The Gran Turismo franchise officially turns 25 years old on December 23, 2022.
We will be publishing an article here on GTPlanet to commemorate the day, but instead of a recap of the series' history, we want to feature comments about what the franchise means to those of you here in our forums. There are many stories about how GT has changed people's lives, influencing their hobbies, interests, and even setting the course for their professional careers. Ahead of the anniversary, let's collect these stories here in a thread so we can give them the spotlight they deserve.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
Why do you think the franchise has been successful over 25 years?
Those are just a few prompts, but feel free to share whatever you want!
My first attraction to Gran Turismo was in one of the early Playstation magazines. I grew up loving racing games like the Test Drive series, Destruction Derby, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer. The sheer scale of GT1 blew my youthful (at that time) mind. Games went from a couple of dozen cars in a game at most to over 300 in one fell swoop. And it was realistic for it's time too.
I was 15 when it came out and persuaded my dad to buy it for me on launch day.
Although I always enjoyed racing games, Gran Turismo really hooked me into cars. I had no idea about tuning or setting up a car prior to Gran Turismo. By the time GT2 came out I had much more knowledge just from those couple of years.
Although recent games have often disappointed me, that's in part due to lofty expectations because it's Gran Turismo, I am always keen to see how the next game will turn out and I have a lot of nostalgia for earlier titles, so much so I still play some of them today.
I think the franchise connected to a large portion of 90's and early 2000's youth when car culture was much more popular than I think it is amongst the younger generations today. It raised the bar so high it took a console generation for anyone to really step up as a realistic competitor.
How did you discover it and what attracted you to it? I remember seeing the commercial for it on TV and I was like I got to get this game
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game? Watching the opening on GT1 for the first time I was hooked from then on
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how? GT1 introduced me to the FTO, Skyline, Cerbera and it really further my love for cars, so it opened up JDM cars and a lot of Euro cars and their history I knew nothing of
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? It is kind of hard to describe. I have a lot of issues with GT7 but I play it more than any of my other racing games. What makes it special to you? Again this is hard to describe I think it is a combination of a lot of things that pull me back. The cars, photo mode livery creator the quirkiness of some of the cars
Why do you think the franchise has been successful over 25 years? I think the fact that when it first came out it changed racing games with the amount of cars, real tracks and in later games the graphic fidelity have helped carry it all these years. Right now I feel like they don't know what do as what they did in the past is not relevant and what they are trying is not working as well as they hoped so we have to see where they go from here
Gran Turismo (1997)
Finally buying the Blue/White Striped Viper GTS/unlocking it in Arcade Mode as an adult.
Gran Turismo got me into loving cars, racing, Jazz etc
No other racing game has the same vibe and love for cars imo
The presentation. Menu music, menu clicking sounds, graphics etc. Every game has its own style and I love that so much. Honestly Isamu Ohira doesn't get the praise he deserves. His style of jazz was so good it made the early games even better. Idk if he retired or not but Polyphony needs to bring him back. 🤞
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
Gran Turismo 2. It came with my first Playstation (the small white one). It was the amount of cars and the amount of different races available that kept me coming back!
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
I remember getting my first prize car in GT2. It was a Honda Del Sol and it was the ugliest green I have ever seen! Also, I remember a reply on Super Speedway of having the Taisen Viper go wheel to wheel with the Oreca viper. Called my dad into the room just to watch it with me! I also remember the station wagon event at Super Speedway! Great fun!
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
On my gaming life and motorsport watching life, yes. It's the only game I still play and is the reason I watched a bit of GT and F1 racing over the years.
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
How darn good it looks and feels. I prefer console gaming and could never get into the PC side of the fun. For GT4 it was B-Spec that kept me around. I really hope it comes back for 7. It would be hours more of fun!
Why do you think the franchise has been successful over 25 years?
Well, I think that has shifted over time. Earlier editions seemed to rely in sheer amount of content but the more recent ones seem to speak for quality over quantity. It's a stunning game that has lots of layers if you're imaginative enough! Finally, I'd say the ability to learn about car history has always brought me back. Each game there is something new to learn.
1 - I saw the GT4 running in demo mode in a store (Special Stage Route 5) and I thoght, "the games are very realistic... Is there a Chrysler 300M?" Some car lists say "yes", and some say "no". My friend had a PS2 - I didn't play videogames at that time - so I decided to buy a copy to see for myself. We didn't see the 300M in the dealership, but he suggested the car might be blocked or something... But I wasn't going to make him play the entire to find out. So I decided to learn how to play.
(Then I bought a PS2 to play at my house).
2 - My most fantastic memory of triumph, at this early stage, was my first podium at the professional level. (Apricot Hill).
The Photo Mode and the music also left an impression on me. ("What! Are there songs in video games?")
3 - The main influence was the knowledge of the culture and mystique of the automotive world. An example: Nürburgring...
4 - I don't know what "coming back" is...
(Edit: A curious thing is that when I looked for the 300M in the car lists, I found a site called "GTPlanet"...)
So I became a GTPlanet user before I got the game!
(but it took me a while to sign up ).
