GT Interviews Thread

FerrariMarv

can someone transcribe the interview that says gt5 will be delayed again

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Alex p.

Thank you too, as you're doing right now this GT4-making of thing?

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Keisu

Well, as of now no. I gave it to TouringDevotee to do it, but it seems like he's a bit busy with stuff. So if he wants, I can take a crack at it .

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Alex p.

Another one-GT5.

http://www.computerbild.de/artikel/...mo-5-Interview-Kazunori-Yamauchi-4726515.html

date: 11/29/2009

Computer Bild Spiele-online site

Headline: GT5 is simply difficult to develop.

Computer Bild Spiele (English:Computer Picture Games): Right now some 150 people are working on Gran Turismo 5 and still it isn't finished, why?

Kazunori Yamauchi: GT5 is simply very difficult to develop.

CBS: Why?

KY: The dimensions of this game are huge, it really is simply too big. It is so complex, so enormous in it's scale.

CBS: Is GT5 too "ambitious"? Are you too ambitious?

KY: We gotta meet a certain standard. The bar for a "Gran Turismo", is as known, very high.

CBS: Isn't there a real danger that players will get too tired of waiting and just buy another racing game instead.?

KY: That very well may be but there is nothing that will let us develop the game any faster. It's not that we get slower during the process. We give our best. I didn't have a single day off this year and still the game isn't finished.

CBS: Gran Turismo is one the biggest franchises for the PlayStation. Does not Kaz Hirai often knock on the door and asks you to get the game done already, so more PS3 consoles can be sold?

KY: Well, he's not all too often here but we definatly are under some certain pressure. And we're not doing this for him really, it's more an obligation towards the firm Sony, which backed me up and is making my life, as it is, possible.

CBS: Is it true that you do not play any other racing games but rather let yourself inspire by real motorsport?

KY: Basically this is true. But our people here buy all those new games, test them, discuss the features and differences compared to our game. And as much as I know, the others let themselfes inspire by our work, not the other way around. So that is why I believe that most of our inspiration does not come from others work. I believe, the most important thing is, to drive the cars in real life and to participate in real races-that is where I get much of my inspiration from.

CBS: Are you almost obligated to set new standards and to recreate reality as much as you can?

KY: I believe, our drive is not really to set standards. We slowly believe that we created a very different game- and at the beginning we didn't even think that there would be so many people interested in our games. We work to set our own standards, while doing that, we do not look too much at the others.

CBS: In your eyes, what is the biggest evolutionary step of GT5?

KY: Pretty much all aspects of the game are improved. If you wanna make it simple: The physics, the sound, the online features, everything has been improved.

CBS: Why is it so important to implement various online-features in a modern racing-game?

KY: Originally games were played by many people, like football or baseball. And what happens during the play there, is obviously communication between the players. Videogames, a rather young medium, is also a rather rare format, where players play on their own. I believe that games with online-functionality turn to their original state, where players can meet each other on a course, show each other their cars, drive a time practise, come back to the friends for a little chat-these are normal things you would also do in real life and which have not been possible in GT5, untill now. That makes a big difference. I believe, it is more about a natural evolution of things, I wouldn't really call it a totally new function.

CBS: The demaga model seems not to be very real, why is that?

KY: The main reason is that it is not finished yet, we are still working on it.

CBS: So can we expect true-to-life crashes?

KY: That depends on how far you want to go with it. I've seen real crashes, where cars were compressed to a hight of 30 centimeters, we can not go that far. But we want to do it as realistic as possbile.

CBS: While we're talking about new features-how does it look with weather and daytime changes?

KY: If you look back at the history of racing games, you will find out that already in the 80's there were some, which had these features. But when we developped GT in 1997, we didn't really care about such features. We experiment on a daily bases with lighting and weather conditions and such. When we had to, we probably would be able to implement them already tomorrow. But if these features are included or not, is not the important here. The question is, wether this feature highers or lowers the overall quality of the game. Exactely this is what we're looking at, before we decide to implement sth. new.

CBS: In other words, you do not really want to say wether these features are in the game or not?

KY: We experiment with it. I want to emphasise again, that the quality of a game does not depend on the amount of features that are included.
We rather concentrate on the overall quality of our games, we are very carefull, when it comes to that.

CBS: When you would not have been such a motorhead, which game-genre would you then design?

KY: Before I made the first Gran Turismo, I sent in some 100 concepts for various videogames, from adventures, to RPG's, to puzzle games, pretty much all genres were represented. But when I had to choose...recently I thought about making a game, which is about life, death and the general being of the human, with it's meanings.

CBS: Why are there so many bicycles in your studio?

KY: Everybody here likes bicycles.

CBS: Ah, so...they're there just like that?

KY: They are also being used. Right now, there is a huge bicylce-hype in Japan, race-and mountain bicycles are very popular.

CBS: So, can we expect a "Tour-de-France-Game" from you soon?

KY: Yes, that would be also sth. I would like to do, having Lance Armstrong here...

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The Making of Gran Turismo 4

Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, Bonus Disc
Ambrook production
Narrated by Vicki Butler-Henderson
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]



Part Two


Kazunori Yamauchi: The philosophy for creating Gran Turismo, was simply to create a game for myself, that suited me. I had no idea it would be such a success, I just hoped there’d be others in the world who like the game too.




Narrator: Since its launch in 1997, Gran Turismo has sold over 35 million units worldwide, making it not only the biggest selling computer game, but also the fastest. Though it took time for car manufacturers to embrace this new medium, they are now knocking the door down for the cars to be created in 3D glory, for a global test drive. Key to the success has been the physics engine, which replicates the weight and dynamics of each individual car, and for Gran Turismo Prologue, it’s now even better.




Kazunori Yamauchi: The physics engine which has been introduced for GT4 Prologue, is completely new, and it is the first major update since Gran Turismo first appeared in 1997, so the improvement to drive feel is now closer to the real thing. It had been possible to learn real driving in the virtual world of Gran Turismo before, but now for both fans and professional racing drivers, I think they both have much more to learn from it. You can learn real driving from playing Gran Turismo and now with Prologue, I can say that with conviction. That really is my honest opinion.




Narrator: However, you don’t create masterworks like Gran Turismo, locked away in a warehouse, in some out of town industrial area. You’ve got to suck up the surrounding culture, and outside influences, hang out with car people and talk turbo boost and downforce.

Just like in real life, to be able to drive fast and post race winning lap times, you must first learn the basic skills of handling a car on a track. This is why we have GT4 Prologue. By the time you pass the tests, you’ll have picked up all the skills to drive fast in both the virtual and the real worlds. You’ll have learned the importance of being smooth with the car, picking the right line through the corners and you’ll automatically know how to prevent a slide turning into a crash.




