions since then, GT's "as-close-as-you-can-get-to-real-driving" thrills have changed the face of driving games, racking up over 56 million sales worldwide.

Now, after a long (some might say way too long) six-year gestation period, Gran Turismo 5 is finally here. And having test driven the game, we can safely say that the all-new version will once again totally and radically redefine the genre, boasting industry-leading graphics, state-of-the-art physics and a driving experience that is as close to the real thing as possible.

But up until now, we've only been able to bring you snippets of information about the incredible developments in GT5. However, the covers finally came off on September 16, when game creator Kazunori Yamauchi revealed specifications at the Tokyo Game Show at Makuhari Messe, 30 minutes east of Tokyo. In an exclusive interview, the enthusiastic producer let us in on some of the behind-the-scenes creative challenges.

"GT5 was a very complex project, something I liken to the Apollo Project. It took 6 years, but we are very close to launch now," said Yamauchi. Costing 50 times more to develop than the original Gran Turismo of 1997, GT5's budget was disclosed at $60 million. And that's no wonder when you consider that Polyphony Digital (the company that makes GT) had 150 staff across the globe working on the game for more than half a decade.

But the biggest change in GT was the switch in the media platform explains Yamauchi. "In the six years it took to develop GT5, digital media made significant advances with the biggest change being in TVs, which transformed from SD to HD. That means that TVs can now process six times more information as well as being compatible to online games."

"And that was one of our biggest challenges," he acknowledges, "time. It's important to understand that one race track takes two years to develop, while each car takes around six months to create."

Yamauchi's decision to compete in a real race at Nürburgring comes from his passion for cars and racing, but more so from his firm belief that the Gran Turismo series mirrors the real world, and that skills attained in the game are 'transferable' to real life racing. But while his game and real world lap times might be identical, he told us that there were things he noticed on the real track that could be added and amended on the current game.

"It was only when I launched the IS F over the Nürburgring numerous jumping spots (in the real race) that I realized the landing areas were not all flat, as I originally thought in the game," he says. "Some landing patches are sloped to the left, some to the right. This is just one of the many challenges of the track, and amendments I will make to the game. As I pushed the car around the 15.5-mile track, I also realized that some details were different. Some trees which drivers use for cornering or braking markers were not quite in the right place, while some small buildings need to be adjusted too."

But what Yamauchi and his team have created is sensational, and will take the gaming industry by storm. Here are some of GT5's highlights:

• In addition to incorporating 3D racing for the first time, it will offer over 1000 cars split between 200 premium and 800 standard cars, and Lamborghini and Bugatti make their first appearance.

• Gamers may choose from over 60 circuits including the newly added Tuscany, Madrid, Rome and Indianapolis tracks.

• On the new and much talked about Top Gear airstrip course layout, you will be able to trade lap times with the BBC show's resident racer in the Stig Challenge, and even show Tom Cruise how to corner with four wheels on the ground in the "Reasonably Priced Car," although the Hollywood star does not appear in the game.

In a surprising development, you will not only be able to drive NASCAR racers on their home territory against well-known drivers in the Jeff Gordon NASCAR School, but you will also be able to take them onto the Nürburgring. "Initially, I didn't think it would work that well," Yamauchi confesses, "but when I took Jeff Gordon's car onto the Nürburgring, it performed extremely well and was a blast to drive. You have to try it," he beams.

Other firsts for Gran Turismo 5 include night racing in varying weather conditions, karting, vehicle damage rendering (in three stages), vintage Le Mans racing between Ford, Ferrari and Jaguar, and rally driver instruction by world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who makes a special appearance in the game.

Employing his real life experience as part of a racing team charged with creating the most competitive Lexus IS F race car possible, Yamauchi joined ex-Indy racer Hideshi Matsuda, British driver Owen Mildenhall, this writer and Toyota Europe to develop a machine that boasted sufficient down force and high speed cornering stability. His relief when the rear suspension was adjusted to a setting he recommended and his beaming smile when an ex-Toyota F1 rear wing was fitted were moments that stand out in my memory.

At the same time he was secretly developing the ultimate race car for GT5, appropriately titled Project X1 Prototype. Developed with the Red Bull F1 team and with Red Bull's design genius Adrian Newey as technical advisor, it was borne out of a simple Yamauchi question: What would a racing car, freed of all technical regulations, look like?

