Polyphony Digital

Yesterday’s announcement of Gran Turismo’s partnership with the FIA has made shockwaves around the Internet and right here at home on GTPlanet, and now we have a few early details about the FIA Online Championship – the first virtual race event to be organized and sanctioned by the world’s governing body of motorsport.

As confirmed in a major announcement from Polyphony Digital and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Gran Turismo 6 has become the first-ever video game to feature FIA-certified content, with four of the game’s real-world tracks receiving approval from the governing body of world motorsport.

Polyphony Digital has launched a new blog called the “PitStop” as a place to provide more frequent and informal communications with the public. A “variety of authors” from around the world will be contributing to PitStop, and comments can be posted via Facebook.

If you watched the Gran Turismo documentary KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide and took note of the music, you’re not alone – it’s been a frequent topic of discussion around the film, and the full versions of the songs have not been available anywhere – until now!

In memory of the 20th anniversary of the passing of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, Polyphony Digital have formally unveiled their plans to support the Ayrton Senna Institute, developed in close cooperation with Senna’s family.

Nominated in the “Best Long Format Featuring Promotional Content” category, KAZ went up against several other documentaries, including Forza Motorsport’s collaborative film with Audi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVnsx_df8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O30hygmGhkM

In a certainly unexpected turn of events, Cigarette Racing Team has announced a surprising partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Sony to build the $1.5-million Cigarette Racing 50’ Vision GT Concept boat. Yes, that’s right – a speedboat.

Tamir Moscovici’s documentary about Kazunori Yamauchi and the Gran Turismo series has now been released on YouTube, via PlayStation’s official channel.

At the Fukuoka Motor Show in Fukuoka, Japan (home to Polyphony Digital’s new headquarters), a new version of Gran Turismo 6 was available, revealing multi-screen display support.

KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide is now available, premiering exclusively on streaming service Hulu (it will be widely released on Sony Movie Channel, Sony Entertainment Network, Amazon Instant Video, and Crackle starting February 5, 2014).

It may be the best time of the year, but bad things can still happen.

EuroGamer has published a lengthy and comprehensive interview with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, discussing everything form his childhood, his philosophy on life, motorsports, Gran Turismo, and just about everything in between.

Legendary Italian American Indy 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, Daytona 500 winner and Formula 1 Champion Mario Andretti is at the center of a new GT6 First Love campaign in which GT fans get to take part in a historic rebuild project. The First Love Campaign is broken into three “Chapters:” Andretti, Live Build, and Reunion.

Amazon.com and GT Academy have teamed up to giveaway a 2014 Nissan 370Z NISMO Coupe, with an approximate retail value of more than $43,000.

The 11th annual GT Awards were held in Las Vegas last night, where a car on display at SEMA was chosen to be included in a future Gran Turismo game.

The 2013 Gran Turismo Awards are at SEMA in Las Vegas this week, and the finalists have just been revealed.

Chevrolet has featured Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi in their marketing efforts for the new 2014 Corvette Stingray, which includes an interactive film and website with keyboard-and-mouse challenges.

Each year at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the Gran Turismo Awards are held to honor some of the best custom vehicles on display – one of which gets immortalized in a Gran Turismo game.