Kazunori Yamauchi: It’s impossible to drive fast on a track without experience, so a driver has to study the art of driving bit by bit. First you must understand the mechanics of how a car works, and then you can synchronize your feeling of what the car is doing to its physics. The most important thing is for your driving to be smooth, effortless and accurate.

Tsuba Inaba, Overseas Co-ordination: When the driver approaches this slippery zone, there is a metal plate, which is built into the ground. There are sensors that measure the car’s approaching speed, roughly, about 40km/h is the curriculum and once the car drives over the plate, the plate jolts, throws you into a spin and the driver’s objective is to try to avoid spinning out.




Narrator: On the public road, a skid is often the beginning of an accident and something to avoid, whereas on a racetrack, whether you are a novice making mistakes or an expert driving on the limit, skids and slides are all part of it. The important thing is to learn how deal with a skid, whether its the rear of car sliding in oversteer, or the front of the car losing grip and understeering. And the best way to learn this is on a skidpan [also called a skidpad], where there’s plenty of space for mistakes.

The more you practice controlling your car in a skid, the better you’ll be prepared for the racetrack, and hopefully catching a slide will become second nature. At first you’ll do lots of spinning, but once you’ve mastered the technique, being able to slide a car under perfect control is more than a useful skill, it’s one of the best things ever. And it looks pretty good too; nothing looks cooler than a world class rally driver, drifting through a corner in perfect control. It’s like motorized ballet. Formula One drivers have great respect for professional rally drivers, not least because nearly every time they have a go at rallying, it has ended in tears. So, if the world’s top track drivers struggle to master rallying, then perhaps it’s better to master the more stable world of circuit driving.

An empty racetrack is heaven; a place where you can let yourself go. No police, no speed cameras and no chance of loosing your license. To be quick around a track, which you’ll have to be to win a race, you need to learn the basics. At first, you won’t believe how much space you’ve got, until you get it all wrong and find yourself running out of room and headed for the tire wall.

As you’ll no doubt find out, the basic laws of physics apply to all cars, which you have to understand and harness to your best advantage. The 125 bhp Volkswagen Lupo GTI is cute and front engined. It’s light, but doesn’t have neck breaking horsepower, and because it’s not that fast, you’ll be tempted to chuck it around and have fun. It’s a giggle, but not the fastest way to drive; chill out and make use of the power that you’ve got.

The Mercedes SL has a stomping 493 bhp, right in front of your nose and at almost 2-tons, it’s almost twice the weight of the Lupo. There’s stacks of tire burning grunt under your right foot, but as it’s a heavy beast, you have to drive the SL using your head. Fling it about and it’ll be a remortgage before bedtime.

The Lotus Elise only has 118 bhp, which doesn’t sound like enough power for a trip down to the shops, but then it weighs just 725 kg, about the same as a shopping trolly. It’s mid-engined, which gives it excellent balance and fantastic steering, but it’s short, which makes it easy to spin, so if you do get into trouble, you’ll need lightning reactions to pull it back.

The great Ayrton Senna had a hand in developing the Honda NSX. Honed from Aluminium for low weight and powered by a 3.2 liter V6 with 276 bhp mounted behind your head, the NSX revs all the way to 9,000 rpm and sounds fantastic.

Finally, the Nissan 350Z; front-engine, rear wheel drive, same as the SL, but without the weight. Driving the Z is pure fun. It’s really well balanced and great to drift, and as you can see, it looks just gorgeous.

When you first go on a racetrack, you’ll only be thinking about driving fast, and wowing your mates with a quick lap time. Typically, you’ll be driving like this, with big swings of the steering wheel and frantic movement, trying to hold it all together in the belief that you’re laying down a fast lap. Big mistake. Just concentrate on driving smoothly and you’ll start improving your lap time without even realising it.

This is what you should be aiming for. Our pro driver has now calmed down and is getting it right; it could be your granddad on his way to the shops to pick up a paper. No sudden movements, no drama, and it’s fast. So be smooth. It’s as simple as pouring a pint.

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The Making of Gran Turismo 4: Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

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The Making of Gran Turismo 4

Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, Bonus Disc
Ambrook production
Narrated by Vicki Butler-Henderson
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]



Part Three


Narrator: Now [that] we’ve mastered the art of being smooth, we need to understand the racing line. This line is the fastest route around a circuit. When a racing driver talks about learning a circuit, he means that he’s working out where the natural line runs. At each corner there’s a point at which you should turn the car into the bend, clip its apex, and a point at which you should exit. Gran Turismo’s Kazunori talks of the racing line as an element that the car itself will define.




Kazunori Yamauchi: Whenever I’m driving on a track, my attention is focussed on being calm and smooth; I always aim for a smooth lap. The secret of driving fast is to let the car go the way it wants to, not to fight it. The racing line isn’t necessarily the most geometrically efficient line, rather it’s the line the car traces when you let it lead you; lines will be decided naturally if you follow the car’s lead.




Narrator: A fast lap isn’t about going flat out everywhere, there will be times when you need to go slowly in one section, so that you can be quick in another.; this is what driving test 4 teaches you in Prologue. Here on the real racetrack, it’s exactly the same. Master the test in Gran Turismo and you’ll master it in real life.

The most important thing is to be on the throttle as soon as you exit the corner. The quicker you’re back on the gas, the faster you’ll be on the straight. Racing school instructors call this “slow in, fast out.” Try to attack the fast section of these corners with too much speed and you’ll run wide...off the track. Then you’re in trouble. You’ll loose loads of speed and won’t get the car in the right position to take the next turn. The end result being [that] you’ve lost loads of time; the whole lap is ruined, and all because you were too fast in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When you start driving on a track, even if you’ve been driving on the road for years, you don’t really understand the forces that build up in a car when it’s traveling at racing speeds. The energy which a car creates when traveling at speed can easily push you off the track, as the lads from Polyphony are finding out. So tests like this can be both fun and a steep learning curve.

Once you’ve understood these forces, they can be made to work in your favor, and that’s just what the slalom test is all about. The objective here is to drive through the course, in the quickest time, without hitting any cones. It looks simple, and not very relevant to fast driving, but if you think that, you’re very wrong.

The trick is to let the car flow and establish a rhythm. As you can see, to do this, the driver lifts off the throttle as he rounds the cones, then he’s back on the throttle to the next row of cones. Lifting the throttle pitches the cars weight forward and helps the turn. From the outside, the car’s movement should have all the grace of a champion slalom skier.

Now look what happens when the driver attacks the course without thinking, just trying to get through as quickly as possible. The car gets out of shape and he’s lost his rhythm, but worst of all, it’s taken him 50% longer to complete the course. It doesn’t matter how good your car is, or your skill as a driver, you need to keep your concentration throughout these tests, or you’ll run ragged and spin out.

