GTPlanet’s Year In Review: 2014

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2014 was a roller coaster of a year for Gran Turismo fans. Although GT6 didn’t evolve as quickly as many people expected after its December 2013 release, it has undergone a considerable transformation over the past twelve months and introduced some major “firsts” for the series.

As we have in year’s past, let’s take a look back at some of this year’s highlights, and – if you’re feeling nostalgic – check out some previous years’ reviews to see how far we’ve come!

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January

  • GT Academy kicked off the year on a high note, as the program’s new champions brought home a dominating class victory in their first international race at the 24 Hours of Dubai.
  • Toyota made waves waves in the automotive and gaming industry, launching their radical new Toyota FT-1 Concept at the North American International Auto Show and simultaneously in GT6. It would go on to become one of the company’s most popular concepts revealed in 2014.
  • Jann Mardenborough, one of GT Academy’s brightest rising stars, took his first single-seater race victory in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand.
  • KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide, a documentary film by Tamir Moscovici about Kazunori Yamauchi and the history of the Gran Turismo franchise, was first released in the U.S.

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February

Jann Mardenborough GP3

March

April

  • Polyphony Digital took its first action of the year against “modders”, who had been hacking GT6’s game code to tweak car parameters and expose hidden content.
  • GT6 update 1.06 – one of the largest to date for the game – introduced the GPS Data Visualizer and compatibility with 3D televisions.
  • Toyota launches one of the first “official” Photomode competitions, asking players to capture their best shots of the FT-1 Concept in Gran Turismo 6.
  • After years of lobbying from players in the region, Canada officially joins GT Academy North America.
  • Gran Turismo documentary KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide wins big at the GMA 2014 Awards.
  • GTPlanet launches an all-new dedicated tuning database, fully integrated with our forums.
  • GT Academy 2014 officially kicked off around the world.

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May

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June

July

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August

  • Gaeton Paletou was crowned as Europe’s GT Academy 2014 regional champion.
  • The Toyota FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo car was revealed as a race-spec version of the company’s popular concept car, revealed earlier in the year.
  • Ricardo Sanchez is announced as the winner of GT Academy 2014’s international region.
  • Kazunori Yamauchi awards a Maserati A6GCS Spyder the “Gran Turismo Trophy” at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance; the car will be playable in the GT series in the future.
  • As the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” sweeps the Internet, Kazunori Yamauchi dumped a bucket of ice water on his head after being challenged by Forza Motorsport director, Dan Greenawalt. Kazunor would later dump water over the head of the “father of PlayStation”, Ken Kutaragi.

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September

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October

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November

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December

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As we look ahead to 2015, the year promises to be one of the biggest yet for Gran Turismo: there’s much more to come for GT6, the FIA Online Championship is set to launch in the Spring, GT Academy will be larger than ever as it expands into South America, and fans will be eager to watch as GT begins its transition to the new PlayStation 4 console…

It’s going to be a big year for GTPlanet, too, with a new look, a new book (!), and the launches of several major new site features currently in development. As always, thanks for being a part of our community and your continued support of the site. Here’s to a happy and healthy new year for all!

GT6 Photomode image by ForceMotion.

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Comments (32)

  1. Heathenpride

    What a huge year for GTP, keep up the good work! Thanks to all the staff (and I mean all mods, admins and emeritus staff also) for putting up with us and for keeping this great site rolling!

    Bring on the enduro series!

  2. oli440

    A year of out of the ordinary updates, provided to us free of charge. If you ask me, it’s the best service of any racing game I’ve played so far. I’m optimistic about spec 2.0 and GT7, despite the issues with timing. I have faith PD!

    1. oli440

      Hopefully, but if it means refining the product, I’ll gladly wait until 2016 max. All I want from this year is some confirmation in the form of a trailer or gameplay footage, as to what we’re into for the next generation of Gran Turismo.

  3. Johnnypenso

    In spite of our differences, GTP is the best community of it’s kind on the entire internet and that’s no exaggeration. Thanks as always to Jordan and all the people behind the scenes that make this possible. Keep up the good work!!

  4. OpticZero

    I’m still waiting to see that boat in docked at Monaco. Perfect opportunity for Mercedes-Benz to throw in some advertising and sell another couple cars in the future.

  5. ForceMotion

    Cool to see my picture featured once again, Thanks Jordan! Makes me go back into photomode more often! And happy new year everyone and all the best wishes for this year!

  6. ynot

    I would like to personally thank all those that make gtplanet possible. I know you put in a lot of time keeping the site going and updated. Thank You and have a Happy New Year.

  7. photonrider

    Speedboats in the lake, motorcycles . . . and already a new pod racer top take us into the Star Wars age.

    And a new book. What more could one ask for. Well, all those unimaginable things we’re going to get, I suppose. Who coulda imagined the 2X till we got to fly it?

    Here’s looking forward to 2015, then . . . .

    Thanks, Jordan, for enhancing the Gran Turismo experience with this site.
    Without GTPlanet and the awesome community here built around the game, the game would be only half of what it is.
    To know that GT Academy graduates from here go on to become real world racers makes us proud – though a small contribution to the vast field of Motorsports, that contribution has seen some of the brightest stars in the sport arise, proving that the superb hand/eye coordination and decision-making required in video-gaming translates into real world skills that can grasp and master diverse disciplines.
    In addition GTPlanet is home to many a fascinating individual and we all learn so much from each other here, in the multitude of Sub-Forums that span so many tastes, from the very popular Rumble Strip to even the quietest corner of the Other games Forum.

    My thanks to your admirable staff – these individuals are the salt of the earth to volunteer their time and we owe them, at the very least, respect.

    A Happy New Year to you – and a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious one at that!!

    Cheers!
    H.

    1. Mason Methot

      That was beautiful! So many big words in such a big letter! It would take me ages to create one that inspiring.
      Bravo!

  8. austint30

    This is a lot of updates in one year, and guess what? IT WAS ALL FREE! FREE! FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Not one cent spent on any car added to the game! This makes Forza look stupid with their $50 10 car packs.

    1. MLRSparco

      And yet id gladly pay for the content Forza put out than all these so called “updates” that should’ve been in the game on day one not a year later.

  9. sircarltonlotus

    Great read, nice to see in black and white all what’s happened over the past 12 months. Great game, great community! 2015 will be pretty much epic. Happy new year to all! Here’s hoping the ps4 will allow such a massive game to breathe. Peace to every single one of you

  10. Broda

    Majority of games couldn’t even come close to having this much happen to a game in a year. Way to go PD, Kaz and all the other Car makers and various other groups that help create this incredible community. Oh and Thanks Jordan and GTPlanet for keep us on in the know! Happy New Year! Look forward to what comes next.

    1. MLRSparco

      Aside from the VGT cars all of the features added after the release should’ve been in the game day one or a few months afterwards,this isn’t them producing new content this is them playing catch up and the sad part is that they still haven’t caught up yet.It’s 2015 now they need to focus on getting the GPS Course maker out and the sounds fixed asap.

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