“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!

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!

The first highlight comes when Geddes tries to dig deeper into the often-debated “20 locations, 70 variations” comments regarding the number of tracks in Gran Turismo 5:

“As I mentioned before there will be 20 different types of scenery the game will be set in, and in those 20 different locations there will be 70 different layouts of tracks that will be available to play.”

As always, when evaluating quotes, remember to take the issue of translation into consideration. Regardless, “20 different types of scenery” appears to support a more narrow interpretation of the word “location”. Geddes continued digging deeper, addressing the track editor:

IGN: “Have you finalized plans for a track editor?”
Yamauchi: “Things like that I can’t really discuss yet. This can be said about all the GT development. Until we’re very close to release we won’t have a finalized decision on a lot of things.”

IGN: “If there is a track editor, that will make your job easier, right? Because you can make fans design the tracks instead of your team.”
Yamauchi: “[Laughs] A lot of the courses we set up, we take a long time fine-tuning the details and building the track, so it would probably be a bit different than the types of tracks the users will set up in the game.“

The key word in Yamauchi’s response to the last question is, of course, “will”. I don’t want to focus on this too much (once again, within the context of translation), but it is an interesting word choice given the recent track editor rumblings… He also provided a hint at where Polyphony Digital is at in the decision-making process regarding dynamic weather and lighting:

“Technically it’s already possible to do in the game, it’s just how we’re going to have that have meaning in the game.”

It also seems Yamauchi got a chuckle out of the excitement and interest around the mysterious Gran Turismo 5 packaging which a GTPlanet reader originally noticed in a video by Mercedes-Benz:

“[Laughs] That’s something else we can’t really talk about yet, but I’m surprised at the level of detail everyone is focused on.”

Oh yes, sensei, we are focused!

Enjoy this second round of SEMA Gran Turismo 5 screenshots in their full, 5760 x 3240 resolution. The details which emerge at this size are, as always, breathtaking!

A few more pictures Philip Koenen’s 1970 Ford Mustang were snapped by AutoBlog, providing a much closer look at the latest addition to Gran Turismo 5’s roster. We’re still, collectively, waiting on video footage from the new SEMA demo, which supposedly features previous GT Award winners, so if you see anything floating around on the web, please let me know!

It’s taken a surprisingly long amount of time for word on the latest GT Awards winner to get out, but IGN is first to break cover and confirm the winner: a 1970 Ford Mustang with a 427 SOHC “Cammer” engine. The car is a mean-yet-classy addition to Gran Turismo, carefully pieced together by Philip Koenen and Grand Touring Garage in Oregon for a “Hong Kong client” after a long search for the right body and engine. The powerplant is particularly special: considered one of the best Ford has ever built, it produces 616 hp at 7000 rpm and 515 lbs/ft of torque at 3800 rpm.

Other finalists included a Scion tC with a very, very interesting front-mounted wing, a Camaro SS stuffed with carbon fiber, and an upgraded, twin-turbo Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, though none were able to capture Yamauchi’s attention like the ‘Stang. Watch for it next spring in Gran Turismo 5!

UPDATE (Nov. 7):  New pictures of the other finalists and awards ceremony added to the gallery below.

Yamauchi’s latest interview with AutoWeek magazine has quite a few surprises, with Yamauchi going so far as to confirm GT5’s development cost and a controversial new feature. Keep reading for a quick summary of everything you need to know…

- The decision of when Gran Turismo 5 will be released in North America and Europe is entirely up to Sony.

- Because GT5 has been built new, from the ground up, it has taken them considerably longer previous sequels. Therefore, no-one at Polyphony Digital is surprised at how long it has taken to develop, and to quote Yamauchi, “that’s the amount of time it takes to get it right”.

- There are three factors which determine what cars are included: the cars that Yamauchi wants to be in it, the cars that players want, and the cars the manufacturers want. Manufacturers have offered to pay to have their vehicles included, but Polyphony Digital has never accepted any money. Instead, they work together with the other companies which usually develops “into a relationship where we collaborate to raise the level of the game”.

- When asked about the number of tracks, Yamauchi reiterates the mysterious “20 different environments” and “around 70 different layouts”, which we have been hearing for quite some time now. When pushed, Yamauchi refused to comment further.

- On damage: “It is not very hard, though it was not in previous Gran Turismos”.

- When asked about features that could make the game more accessible to new players, Yamauchi dropped an unexpected bombshell: “you can reverse your game”. Assuming we can take this translation literally, Yamauchi must be referring to a “rewind” feature that has recently become popular in other racing series like DiRT, Need for Speed, and Forza. As you may expect, the rewind functionality allows you to “back-up” in time and resume play before you messed up a particular corner. This can come in particularly handy when learning a tough segment of a track, though it is controversial because some players believe having such an option makes it too easy to correct your mistakes.

- The entire NASCAR roster of tracks, teams, and drivers will not be in the game. However, you will be able to take the different NASCAR cars to “a number of tracks not found on the NASCAR calendar”.

- Yamauchi has played Forza Motorsport 3, and offered his impressions: “It’s very similar in a lot of aspects to Gran Turismo. Some base components of the game are very different from Gran Turismo. It’s a little bit different from what a simulator is. You can feel it when you drive it.”

- Gran Turismo 6 will be coming, but it won’t take nearly as long to develop. In Yamauchi’s words: “GT5 represents a whole new operating system. GT6 is just new apps that run on the GT5 system.”

- There “probably” will be additional content available to download in GT5, though nothing specific has been planned at this time.

- It has cost $60 million to produce Gran Turismo 5. However, it’s a wise investment in a franchise which has earned billions, and as Yamauchi notes, there are other games which cost more.

That’s all started to change over the weekend, however, as the Tokyo Game Show demo of Gran Turismo 5 was shown at DigiExpo in Finland. In a video interview with Finnish website Iltalehti, Sony Marketing Manager Suman Rath casually mentioned that “you can make your own tracks” (around 2:25). First picked up by GTPlanet user Timppaq yesterday, further discussion and analysis from other Finnish members have been able to confirm the true meaning of his words. Read their posts here, and please share your own impressions if you speak the language!

As with most off-hand, translated interview comments, we may not be getting completely accurate information, but it is still quite promising. Proceed with caution!