Even Kazunori, in the awesome Mitsubishi [Lancer] Evo VIII with permanent 4-wheel drive, finds a slalom can catch him out [Kazunori Yamauchi spinning out: “Ooooooooh, I’m sorry.”].




Ken Miyaki: This is really like a dream. I’m getting to drive the cars [that] I read about in magazines. The ones [cars] I can’t afford personally, but then here I am actually in the driver seat and being able to take it out and really extract the full performance out of these vehicles, that you really can’t do out in the public, without being fined huge amounts of money and having your license taken away. One of the things that I learned how to do, was that in a car that’s going 200 km/h, it was quite thrilling to be able to brake from that, down to zero to stop; [it] was a real educational experience.




Narrator: This is a real world replica of one of Prologue’s driving tests. It doesn’t sound logical, but in order to go fast, you have to master braking. This test teaches you how to brake hard smoothly and with precision. The inexperienced track driver tends to brake too softly and too light. Just imagine that while your car is knocking down the cones, you’re trying to turn into a corner.

You need to plan your braking by taking reference points from the side of the track. These could be signs, bridges or grand stands. Many tracks have distance boards prior to each corner, which makes your planning even simpler. Without a plan, you’re certain to get out of shape; precision is required. The professional driver would brake hard early, and then start to come off the brakes to avoid a skid. Once you’ve mastered the basic track skills of cornering and braking, it’s time to confront the toughest challenge, the rally stage.

This is a typical scene for a competition rally driver, and one that humbles even the fastest and bravest of Formula One drivers. Weighing in at just over 1000 kg, this is a Group N, Mitsubishi [Lancer] Evo VII. Like most modern rally cars, it has permanent 4-wheel drive with a combination of 3-differentials controlling torque split, which to you and me, means independent power delivery to each wheel. Powered by a 2-liter turbocharged engine, it develops up to 300 bhp, is geared to 140 mph and should propel you to 60 [mph] around a Welsh valley such as this in just 5 seconds.

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The Making of Gran Turismo 4: Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

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SHIRAKAWA Akira

Add this:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/251008/kazunori_interview.html

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Kazunori Interview

We catch up with the creator of Sony's ultra-successful Gran Turismo racing game, as he follows the progress of the GT Academy finalists

By Dean Gibson
Auto Express
20th April 2010


Gran Turismo is one of the biggest video game franchises in the world, having sold more than 53 million copies worldwide since the first game was released on the Sony PlayStation in 1997. But the series has gone beyond the realms of the gaming world, and Gran Turismo’s creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, has become involved in projects with real-world car manufacturers.

From the centre console display on the Nissan GT-R, to Toyota’s forthcoming data logging system, and even the GTbyCitroen concept car, Kazunori and Gran Turismo’s influence is firmly felt in the motoring mainstream.

Another avenue being explored by Gran Turismo is the concept of turning a computer gamer into a fully-fledged racing driver. The GT Academy by Nissan found its first star last year with Spaniard Lucas Ordonez, and now the contest is in its final week to find this year’s winner. The final two, Luca Lorenzini from Italy and Jordan Tresson from France, are competing for a seat in a Nissan 370Z run by RJN Motorsport, and will take part in the European GT4 Cup, which starts on 2 May at Silverstone.

Both drivers were competing in the Britcar championship at Snetterton, Norfolk, as part of their training, and Kazunori was there to check them out. We caught up with the Gran Turismo creator for a quick chat.




Have you been keeping up with news on the competitors in GT Academy?

Yes, it’s great to see Luca and Jordan transferring their skills in Gran Turismo to the real world. And it looks like it’s going to be a tough decision to pick a winner from the pair of them.




The GT Academy opened with an online time trail that more than a million people entered, and you posted a time on there for people to aim for. How much practise did you put in to set that time?

Only about an hour or so.




This is the second year of GT Academy in Europe, do you have any plans to run similar competitons in Japan or the US?

The GT Academy came about because of the collaboration between Sony Europe and Nissan. To set up similar packages in Japan and the US will be a lot of work, but we’re working to make it happen and we would like to see an international contest take place next year.




As well as GT Academy, you worked with Nissan on the centre console display for the GT-R. Plus, you’ve collaborated with Toyota on a data logging system and Citroen on the GTbyCitroen concept. Do you feel that these collaborations encourage other car manufacturers to get involved with Gran Turismo?

I think one of the reasons car manufacturers are interested in the GT series is that while it’s basically a video game, it has a far greater reach into the mainstream than you would expect from other video games.




How is your training for the Nurburgring 24 Hours going? (Kazunori is set to race a Lexus IS F in this year’s event (15-16 May), and will co-drive with Auto Express road tester Owen Mildenhall)

It’s going well. I tend to divide my time between practise playing GT and the physical training in the gym.




Does real-life competition help you to guide the way the GT series goes?

It’s certainly an inspiration. From my point of view, you have to try the real thing to convey what it’s like when playing the game.




How are you finding Snetterton today? How does UK motorsport compare with Japanese club racing?

In general it looks like people are having a lot more fun here. Sometimes racing in Japan can get very serious and they look like they’re not having that much fun.




Do you like to have fun when you race?

When you’re racing competitively it’s serious, but I know it’s not just about winning and losing. The fun factor you feel when racing is something that I want to bring across in GT.




On the subject of Gran Turismo, how do you decide which cars you are going to include in the game?

There are three factors, my personal choice, the cars that players want in the game and of course what the manufacturers want to see included.




Have you bought any cars lately that you want to add to the game?

I haven’t bought any cars lately, the last car I bought was a Nissan GT-R!




We have seen preview pictures and videos of Gran Turismo 5 that feature new cars such as the Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo and Mercedes SLS. These are pretty exciting models - are there any more cars that are still to come?

Yes, we’re holding back more exciting models for when the game is released.




A Japanese release date of March was announced for GT5, but this didn’t happen, can you offer any explanation why?

Deciding a release date for a game is always difficult, as it’s not something I can decide on my own. The agreement on a date comes between various parties at Sony, and it’s not necessarily a date I would be hoping for.




Would you have liked GT5 to be released by now?

Actually, I think that March would've been too early. We could have produced the game in time to make that deadline, but the finished product wouldn’t have had everything that I wanted to include.




You’ve been to the Pebble Beach Concours in California a number of times. Is that an indication that more classic cars will be making an appearance in the GT series?

There are a lot of cars that I’d like to see in the game, but it’s a long waiting list, and there’s not enough time to get them all in.




Are there any car makers that won’t be appearing in GT5 that you’d like to see in GT6?

GT5 will have a few historic models in it, but looking back at automotive history there are a lot of cars that would be nice to have. I couldn’t narrow it down to one manufacturer, but Porsche is definitely at the top of my wish list.