My first was GT5, and this was mere weeks before GT6 came out (which I got at launch), so I’m a relative newcomer. I was a 360/Forza player before but I had a passive interest in GT (in no small part to YTers like GTRufus, MattJ155, and rynogt4). The XOne pre-release debacle left a bitter taste and I felt like it was time to try out the other side. It helped that the PS3 became more affordable with the PS4’s launch. In the years since I’ve received the PS1-2 GTs and Tourist Trophy. I don’t own GT Sport or 7. Maybe when I can get my hands on a PS4 in good condition. Soon.™️
I was already into cars and racing games by the time I tried GT. But I’ve also gotten a disposable income since then, and I’ve used it to expand my collection of games across old consoles (PS1-3, Xbox OG/360, GameCube/Wii, Dreamcast) that I missed out on growing up. Don’t get me started on my Steam library! And my system would be lucky to run any current-gen game on lowest graphics at 720p/30fps! It may seem like GT is only a blip on the radar for me for that reason, but the games continue to be among my favorites in the genre. The driving model always deftly blurs the line between accessibility and realism; the car selection is always top-quality; the release of a new game feels like a spectacle instead of a routine.
My first Gran Turismo game was Gran Turismo 1 on the PS1. I remember I got it for my birthday and the game was a tremendous experience for me. Up until that day all I had for racing was Lotus Turbo Challenge II & III on the Amiga (great game though). Discovering GT1 with all its tuning options, huge car selection was a one in a lifetime experience.
My favorite memory of Gran Turismo is me as a little kid discovering that there was a SECOND Gran Turismo! I found a Gran Turismo 2 CD in a shopping mall and I begged my mom to buy it. I spent so much time on GT2 that day its crazy, all the things that made it better than GT2. Wow.
Gran Turismo did have an impact on my life, besides being the sole thing that introduced me into motorsports it also offered me so much fun and distraction when times were bad - and my childhood was not all roses and unicorns. Taking my Dodge Viper LM edition and racing it against Wiegert Vector LMs, TS020's and Cerumo Supras at Apricot Hill or Deep forest always made me happy no matter what.
And its still doing that to this very day.
I think Gran Turismo is so successful because it offers so many different things all at once - tuning, photography, collecting cars, individualizing cars with your own liveries, their own beautiful tracks and all that paired with a good physics engine. And of course to some degree because of the typical PD quirkiness.
I hope there will be many more Gran Turismo titles and that Polyphony never forgets their roots and what makes this franchise so great and unique.
- The original Gran Turismo. A friend brought it over and was hooked.
- Favorite memory was when I got GT2 launch day, fired it up and watched the intro. Followed closely by witnessing the massive jump when the series jumped to the PS2 via a demo I got a hold of for GT3 with Trial Mountain.
- Didn't have a major influence on my life but certainly sparked my interest in cars and bikes.
- Nostalgia keeps me coming back. As well as the lack of options featuring similar variety and virtual tuning. Pretty much just GT and Forza
- I feel the series success at this point is mostly just name recognition due to the success of the earlier games. Nostalgia is probably a big factor as well as the lack of serious competition on playstation.
- My 1st Gran Turismo is GT1. I was a little kid who don't know anything but just love cars, particularly Dodge Viper and coincidentally, I saw GT1 with Dodge Viper as the cover car on it and begged my dad to buy it even though I didn't have and even know nothing about Playstation lol.
The rest is history, me and my dad would play together with my dad doing the career mode because I couldn't drive to save my life back then. GT1 also places MK3 Supra at a special spot in my heart because that's the 1st car me and my dad chose in career mode.
- Favourite memory playing GT is a very tough question but I have top 3 moments I guess :
1. Booting up GT3 and seeing everything plays. The music, menu, graphics, etc. Coming out straight from GT1 and seeing GT3 just blew my mind. I didn't get GT2 for some reason (like I said, I'm just a little kid so I didn't really pay attention with games as a series back then).
2. Booting up GT4 and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of cars and content, plus how accurate looking the cars were.
3. Finally played GT5 after countless of delays (seeing the countdown at a couple of weeks before release then seeing the news about it being delayed was heartbraking lmao) and I was just really happy to play another GT after so long that I kinda ignore all the flaws lol
- I would say GT has a pretty significant influence in my life. Without discovering GT1 I wouldn't be playing racing games as religiously as I do right now and I wouldn't have a lot of knowledge of weird cars, beginner racing techniques, photography (lmao)
- What keeps me coming back to GT is loyalty I guess. GT is a big part of my childhood and I just clicked with the whole chill vibe of it. It's why I pushed myself to buy GT7 despite the signs of it being flaws to me. Also I bought Kaz words when he said it's a return to form and my mistake was I translated it into being a successor of GT4, but that's another story.
- I think it keeps going for 25th anniversary because while it's evolving, it still has that same charms in some parts that still draws the old fans in while it's also managed to bring in new fans. As an old fan, I feel like this series is our child, as it grows we see it being questionable and disappointing at times but we still love it and we're critical of it because we still care and want it to be better than before.