"We pushed the boundaries of what's possible to come up with the fastest race car on the planet," teases Yamauchi, who gave us a split second, abstract glimpse of the car. All I can tell you it has a shape that conjures up something between a Le Mans race car and an F1 machine. We'll have to wait until early November to see the full picture.

Apart from being able to choose between three new Nürburgring settings -- the Nordschleife, the F1 Nürburgring track and the full 24-hour race track (a combination of the two), the track and course side structures have been recreated in even more detail than GT4, and with all of the track's wild graffiti to near-perfect reality.

To mirror reality is the goal of GT5, and so designers have incorporated plumes of grey tire smoke, sparks and cone that fly when hit by over-zealous drivers. Go off and you will not only notice more realistic tire-over-apex sounds, but dust and leaves are now thrown into the air as you slide across grass and gravel, fighting to get back onto the track. Once your tires make it back onto the asphalt, it will take several corners to regain full tire grip, yet another trait that mirrors real driving.

GT5 also sets new standards in visual effects and dynamic lighting and is the first game to realistically recreate the passage of time. "It will be possible to start a race in broad daylight and finish after the sun has set," explains Yamauchi. And you will be able to drive at night for the first time using either low or high beam headlights.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

In the actual Nürburgring 24-hour race we placed fourth in class and 59th overall, out of 196 starters. Up against class rivals including two works Lexus LFAs, four Aston Martins including a Rapide and V12 Vantage, an R8 and a Corvette, "fourth was a very good result" for the World Car Awards team stresses Yamauchi. And with a trophy, plus a special clerk of the course trophy for "Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Motor Sport," Yamauchi left the German track with plenty to digest, and loads of real world experience to feed into the next edition of Gran Turismo...

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Revelation1115

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Interview / The Making of Gran Turismo 2

Playstation Underground Magazine
1998
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]

with Kazunori Yamauchi, Keiichi Ashizawa, Shinobu Sawamura, Kazumichi Ohtsubo, Takashi Ohi(video)




"Whatever you dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
–Goethe


Kazunori Yamauchi, Producer; Gran Turismo 1 & 2: I’ve always loved cars. As a child, I dreamed of being a race car driver, but that’s even less likely in Japan than it is in North America or Europe. I created Gran Turismo, because I always wanted to work with cars. I didn’t expect the game to sell as well as it did; it has a real driving feel, and graphics close to reality. Those things didn’t really exist in the racing genre until then.

I made the first Gran Turismo for Japan, with mostly Japanese cars; I’m making Gran Turismo 2 for the world.

We’re going to have about 400 cars on 20 tracks. We’ve brought some of the cars here to test them and capture photos and sound.

My goal is that each user, everywhere, can actually drive the car that you own, or want to buy. Or just admire and will never be able to purchase. I want the owner of a car to fell that driving the car in the game is exactly like driving the car on the road.



How is your dream car built?



Keiichi Ashizawa, Car Designer; Gran Turismo 1 & 2: I create the car from start to finish. Today I took photographs from all angles to record details like tires, head lights and hazards lights, so I can reproduce the cars exactly. I get the plans, performance data and all the color samples from the manufacturer and apply them to the model. It takes about a week to make a car for the game; if there are problems, it could take a month.


Kazunori Yamauchi: In GT1, I didn’t want cars to spin when they collided, so that you could keep playing the game, but gamers told me they want damage. GT2 will have an option for car damage. If you choose it, and your car is hit, it will spin or become tougher to handle, but the damage will just affect how the car handles, not how it looks. One very important change is that we are going to have dirt tracks; the cars will be able to skid around. And Laguna Seca will be one of the tracks [not a dirt track].


Shinobu Sawamura, Course Designer: Our job is course design. We draw the course line, model it, then apply textures and landscapes. It’s very valuable for us to come to Laguna Seca.


Kazumichi Ohtsubo, Course Designer: We new from pictures how the turns would bank, but now we can walk and drive them, so we can put their exact feel in the game.



How great of a driver do you dream of being?



Kazunori Yamauchi or just a Narrator?: In Gran Turismo 2, unlike other racing games, it’s not important to just go fast. Sometimes speed is not as much a factor as skill; slowing down can be the most important thing.


Takashi Ohi, Professional Race Driver: I have a driving school, and Yamauchi-san was one of my students. I didn’t know he was the producer of Gran Turismo. The things he was learning in my school, he put into the games driving license test. How to accelerate, how to brake, how to turn the corner. If you want to enjoy Gran Turismo 2 the most, do not think of it as a video game. Drive as if you’re in a real car. Drive at the highest level possible for you, and the game will teach you and raise you to a new level of enjoyment.


