GTPlanet Member of the Week

What a week this has been, gathering the assorted contents of this week’s festivities and ensuring it lives up to the expectational hype that’s been in play since last week has been a lot easier than one might imagine, especially considering I’ve had this planned out since last week. I can tell you right now that if you’re expecting free vouchers for your local fast-food or clothing stores you might be disappointed, but even if I had those I’d probably keep them for myself and post pictures of me ea—look, the point being this is going to be a fantastic read this week so you’d be strap in because you’ll be here for a while.

The 2015 Formula 1 season begins next week! I’ll dive into that a bit later on, but needless to say I’m plenty excited and am looking forward to what awaits at each and every corner.

This won’t be something I make mention of every week, but gracious me is looking through threads for hours on end not a task for the weary. You have informative threads, helpful threads, threads that encourage intellectual discussion, threads that cultivate constructive criticism, threads that—you get the point by now. There’s just so much to go through how can I possibly choose one over another without finding it absolutely necessary to group everything that I’ve looked at prior?

It’s not everyday you find yourself browsing countless threads, countless galleries, and a countless number of user posts looking for those that stimulate intelligent and thoughtful discussion, are helpful, and everyone walks away knowing more than they did beforehand. It’s no easy task looking for members that present themselves in such a fashion to the community at large that they stand out among that same community – and there’s where this new feature comes in. Someone has to make sure some of the very best that GTPlanet has to offer is highlighted in a consistent and well laid-out fashion.

We’re back! For the past two weeks the Weekly Rewind has taken a much needed backseat to the endless assault of news over the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t been keeping an eye on the endlessly-updating Status Updates on the forum page, then you may very well have missed the Weekly Rewind Miniature Edition that has taken the place of the full-featured article here for the past two weeks.

Today, as I’m writing this, marks the 20th year since the unfortunate passing of one of Formula One’s greatest drivers, Ayrton Senna. Senna is often looked upon as one of, if not the greatest driver known to the sport courtesy of his outright uncanny ability to wring the most out of the car, for the uncanny skill of being able to take off into the distance on a wet race day unlike anyone else at the time; the proverbial “rain master” as it’s known in the world of F1.

This has been the weirdest Formula One season in years. At the top stands Mercedes AMG Petronas with a commanding lead in the driver’s and constructor’s standings, all at the behest of the new formula being used this year. Mercedes has been a considerable threat since their constructor debut in the 2010 season, with their worst finish being 5th in the standings at the end of the 2012 season.

There’s a lot to cover this week, so instead of me yapping (which I’ll do plenty of later on) we’re jumping right into things this week. Here we go!

We’re in the wake of another Formula One weekend, this time taking a trip to the Bahrain International Circuit, albeit with a twist. This year the circuit will make use of an all-new floodlight system that will see the Grand Prix event into the hours beyond the sun, making this the second race of the season to run without natural lighting.

We’re moving straight into the goodies this week as this week’s headline is actually a full-length segment that may very well return at some point later in the year with yet another look into what makes a racing game attractive. It’s a question that isn’t as easily answered as you might think, and I know you’re sitting there shouting out answers.

It’s a little funny to me that this week’s Rewind is being presented – the opening act, if you will – by an already prominent staple of the article itself; however, the community here is the central focus of the Rewind, and anything that makes the lives of the many easier will be showcased here.

The inaugural race weekend of the 2014 Formula One season is finally here, and while I maintain a gross of reservations regarding the new engine formula and some of the new/amended rulings, it’s a level of excitement that I couldn’t feign if I honestly tried to.

Twelve days are all that stands between me and the beginning of the 2014 Formula One season, and I’ve kept myself oblivious to most of what has already been unveiled because, well, to be perfectly honest it’s rather confusing. For example, gone are the days of teams preserving their tires throughout the final qualifying session, because now the drivers that get through to Q3 will start the race on the tires used to set their fastest lap times in Q2, should they choose to not run Q3.

The community here at GTPlanet has been as active as ever, if you haven’t taken notice by now, we have a new GT Suggestions forum where you can let your imagination run wild and list your suggestions that you firmly believe would make Gran Turismo the game of your dreams – whether it be with additional vehicles, tracks, or features. There’s plenty of activity already so I’ll take a moment to list off some of my favorites:

It seems that with every new month—some could even say every new week—we’re playing the waiting game until the next big thing comes to Gran Turismo 6, and the aspect itself may have inadvertently become a game within a game to some; being on the lookout for the newest feature or improvement that will further the overall enjoyment of the game itself. It’s devilishly clever and often results in a think-tank of untold proportions.

What a week this has been, evolution has become a recurring topic of interest for GT6 not only in the Rewind but the entirety of the news page here at GTPlanet and this past Tuesday Update 1.04 was released providing continual proof that Gran Turismo 6 is a game with a clear intent: to evolve. There are now four new vehicles to race to your hearts content, but the big news – or should I say bigger news is tomorrow is the first of February which means GT6 is preparing to undergo evolution once again. It’s a cycle that’s seemingly never-ending.

Gran Turismo 6 continues to evolve and this past week’s 1.03 update is proof of that, adding in yet another new vehicle and breathing new life into the previous update’s newest addition, the BMW M4 Coupé by way of adding a fully-detailed interior. There’s no telling when the next major update will hit or what it will contain, but one thing is for certain: it won’t disappoint. With the remaining Red Bull X Challenge events due at the end of the month who’s to say we aren’t counting down to the next big thing?

All has been quiet on the Gran Turismo front for the past several weeks and one has to wonder what’s going on behind the elusive doors of Polyphony’s office. The days of January are still at their earliest, but with two updates currently scheduled for this month it shouldn’t be too long before the wheels are turning at a steady pace again.

Gran Turismo 6 has been available for a month now, and in that short amount of time the game has evolved from its vanilla offering to that of something that has been host to first-time experiences and the rekindling of those in the past: The 2014 BMW M4 Coupè, a vehicle that won’t even be on sale until sometime this year, the Hudson Hornet that served as Mario Andretti’s “first love”, and the introduction of the all-new Red Bull X challenges – all of this within a 31 day time period.

This is it ladies and gentlemen, the final Weekly Rewind of 2013! Where has the time gone, it seems like just last week I was telling you all about how much evolution the Rewind would undergo during the 52 weeks that comprise 2013, and now here we are the final Rewind of the year. Time flies when you’re having fun is what they say.