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
I started with the OG GT soon after it was released in the US. I didn't have a clue what it was, but the guy at Electronics Boutique (proto-EB Games which in itself is pre-Game Stop) told my mom that it was the best car game ever, so she bought it for me. Being a kid from metro Detroit and being surrounded by nothing but the absolute best the mid-90s Big Three could muster, I didn't know what on Earth a Nissan Skyline was or why the Mitsubishi GTO looked nearly identical to the Dodge Stealth my neighbor had.
I was never very good at the game, and it sort of just sat around with me occasionally attempting to play it while failing miserably. However, my mom being my mom and only knowing that I liked video games and cars ended up buying me GT2 when it came out. That was probably what really hooked me on the series. Like the first game, I was terrible at it, but I also had a GameShark and quickly got all the cheat codes to give me infinite credits and pass all the license tests. I was in for one hell of a surprise when I got the Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak for the first time. However, being older I was determined to get good at the game and spent the rest of winter break (I got the game for Christmas 1999) playing it and then pretty much every day after school and every weekend throughout all of 2000.
In addition to quickly becoming my favourite racing game, I was absolutely hooked on the GT2 Soundtrack. My mom found me a copy of the CD somewhere and I played it on repeat for months.
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
My first time playing GT4, which is my all-time favourite GT title. The graphics were amazing, the car list blew my mind, and it came out during the last semester of my senior year. I had made my schedule as easy as possible during my last semester, go I had nothing but ample time to play GT4 every day after school and really just be a lazy teenager until the real world hit me.
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
I'll say so. Not only did Gran Turismo lead me to GTPlanet (by way of an article in Sport Compact Car), but I also started writing for the site in 2017, which turned out to be amazing. Being able to review games, write about cars, and be a part of the community was awesome. However, very few things in my life so far have topped being able to go to SEMA to explore the show, watch a GT Sport Americas Nations Cup Finals in person, meet Kaz himself, and live it up in Las Vegas. Had I not been interested in GT, I never would've found this site, and had I not found this site, I wouldn't have ever had an experience of a lifetime.
GT also helped fuel my desire to own a racecar too and I actually managed to do that in 2012 when my buddies and I bought a clapped-out Dodge Neon. We eventually turned it into the world's worst SCCA Rallycross car, but it was certainly fun to give amateur level racing a go. However, now that I'm older, I find myself sticking to sim racing instead of having the need for a money pit in the garage.
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
At this point? Nostalgia. I didn't really care for GT Sport and I've been disappointed with GT7, but I still played both titles because they reminded me of being a kid. I hope I can share that same experience with my son once he gets old enough too. Whether it's GT7 or if we're onto GT8, being able to play the franchise with him and show him an important part of my youth is something I'm really looking forward too.
26yo in 1997. While working for NY Telephone(NYNEX) in The Bronx, I passed a game store that had a demo of Gran Turismo playing in the window. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A Honda Civic racing against a Corvette! The Civic was keeping pace around the corners, through a tunnel(Grand Valley). That image is burned into my memory for all time.
Vivid memories, were realising grocery-getter cars can rev past 8000rpm and seeing the Spoon Civic upwards of something like 16,000rpm!
Also, discovering Best Motoring videos around the year 1999/2000 were essentially, virtually, Gran Turismo. Opened my mind even further, at the time, to special models we couldn't get get in the USA.
It's always been about watching relays for me. Maybe that's part of GT's success for many players.
Well the first GT I played was GT3 but the first GT I got was GT4 after I saw Jeremy Clarkson playing it on Top Gear. I'm thinking, if it's good enough for him that it's good enough for me! I didn't see a lot of the game in that episode but I saw enough to decide "Yes, I want to see what this is all about"
A few moments immediately come into my head:
-Beating the Lewis Hamilton Challenge in GT Sport
-Buying a Jaguar XJ220 in GT4
-Winning my first league race in GT Sport
-Finally buying THAT Pescarolo in GT4
-Driving the De Tomaso Pantera in GT Sport
-Having a dead heat on Sonoma in GT4
-Battling a Mitsubishi Evo 5 rally car on Smokey Mountain in GT3
-Driving the Lotus 97T for the first time in GT6
-Winning the Grand Valley 300 for the first time in an Audi A4 Touring car in GT4
It's accessibility for the majority of car enthusiasts. You don't need to be a hardcore aficionado to enjoy the game - there's something for everyone no matter how skilled you are. It may not do everything perfectly but it does a lot very well compared to the likes of the competition. The ownership experience is second to none in my opinion.
