Kazunori Yamauchi gets a fair bit of recognition from all over the world thanks to his many contributions. Now he can add one more award to his list: the 2018 Autoweek Car Culture Award.
There aren’t many people in the world that have brought as much attention to obscure cars as Yamauchi — especially in the US. Prior to the release of the original Gran Turismo, the number of people in the States that could pick out a Nissan Skyline or a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo was small.
Thanks to his initial game, Kaz gave an entire generation of enthusiasts in the US a new appreciation of cars they’d never heard of. One could even credit him with companies like Subaru and Mitsubishi bringing cars stateside that otherwise might’ve stayed in Japan and Europe.
Putting these types of cars in the digital realm with realistic physics, it gave people the chance to experience some rare metal. Think about it, how many people can say they’ve had the chance to have a go in a Lister Storm? Probably not many, but thanks to Polyphony’s franchise millions of people could at least got to see what its digital counterpart was like.
Also, prior to the release of Gran Turismo most video games came with a smattering of supercars. Almost everyone knew what they were and probably had a poster on their bedroom wall of one of them. When Yamauchi & Co gave something like a Daihatsu Midget some digital love, it let gamers see those slow cars are fun too.
Our own Jordan Greer said it best in his interview with Autoweek:
“Gran Turismo completely changed my perspective on cars. Before the internet completely took over, it introduced many of us to a world we had never seen before and ultimately help set the course for many of our lives. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to people in the automotive industry. Almost every one of them in my generation credits the ‘GT’ series for sparking their interest in cars.”
Kaz’s other contributions to the automotive world are undeniable as well.
Probably the most notable is changing the way we find raw racing talent. GT Academy provided a new approach, with the video game challenge helping Sony’s partner Nissan unearth the latent real-world talents of players. Without it, Lucas Ordóñez might not have gone on to a successful motorsports career. It’s even less likely he’d have a shot at driving in the world’s most famous race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The other major contribution is the way manufacturers think about design. The Vision GT program that started with GT6 gave companies free rein to build something truly unique. From this, companies could see how their future design plans might be received by millions of potential customers.
When it comes to video games, Yamauchi’s influence is also substantial.
If it wasn’t for the early success of GT, there’s a good chance others wouldn’t have ventured into the genre. This means no Forza Motorsport, Assetto Corsa, or Project CARS. All of these games owe some of their success to Kaz and his vision in one form or another.
The domino effect extends to hardware, too. Without successful simulators, companies like Thrustmaster and Fanatec wouldn’t have much incentive to produce high-quality gear.
This is why we think Kaz is so deserving of the award. Bridging the automotive world and the video game industry gives all of us some truly great results.
Kaz will join two other pioneers of car culture with his award win as well. In 2016, Ken Block took home the hardware for his contributions to rallycross and general hooning. The previous year John Lasseter received the award for giving the world the Cars movies. This inspired millions of young people to take an interest in cars.
Given that line up of car culturists, next year’s award promises to be equally as influential.
Autoweek handed out several other awards as well. For the full list of winners, you can check out their site or pick up this week’s issue.
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