GTPlanet

Sony is out to find the “ultimate” Gran Turismo fan with their latest contest, and two winners will be walking away with the driving suit, helmet, and gloves worn by Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust in the GT PSP Laguna Seca television commercial. All you’ve got to do is submit a 2 minute video, a 2 page essay, or slide show presentation explaining why you are the “ultimate fan”. Entries will be judged by a panel of “video game industry professionals”, who will score each submission based on the following criteria: 60% for showing that you’re the ultimate fan, 20% for showing that you’re the ultimate car/racing fan, and another 20% for showing off a little bit of creativity.

Even if you don’t pick up the racing suits and helmets, you could still win a GT PSP Entertainment Pack or signed poster. You will, however, need to be a legal resident of the United States in order to participate – see here for all the rules and regulations (the contest ends this Sunday, November 22, 2009, at 11:59 PM PST). Good luck to everyone!

After a few weeks of waiting, Ad-Hoc Party is finally available, for free, to everyone around the world! Watch the video above to see a quick demonstration with Gran Turismo PSP, then head on over to the new “official” GTPlanet lobby to start racing: World G1, Lobby 1. If you’re in the mood for a quick event but the lobby is quiet, leave a note in our official GT PSP online racing forum thread to organize a quick game. Enjoy!

In the latest issue of the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, Kazunori Yamauchi made yet another statement about the questionable status of Gran Turismo 5’s weather system:

“Night racing is going to be a part of GT5, but with things like dynamic weather, the choice is about whether it will improve the experience. The functionality is not a problem – we’ve got the weather system done – but if we are not sure about the quality of it, and how it improves the driving experience, we are not going to have it in the game.”

He has expressed concern with dynamic weather affecting the “quality” of game for some time now, remarking that Polyphony Digital is simply “experimenting” with such a feature. By confirming that its implementation is actually complete, he may have greater confidence the weather system will, ultimately, make the cut.

Yamauchi also made it clear that he has no intentions of sending GT5 out the door without all of its content and features:

“Let me be clear on this. There is a massive amount of content in this game, I don’t think there are many teams that put as much into a game as we can. The launch of the game isn’t a start, we are releasing a full game. Everything we want to put into the game is on the disc when it ships. Having said that, we do have a sizeable online team that will look after it once it’s launched.”

As you may or may not be aware, there is an ongoing “debate” about updating games via the Internet. On one hand, it gives developers the opportunity to fix any bugs or problems after the game hits store shelves. On the other hand, they may be more likely to sell a game with known problems or with a lack of content just so they can meet a particular deadline. Fortunately – and perhaps, unsurprisingly – Yamauchi remains focused on quality.

One final comment, however, does cause concern:

“They’re spending less time with a single game and this is reflected in the design of GT Mode.”

Although see GT5’s “GT Mode” surely won’t be as inconsequential as what we saw in GT PSP, this statement still makes those of us who enjoy the enduring challenge of GT games just a little bit uneasy. Thanks to calvins48 for sharing this interview!

Here’s a look at the Akiba Grand Prix, held the Akihabara district of Tokyo last weekend. Making excellent use of GT PSP’s multiplayer functionality, the Akiba GP led a group of players around a “circuit” of stores, shops, and restaurants, competing in different race events at each location. The final event of the day involves a showdown with two-time Super GT Series world champion and Best Motoring presenter Juichi Wakisaka.

Needless to say, it sounds like a really fun little competition, but that’s not all: the winner gets a trophy, 229 rare cars in GT PSP, a PS3 Slim, a free copy of Gran Turismo 5, and their name forever etched in the ending credits of the game. Check out Japanese GT PSP site and the article at Gigazine for more.

(No, I’ve got absolutely no idea what’s going on in this picture. Caption contest, anyone?)

Kazunori Yamauchi’s participation in the VLN’s BFGoodwrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft event on the Nurburgring Nordschleife last month is carefully documented in the latest issue of Auto Express. Editor Owen Mildenhall, who shared the car with Yamauchi and Peter Lyon during the 4 hour endurance race, has posted about the experience on the magazine’s website. Unfortunately, the differential on the team’s Lexus IS-F wasn’t up to the task, forcing Yamauchi to retire the car after just 40 minutes behind the wheel.

It wasn’t all for naught, though: Yamauchi still learned from the intense experience, which he hopes to be able to simulate in Gran Turismo 5:

“I feel like I am in a dream, driving as fast as I possibly can. The only time I get in this trance-like state is when I am racing a real car. I want to understand what makes me feel like that, and ultimately feed it back into Gran Turismo 5.”

Of course, this actually isn’t Yamauchi’s first event on the Nurburgring – he also competed in another VLN race in the IS-F last August, with the team finishing first in their class (Yamauchi blogged on preparations for the event here and here). His ultimate goal is to compete in the Nurburgring 24-hour Endurance race next May, and, hopefully, we’ll all be able to follow along at home with fresh copies of Gran Turismo 5!

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Since GTPlanet users first picked up on the fact that you’d be able to play Gran Turismo PSP online with Ad-Hoc party, one tiny little thing has been holding people back: it was only available in Japanese via the country’s PSN Store. Needless to say, this language barrier prevented many from giving it a shot, leaving those who did with a limited selection of opponents.

That should be changing, though, as Sony has finally announced Ad-Hoc Party is coming to North American and European PSN Stores this month (the exact date hasn’t yet been released). With more users, online racing events in our forums should really start to pick up! Just make sure that you can connect your PlayStation 3 to the Internet directly to your router via an Ethernet cable, however, as the Ad-Hoc Party software will require exclusive use of the system’s wireless connectivity in order to work. Stay tuned for another update as soon as this is available for download.

Remember that Gran Turismo PSP commercial, featuring a Corvette ZR-1 with Rhys Millen and Tanner Foust? (No, not that terrible Japanese spot!) While we wait for the next round of GT5 news, you might enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how the clip was put together. Even if you didn’t like the commercial, you’re on the wrong website if you don’t enjoy watching this collection of cars pushing it around legendary Laguna Seca.

Most of the Kazunori Yamauchi interviews from “mainstream” gaming sites are generally pretty weak, but I’ve got to hand it to IGN editor Ryan Geddes for asking some direct, important questions during his time with the GT series creator at SEMA. Although Yamauchi’s ability to talk his way out of specific answers remains strong, Geddes’ latest interview drew some interesting comments. Watch the interview above (look out for replay interior footage of J.R. Rocha’s G37), or keep reading for complete analysis of all the high points…

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