One of the best things about GT4 was being able to drive the cars that I'd seen on Top Gear - the Ford GT, Pagani Zonda, Mercedes SL65, Aston Martin DB9, TVR T350C and of course the NSX. I still remember buying the "Big Daddy" Pagani Zonda C12 7.3 for the first time and it filled me with an enormous sense of pride. I worked very hard to earn the necessary cash and being able to spend it on such a special car made me so happy. Another thing I did during my many playthroughs was buy the Ford GT for the Stars and Stripes event - not only because it was a bargain at 149,000 credits but because Jeremy Clarkson had one. I kinda felt guilty doing so as my dad was (and still is) a Holden man and I knew that he wouldn't approve of my decision but I didn't care - the car was the star of the game, and my favourite TV presenter owned one! It's part of the reason why I own this:
It's iconic. The first car I ever saw when booting up GT4 in the most glorious video game intro of all time. It got me soo excited for the game I was about to play. A whole world of motoring from East to West and everywhere in between. Nothing has, and ever will, imprint on me like this again. I thought I'd learnt a lot from my dad and his books and those in the library but GT4 illustrated car culture to me in a whole new light. That's why I keep coming back after all these years, despite the controversies and broken promises which I'll admit have angered me on occasion. However I can't let it go because I'd be lost without it - that's how much the series means to me. There were some truly tumultuous times but just like my Western Bulldogs in the AFL, I stuck with GT through thick and thin because I saw myself as a fan and wanted to support the studio that single-handedly changed my view on the world. No, I'm not a fanboy as I have been quite critical about the state of the franchise many times, but I honestly believe that the game is in a very good place now. It's far from dead.
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
My very first Gran Turismo game (and basically very first videogame!) was Gran Turismo 2! I didn't discover it. GT2 discovered me!
My brother had a Master System with some games. I don't remember them all, but I do remember trying to play Super Hang-on!. At that time I was too young and I didn't even know what a videogame was. Couple years later my brother, a fan of soccer games, asked our father for "Winning Eleven" and something called "Playstation 1".
I went with my father to buy this "playstation 1". When we got there he was asking a lot of things to the shopkeeper. Things about cables, games, controllers and so on.
There was a 14' TV on the side there with a racing game on it. I was sucked to that TV. Never seen anything like it. Out of nowhere, the shopkeeper gave me the controller and my father said "you should try it"
And that was the moment I started my videogame career! I remember very well: High-Speed Ring with a blue Mitsubishi Evolution IV. It was so fun, really something special. On the way home I couldn't stop talking about the game to my father. First game we tried back home was GT2. The intro is so good and basically the very first CG in my life.
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
Licenses Tests in every GT, but most especially in Gran Turismo 2! Every weekend, me, my father and my brother would go hours and hours trying to get gold in licenses tests. I had a memory card for the career mode, but especifically at weekends, we would do all licenses all over again.
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
Yes, a lot! Basically, it taught me how to "look" at cars. Taught me about brands and their countries, about circuits, racing, teams, sponsors... Mt father was almost always playing GT2 with me, so he also taught me a lot of things. Sometimes in the middle of the street he would say "look there, what car is that?" and I would say something like "oh, it's a Renault!". He then would ask "where that car comes from and why is shaped like that?" for me to answer "it's from France and it's shaped like that because it's a sedan!". May seem very boring, but for a 6 year-old me, it was something else! I kid you not, I learned a lot of countries by playing GT! and other games
Playing GT was also how I could spend some time with my brother and father. Due to school and work we didn't had much time during weekdays.
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
Besides nostalgia, family memories and the fact it taught me a lot of things, GT is also a very good game! It feels nice to drive any car at any circuit in the series. I keep coming back because GTs take on cars is very unique. Since GT2 even the replays were completely different from others racing games. I guess that also anwers what makes GT so special to me: Photo Mode in GT4, B-Spec Career in GT5, Seasonal Events in GT6, tuning, painting, taking photos, the music and recently the Livery Editor/Scapes. It's the whole package.
Why do you think the franchise has been successful over 25 years?
There are a lot of racing games out there, but none like GT. Of course there's a lot of opinions about the series, but I think we can all agree that no other racing game teaches you about cars like GT does. It's an easy to pick and play game, it's one of the most beautiful games and it has that "easy to play, hard to master" kind of thing, which makes online race enjoyable and competitive to anyone.
Also, the name is VERY good, don't you all think? Look at that flag under my avatar. During school, people only knew one name: Winning Eleven. Well, we did play a lot of other games, but WE was the main star. Winning Eleven, Winning Eleven and Winning Eleven. When folks weren't talking about WE, they were talking about FIFA or FIFA Street.
Why is that important? Being a kid that had more hours in GT than WE, when I asked "do you play any racing games?" the first answer was always "yes, I love that game with licenses tests. It's Gran Turismo, right?"
Yeah, at that time we were hooked with F&F, NFS, Burnout and even Ridge Racer!, but the number 1 answer has always been Gran Turismo. Even those that didn't like videogames knew the game was about cars. It's an instantly recognizable name.
Well the first GT I played was GT3 but the first GT I got was GT4 after I saw Jeremy Clarkson playing it on Top Gear. I'm thinking, if it's good enough for him that it's good enough for me! I didn't see a lot of the game in that episode but I saw enough to decide "Yes, I want to see what this is all about"
A few moments immediately come into my head:
-Beating the Lewis Hamilton Challenge in GT Sport
-Buying a Jaguar XJ220 in GT4
-Winning my first league race in GT Sport
-Finally buying THAT Pescarolo in GT4
-Driving the De Tomaso Pantera in GT Sport
-Having a dead heat on Sonoma in GT4
-Battling a Mitsubishi Evo 5 rally car on Smokey Mountain in GT3
-Driving the Lotus 97T for the first time in GT6
-Winning the Grand Valley 300 for the first time in an Audi A4 Touring car in GT4
Yes. The game taught me soo much about the motoring world, exposing me to cars and tracks I'd never heard of, let alone seen.