Kazunori Yamauchi: Laguna Seca has a famous corner called the Corkscrew. I’ve known about it ever since I was a kid, but growing up in Japan, I never thought I’d see it with my own eyes. The day before yesterday, I drove around it and the whole course in a Viper. I though to myself, “this is my dream come true.”

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CrunchGear, Interview:
Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of Gran Turismo

by Devin Coldewey
TechCrunch
January 12, 2010
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]


TechCrunch: This is Kazunori Yamauchi and he is the creator of the Gran Turismo series of games, which I am absolutely sure you’ve heard of. It’s an excellent series, probably the absolute standard for racing simulation. All the others are pretenders, as far as I am concerned and he is giving us an interview that is going live right now on the internet, from CrunchGear and TechCrunch and we’re very happy to be here.




TechCrunch: Do you want to move down, or...




Translator-san: He was just wondering if he should sit over here, to get the power adapter and stuff out of the way, but so long as it’s not in the shot.




TechCrunch: Alright, shall I begin?




Translator-san: Yeah.




TechCrunch: So, obviously we’re at CES, a big technology trade show. We’ve seen a lot of technologies being introduced here. I was wondering if any of the ones we’ve seen introduced are something that is interesting to Yamauchi-san, in terms of adding to the games he creates; something that would be interesting to him as a game developer?




Kazunori Yamauchi: 3d, of course, that technology is interesting and also motion controllers, because it’s a very new user interface and it’ll really change how people play video games.




TechCrunch: Actually, we just saw a new motion controller, being put out by Razer, which makes PC gaming controllers, mostly, but they’re putting out a new motion controller that uses magnetic fields and it has absolute position, as opposed to Sony’s wand or the Wii. It’s a different whole system and it seemed very, very precise, but I don’t know if it’s precise enough for something like a racing simulator. Do you think that these motion controls are precise enough yet for this kind of really rigorous gaming?




Kazunori Yamauchi: Well in a racing game, most of the controls you’re going to be doing [using] within the game, when you’re playing it, is going to be through a steering wheel and 3 pedals on the floor. But of course within the game system, there’s a lot of controls and operations that you do inside, that I think [that] something like a motion controller that allows you to freely operate things on the screen, is something that is going to be very useful in the future.




TC: Yeah, operating actually within the cockpit of the race car or whatever. Being able to reach in and adjust the steering wheel or something like that. That would be interesting with a motion controller and a regular controller.

So, I understand that there were rumors of a track editor. I’m not sure if they are true, but if that’s true, do you think that you’re going to see yourself leveraging the community more. There are a lot of games that have mods and things, and of course mods are kind of hard for a very robust simulator game, but the community is very willing to say add decals for cars or spot check at race tracks and do things of course like creating tracks and stuff like that. How do you see that being implemented into the Gran Turismo series?




Kazunori Yamauchi: Unfortunately, a track editor is really just a rumor right now, so I can’t really elaborate on that.




TC: Of course, of course. That’s fine, no worries. It would be kind of hard to implement for such a serious...the tracks are so detailed and so exact, it would be very hard, I think, to provide that level of realism, even if it is made by a very competent community.




Kazunori Yamauchi: I think that it would be very difficult.




TC: So, regarding the graphics of the game. Do you think that we’re reaching a point where the realism is sort of maxing out, or are there still major steps? I understand that we have night racing now and we’re thinking about dynamic weather. Do you think that we’re to the point that the graphics can’t get much better, or is there still some major technology that you’d like to implement in the game?




Kazunori Yamauchi: Well, of course, for example, we’d like to do all the graphics by ray tracing. That would be something that would be really awesome to do, but would take the next level of hardware to make that come true, and I think that at the current time, with the current hardware that we do have, we’re doing everything we can; we’ve reached that point.




TC: Absolutely and the game looks beautiful. We were filming it outside and I hadn’t seen it before just now, and it looks very nice.

I think that racing is one of the genres of games where it has definitely gotten better over the last 10 years, because of the advances in physics and graphics and things like that. But still there were obviously games on the Famicom, the Nintendo; and Super Nintendo that were also very good racing games, and I was wondering if Yamauchi-san has any favorite old school, retro games, like Pole Position or RC Pro-Am; these old Nintendo games and things that were maybe ahead of their time, or just some favorite games.




