Features

It’s finally here, after more than four months of rest and anticipation the 2013 Formula 1 season is about to kick off, in fact for the more fussy among us it could be argued the season has already begun, what with the inaugural weekend having begun today with practice sessions 1 and 2 earlier. The opening race—considered to be the real beginning of the season by those of us less fussy—kicks off this Sunday at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. Judging by the looks of things it’s going to be a fairly close season.

This weekend will mark the merging of ForzaPlanet and GTPlanet into one cohesive being, henceforth known as “ThePlanet”. I’m only kidding of course, as a great deal of you will already be aware that GTPlanet will remain GTPlanet but with even more bits. A never ending well of potential is how I would reference the upcoming merger. Of course it’s nothing like a law firm where the names can be partnered, because then you’d have Planet-Planet and that’s just confusing for everyone involved.

“Deep Forest Raceway” has been a popular staple in every major Gran Turismo game released since 1997. It has long been considered and classified as an entirely fictional circuit, created by Kazunori Yamauchi and his team at Polyphony Digital.

Before anything else, before I even advance into my usual introductory diatribe I want to preface the entire Rewind with wishing the late and great Carroll Shelby a belated happy birthday; he would have been 90 years old this past January. For those of you (and I’m one of them) who are of the opinion this entry isn’t long enough, fear not because we’ll revisit the subject in May where I’ll put together a lengthier tribute.

Yes, another reference to “Friday” by Rebecca Black. It’s a catchy song once you’ve listened to it over one hundred times, but of course we’re not here to discuss Auto-Tune wonders, are we?

Here we stand at the precipice of what may very well be the outlining of the upcoming eighth generation of video game consoles. As you all know by now Sony is poised to make a special announcement of some kind next week Wednesday. Is it really the acknowledgement that the eighth generation begins this year or will it be something else?

I’m not even going to beat around the proverbial bush this week with the titular reference; the song, performed by .38 Special was the main theme to one of my favorite comedies ever: Broken Lizard’s Super Troopers. If you’re familiar with the movie or the comedy troupe’s work in general you’ll no doubt appreciate that you’re now picturing one (or all) of your favorite scenes right now, and for that you’re welcome.

You’re probably sitting there wondering to yourself “Why is the Rewind so late this week?” and to that I say it isn’t late, quite literally it was postponed to make way for other bits of worthy news I’ll cover again later on in the Rewind, so consider this a special ‘on-the-weekend’ edition of the Rewind. And I know you’re staring at this week’s featured image again—back to me; look, I’m on a horse! There’s no horse why are you looking over here?

As of today’s posting the GTP Rewind is three months old, quite the achievement for a weekly dose of what’s been happening in the community at large here at GTPlanet. I know you’re staring at the Lexus image above not paying a single solitary thought to what I’m saying right now, so allow me to quell any further thoughts regarding the image: that Lexus, the 2014 IS-F, is an edit and a shockingly fantastic one at that.

This past Sunday, the 13th of January, the entire world witnessed the official unveiling of General Motors’ next generation iconic American sports car, the Corvette. The new C7 reasserts the “Stingray” moniker and looks the part just as well, with a hint of not only the Stingray concept that was introduced not long ago, but also concepts of previous generations, such as the Mako Shark and the Aerovette – the end result, while not revolutionary was indeed a necessary evolution in the brand’s lineage. So, here’s to the 2014 Stingray!

No this isn’t an announcement that GTPlanet has officially partnered with Burger King for the “Gran Turismo Your Way” sweepstakes or whatever it would be referred to as. You’ll just have to read on if you want to see what this week’s title refers to, and I assure you that it’s going to be a good one.

If you were a particular fan of the Rewind in the remainder of 2012 which it began, you haven’t seen anything yet. The first Rewind of 2013 and you have much to look forward to: 52 weeks of evolution and expansion, member recommendations, member spotlights, and whatever else should befall the graces of the Weekly Rewind – not even I know what’s going to mold it’s way into future installments. Kind of exciting if you were to ask me.

It never ceases to amaze me the things people are capable of doing with such photo-editing software like Photoshop, GIMP, or Paint.net; things that exceed my current level of skill. Now that’s not to imply these techniques are overwhelmingly difficult because they’re not – it’s the mastery of such techniques that will get you in the end.

On Sunday, December 23, 2012, Gran Turismo celebrates its 15th anniversary. First released on the PlayStation Console in Japan on December 23, 1997, the series has revolutionized the gaming industry, the automotive industry, and changed quite a few lives along the way.

One week before Christmas and the Rewind is still running strong! Of course, that wouldn’t be the case without all of you looking forward to it every single week, thus giving me the incentive to individualize each week’s entry in content and presentation. So thank you, GTPlanet community.

What a crazy week this has been, nay, what a crazy Friday this has been for me thus far. Whether it be my own computer not wanting to function as it should, or our very own Jordan spooking the daylights out of me with the newly appointed “GTPEDIA” footnote here – I’ve had quite the experience in these few hours ushering in a new Friday; the first for December might I add.

With Thanksgiving firmly fading into the depths of my rear-view mirror, it’s now time to prepare for the final and perhaps most joyous holiday of the entire year – Christmas. I have something in mind just for the occasion but we’ll cover that in due time, but I assure you it will be in the spirit of good tidings upon ye.

I’m still running down the effects of Thanksgiving, a holiday where you gather with family and friends, cite things your thankful for and then celebrate such by stuffing your face with delicious foods, all while watching your favorite movies or sports programs. Are there even any games shown on Thanksgiving? Outside of Motorsports and Professional Wrestling I’m not really interested in sports, but before you think to yourself “T, I don’t particularly care for you anymore.” you should know I was once infatuated with Baseball.

Aside from looking forward to the second installment of this very feature, I’ve had quite the busy week and you’ll all be glad to know it included a fair dosage of GT5; a game I’ve been playing more and more since last week. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I’m still quite a long way from being as interested in the game as I was in late 2010 when the game hit the shelves but that doesn’t mean I can’t come back to it from time-to-time to enjoy several lapping sessions, some photo sessions and maybe even some senseless spending of credits on cars I already have — how is that not fun?