I keep coming back because of it's unique charm, character and attention to detail.
It's accessibility for the majority of car enthusiasts. You don't need to be a hardcore aficionado to enjoy the game - there's something for everyone no matter how skilled you are. It may not do everything perfectly but it does a lot very well compared to the likes of the competition. The ownership experience is second to none in my opinion.
One of the best things about GT4 was being able to drive the cars that I'd seen on Top Gear - the Ford GT, Pagani Zonda, Mercedes SL65, Aston Martin DB9, TVR T350C and of course the NSX. I still remember buying the "Big Daddy" Pagani Zonda C12 7.3 for the first time and it filled me with an enormous sense of pride. I worked very hard to earn the necessary cash and being able to spend it on such a special car made me so happy. Another thing I did during my many playthroughs was buy the Ford GT for the Stars and Stripes event - not only because it was a bargain at 149,000 credits but because Jeremy Clarkson had one. I kinda felt guilty doing so as my dad was (and still is) a Holden man and I knew that he wouldn't approve of my decision but I didn't care - the car was the star of the game, and my favourite TV presenter owned one! It's part of the reason why I own this:View attachment 1217397
It's iconic. The first car I ever saw when booting up GT4 in the most glorious video game intro of all time. It got me soo excited for the game I was about to play. A whole world of motoring from East to West and everywhere in between. Nothing has, and ever will, imprint on me like this again. I thought I'd learnt a lot from my dad and his books and those in the library but GT4 illustrated car culture to me in a whole new light. That's why I keep coming back after all these years, despite the controversies and broken promises which I'll admit have angered me on occasion. However I can't let it go because I'd be lost without it - that's how much the series means to me. There were some truly tumultuous times but just like my Western Bulldogs in the AFL, I stuck with GT through thick and thin because I saw myself as a fan and wanted to support the studio that single-handedly changed my view on the world. No, I'm not a fanboy as I have been quite critical about the state of the franchise many times, but I honestly believe that the game is in a very good place now. It's far from dead.
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
GT1 in 1998
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
In gt3 when I first won the tommy kaira zzII loved that car in every gt game it was featured
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
Yes before playing gt1 in 98 I didn't care about cars that much but after playing gt1 and falling in love with the beautiful viper gts in white and blue I became a car person then.
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
PDs love for cars and the attention to detail they give each car reason I bought and buy every gt game.
I was 14 when it came out - my uncle had a chipped playstation so had early access here in the UK, friends were very jealous. Had never played a "serious" racing game, other than a couple of races of TOCA on a demo disc. Was a big shock - licence tests ?! Didn't make much progress as I couldn't pass the later tests. Spent most of my time racing a massively overtuned GTO Twin Turbo around Autumn Ring.
Played GT2 as well (if I remember right there was one race with a 500k TVR as the prize - I did that one a lot, in the Escudo I think). After that I defected to Nintendo and Microsoft for a long time (Mario Kart and Forza Motorsport), so missed several games. Picked up GT Sport a couple of years after release as it was very cheap, worked my way through a bit of the single player and tried out online racing for the first time (Maggiore in a Citroen GT race car, I did ok, had a nice battle with someone else in the same vehicle)
That little taste was enough to make me get GT7 at launch and I'm happy with that decision. It has brought back those childhood memories - now give us an updated Autumn Ring !
Insane graphics, genuinely thought they could not be beaten, ever (I was a dumb child)
Scratch and sniff GT2
Made me a car fanatic, would never have a passion for motoring, driving, motorsport, and wouldn't be in the career I am in now, if it wasnt for this franchise. A simple racing game set me on a path for the rest of my life.
I keep coming back to GT thinking I can relive the old days, but I do not have the patience, and the car selection isn't really there like it used to be, oh and mainly because there are no other racing/collection alternatives on the PS system.
Being around 11, playing PS1/3D graphics for the very first time at a pal's house and as often back then playing random demos. One of those was "Gran Turismo". "Wth is that?! Let's try it out." Needless to say, our jaws were on the floor. The graphics, especially in replay mode were OUTSTANDING. "It looks photorealistic! "
Getting GT2 day 1 and learning about SO MANY new car brands and models. Might still be the best car list of any GT (MANY everydsy cars, Venturi, Vector, Lister, Lotus and so many more)
Seeing the first footage of GT3 and barely believing these are real time graphics. Later getting the game day 1 and realizing the final game looks even better. Just inctedible.
Getting an FFB wheel for the first time ever, aged 13 for GT3/PS2. " This is EXACTLY like driving a real car." As if I knew back then haha
Getting GT4 day 1 and AGAIN, like with GT2 learning about SO many cool cars I never knew existed. Same applied here to tracks as well though. Think Twin Ring Motegi, Fuji, Nordschleife, Costa d'Amalfi, Cita di Aria and many more.