Translator-san: He was just mentioning some games that he liked in the past. Marble Madness. [TC chimes in: Marble Madness is a great game, great game.] And ?Tengen?TankGame? [@ 9:38 on the video. If you know the name of the game, please message it to me] was a complicated game. The arcade version of it. [TC chimes in: Oh the arcade, yeah, yeah.]. And then Atari’s StarWars, the original one in 3d with the wire frame. Chop Lifter.




Kazunori Yamauchi: Those are probably like the top 3 games in my life that I really enjoy.




TC: Have you ever played Marble Madness 2? I don’t know that it ever got released. [in Japan?]




Kazunori Yamauchi: I don’t remember it as much.




TC: It was kind of...it was really crazy. [everyone laughs]

So that actually is sort of surprising that you liked such a wide variety of games, from back then, that were racing games as well, and I wonder that if you ever get the urge to do a completely different kind of game...I understand that you started with...your first game, it was a toon racing, but it was a totally different kind of game. But did you ever want to do some sort of completely different game like a platformer or an action game, or anything like that?




Translator-san: He used to be a gamer. He’s, of course interested in making other games.




Kazunori Yamauchi: When I first made GT1, I actually made proposals for about 100 different games back then and it is just by chance that I got to create Gran Turismo. So, yeah, if the opportunity arises, it would be great to try making a different game.




TC: That’s really good to hear, because you seem to have a lot of good ideas for this kind of thing, and you really advanced the racing genre with Gran Turismo. I’d like to think what you might be able to do with platforming or action; something.




Kazunori Yamauchi: This is something I’d really like to try.




TC: Oh yeah, that’d be interesting. We, at our website, we cover electric cars sometimes, like the Tesla or some of the less fast ones like the Leaf and the Volt. Are there any plans...actually I don’t know if they are included in Gran Turismo 5, in the cars, but are there plans on including the electric cars in any kind of a future version of Gran Turismo?




Kazunori Yamauchi: Yeah, of course. They’ll be in.




TC: We have a question from one of our readers. What’s the best way to get into game development, like what’s the best way to break into it. Or, I mean, how did you get into it, I suppose, is the other question there?




Translator-san: I think he misunderstood my question, but we’ll get to that after this one. His answer is pretty interesting. He was saying...




Kazunori Yamauchi: When I develop games, what I do first is I write up the text on what the game is going to be about and create kind of like a tree graph of all the features are going to be in the game or what things...what items are in the game. And also draw sketches of some of the U.I.s that would be used on each of those sections and then I talk to the engineers about the functional components of the game, but the first part of the development is really just on paper and just writing out what things are going to be included in the game...uh...with some images to go along with it.

[Yamauchi asking about the question] To become a game developer?




TC: Yeah, to become a game developer. To get into the game business. Not just a developer, but you know, maybe an artist or director or voice actor.




Kazunori Yamauchi: I think, well you know, games that are out in the stores and on sale, nowadays, they’re so massive that you couldn’t possibly make them by yourself anymore, but I think that it’s really important that you actually try to get down and create even a simple game, by yourself, and go through that process. Of course if you raise the scale of whatever you make, you raise its quality, or whatever; you’ll become a full scale global game. But I think, just taking...going through that process and trying it out is really important and it is something that I was doing back in...since elementary school and junior high; I was programming some programs...games on my own. And of course it’s also important to play games as well.




TC: Sure. Yeah, yeah. I’m wondering...in light years the Wii has grown very popular and there’s been a lot of casual games that have been getting more popular; more people are getting into it. Do you think that this is a big opportunity for people making really serious major games, like yourself, or is it sort of a threat to your games? Do you think Gran Turismo is going to be taken over by Wii games, or do you think that this is a chance to engage a new audience with more serious gaming?




Kazunori Yamauchi: Actually I think that casual games are very important, because of course you have the hardcore gamers that want like the hardcore games, but you know, we also want people trying out the new games and we need games that allow you to easily feel how fun games are and then move over to the hardcore games later. So, I think that really, the casual games are sort of a necessity.




TC: Yes, I agree. Yeah and I think our last question, unless there are any other audience questions or anything...


[TechCrunch employee speaking from off-camera position] TC employee: There is just one. He wanted to know if you were looking into using games for educational use, like a driving school game.


