GT5 vs. Reality

With so many locations from around the world featured in Gran Turismo 5, many fans have produced excellent videos and amazing photo libraries to see just how well the game represents reality.

GTPlanet member Abraxas went on a trip to Austria and Italy last year, with a special goal: to visit and photograph some of Gran Turismo 5’s most impressive Photomode locations in the real-world, then compare them to Polyphony Digital’s work.

Before you ask in the comments below, no – the PlayStation Network isn’t back up yet (not as of writing, at least). While you wait, check out this slick video tour of Gran Turismo 5’s real-world Tokyo R246 circuit, put together by Caterham Japan to feature their Superlight R300. For comparison, here’s a lap of the track in GT5:

Remember the Photomode location in Gran Turismo 4, which let you place your car on a boat in front of the famous Rialto Bridge in Venice? Citroen managed to re-create this scene from the game in the real world earlier this week, with the radical Citroen GT concept car designed by Polyphony Digital.

When you’re looking through some of the latest screenshots, it’s easy to think to yourself, “You know, that looks a lot better than anything I’ve ever seen in real life.” It’s a phenomenon not lost on Kazunori Yamauchi, who acknowledges that the real world doesn’t quite live up to the visual standards set by Polyphony Digital in these comments to NowGamer:

It’s always fun to compare real-life photographs with screenshots from Gran Turismo, and it looks like that’s exactly what Polyphony Digital had in mind when they released this batch of Corvette ZR1 images from Gran Turismo PSP last week.  Coincidentally (or not!), the camera angles match up quite nicely to Chevrolet’s official ZR1 photos, making it simple for us to place them side-by-side.  Can you tell what’s real and what’s not?  I’ve intentionally left these shots unlabeled, to make it a bit more fun.  If you’re confused, just ask around in the comments below.