Here we stand at the precipice of what may very well be the outlining of the upcoming eighth generation of video game consoles. As you all know by now Sony is poised to make a special announcement of some kind next week Wednesday. Is it really the acknowledgement that the eighth generation begins this year or will it be something else?
I surely don’t know, but therein lies half of the fun. Not knowing raises expectations, thus raising interest, thus making the announcement itself an immense spectacle; such is the world of hype.
Moving on, I want to point out something I’m certain a great number of you have experienced while playing Gran Turismo and that something is “Gran Turismo Thumb”. If you’re now sitting at your desk scratching your head and wondering to yourself “what on earth is T on about this week?” well allow me to explain: Gran Turismo Thumb is the result of having spent a prolonged period of time with the accelerator button depressed and the symptoms are usually that of a throbbing sensation in the center of your thumb and a slight irritant after having held your thumb in such a halted position for that long. Remember those long races in GT3 at Test Course while participating in “Like the Wind”? Yeah… that’s where I originated the term.
This is a thing now and you have my permission to adopt it whenever necessary.
There’s plenty more of my ramblings at the end, and with that some terrible news, but we’ll get to that when the time is appropriate. For now let’s get on with the Rewind!
GTPlanet Picture of the Week
This week’s featured image, recommended to us by BkS and courtesy of ZEROX, is the second consecutive week a GT-R has been the featured image of the week and if you’re wondering why then the answer is simple – look at it! The Proto Concept at what I presume to be Kyoto – Gion in a rather striking angled shot brimming with vibrancy.
Have a suggestion for next week’s featured image? Drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Picture of the Week” and fill it out with your two choices and they’ll be featured in upcoming Rewinds. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.
Gran Turismo 2: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Gran Turismo 2 remains my absolute favorite installment in the series to date. For only the second game in the series it achieved so much on such a limited medium and it remains the benchmark for the GT series and perhaps the genre as a whole, at least in my opinion. With so many paths to embark upon there was never a dull moment in GT2. The soundtrack was sublime, the tracks were all very welcoming and incredibly fun to race on and the sheer lunacy and variety of cars is something that I’ve yet to see bested.
It would appear that Polyphony needs to take point and return to the days where they had to put both feet forward and stomp hard, because while GT2 is not only outdated and woefully unrealistic by today’s comparisons, it still manages to have more character than all three of it’s successors—dare I say, combined. Of course I speak from a slight bias but the fact remains that Gran Turismo 2 maintained an almost equal focus among the many disciplines offered in the game, and placed importance on it’s core functionality.
The list of features, let alone cars and tracks that were cut from future installments is still a wrong that needs to righted as far as I’m concerned. At this point Gran Turismo is a victim of it’s own success, and while that’s not explicitly a bad thing, it’s not a good thing either.
GTPlanet Weekly Race Series Time Trials and Online Events
Remember when I said the Rewind would undergo various accounts of evolution and expansion throughout this new year? Welcome the second expansion to the Weekly Rewind: GTPlanet’s renown WRS where the best get together to put the pedal to the metal. This newest addition could not have come at a better time either because as of next week Monday, February 18th, the WRS will have officially been running for ten years strong.
To celebrate the occasion the time trial events will be split up in to two weekly events, the first of which having gone live this past weekend with the second event going live this weekend. But before you go rushing in wanting to have all of the fun that can possibly be had, it needs to be pointed out that you must qualify to do so and it will take a few weeks to be placed into an appropriate division. You will be free to participate in the weekly events once you’ve submitted a time but none of your submissions will be posted onto the leaderboards until you’ve been placed into a division.
The bright-side to all of this is you can openly and fully participate in the series’ Online Events whilst waiting for your placement and there’s plenty to look forward to. There are also monthly special events that one could partake in, and the flavor this month is a 2.4 Endurance at Daytona focusing on the use of either the Chevrolet Corvette C5.R or the Bentley Speed 8, but this event is open to qualified members only.
So, to reiterate, before you can really go about doing anything in the WRS, whether online or off you must participate in the official Registry Qualifier otherwise all of the effort put forth into each and every week will have been for naught, and we don’t want that at all. For even more information on the WRS be sure to stop by here.
GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week
This week’s featured vehicle was Jaguar’s first production-run supercar, the XJ220. The vehicle was conceived by Jim Randle and a small group calling themselves “The Saturday Club” after having been inspired by the launch of the four-wheel drive Porsche 959 supercar prepared for Group B racing; the notion being that a similarly driven, 4WD Jaguar with a V12 to boot would propel Jaguar to the top.
