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This won’t be something I make mention of every week, but gracious me is looking through threads for hours on end not a task for the weary. You have informative threads, helpful threads, threads that encourage intellectual discussion, threads that cultivate constructive criticism, threads that—you get the point by now. There’s just so much to go through how can I possibly choose one over another without finding it absolutely necessary to group everything that I’ve looked at prior?

It’s not everyday you find yourself browsing countless threads, countless galleries, and a countless number of user posts looking for those that stimulate intelligent and thoughtful discussion, are helpful, and everyone walks away knowing more than they did beforehand. It’s no easy task looking for members that present themselves in such a fashion to the community at large that they stand out among that same community – and there’s where this new feature comes in. Someone has to make sure some of the very best that GTPlanet has to offer is highlighted in a consistent and well laid-out fashion.

2014 was a roller coaster of a year for Gran Turismo fans. Although GT6 didn’t evolve as quickly as many people expected after its December 2013 release, it has undergone a considerable transformation over the past twelve months and introduced some major “firsts” for the series.

What an unbelievably exciting week! Not only are we on the tail-end of another Formula 1 weekend, but there’s been tasty news morsels left, right, and center concerning games of varying natures; all of which deserve a sliver of attention, and that’s not even mentioning that the Super Bowl of video gaming nirvana takes place next week.

We’re back! For the past two weeks the Weekly Rewind has taken a much needed backseat to the endless assault of news over the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t been keeping an eye on the endlessly-updating Status Updates on the forum page, then you may very well have missed the Weekly Rewind Miniature Edition that has taken the place of the full-featured article here for the past two weeks.

We’re on the tail-end of yet another weekend of the motorsport circus known as Formula 1, but I’m not here to talk about this weekend’s outing in Spain. After looking over the calendar for this year I noticed something with a familiar ring to it (you’ll soon see that pun was intended), for on the 22nd of June the circus travels back to Austria for the returning Austrian Grand Prix to be held at the Red Bull Ring, known previously as the A1 Ring and Österreichring.

Today, as I’m writing this, marks the 20th year since the unfortunate passing of one of Formula One’s greatest drivers, Ayrton Senna. Senna is often looked upon as one of, if not the greatest driver known to the sport courtesy of his outright uncanny ability to wring the most out of the car, for the uncanny skill of being able to take off into the distance on a wet race day unlike anyone else at the time; the proverbial “rain master” as it’s known in the world of F1.

This has been the weirdest Formula One season in years. At the top stands Mercedes AMG Petronas with a commanding lead in the driver’s and constructor’s standings, all at the behest of the new formula being used this year. Mercedes has been a considerable threat since their constructor debut in the 2010 season, with their worst finish being 5th in the standings at the end of the 2012 season.

We’re two weeks away from what could possibly be – and I can’t stress that “possibly” enough – the most profound Gran Turismo 6 update yet involving the career of Ayrton Senna. May 1st will mark the 20th anniversary of his passing, and it’s on record that Polyphony Digital has plans laid out to celebrate the anniversary with Senna-related content.

There’s a lot to cover this week, so instead of me yapping (which I’ll do plenty of later on) we’re jumping right into things this week. Here we go!

We’re in the wake of another Formula One weekend, this time taking a trip to the Bahrain International Circuit, albeit with a twist. This year the circuit will make use of an all-new floodlight system that will see the Grand Prix event into the hours beyond the sun, making this the second race of the season to run without natural lighting.

We’re moving straight into the goodies this week as this week’s headline is actually a full-length segment that may very well return at some point later in the year with yet another look into what makes a racing game attractive. It’s a question that isn’t as easily answered as you might think, and I know you’re sitting there shouting out answers.

It’s a little funny to me that this week’s Rewind is being presented – the opening act, if you will – by an already prominent staple of the article itself; however, the community here is the central focus of the Rewind, and anything that makes the lives of the many easier will be showcased here.

The inaugural race weekend of the 2014 Formula One season is finally here, and while I maintain a gross of reservations regarding the new engine formula and some of the new/amended rulings, it’s a level of excitement that I couldn’t feign if I honestly tried to.

Twelve days are all that stands between me and the beginning of the 2014 Formula One season, and I’ve kept myself oblivious to most of what has already been unveiled because, well, to be perfectly honest it’s rather confusing. For example, gone are the days of teams preserving their tires throughout the final qualifying session, because now the drivers that get through to Q3 will start the race on the tires used to set their fastest lap times in Q2, should they choose to not run Q3.

We’ve been down this road many times in the past and I’m sure many of you know, at least by now, that I’m a photomode junkie. The photomode efforts present in Gran Turismo, and by extension, the efforts present in our very own Photomode Forum for GT6 are quickly becoming a cornerstone of GTPlanet.

The community here at GTPlanet has been as active as ever, if you haven’t taken notice by now, we have a new GT Suggestions forum where you can let your imagination run wild and list your suggestions that you firmly believe would make Gran Turismo the game of your dreams – whether it be with additional vehicles, tracks, or features. There’s plenty of activity already so I’ll take a moment to list off some of my favorites:

It seems that with every new month—some could even say every new week—we’re playing the waiting game until the next big thing comes to Gran Turismo 6, and the aspect itself may have inadvertently become a game within a game to some; being on the lookout for the newest feature or improvement that will further the overall enjoyment of the game itself. It’s devilishly clever and often results in a think-tank of untold proportions.

What a week this has been, evolution has become a recurring topic of interest for GT6 not only in the Rewind but the entirety of the news page here at GTPlanet and this past Tuesday Update 1.04 was released providing continual proof that Gran Turismo 6 is a game with a clear intent: to evolve. There are now four new vehicles to race to your hearts content, but the big news – or should I say bigger news is tomorrow is the first of February which means GT6 is preparing to undergo evolution once again. It’s a cycle that’s seemingly never-ending.

It appears things are slowly beginning to heat up if this past week’s festivities are any indication, we are quickly closing in on the final days of January and will soon be welcoming the 1st of February, which means an update is on the horizon. What next month’s update(s) will contain is anyone’s guess, but if you tuned in to the roundtable discussion earlier this week then you’ll know what’s been teased, and if you don’t know you’re in for quite the surprise so continue to read on.