Thanks to: Rupert at Jardine International and Jordan at GTPlanet

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RoadRunner99

TGS 2010 Kazunori Yamauchi Interview

From GameBlog France:
by Julo
[21 September 2010]




[GameBlog Fr] What are the reasons you are made to postpone the date of Gran Turismo 5 release many times?

[KY] For the West, we never announce a date.
So the things have followed their course as it was scheduled.
And of course, is always the same thing: I always want to continue working on it, but people around me stop me!
It must stop at some point or another.




[GameBlog Fr] Are you really satisfied now? or you still want to do more?

[KY] I always want to do more, of course.




[GameBlog Fr] You mentioned the concept of premium cars. can you tell us more?

[KY] Standard cars are actually cars from previous games in the series.
We had less work to convert them to the PS3. They were included to provide a greater variety in the cars.
Premium cars however, are like a glimpse of the future of the GT series.
Moreover, and we have mentioned before, we may have gone too far into detail on PS3
What we have done is perhaps more appropriate for a future console.




[GameBlog Fr] Does that mean that only premium cars will have a damage management ?

[KY] The damage will affect the two types of cars but they "express themselves" differently depending on the type of vehicle.
The premium models have a damage model much richer.
But all will damage.




[GameBlog Fr] You have presented a new mode, the "special events".
Those will they take the form of appointment on the internet?

[KY] Yes, it's that!




[GameBlog Fr] Such as to compete against Sebastien Loeb?

[KY]Yes, quite




[GameBlog Fr] How much physics has been reworked in relation to GT5
prologue?

[KY] Characteristics and movements of tires, and suspension have been changed profoundly since the prologue.
One could say that this is totally different




[GameBlog Fr] after a well deserved holiday, do you leave immediately on GT6, or do you have other projects in his head?

[KY] I actually enjoy working. So I do not tend to want to take a Holiday.
And of course there are still many things I can do for Gran Turismo.
This will probably lead me to begin the development of GT6.
Whatever happens I can assure you that waiting for GT6 will not be as long as that of Gran Turismo 5

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GT Creator Interview
Chit-chat on Tourist Trophy and the future of Gran Turismo.

by Matt Leone
1UP.com
04/08/2006



Today at the official PlayStation store in San Francisco, Sony held a launch event for its motorcycle racing game Tourist Trophy, with activities ranging from a tournament to an autograph signing with head of developer Polyphony Digital -- and now also Sony Computer Entertainment executive -- Kazunori Yamauchi. Just before this signing, we had a chance to pull Yamauchi aside and ask a few questions.

Interview with Kazunori Yamauchi



1UP: Since Sony has restructured its various divisions, your job has changed. How does your day to day job differ from what it used to be when you were just in charge of Polyphony?

Kazunori Yamauchi: The change may not be huge, but there is in fact a change to my day to day activities. Previously, I was 100% in charge of Polyphony and that was all I had to worry about, but currently maybe 30% of my day to day activities represent SCE corporate or overall PlayStation business planning or strategies -- things like that.




1UP: How would you compare your role on Tourist Trophy to your role on Gran Turismo 4?

KY: On GT4, I was pretty much all hands on, all the way down to every little detail including fixing the fraction times for license tests, to the furthest digit for the license times, making those adjustments, finding the right game balance. In terms of Tourist Trophy, we do have a director in-house who looked after this title, [Takamasa] Shichisawa a.k.a. Nana. He was looking after most of the overall gameplay. I supported Tourist Trophy with the technical portion and of course from the management level.




1UP: Shichisawa is a big motorcycle rider in real life. Do you ride motorcycles?

KY: I do not have experience riding, no.




1UP: Do you have a personal favorite bike in the game?

KY: It would have to be the CBR 600 that's featured on the cover. [Note: In the photograph used for Tourist Trophy's box art, the rider of the motorcycle is actually Shichisawa, the director of the game.]




1UP: Now that Tourist Trophy is done, looking back on it, what are you most proud of and what might you have done differently?

KY: The most proud area is that we were able to be the first game that features real physics and performance simulation of bikes in a videogame. An area that we had hoped to fix but couldn't would be displaying more bikes on the screen for a race -- that would obviously lead to a more exciting race, but this has been a limitation we've faced with the hardware performance unfortunately.




1UP: You mentioned the realism of the game. Is that what in your mind separates Tourist Trophy from the Moto GP games?

KY: Yeah, absolutely.




1UP: Which of the two, the Namco or the THQ Moto GP games, do you prefer?

KY: If I had to pick, it would be the one from THQ.




1UP: I know some of the same art assets were used in Tourist Trophy from Gran Turismo. From here do you see it becoming its own franchise, or is this more an experiment to see how it goes and then you'll decide at that point?

KY: Back at the studio, Polyphony, we do have test machines where we can display both cars and bikes on the same tracks, just for experiment purposes. Perhaps maybe in the future we might have a title where we have both. This time around, the reason why they've been separated is only a technical reason, with these performance limitations with the PlayStation 2.




1UP: Finally, can you give us any update on Gran Turismo PSP?

KY: We are in the works. It is going forward. It does exist. We're working on it. We don't have a release date, of course. A question for you is do people out there really have high hopes for a GT version on PSP?




1UP: I think so, yeah. Back when it was first talked about, people got really excited. I guess it's kind of fallen off the map because it hasn't really been talked about since then, but it'll be big news.

KY: Another question. Which do you think would you or the users would like to have first: a PS3 version of Gran Turismo or PSP version of Gran Turismo?




1UP: I guess the PS3...but what you could do is have the PSP version around August and then hit the PS3 launch in November...

KY: [laughs]

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Gran master
by Sam Philip
TopGear
April 8, 2008


Gaming god Kazunori Yamauchi reveals why Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is the most spectacular GT instalment yet



Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi is, as you might expect, a geek. Not a gaming geek, though. A car geek.

"For me, it's always been cars first and gaming second," says Kazunori, fresh from putting the finishing touches to GT5 Prologue, the latest instalment in the Gran Turismo franchise. "Give me the choice between a day on the track and a day on the Playstation, and it's the track day every time."

Correct choice, Kazunori-san. That's no idle assertion to pacify Top Gear, either - Kazunori is renowned as a seriously quick track driver, and he admits slightly sheepishly that his garage back home in Japan includes a Honda S2000, Nissan 350Z, Porsche GT3 and a Mitsubishi Evo V. Oh, and a Merc SL55 AMG. A pretty full collection, then? Apparently not.

"I'm not even close to owning all the cars I'd like to," says Kazunori. "My dream garage would have to include... well, a Ferrari 330 P4, a McLaren F1 and the new Nissan GT-R."

Ah yes, the GT-R. Nissan's Skyline (OK, it's not called the Skyline any more, but Kazunori repeatedly refers to the GT-R by its old name) has been intimately intertwined with the GT franchise over the past 10 years - in fact, 48 different Skylines have appeared in the various iterations of the game.