TC: Yeah, good question. Any kind of educational purposes, or distributing to schools or that kind of thing?




Kazunori Yamauchi: Gran Turismo already, actually is designed sort of to be educational to begin with. I think it’s probably fairly good on its own, where you can learn about driving and have fun at the same time.




TC: So, the last question I think, we’ve got uh...[loud rattling noises interrupt the interview] Whoa man, that is pretty loud, okay. They must be dusting out the...[ratting increases]




Translator-san: The roof is coming down.




TC: That’s insane. Shall we wait...let’s just. Man...okay. Nah, it’s fine. Can we, are we okay on sound? Okay, it’s fine. [rattling continues]

Lastly, we’ve got a whole year of games coming out next year. I was wondering if there are any games that you are looking forward to, in particular, to play or just to see how they turn out or to see what technologies they use? [rattling at an all time high and Yamauchi is now laughing with a big smile] Are there any games in particular that you are looking forward to?

[Yamauchi pauses to think as the rattling suddenly increases in volume and frequency, louder than before, interrupting his thought. Everyone laughs and Yamauchi’s answer seems laconic compared to before.]




Kazunori Yamauchi: The games that use motion controllers...all of them I am actually looking forward to. I think a lot of them are going to be casual games, but they look fairly interesting.

[continues]

And just out on the show floor, that game Heavy Rain, that looks very interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing it.




TC: Yeah, there is a lot of story telling going on there that’s very interesting.




Kazunori Yamauchi: One thing is that I think it’s about time that people are shown how people should live and die in a sort of a story format, through video games.




TC: I agree. Well, I think that’s the end of our questions, unless there are any that I’ve obviously missed. So, once again, this is Kazunori Yamauchi, and thank you for speaking with us and thank you for translating. And this once again is the creator of the Gran Turismo series, and Gran Turismo 5 is coming out in March, is that correct.




Kazunori Yamauchi: No, no, no




TC: No?




Translator-san: That is only in Japan.

TC: Oh, only in Japan. Is there a U.S. release date yet? Well, you can get the import. In any case, it looks fantastic and we’re done with the interview, but we’re going to go out play a little Gran Turismo, I think. So, thank you very much, very much for coming.

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Alex p.

Hey TD, I have a special on GT3 where kaz is obviously interviewed, problem is you can only see his answers, not the questions, would that be useable for this thread?

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Alex p.

Erhm well, you see, it is being talked about the game by a narrator (speaker) through the whole special (some 25 mins-it is a video, already on youtube) and many times in between Kaz is showen and he talks about the game and it's developpement and the future of GT (GT4), I could write down what he says, no problem. It's in German though, so I gotta translate it first.
Point is, a lot of insight is given in the development of the game, so, give me your yes or no.

Oh and, nice to be friends with you. 👍

Edit: I remember also of some nice interviews in some German magz I have, I could translate them too, but then you would not have direct link to them because they are only printed, so, I am not really sure what you are looking for.

Oh and: Interview about GT2000, which, eventually became GT3.

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Gran Turismo 3 Special:
Part 4: Inside GT3
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]


Kazunori Yamauchi: We’ve been working non-stop for 6-years, we didn’t have any holiday for New Year or Christmas. We’ll soon be able to have some time off for the first time in 6 years. At one point, I couldn’t go home for 4-months, till the master was completed; I had to bring my bed into the office.

Looking back, it’s extraordinary that I spent so much energy within a certain space of my life. One thing I’m sure of is that it will all have been worth it.




Narrator: Kazunori Yamauchi is the producer of Gran Turismo. Launched in Japan on the 28th of April, GT3 contains many significant improvements on GT2. Here, he takes us through some of the most important developments.




Kazunori Yamauchi: Let me see, what is the most significant development. First of all, the number of frames was increased to 60 per second. So in Europe it’s up from 25 to 50 frames. That means that the volume of information per second is doubled, and the resolution is doubled vertically and horizontally as well.

And the force feedback (FFB) steering wheel is an important addition; you can actually feel bumps in the road and resistance when turning. It adds greatly to the realism of the experience.

We succeeded in reflecting the scenery on the cars this time; it only expressed the atmosphere surrounding the cars before, but now when a car runs under trees, the body reflects them; and when a car comes under a billboard, we can see it gliding across the paint work. The body reflects the edge of the road and everything. We can also express metallic colors, which was impossible with GT2.