Thought to be the spiritual successor of the XJ13 that was never raced, the first prototype was prepared just in time for the 1988 British Motor Show. After the immediate positive reception of Jaguar’s bold move of direction with the XJ220, production was officially announced in 1989, however, it would be two years before final specifications were outlined. And by that time Randle and his team would have to alter the prototype’s specifications to meet production requirements which favored a twin turbocharged V6 taken from a MG Metro 6R4 rally car and a mid-engined rear-wheel drive layout as opposed to it’s original four-wheel drive proposal.
Have a suggestion for next week’s featured image? Drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week” and fill it out with your two choices and they’ll be featured in upcoming Rewinds. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.
GTPlanet Tune of the Week
This week’s tune, “The Tafetta Terrier” comes to us courtesy of Theo777 of Clueless Tunes and features, of course, the Mini Cooper. Having obtained 30% more lateral g-force after applying the maximum amount of ballast allowed over the front axle and a new exhaust bark, this Mini has all the bite to back up it’s grunt and a 150 mph top speed to boot. For the entire rundown on this daring lightweight be sure to stop by here.
Exactly like the Picture and Vehicle of the Week features, if you have any suggestions for the upcoming Rewinds be sure to drop me a private message, entitle it “GTPlanet Tune of the Week” and let me know. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.
The Ultimate Test Drive – Inside Koenigsegg
A first-ever look behind the scenes at Koenigsegg with DRIVE that’s examines just how the Swedish manufacturer puts together their coveted hypercars; the series is hosted by company founder Christian Von Koenigsegg and was produced at Koenigsegg headquarters in Angelholm, Sweden.
This is episode five of nine and focuses on Robert Serwanski, the man responsible for not only testing every car but tuning them to perfection as well for their individual owners. Being an immense fan of the brand myself there’s an unprecedented amount of insight in each and every one of these videos and it goes without saying that these should be watched even if you don’t particularly like hypercars. For all of the videos in this incredible nine-part series (currently up to the episode 6 in the series) be sure to stop by DRIVE’s Youtube channel here.
GTPlanet Photomode Competitions
In Week 116 of the Standard and Advanced competitions you are to put your best foot forth and show the community just how seriously you take your in-game photography. All you need to know is as follows:
Week 116, Standard: Low vs. High – This week just let your creativity show itself however possible; jump into any car, hit up any location possible in the entirety of GT5 and capture the subject from either a low angle (shooting upward) or a high angle (shooting downward).
Week 116, Advanced 2.0: Down and Dirty – It’s time to go rallying! Oh, sorry, I got a little too excited there for a moment. Jump into a rally car with a livery (RM and TC racers are eligible) and get down and dirty on a dirt track. Multiple cars are allowed as are Standards, of course. What are you waiting for? Go get dirty!
For all of the relevant information pertaining to this week’s challenges be sure to stop by here and here.
Closing Thoughts
So last week I was rejoicing at the notion that I finally had a replacement for my aging 8GB iPod Touch, well as of this past Wednesday that thought should be perished because the Nexus 7 has already kicked the bucket at the tender age of 3 weeks. If you’re thinking to yourself “T, you’re getting a replacement aren’t you?” my answer to that is a resounding NO, and I’ll gladly tell you why: as some of you may know the Nexus 7 was put together by ASUS, a company I’m very well versed with, what with me being in the DIY PC scene. And apart from my current Sabertooth Z77 motherboard I’ve had absolute horrible luck with their products… all of which kicked the bucket without any provocation whatsoever.
So, no, I won’t be returning it in exchange for a new one. I will, however, be returning it in exchange for the money I dropped on it and put it toward it’s eventual replacement, the Sony Xperia Tablet S 64GB which has many of the same utterly fantastic specs as the Nexus 7 with a 9.4 inch TFT LCD screen. Is that enough techie for you because I can do this all day long.
I’ve been writing this for the better part of 4 hours now and it’s officially 9:41 in the morning and it’s snowing outside, so if you’ll pardon me I am going to go and recess into the confines of my bed and probably not sleep, because I feel slightly energetic for some reason; might have something to do with that lemonade I drank not too long ago. Sugar rush!
Oh, and don’t forget to stop by the officially official GTP-R thread because it’s official—yeah, the sugar is kicking in if you couldn’t tell by now. Until next week keep racing!