'The Nissan GT-R is one of 71 cars in GT5 Prologue, each recreated in terrifyingly accurate detail'




"We've got so many cars in the game that are absolute gems - the Ferraris, for example," muses Kazunori, glancing up at a giant screen with Nissan's Godzilla rendered lifesize across it.

"Next to them, the GT-R is the ugly duckling among the swans. But it's still a special car for us. For a start, we were involved in the car's development [Kazunori worked on the in-car information screens, and was given a GT-R for his efforts], and the timing of the game and the car have run closely together. So we were always going to be partial to it."

The GT-R is one of 71 cars in GT5 Prologue, each recreated in terrifyingly accurate detail. 'Lifelike' is a term bandied round too readily in the gaming world, but trust me: Prologue is worryingly, flinchingly realistic.

At the official launch, a video splicing together in-game clips and real-world footage had the TG team transfixed for a good 20 minutes as we tried to separate the real and the virtual. We'd had a couple of beers, true, but still...

"As an example, the amount of effort and information required to create a whole car in GT4 is equivalent to one headlight in GT5 Prologue," says Kazunori. "We've modelled the bulb, the lens, the reflection, everything. We got headlights shipped from the manufacturer and dismantled them."

Now I'm beginning to understand why the GT team takes six months to build each car. With limited time, they had to select the most important cars to put in Prologue, which means there's a spectacular array of Ferraris - including the 2007 F1 car (oh yes) - alongside a smattering of Japanese and European supercars. And a Suzuki Cappuccino. Eh?

"Of course, we couldn't put in every car we wanted to," admits Kazunori guiltily. "We try to include everything that the users have asked for, but some cars - yes, like the Cappucino [a tiny, underpowered kei car] - are personal favourites."

Told you he was a car geek. Expect plenty more left-field surprises when GT5 proper arrives: the rumour is that the full game will feature some 900 cars.

"Prologue is the halfway point of what we want to do with the game," says Kazunori. "The other half is our homework from now on."




'In the full Gran Turismo 5 you'll be able to dent and mangle the cars to your heart's content'




That homework includes something that GT fans have demanded for, well, ages: damage. As in smashing, crumpling bits of car.

In previous GT instalments, manufacturers have put the kibosh on in-game damage to their cars - bad publicity, apparently - but in the full GT5 you'll be able to dent and mangle the cars to your heart's content. I ask Kazunori if it's a sign of the increasing power that the GT franchise wields.

"Manufacturers are now coming to us, asking us to add their cars to the game, so we're seeing less resistance to in-game damage from the manufacturers," he answers diplomatically. He hesitates. "I'm still not sure they'll be too keen on seeing their cars roll over, though."

There'll be a lot more to GT5 than just flying shards of metal and carbon fibre, though. Like the Top Gear test track.

As we told you back in October, you'll be able to take on the famed corners of the Hammerhead, Gambon and the rest - something Kazunori is relishing. "I'm all set to drive the Top Gear test track," he says with a competitive glint in his eye. "I'll be out to win, even if I'm up against the Stig."

Beating the Stig in his own backyard? Car geek or not, that's quite a challenge. Roll on GT5...

Sam Philip

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Autoblog UK talks to Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi

by Will Powell
Autoblog.uk
20th Apr 2010



Kazunori Yamauchi is the legendary Japanese game designer responsible for the Gran Turismo® series. He's notoriously low profile and a legend in the gaming world, making it very difficult to get an audience with the man who knows all the secrets of the world's most popular racing game - the fifth installment of which is due out this year.

But we caught up with Kazunori at Snetterton this weekend, where he was trackside to watch the progress of PlayStation® and Nissan's GT Academy 2010 - a competition that aims to turn armchair experts on the Gran Turismo game into real-life racing drivers. First prize is a fully-sponsored drive in the European GT4 Cup this season, and Kazunori has taken a close personal interest in the event, which attracted entries from over 1.2 million gamers from across 17 countries.

After an intensive selection process, two finalists – Jordan Tresson of France and Italian Luca Lorenzini – were racing 370Zs in the Britcar Production Series on Saturday in advance of the final showdown, a one-on-one test session at Silverstone later this week. We dragged Kazunori away from studying the dozens of cars in the Britcar pit lane to get his thoughts on the GT Academy and the forthcoming launch of GT5....




Did you ever think it would be possible for an amateur to practice on your game and become a racing driver?

I was pretty confident it would be possible. In my mind when I was building Gran Turismo, that was definitely something I wanted to offer. I think that this is a big difference from, say, a football game or golf game. You might be really good on those games, but it is unlikely that you would be able to turn your gaming skill to becoming a real professional in those sports. GT Academy is proving that this is possible with Gran Turismo.




How does it make you feel seeing that happen at GT Academy?

There's a big difference between having confidence that something could be possible and it coming true. Seeing Luca and Jordan becoming racing drivers is actually very moving for me.




Would you like to see similar programs to the GT Academy running elsewhere?

We want to do it in Japan and North America.




How closely do you believe the dynamics of these racing cars can be recreated in a game like Gran Turismo?

From my own racing experience, I don't think there is any discrepancy between the two. It's very good learning material! Jordan and Luca are proof of that. And I know that Sebatian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton play Gran Turismo all the time.




If Gran Turismo is already so realistic, how can you improve it?

You'll get a better understanding of just how we've improved the GT experience by playing Gran Turismo 5. Actually playing the game will help demonstrate the advancements better than an explanation - wait till GT5!




What new circuits and cars would you like to recreate in the new game?

We haven't announced what tracks are going to be included in the game yet, so it's hard to answer. We're definitely having the Top Gear test track though and we will announce some other stunning tracks soon!




You seem to have an obsessive attention to detail when it comes to cars. Has that always been the case and have you lost any of your passion after so many years of doing this?

Personality-wise, that's how I've always been. Details are very important to me in every area of life. However, cars are mysterious things. Many things can start as a hobby and then can become your job - but once they become your job, it's easy to get bored and lose interest in them. Cars are different, though. Everyone I know who works with or around cars for a living seem to get more and more interested in them. It's a rare thing. When I go to motor shows, the crowds gathered around the new sports cars include a lot of old men! It proves that interest in cars never fades.




Would you consider developing a game about anything else?

If I were to make a different game, it would probably be an adventure or role playing game.




What cars do you have in your personal collection?

Nissan GT-R – I was involved in its development, which was a dream come true. Ford GT, Porsche GT3, Mercedes SL AMG and a Honda S2000 racing car.




What's been your biggest crash?

It was on a big ring road around Tokyo. I blocked it. Very embarrassing.




What's the future for the Gran Turismo brand? Is there room for expansion away from just games?

