Polyphony Digital

If you’ll allow us one cliché: Christmas is coming early for select PlayStation gamers this weekend. The Sony-hosted PlayStation Experience is about to kick off in Anaheim, California, where over 100 titles will be playable, many before they’re available on store shelves.

While the yet-to-be-released PlayStation 4 entry in the Gran Turismo franchise had already been confirmed for Sony’s big year’s end event in Anaheim, California next week, its whereabouts were unknown – that is until now.

Although GT Sport is set to hit the stores sometime in 2017, it’s very much possible to catch the latest developments even now. Previously we learned things are improving in the sound department of the game. Judging the latest news, another class of cars is on its way.

Ah, to be back in 2006. A simpler time, full of flip-phones, Zunes, and Myspace. Twitter had only just begun its expansion; Lindsay Lohan, her descent. It was into this landscape Sony pushed out its third home console, the ambitious PlayStation 3. That was ten years ago today (at least, in the North American market).

Sony’s big end-of-year event is fast approaching. The PlayStation Experience, held December 3 and 4 in Anaheim, California, is a rare opportunity for gamers to go hands-on with a wide collection of the company’s offerings and hear from the developers. This year, the list of 60+ studios includes Polyphony Digital.

The yearly festivities got underway here in Las Vegas yesterday, as the 2016 SEMA Show brought hundreds of modified cars together in Sin City. As usual, the Gran Turismo team is here, whittling down the list of finalists for this year’s GT Awards.

Paris Games Week 2016 got underway yesterday. For Gran Turismo fans, the event holds significance, for it was at last year’s expo that the latest chapter in Polyphony’s racing franchise was first introduced. With 366 days since that initial reveal, we’re looking back to get an idea of what’s changed since then, and — thanks to a delay pushing the title into 2017 — where GT Sport is heading.

It’s hard to believe, but SEMA has been holding the ceremony of the annual “Gran Turismo Awards” for more than a decade now. What car is going to claim the “Best in Show” at the largest automotive exhibition in Las Vegas this year? We’re going to find out next week — Wednesday, to be precise — when the 14th iteration takes place in Sin City.

Almost every game has secrets, and the Gran Turismo series is no exception. What hides beneath vast lines of programming code — never meant to see the light of day — can be a veritable goldmine for players vigilant enough to dig them up. Back in the spring of this year, we shared videos of the secret stunt tracks found in GT6, and today we’re switching to the classic Gran Turismo 4 on PS2.

Due to the broad range of video game conferences GT Sport has been appearing at lately, we’ve been witnessing a great deal of off-screen recordings the last few weeks. While arguably the biggest shock came from the surprisingly meaty Mercedes-AMG sounds we showed you earlier this week, the latest additions provide additional glimpses at what seems to be the latest build.

There’s no real way to dance around it: engine sounds have not been one of Gran Turismo’s strong points, historically. While a few of the 1200+ cars in GT6 howled and growled authentically, the majority left a lot to be desired for many players. This latest video, straight from the floor of the Paris Motor Show, could be a sign of those days drawing to a close.

We all remember Fishermans Ranch dirt track, don’t we? Doubtlessly it was one of the main highlights this past August at Gamescom, as Polyphony gave a name to one of the dirt tracks set to appear in GT Sport. Being part of the series since the earliest days, this racing domain will play an important role in GT Sport’s diversity. Therefore, we’re happy to share the new gameplay footage recorded during 2016 Warsaw Gaming Week by MotoGamesTV.

While we keep our fingers crossed that GT Sport will appear on sale in January 2017, the chances to try out out the latest build of Polyphony Digital’s upcoming driving game keep rolling in. Just last week we caught new Brands Hatch gameplay video from Russia (and a look at the new Hyundai Gr.3 car earlier today), so we hope fresh and valuable materials will appear in France and Saudi Arabia, the next two locations chosen for GT Sport’s continued road tour.

UPDATE: Due to high demand, Matt has decided to open up the competition to a second race, to be held two hours after the first. Get all the details here.

Are you a Gran Turismo fan set to be in or around the Barcelona area this weekend? Do you — like most people — enjoy free things? Then you may want to check out the Barcelona Games World event that kicked off yesterday and runs through Sunday (October 9), as GT Sport will be one of the prizes.

A few months ago, we detailed secret stunt tracks that were found deep within Gran Turismo 6’s code. Today — in keeping with our recent looks back at the PS2 era — we’re bringing you clips of secret tracks from the GT Concept series of spin-off titles.

https://youtu.be/jE7Ni_p1k-Q

We last heard about the sales numbers of GT6 in the final days of 2015, when Polyphony revealed the 2013 title had hit 4.71 million units sold. The company updated those figures once more this week, with the full breakdown below:

Much like the automotive sector, China is a huge market for gaming. Sony is capitalizing on that with a tour of the country over the next week, and Gran Turismo Sport will feature heavily at all three planned events.

https://youtu.be/jmR1qGbk6Uo