Getting again the new official GT FFB wheel from Logitech and being blown away by 900 degrees turn ratio and the amazing FFB on the Nordschleife
Getting GT5 (Prologue) day 1 and being blown away by -300K polygon cars and seeing insane details like the series numbers of headlights being ingraved into the glass of said headlights. Insane!
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
My first one? That would be the JP version of Gran Turismo 1 which followed with the NTSC one weeks later. Yes my dad bought it twice, don't judge him. It offered a lot that no other racing game had at the time. I never knew what a Subaru or Aston Martin was, and why does that much more menacing American car have stripes? The Playstation was new, and I guess it was a time when my family thinks owning a Playstation is the biggest and best thing to have at your house if a telly is present. The game came eventually with cousins coming in one day to play splitscreen with it, and well, this is the explanation why Gran Turismo to this day still has split screen multiplayer (even though it still isn't functioning fine in 7). With an upbringing into the 90's period of F1 and hordes of car models and toys.. it's a given I get myself into racers.
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
This is hard. So I'll simplify it. A favorite memory is definitely subject to a specific moment in any game. But how about I split it into each game I got through so far..
1) The camera angle of replays played in High Speed Ring. I don't skip replays for some reason. And I never understood the life changing mystery of why there's a JACCS EG6 Civic that's present in the game's final event that'll never keep up with anything else.
2) Driving and taming the Vector M12 ASR GT2.. a bedeviled feeling that carried over to this day. Also my proper introduction to racing classic American muscle cars through a Plymouth Superbird (thus why I'm super happy it's in GT7). During my 2nd replay years ago, I found out the licenses can be hard ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
3) The 787B introduced me to Group C. To be fair, my time playing 3 is super limited, and my favorite GT song is in this game..
4) Panama? Sexy license failure tune? Racing low top speed cars on Sarthe? What's with all these extremely fast wedges and tight courses?! It's hard because this is the widely regarded high point that also kept me drowned in nostalgia tinted glasses. Playing my way through a career mode that I never exploited just to be able to drive a retro supercar I always lean towards: the Saleen S7. A yellow S7 is always going to exist somewhere in my fantasy garage. And B-spec's introduction that I hope will come back soon.
5) There's hundreds of cars and a PP system to play with, meaning an endless progression that is quite relevant until you're satisfied
6) It might be Gran Turismo 5.5, but the addition of Willow Springs, and around it in the SRT Viper GTS: a combo I can never escape as I cement it through writing. Vision GT giving developers ways to express their ideas. The Senna collaboration too, that was just lovely stuff.
Sport) Porsche officially is finally in, and managed to coexist with (a single, but definitely the right) RUF. E-sports focus and idea is meh initially, but turned out amazing. Sounds levelled up drastically, through much better car exhaust engineering and Lenny Ibizzare.
7) The e-sports foundation in Sport expanded greatly in this controversially flawed entry. And Sophy is freaking the hell out of me. It's not an in game memory, but there seems to be a LOT of salt relating to this game and its, I dunno, fans? Yeah, I like how divisive the game is. The Patty Wagon still isn't in the game, and I know you all like the idea of it existing if I agree, so.. I'll leave you to it?
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
If you made it here, then.. uhh, duh.
This can be a thousand word essay but to put it short: I got to know cars and their appeal in racing ever since the first. It expanded from there onwards.
Maybe if we HAVE to get into SPD specifics.. yes, I was going to write SPDecifics, but then you'll never tell apart if I'm writing this at 1 AM or if I'm just that lame.
American Muscle cars (and dat Ford GT40) in GT2
Group C from GT4 and how amazing they be.
Getting to hate how certain brands, especially Porsche not being in for a long while and knowing why.
Understanding the creator's pet in the Ford GT in a small way in 4, in a BIG way in 5.
The Isuzu 4200R shaped hole in my heart exists.
Not to mention the western music. Sex Type Thing, Hooked on Classics Parts 1 & 2, She Sells Sanctuary comes to mind, but there are tons others that are in my playlists for more than just racing.
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
Despite how it looks moving into modern times, the presentation and how it tries to remain relevant always, not to mention it's quirky take on such a very popular culture (pulling car fenders to create a widebody, massive sprays to paint, and spinning a car clean after scrubbing it hard). I may be stepping 7 aside for a while now, but I still like to hop on and keep going and make some form of self imposed progress when I want to, going so far to have revolved an entire fictional universe in my mind thanks to Gran Turismo and its fans.
Why do you think the franchise has been successful over 25 years?
It came at a time where I was young enough to influence my general choice of what culture I do want to start investing into. Car culture caught my eye, and it hasn't let go since. That's how it succeeded in my eyes. In anyone else's eyes, it's like when concepts are introduced: it would either be a hit or miss, and mostly they miss. Gran Turismo is a resounding hit back when it came out, coming fresh to when games was still an up and coming niche. Don't take me for it, but is it the first CarPG that appeals to the masses? And not only that, but can it also be the main inspiration for many of its similar alternative games today?
Post script?
I just got back from a long holiday, and I don't feel like a detailed writeup. Before you expect present SPD to forgive the over eager past SPD through status, maybe you can check out Forza Horizon 5's COTW if you want SPD, his undying comedic anger in relation to a big blue MINI, and words. I'm still figuring out how this can translate to the current Gran Turismo COTW. Alongside this, there's a few other places I feel this writing talent's going to expand towards.