GT5 Photomode images by GPR (Featured thumbnail), chromatic9 and Miklad.
See more articles on GTPlanet Weekly Rewind and WRS.
The sad thing is the individual miking and recording of the cars engine noise, braking and tire noise will never duplicated.
It just might cost too much now. And how many of the original cars are around for the PD team to properly map the interior for cockpit view and for sound? I mean it’s a thousand cars plus new model year (I would hope) cars too.
If they manage to properly capture all the standard cars, and create up to date new ones and classics…….?
Also, bring the driving physics into true simulation territory? So many things to do. If PD can accomplish these things, the game would be just about the best ever created….bar none. But that is a lot of work for a reduced staff stricken by a natural disaster only a year or so ago. But fore sure to make the game worthy, PD must bring back elements of past installments of the game. Because it is a fact that older is better when talking about GT series. Older with today’s tech would be mind boggling indeed.
The aspect ratio of the GT2 video is wrong :p.
The thing with GT2 is that PDI was able to achieved a sense of atmosphere that has not been achieved in any of the other GT games that have superseded GT2.
I too also feel that the success of the Gran Turismo franchise is starting to get to Kazunori’s head.
I want all bmw in gt2 playing in gt5
Yes to this
Damn gt2 is so hot!
the whistling sound of the turbocharger,the bad sound of the sliding tyres all that is like music in my ears and reminds me of the good old days:)
when i saw the spedometer in km\h i was @_@. i think it is a ntsc version of the game. import of japan.
i love GT2. i still have the game save data untill now. i reach 97% of the game.
That GTR photo has caused me to delete all my old ones off of my PS3 and start taking new ones at different, more challenging angles. Before all I did were full body pics but now, photomode just got that much more fun.
ESCUDO….!!!!!!!!!!
…Cultus :p
Awesome rewind! Makes me want to spend my afternoon playing GT2 (my favorite as well)
GT2 was my favourite too. Great rewind T12!
I miss the bonkers cars the most
Nissan 300ZX GTS-GT, Cultus Pikes Peak, drag 180SX, drag R33, CR-X DelSol LM, Venturi Atlantique 400 GT LM, i could go on and on and on…
GT2 was an awesome one for the series. I still turn it on occasionally to drive the many whips that have yet to return.
No mention of the fiasco regarding the XJ220’s engine? Those folk who bought it sight unseen thought it would come with an updated version of Jaguar’s XJR-15’s V12 engine.
Band-Aids were used to thwart sore thumbs
Gran Turismo 2 indeed was an awesome game, and is also still my favorite of the series.
I mean, just look at it! It’s a happy game, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, the colors are vivid, the music is upbeat and encouraging… it’s simply more fun than any other GT. In my opinion, only GT1 comes close.
yeah ok
Yes, the menu music is still the best in the series too. Its very happy moody compared to very heavy, slow and depressive mood in GT5.
What if all this noise was about the new PS Controller??? Wouldn’t it be funny if on Feb 20 Sony and PD announce that their big reveal is actually a new controller for the PS3 and that those “maintenance” days were so that PD would update GT5 to have it work with the motions of the new controller???!!! It would be the ultimate disappointment, but it would also be funny!!!
Then again, maybe, just maybe, we will see/hear about the next PS Console and the next series/chapter in GT. What I have learned from Sony/PD is not to get my hopes too high and to be very, very patient. Not that GT5 was a let down or anything; just that all the delays of the game were disappointing and I don’t want to be disappointed again. Especially now that the other game that I wanted very badly, GTA V, has been pushed back to September :(
So for now I’m going to focus on Sony just announcing a new controller. That way I won’t be disappointed when a new console/game is hopefully revealed!
GT Thumb – GT4: Skyline drafting in the Mission hall (No. 34?). :(
A sticking plaster on the thumb will mend that problem.
I never finished that mission, my mate, who is always waaay worse than me took it in 2nd try! lol :)
I get GT wrist. Where I play so much GT5 (with a wheel) that my wrists start to hurt.
Wow! I truly love this weeks rewind T-12, pure awesome! :D Loved GT2 a whole lot, and hope GT6 would be something like it
Again, really enjoyed this weeks rewind, well done man. :)
+1 me too
Playing gt2 on my ps3 right now. Any ps1 game will work on any ps3. Just pop in your old playstation copy and have at it. If you don’t have it anymore it goes for a few bucks on eBay
“It would appear that Polyphony needs to take point and return to the days where they had to put both feet forward and stomp hard, because while GT2 is not only outdated and woefully unrealistic by today’s comparisons, it still manages to have more character than all three of it’s successors—dare I say, combined.”