Narrator: Careful cooperation with car manufacturers has enabled the team to build in-game versions of cars that maybe as much as 2-years from the market. The Lancer Evolution VII was included in the game, before the actual car went on sale. And players will be able to test Nissans’s new Z series and the Mazda RX-8, long before real drivers get the chance.




Kazunori Yamauchi: There are 200 cars in the game, but it took great effort to make one car, dozens of times more than GT2; we put huge energy into it. There are only 200 of them, but the value of each car is priceless. We produced 1 car a day with Gran Turismo 2; it took at least 1 month to make a car this time. When you choose one, you’ll feel as if you’ve received a precious gift. I’d like everyone to enjoy it that way.




Narrator: GT3 features many courses with varying road conditions, such as dirt track and rain. Each course has its own peculiar details, which affect the quality of the driving, such as low friction on wet roads and realistic handling on the dirt tracks.




Kazunori Yamauchi: The night courses always have been featured in the Gran Turismo series and this time we showered the night course with rain. We imagined how beautiful it would be to have night course in rain, as there are so many different kinds of lights; the road surface reflects them. We could see splendid scenery in our heads and decided to design a wet course, in town, at night. The wet road surface has very low friction, and cars behave...how can I put it...they’re unstable, so you need to drive very delicately.




Narrator: In order to open GT3 out to a wider audience, many game modes have been introduced for first-time players, but without compromising the highly technical aspect of the simulation. They physics model has become even more realistic and although driving the game is far more complex, the cars are actually easier to drive.




Kazunori Yamauchi: The process of making the physics model is done in our heads, it’s to do with imagination. We think how cars should be, the tires and steering and so on; the car’s behaviour is a result of this process. We believe that when you drive it, you will understand how a real car behaves. The calculation is 100-times more accurate this time. It enables the physics model to express subtle nuances, so I think you can feel the relation between the front tires and road surface, which was impossible before. The driving feel used to be rougher, but it’s much more delicate now. It means it’s much more easy to drive now.




Narrator: Improvements in the game’s artificial intelligence programming create a far greater degree of realism than was previously possible. The game can now provide such fierce competition, that only the most experienced players will be able to compete.




Kazunori Yamauchi: The artificial intelligence will be faster than most players this time. It doesn’t mean that it has become a tougher game to play, just that the artificial intelligence is cleverer than before and drives like a human. The race has become more exciting and realistic. The artificial intelligence is doing its best on the track, just like a human does. You can probably feel the difference when you play against it.




Narrator: Gran Turismo established the idea of running replays after a race is over; other racing games followed suit and in an effort to stay ahead, Polyphony have featured a replay function, which is synchronised to music. The game selects the camera angles, cuts automatically and synchronises to whichever music is chosen from the large soundtrack library.




Kazunori Yamauchi: The number of output channels doubled with Playstation 2, so engine noise is more full. We managed to reproduce wind noise this time and road noise; the sound of the tires moving across the road surface. These sounds have much more depth this time. You’d be surprised by the sound quality when you connect it to a proper audio system.




Narrator: The inclusion of iLink technology has made it possible to link up to 6-PS2s together and compete with real players. Although the number of potential users of such a function may as yet be limited, Yamauchi believes that by including it, an increasing number of players will eventually come to accept it as a standard, paving the way for a future network version of Gran Turismo.




Kazunori Yamauchi: As a package title game, as a standalone game, we did everything we can. There isn’t anything to be done, basically. Gran Turismo 3 is probably the final version of pre-network Gran Turismo. The future Gran Turismo will have development in the network area.

I’m not thinking of just a simple racing game between networked players, even if I accept real time racing as a function, I’m planning it to be something more. We’re actually planning it with the name of GTN. It’s an equivalent of GT4 and will be out next year at the earliest. It might be delayed and nothing is certain. We made an announcement of Gran Turismo Network, GTN, at the GT launch party in Japan the other day. It’s not going to be a simply online battle game, we’re planning something interesting at the moment.

I think Gran Turismo is the sort of software, which makes a dream real. In a sense, the quality is excessive. It’s a characteristic of Gran Turismo that includes everything up to the point of excess. There are some staff members who weren’t interested in cars before GT, and they love cars now, working with GT. The car enthusiasts are growing in number. It’s our baby, raised by our team until recently. When I see so many users surround it, it is extremely moving.

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Gran Turismo 3 Special: Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

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