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Interview: Inside Line Talks to Kazunori Yamauchi, Father of Gran Turismo
http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightli...kazunori-yamauchi-father-of-gran-turismo.html
http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightli...kazunori-yamauchi-father-of-gran-turismo.html
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.
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.
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