Kazunori Yamauchi

With thanks to Kazunori Yamauchi, Translator-san, HPS Jardine, Infiniti GB and SCEE.

The “Course Maker” in GT6 remains as one of the game’s last unreleased features – and the one fans are anticipating the most. We haven’t heard much about the new tool in GT6, though, which is expected to be a significant upgrade over the course maker we last saw in GT5.

In a JeuxVideo interview published last week from the Peugeot Vision GT launch event in Paris, Kazunori Yamauchi gave a direct answer when asked about the possibility of the Peugeot 208 Pikes Peak coming to the Gran Turismo series: yes.

Since a team of Polyphony Digital employees were seen scanning the Snaefell Mountain Course last year – host of the legendary Isle of Man TT – there’s been a lot of talk about the possibility of motorcycles coming to the next installment of the Gran Turismo series.

Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi was in Paris last week for the formal unveiling of the new Peugeot Vision GT concept, offering the first chance in quite some time for members of the media to ask him questions. As would be expected, most of them were eager to get him talking about GT7.

Top Gear recently published an interview with Kazunori Yamauchi after speaking with him at the reveal of the Alpine Vision GT in Paris.

While in Paris to help unveil the new Alpine Vision GT concept car, GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi was awarded the “Grand Prize of Creativity” at the 30th International Automobile Festival for his contributions to the automotive industry.

More details from the Gran Turismo article in the most recent issue of GamesTM magazine have been revealed, and some additional quotes from Kazunori Yamauchi paint an interesting picture of his thoughts on the franchise and its future.

While speaking to GamesTM magazine in a recent interview, Kazunori Yamauchi made some interesting comments regarding the development of Gran Turismo 7, which is apparently set to benefit greatly from the power of the PlayStation 4 console:

When Kazunori Yamauchi accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Forza Motorsport’s Dan Greenawalt last week, he took the opportunity to pass along the challenge to two more people: Lucas Ordoñez, original GT Academy champion, and Ken Kutaragi, the “Father of PlayStation” who was instrumental in the design and development of the original console.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY4YXl_YZd8&feature=youtu.be

As you probably know, the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” has taken the world (and social media) by storm over the past few weeks. It’s resulted in a lot of fun videos of people getting cold water poured over their head, and it’s raised more than $88.5 million dollars to help victims of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and help fund a global team of researchers looking for a cure.

Each year at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – the world’s most famous and prestigious car show – Kazunori Yamauchi selects a car to be awarded the “Gran Turismo Trophy”, after which it will be digitized and immortalized in the Gran Turismo series.

Italian website Quattroruote recently participated in an interview session with Kazunori Yamauchi, and – as is often the case when journalists get to spend time with him these days – they were eager to ask about the future with Gran Turismo 7.

Schulze Motorsport has published a video which documents the team’s dramatic experience at this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Kazunori Yamauchi has published the third post in his series discussing the engine sounds of Gran Turismo on Polyphony Digital’s “PitStop” blog.

EuroGamer has published an extensive article covering this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which had a strong Gran Turismo presence and was attended by Kazunori Yamauchi himself.

The all-new Track Maker (or “Course Maker”) has been one of the most highly anticipated features in Gran Turismo 6 since it was first officially announced back in November, but there’s been no word on its status since the game’s release.

The FIA Online Championship coming to Gran Turismo next year certainly will be pushing the world’s governing body of motorsport into the future, as the organization sanctions and stewards an entirely virtual racing event for the first time in its 110-year history.

Kazunori Yamauchi is the latest person to host a session of Reddit’s IAmA (I Am A, Ask me Anything), and is accompanied by Nissan’s chief designer, Shiro Nakamura, as both unveiled the Nissan 2020 Concept Vision Gran Turismo at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.