Here's a list of planned posts, mainly me chronicling my past involving Gran Turismo.
We'll see if this will get going.
Gran Turismo 1 JP: A proper introduction
Gran Turismo 1 JP: Simulation Mode? Qualifying? That car with a square R has stickers?
Gran Turismo 1 NA: Stingrays and preloaded replays
Gran Turismo 2: 2 disc 2 sequel
Gran Turismo 2: Crash course into exiting Japan racing Classic Muscle around Seca
Gran Turismo 2: The mountain climbing monsters
Gran Turismo 3: Putting best selling on the PS2
Gran Turismo 3: Hidden Cars featuring Noma-Dante from the Devil May Cry series
Gran Turismo 4: They really gave it their all on this one
Gran Turismo 4: Gifted with another way to play in B spec
Gran Turismo 4: Tsukuba's wet, you guys
Gran Turismo 5: Pretty cars meet a whole roster of not as pretty cars
Gran Turismo 5: At the time free access to online - a mad mad mad mad world
Gran Turismo 5: Meeting a facsimille V8 hero in the Isuzu 4200R
Gran Turismo 5: The most complicated way to say you have custom tracks?
Gran Turismo 5: Sharing my passions of joining GTPlanet to invade Gion through fiction writing
Gran Turismo 6: It's blue, and yes I got that song stuck in your head, right?
Gran Turismo 6: Vision GT
Gran Turismo 6: Making my own Goodwood Hill Climb afternoons
Gran Turismo 6: Strutting through Willow Springs with a small writeup
Gran Turismo Sport: Going into the racetrack with a e-sports ready spinoff. And car is do painted?
Gran Turismo Sport: SPD - funny but also sort of relevant in some form SVG decals guy
Gran Turismo Sport: The lack of customization into the N class system shows how it's horrendously flawed, and my newly kindled love for the Miura is one such case
Gran Turismo Sport: Stepping up my writing with The Mythic Chronicles
Gran Turismo Sport: Going to the end with my dreams coming true - the Ford GT 17 and the Toyota Crown Athlete G
Gran Turismo 7: The unpredictable sequel
Gran Turismo 7: Bankrupting Sardegna
Gran Turismo 7: Nearly killed by AIgor Fraga
Gran Turismo 7: MINI - a recipe for HOW DARE YOU
Gran Turismo 7: If I will go back to fiction writing..
Watching one of the first Gran Turismo trailers with a grid of JDM cars riding the kerbs and seeing the suspension react realistically. That's when I knew GT was something different on the console platform.
Next was around GTS launch when we finally discovered PD had fixed their engine sound issue. Not 100% perfect, but close enough.
Then watching the GT7 State of Play and seeing the return of tuning and dynamic lighting/weather. Something I'd desperately missed from GTS.
The Gran Turismo franchise officially turns 25 years old on December 23, 2022.
We will be publishing an article here on GTPlanet to commemorate the day, but instead of a recap of the series' history, we want to feature comments about what the franchise means to those of you here in our forums. There are many stories about how GT has changed people's lives, influencing their hobbies, interests, and even setting the course for their professional careers. Ahead of the anniversary, let's collect these stories here in a thread so we can give them the spotlight they deserve.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
What was your first Gran Turismo game? How did you discover it and what attracted you to it?
What's your favorite memory playing a Gran Turismo game?
Did Gran Turismo have a significant influence your life? If so, how?
What keeps you coming back to Gran Turismo? What makes it special to you?
Why do you think the franchise has been successful over 25 years?
Those are just a few prompts, but feel free to share whatever you want!
-My first GT was GT4, I'm a car enthousiast and my father bought me the game for christmas (He don't know anything about games, so I asked for it )
-My first memory is the Driving license on Mazda Demio...
-I wouldn't say it have a significant influence, but it made me love cars even more. It's the only franchise I care about, every new GT annoucement is a special day to me and get me so hyped...
-GT is special because it's the only game about car culture and driving. I don't see GT as a racing title, more about driving and car enthousiasm. It's just different, eye candy... I just wish GT7 had even the half of GT4 career... It's gorgeous to see and very pleasant to drive.
-I think it's because it's the only car game talking about cars history... The content is huge, and very long to complete. And basically it's a really good game
BUT PLEASE GIVE US A PROPER CAREER MODE, GT7 HAVE SUCH A GOOD BASE TO WORK ON, DON'T SCREW UP
Oh and I forgot : Thank you GTPLANET for creating such a cool community and keeping us updated about our favorite franchise, keep the good work! @Jordan@Famine
I felt so good when I did Endurance on Trial Mountain on GT2 when I was little kid.. I remember to this day I used Impreza WRX Wagon in Silver color lol
After that GT4 I did "milion" laps in stock Honda S2000 and learnt every piece of Nurburgring Nordschleife
And after that GT5 that everyone was disappointed with and I loved everything about it and it's probably my favorite game not only GT but any genre any game
After GT5 I'm disappointed with GT in general, I loved one small community for GT6 but more people than the game and Master Mode for GT5 to finally race in it was great experience..