You may certainly dare to say that sir. A healthy bit of your peers would agree, for sure.
and you’re not the only one who likes that Drive Koeneggsegg video..
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=273737
good stuff. Excellent rewind.
That GTR photo is absolutely beautiful !
And yeah, GT2 was definitely the best.
Plus 1 to that!
i remeber i was teenage i like gt1 and gt2 so much from old ps1 i miss gt1 and gt2 i love these alot car thumb up T-12
I’ve got Gran Turismo thumb right now from playing GT5 it really hurts lol.
sorry to post again, but dont forget that in GT2 you could choose from many camera angles such as any wheel or birds eye on top view. VERY enjoyable.
Don’t forget…the race modding…I loved taking almost every car in the game and turning it into a lean racing machine.
yep yep, thats a must have feature. For over 10 years we’ve been without it.
GT5 RMs/TCs cant count, because its very few cars and well it does not have any sponsors or proper livery on them.
GT2 fond memories. First driving game I ever attempted Manual shifting. Had a funky controller called a Neg-Con with pressure sensitive buttons and a unique twist to turn functionality. Ahhh the memories… :tup
wait, negcon has pressure sensitive buttons? Is this compatible with any Gran Turismo game? Or other?
Unfortunately I dont think you can find them anymore, and that was the PS1 days, but it had character, sturdy,and kinda innovative, at the time.
Even GT2 has better turbo sounds than GT5 and the rumble strip sound is the same!
GT2 demo had also good turbo sound and prettier turbo gauge :)
I have to agree with you T-12. GT2 is by far the best, or at least the most enjoyable GT ever. I wish PD released it for the PSN.
I don’t get GT5 thumb because I use the triggers R2 and L2 for accelerating and braking.
Great choice in the tablet by the way, I don’t own one but the Sony Xperia Tablet S would be the first one I’d go for.
I don’t the GT thumb either because I play with the analogs. It’s much more comfortable for your thumb.
<—- victim of 'GT5-thumb'
No throbbing or pain but I do get a nice little bruise on the tip of my thumb!
Lol… Only game I play or have that causes such a thing. That's how ya know GT5 was built & played with extra love!!!
Oh GT5… You make it hurt so good!
Next weeks GTPlanet picture of the week features infected GT thumbs.
Lol
0_o
I think you mean MG 6R4 Metro T12, not Rover.
‘Tis fixed.
2 is still my favorite as well. I believe my garage spanned 3 full memory cards and practically had 2 each of every car in the game: 1 stock and 1 fully-tuned.
Besides GT5, I’ve probably logged more miles on GT2 than any other.
When you mentioned GT Thumb and Like The Wind, it brought back memories of having a broken left thumb and steering with my fingers while alternating between thumb and forefingers with the right to avoid GT Thumb. Then I fell asleep in the middle of the race…Thanks for the Rewind.
Side note-I’m looking through an ASUS monitor right now, hope it doesn’t konk.
Cant agree more with you Teronium for GT2. The only game (GT1 less) that has the right feel as a game.
Its only mistake (and BIG mistake) was the unveiling single race format in change of championships as we still have single race format till today :(
The car selection there was outrageous!
And one last thing, bring back Supertouring 90’s cars to GT6! :)
Gt2 is still my favourite game ..
T-12 your take on GT2 is dead on. The game became less interesting as time went on because it lost is character.
The took too much away from the game (most likely Sony demand) by simplifying the tuning as well as making the drivers tests less challenging. Tracks and the ability to Race Mod cars just went away.
Hopefully some or all of GT series character comes back with the release of GT6 and maybe the PS4 too.
The real racing simulator needs to become a simulator……again. The original SSR11 livery editor and the ability to change drive trains, gearing and wheel sizes would be nice too PD Thanks for the rewind man excellent as always.
You know, if you miss the old days then I have a tip for you T12! Play it on your Nexus 7! I do, and it’s so much fun! :)
Excellent Weekly Rewind T-12!
I played GT2 a fair bit recently, just realised that I was underrating it far too much. Probably slightly better than GT4 actually perhaps. But GT1 is still my sweet prince of the series.