Good question. I think in making Gran Turismo a lot of opportunities have arisen. These are great chances to do new things. GT Academy is a great example of this. It is taking the game to another level by creating real racing drivers. Helping develop the Nissan GT-R just came along by chance, it wasn't planned. So I'm not sure about the future of Gran Turismo. I'll always be open-minded, curious and interested in new things, as they arise in the future.




What's your best lap time around the Nurburgring Nordschleife on Gran Turismo?

I think it's in one of the Group C prototype cars: 6 minutes 30 seconds.




And in the real world when you've raced there?

Haha. 8 minutes flat

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AutoBlog UK: Can you explain more about the difference between premium and standard cars in the new GT5?

Yamauchi: Standard models won’t have an interior view, less detailing and no crash model. The problem is that premium models take a lot of time to create and we wanted to include many more vehicles than before. To make premium versions of all the cars we want to put in would take ten years or more and I don’t think people are prepared to wait long!

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Q&A With Gran Turismo's Kazunori Yamauchi

by Ryan Geddes
IGN
November 9, 2009


We corner Sony's resident car nut to talk about GT5, SEMA and his hot car of the moment.



Gran Turismo series creator Kasunori Yamauchi is a regular at the Special Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. Each year he walks the floor and chooses a winning custom automobile to be digitized and made playable in the next version of Gran Turismo. We caught up with the Sony/Polyphony Digital developer at the convention for a brief chat about the custom car scene and Grand Turismo 5, the long-awaited next installment in the legendary driving series.




What do you look for in a SEMA winner?

In the SEMA GT awards, we have Japanese cars, European cars, domestic cars, and we're basically just looking for the most high performance cars out there. But I haven't seen them yet so I don't know exactly whats's going to happen. We find the car that shines out from the crowd like a jewel.




Last year's SEMA was all about classic cars. What are the trends you are seeing this year?

Yes, the theme last year was nostalgia. There is a revivlal of a lot of American cars. This year one thing I noticed was there are a lot less European cars and I saw a lot of R35 GT-Rs that were tuned on the floor.




What were the winning cars from the past 2 years, and why were they chosen?

First the HPA Audi (TT), I was very impressed by the performance of the car, obviously. And also the level of completion of all the details of the car – the interior, exterior and nearly everything about it was just nearly perfect. And that was something I focused on.

For the (Infinity) G37, I was kind of overwhelmed by the wild exterior of the car and I think the other thing that really got me about that car was there were a lot of ppl who worked on that car. It was just the sort of car that everybody got together and poured their passion into. And that was something that I really liked about it.




Are you ready to announce a North American release date for Gran Turismo 5?

In Japan it's due to be released in March 2010. And the release date in North America shouldn't deviate too far from that, but it hasn't been decided yet.




You've said before there will be 20 locations with 70 variations. Can you break that down at all in more detail for people who are accustomed to hearing a specific number of tracks?

At SEMA we still can't talk about the details yet. 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.




Have you finalized plans for a track editor?

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.




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.

[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.




Has it been decided if weather or time changes will be in the final game?

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.




Recently we saw a video of the Gran Turismo box with multiple discs. What exactly is on those discs?

[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.




The videos you've made to coincide with the announcment of the inclusion of cars like the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Toyota FT-86 were great. Are there plans to release more of them?

Of course. And we have a lot of collaborations going on with a lot of different manufacturers right now, so I think not just in terms of video, but we'll have other things to announce as time progresses.




Have plans been finalized for whether motorcycles will be featured in Gran Turismo 5?

If that's what users really want in the game, I think that's a possibility. Or we could consider making a Tourist Trophy 2 as well.




Are you working with Logitech on a new racing wheel for GT5?

When the Driving Force GT came out, that was actually developed for GT5. And it was kind of an early release for it to be sold while GT5 Prologue was out. And we've yet to actually maximise the performance of that steering wheel. I think we're going to try to draw out all the potential it has before we move on to developing a new wheel. Because I think that steering wheel still has a lot of possibilities.




For the Top Gear tracks, will you be able to race agains The Stig's official times?

We're trying to plan that now.




If you could drive any car in the world you haven't driven yet, what would it be?

I'd like to try driving the Tesla Roadster S actually.




Will that car be in the game?

It will appear in the game, and I'm really itching to get the chance to drive that car.

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The Making of Gran Turismo 4

Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, Bonus Disc
Ambrook production
Narrated by Vicki Butler-Henderson
[Transcribed by TouringDevotee]



Part Four


Narrator: When you’re spectating on a rally stage as the latest Scandinavian hot shot hammers past in a 4-wheel slide, the term smooth doesn’t spring to mind. You just want to get in the car, nail the throttle and hear the engine popping and banging like rifle fire, but to be fast on the dirt, you’ve still got to work on that smoothness thing.

It may look as though your rally hero is all arms and elbows, but he’s still trying to make minimum movements. And to interpret the instructions from a navigator and understand the road ahead, a rally driver needs the computing power of NASA, combined with the coordination of a dancer. It’s all about being prepared for what’s ahead and setting the car up for it.

The driver is working harder than the road racer, with more steering input and gear changing, but his movements should be just as smooth and calculated. Driving a rally car fast is all about flow and momentum; the top rally driver has an incredible level of car control. He feels what the car is doing underneath him, looks ahead at the surface, and predicts every bump and depression’s likely effect on the car; it’s a lesson in concentration.

If you’re struggling to control the car, you’re not working with it. Things happen fast and you need to be ahead of the game, for whatever is around the next corner or over the next crest. A mistake on a race track costs just fractions to your lap time, even a big trip across the grass or a gravel trap might not be the end of your race. In rallying though, there’s less margin for error. It’s like you’re on a tightrope, just a few yards off the line, and you’ve hit tree stumps, boulders; or worse, careened off a cliff and it’s goodbye stage win, hello mountain rescue.

So, whether it’s a forest stage in Wales, or a virtual stage in Gran Turismo, it’s the same deal. As ever, keep it smooth and don’t fry your brain by driving too fast.




Ken Miyaki: I bought my race car because of GT and when I test drove the car in real life, and I played it in Gran Turismo, it was identical.




Narrator: Wherever you’re driving, either in the virtual of real world, it’s technique that matters. You need to master the skills and learn by your mistakes, and the best way to do this is in Gran Turismo.




Ken Miyaki: Some might say that GT is a racing game, [but] I’d have to disagree, I’d say that it is true to its name; it is a driving simulator.




Narrator: By the time you’ve past all the tests in Prologue, everything you’ve done will make perfect sense. You’ll be a better, more confident and smoother driver. You’ll have mastered the skills of driving fast, and understood what it takes to win races.