I accidentally come here after I saw Alfa Giulia GTAm came to GT7.. And this is the first time I actually want this game lol.. But it's not because of GT.. It's more about some cars I like unfortunately
edit: 1 thing I forgot about and that's GTPlanet.. I was always here even when I didn't had the account and when this forum was not as popular as it is today
Fondest memory has to be the quick matches in GT6 as it was my first experience of online racing in any game. Totally hooked from the first race and I always get a bit excited waiting to see the intros and graphics in each game as well. PD are magicians at getting the most out of a console and they've had my jaw on the floor a few times.
The reason I've come back each time has got to be the physics, though. Early, sketchy start in 7 aside, it's always been a very fun driving game.
Been playing the GT series since the beginning when I first saw it on display in an electronics store way back when, but probably my best memory was early on in my playing online days using the Senna formula cars at Eiger Nordwand against my best friend. We had our bluetooth PS earpieces on and had an absolute riot marvelling at how far video games had come and couldn't possibly get better than this
My first GT was also the first GT, and it was more or less accidental. My dad decided to bring me back some PlayStation games from his first transatlantic trip - knowing they were cheaper in the USA, but not knowing that they wouldn't work - with GT among them. I think he'd heard of it through the original UK television ad:
After I swapped it at a local games shop for a European copy, that was that. Rather than doing the second and third years of my first degree, I played GT and then GT2 pretty much obsessively - with the old-school, pages full of notes playing method required for keeping track of 170 - and then 600+ - cars, their stats, the races they could do, the tuning, etc. etc. That more or less set the foundations for GTPEDIA, 20 years later.
Probably my favourite memory isn't one but about 17 of them: the UKGTP LANs. A bunch of sometimes 20 or so Gran Turismo nerds gathering in one place - a house, a school hall, a pub, a... tent - just to play Gran Turismo against each other in person for a weekend. Some would travel most of the full length of the UK to attend, and sometimes we got people over from other countries (and we even went over to the Netherlands for one). While I loved the games (GT3 and GT4 especially) it's always been more about the community. Of course the GT World Tour has replicated that somewhat, but at a slightly higher level of production values...
That aside, some of the crazy challenges you could do with older games. Completing a Club 229 run in GT3, or a 1st of June Society run in GT4, or challenging each other to win the original Polyphony Digital Cup (for stock road cars) in the worst car possible - and GT Sport sort of had this too in the Premium Sports Lounge - are still among my favorite gaming memories of all.
Does GT have a significant influence on my life? Yes. «gestures expansively at the GTPlanet news page»
It's because of GT that I got into writing, started writing about cars, and now write about cars and games with cars in them. I've gone to many interesting places and driven cars in them (and some not very interesting ones too), and had more than one car worth more than my house on the drive, primarily prompted by writing about GT here.
Why always Gran Turismo? For me it's the balance of fun, seriousness, accessibility, and weirdness. Throughout the series it's always seemed like car guys rather than game guys making a game about cars, and while it has its flaws they've always been something I can live with because of how much fun it has been - I've never had a race in GT where I've thought "Ugh, can't this be over already", unlike every other racing game I've tried. Yes, not even the 24hr races. I could reel off a list of criticisms and things I'd do differently if I was suddenly appointed to replace Kaz, but could I capture the same Gran Turismo essence for my Gran Turismo 8?
That probably answers the final prompt too: there's always been a Gran Turismo-ness to Gran Turismo. Even from the first game with the fully fictional race track roster and the imaginary top-tier race cars (CR-X del Sol LM, anyone?) to the more devoted to reality modern titles (which still have some imaginary top-tier race cars, like the Gr1 VGTs, and fictional race tracks), and even with GT Sport's step away from the buy, drive, race, tune, win model, every Gran Turismo has felt like a Gran Turismo... somehow.
I think it was early 1999 that I saw GT1 for the first time. It was mind-blowing for me, because what I had as a benchmark for racing games were Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition and Sega Rally on the Sega Saturn. Gran Turismo was completely different and better in many ways
The best memories I have are playing GT1 and GT2 with a friend in 1999 and 2000, doing the license tests over and over again until we won gold trophies and the endurance races. We got to play GT5 once in 2009, and it was good to bring back GT1 and GT2 memories back then
Long live the GT Series and the community ❤
I remember that my dream car was the Mitsubishi GTO, and the day I saw one in Brasilia it was crazy. I saw a Dodge Viper and a Mitsubishi GTO on the same day!
I'm sure GT made me like cars even more, I was a big fan of F1 and CART but I didn't know GT and endurance racing
The GT franchise is one of the few games that has powerful nostalgia, at least for me. Like Castlevania, Metroid, Final Fantasy and Resident Evil, I occasionally find myself playing the old games
I believe what makes Gran Turismo stay at the top for so long is because it has always been a pioneer in many ways. It was a game that treated itself and the player seriously without being boring. Especially when they started the Nissan GT Academy project, it was amazing to see drivers like Lucas Ordóñez and Jan Mardenborough come out of the game, and neing successful in real motorsport
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