GTPlanet is starting a brand new video series today, taking an in-depth look at the history of the Gran Turismo games.
Naturally we’re starting at the very beginning, with the first Gran Turismo which launched in 1997 — but in fact we’re looking a little earlier in our first video and covering events leading up to the title.
That means delving into some important history, from Kazunori Yamauchi’s own background as a budding film-maker to the shift into gaming as Sony took aim at the console market with its new PlayStation system.
Yamauchi didn’t start with Gran Turismo either, with PlayStation executives not going for the grand project as a debut. Instead he, and his small team at Polys Entertainment (as it was then) created a cutesy cartoon racer called Motor Toon Grand Prix.
This game, and its sequel, laid the groundwork for Gran Turismo to be green-lit and — as they say — the rest is history. And the second half of our video, where we’ll be taking a good look into Gran Turismo and what made the first game so special.
That includes the large (at least in those days!) and category-spanning list of real-world cars and tuning options, and the unique tracks which still hold a special thrill for many GT fans today. We’ll also cover the licence tests, career mode, and arcade options which trod a path that hadn’t been seen before in the racing genre.
Of course this is just the first video in our series, and we have many more installments to come over the next few weeks — with Gran Turismo 2 the obvious subject of the next episode.