Kazunori Yamauchi: Playing Gran Turismo makes you want a car. I’ve seen so many people like that. It’s natural for us to be captivated by cars, not just when we play Gran Turismo, but when we create it too.




Narrator: Whatever your interest in cars and driving, Gran Turismo gives you more. More experience, more entertainment and more skill for the real world.

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TGS 2009, Fresh Start Interview
Gran Turismo 5

Game Trailers
October 13, 2009
[Transcribed by Keisu]



Kazunori Yamauchi: Well for GT5 at TGS, well we went over the basic features that are expected by our users, that have been playing the game over the years. Also, the online features that are going to be added into the game, and we provided a short playable demo. We've kept it fairly small so that a large number of people can try it out.




•GT5 Development Time

Kazunori Yamauchi: It's been about 5 years into the development of GT5 and that's actually not that long for us. If you look back, it actually took us 5 years to develop the first Gran Turismo, and that's pretty much how long it takes to build a system from scratch, and I say from scratch because after Gran Turismo 4, we actually threw away all of our code from the previous versions. So with no legacy code remaining, we restarted our development from anew, and even though we even did things like the online tests in Gran Turismo 4, in a beta test, we've dumped that code in order to start new. Doing that opened new possibilities for us in our development and made new things possible within a system and it's something we're actually looking forward to as well.




•GTSP

Kazunori Yamauchi: Well the PSP version, when compared to the traditional version of Gran Turismo, [is different, in that] the game progress is 10-times (10x) faster than it use to be, so that you'll be able to gather a lot of cars in a shorter amount of time. You're able to carry over your cars that you've unlocked in the PSP version, into Gran Turismo 5, so that if you're a player of the PSP version when GT5 is released, you'll have a large number of cars in your collection already starting off from day 1.


I think Gran Turismo PSP is designed for the entry user, and that is why it has taken on a more casual game design and is perfect for first time player of, or first time entry into Gran Turismo.

When designing Gran Turismo for the portable device, we went through and brainstormed and tried. to find new race modes to put into the system; the shuffle races, the jackpot races, and all these party race modes are the result. I think these modes are actually really fun to play, and we'd like to carry them over to GT5.




•Physics

Kazunori Yamauchi: Regarding the physics engine, the TGS version has an entirely new physics engine built into it. I think the first 10-15 seconds into the game, you'll immediately feel the difference. It has been made easier to drive, but when you actually disrupt it's balance, you'll notice that the movement of the car when it's going into a spin; it'll be much more realistic than it was before. That just means that the simulation is much closer to real life.

As for the AI, obviously we're devloping it for GT5, and one of the major differences is going to be due to the oval tracks that are going to be for NASCAR, because NASCAR is raced at a level where even the slight difference in your driving will make a major difference and decide whether you win or lose, and so the AI is going to be adjusted in order to be able to handle those types of slight, very fine changes in driving characteristics. Those should be included by the time the game is released.




•Types of Races

Kazunori Yamauchi: I think the NASCAR is the really special or different type of racing that is going to be in the game, but all the other types of racing on circuits all around the world will be included in Gran Turismo.




•Release Date

Kazunori Yamauchi: The release of the game was announced as March 2010 in Japan, and for America and Europe, I don't think the date should deviate too much from that date.

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ECTS (European Computer Trade Show)
Kazunori Yamauchi Q&A

By Shahed Ahmed
GameSpot
Sep 4, 2000


The creator of the Gran Turismo series talks about his latest, GT 2000 for the PS2.



One of the most impressive games at the ECTS show thus far has been Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 2000 for the Sony PlayStation 2. The game certainly has improved visually over the E3 version and its creator Kazunori Yamauchi revealed several peripheral features that could make GT 2000 significantly different from GT2 on the PlayStation. The replays are laden with subtle graphical nuances, the correlation between car damage and driving performance has been improved, the license trials are enhanced, and anti-aliasing is now being implemented. GameSpot had the opportunity to sit down with Kaz Yamauchi to discuss the state of GT 2000 further. The entire Q&A with Yamauchi, with the aid of a translator, follows.




GameSpot: How far do you think Gran Turismo 2000 is pushing the hardware power? The game is arguably one of the best visually on the PS2.

Yamauchi: At this point I have not been able to exploit the capabilities of the hardware 100 percent. However, I am pretty confident that out of the all the games that are out right now for the PlayStation 2 this is probably the one that gets the most out of the hardware.




GameSpot: Other than what we have seen so far, what are some things we can look forward to in GT 2000?

Yamauchi: I have only completed two courses in the game and those do not include the dirt tracks. The dirt tracks are more challenging because you have dust effects and environmental things such as puddles - it all varies so much visually in those courses. So, that is something I am going to work on and it is one of the things that people can look forward to.




GameSpot: Will GT 2000 have some of the same music tracks as GT2?

Yamauchi: I can't go into the specifics at this time, but I can say that the music soundtrack in Gran Turismo 2000 will be different from GT2.




GameSpot: How has the driving physics changed from the previous game?

Yamauchi: I mentioned earlier [during the presentation] that the calculation performance has been enhanced, so you'll get a smoother feeling as you maneuver the cars.




GameSpot: Are there any features that you didn't include in Gran Turismo 2000 that you would like to include in the next GT game?

Yamauchi: One big thing I would like to do is include networking capabilities into future games in the series. I do not know exactly what I want to do yet, but that is something I am interested in.




GameSpot: Something like allowing human opponents to control each of the cars in a race?

Yamauchi: That could be just one small part perhaps. I am thinking of something more grand in scale, but I am still deciding on those things.

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Yamauchi Goes Fourth Interview

by Patrick Garratt
Eurogamer
15 March, 2005



It's unusual for a game to launch on a Wednesday in Europe. Then again Gran Turismo 4 is a pretty unusual game. Enormously popular almost by default, it's the most detailed and extraordinarily vast racing simulation available on the PlayStation 2, and the gains made by developer Polyphony Digital since GT3 have made for a more accessible, rewarding and varied experience than ever before. Team leader and series creator Kazunori Yamauchi was in London last week to celebrate the launch, and we took the opportunity to ask him about the proposed online version, the competition, next-generation games development and PSP title GT4 Mobile.



Eurogamer: Are you still planning to release an online version of Gran Turismo 4 this year, or will this have to wait until the next version of Gran Tursimo?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That's an area we're still thinking about.




Eurogamer: So it's still undecided whether or not an online version of Gran Turismo 4 will come out this year?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Yes, that's still undecided. Maybe this year.




Eurogamer: Obviously, you will have answered this question many times, but what was the main reason for dropping the online portion of the game? Was it a problem with PS2 specifically, or something else?

Kazunori Yamauchi: There were lots of reasons. The game itself is huge in volume, and we felt that the online services were not ready to support the online game, and so the decision was taken to first allow people to play and experience the volume of GT by instead providing it offline.




Eurogamer: How do you feel about other popular racing games at the moment, such as Project Gotham, Burnout and Need for Speed? Do you see them as competition or do you see Gran Turismo as a different genre?

Kazunori Yamauchi: First of all, my feeling aside, the users feel that Gran Turismo is different, and that their aims are different also. GT has kept to its simplicity and has aimed to improve its quality and try to bring it to the highest possible standards, and based on these high quality standards there are possibilities for the future where we will be implementing lifestyle aspects such as street racing and modifications. Currently GT allows for lots of freedom for players, for GT to have many faces, many characteristics maybe, there are possibilities where that will grow in the future.




Eurogamer: How do you feel about Forza Motorsport? Obviously, Forza allows people to modify cars in this way. Is this game instrumental in your wanting to allow users to do the same in GT?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Areas such as modifications to cars are areas that I'm always interested in, and I've always wanted to include them, but to include them in GT4, I felt that the overall quality would have been reduced. I'd just like to remind you that there are 700 cars in GT4. To maintain the quality we have achieved in the game would not have been possible if we had allowed users to modify the cars.




Eurogamer: Do you think the speed of console hardware is becoming irrelevant and it's down to the imagination of the games maker to produce better experiences?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Exactly. Games must not rely on hardware specifications, but on the creativity of the developers.




Eurogamer: When we interviewed you in 2000 in Tokyo, you told us that after working on the next GT game, which turned out to be GT4, that you would like to work on something else like an RPG. Do you think that this is going to be possible, or is GT now too big for you to leave alone?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That thought has not changed at all. I would still like to do something.




Eurogamer: Within Polyphony Digital?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Yes. Within Polyphony Digital. There is a plan which is proceeding. But I'm also thinking that it will take at least three years to show something, and then another additional period to allow it to be readied for release.




Eurogamer: About PSP. Obviously you're making GT4 mobile for PSP. It's a bit of a silly question, but will it be a full version of GT4 on a handheld, and will it support wireless multiplayer?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Firstly, the answer is no. The PSP game will not be the same experience. Secondly, whether you will be able to play against each other wirelessly, the answer is yes. I've changed the focus of the PSP version of the game. The focus is on playing together.

Thanks to Kazunori Yamauchi for answering our questions. Gran Turismo 4 is out now on PS2 and reviewed elsewhere on the site.

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Gran Turismo Producer Discusses GT5, US Car Industry
Gran Turismo 5 in the final stages of development

1UP.com
by Kevin Gifford
10/13/2009



When he isn't busy winning auto races over in Germany, Polyphony Studio head Kazunori Yamauchi (the man on the right in the above photo) spends his days polishing up Gran Turismo 5, his team's latest auto-sim magnum opus.

"Naturally, my attention is focused purely on Gran Turismo 5 right now," he told Famitsu magazine in an interview published this week. "The scale of this title is just dizzying, so daily progress is slow, but it's still going forward at a steady clip. All the basic stuff is complete, but we're trying to give everything that little bit extra at present. We could release it any time we want, really, but I want to have that classic GT-style 'did we really have to go this far?' feel going. I want to go way beyond gamer expectations."

In the interview, Yamauchi confirmed that you'll be allowed to bring your entire collection of cars earned in Gran Turismo PSP into GT5 without penalty. "The PSP version has over 800 cars included, and that number's even higher in GT5," he commented. "I want to get gamers in all sorts of different vehicles, from the latest models to old classics and world-class sports cars. Having the freedom to drive whatever you want is one of the main attractions of GT, after all."

The way Yamauchi sees it, the freedom GT offers is the main reason he won his racing class in a four-hour VLN event on Germany's Nürburgring back in August, only his third time driving in a real-life auto race. "The Lexus IS F I drove in that race is a pretty unique vehicle," Yamauchi notes. "It weighs nearly 2 tons and its center of gravity is way up high. The suspension is tuned, but there are no aero parts, so you can't get any downforce. Despite that, it's got 420hp, so you can still go pretty fast on the straightaways. The fact I could drive a car like that quickly without too much thought is something I really have GT to thank for. Running all these cars, lap after lap, attacking with them 100 percent of the time in the game -- that's where I got my experience. I've logged over 2000 virtual laps around the Nürburgring by this point."

Still, Yamauchi wants GT to be accessible to as many car fans and gamers as possible -- part of the reason why he decided to put the Corvette ZR-1 on the cover of Gran Turismo PSP. "When I think about what car to put on the cover, I have to figure out which car is considered the coolest at this exact moment in time," he said. "The auto industry is going through a transition period right now, and it's a dangerous time for a lot of companies. It's a major support of the entire world economy, and the vast amount of talent and output it produces is one reason why GT is what it is. I wanted to go back to the roots with what makes a car cool, so I chose GM's Corvette ZR-1 to try and cheer the auto industry up a little."

What's Yamauchi think of the slightly beleaguered US auto industry? "American cars are just amazing, no doubt about it," he reaffirms. "There are lots of good things about European and Japanese cars, but while most of those evolved for practical purposes, it's like American cars were designed with the heart of a boy looking forward into the future. There's been a lot written about them in the news, of course, but I wanted to show people that the spark hasn't disappeared yet. If that history wound up getting snuffed out, I think that'd be terrible."

Gran Turismo 5 is due out sometime next spring worldwide.

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Catching up with Kazunori Yamauchi

by Kristan Reed
Eurogamer
27 May, 2004



The latest incarnation to the most lavish driving simulation in the world is almost upon us, but the wait has been long. By the time it finally emerges in Europe in November it will hold the unwelcome record of being dogged by the most delays in the series, following on almost three and a half years from the mighty Gran Turismo 3 - the first must-have PS2 title that few have managed to better since.

Since then, we've had a couple of stop-gap releases in the shape of GT Concept and the soon-to-be-released GT4 Prologue, but it's Gran Turismo 4 we really care about. Last year's E3, though, revealed a can of worms from Yamauchi-san, with surprisingly candid admissions of latency issues with its six-player online mode causing headaches for the perfectionist team at Polyphony.

A year on, though, the Polyphony main man was beaming in the knowledge that his latest masterpiece is almost in the can, and that he can free up time to work on other projects - such as the tempting prospect that is GT on the PSP; tantalisingly revealed in video form at Sony Computer Entertainment America's pre-E3 press conference. But why was GT4 so delayed, and what's he been up to since we saw him at last year's E3?




Eurogamer: So what's changed about GT4 since we saw it last year?

Kazunori Yamauchi: I can't remember all the details [of what has changed since then], but the physics generation has improved significantly since last year, there's been the addition of the Nurburgring track, the driver physics have improved significantly as well in comparison to last year. Also the spectators have been improved since last year - last year they were flat, this year they're in 3D, and of course we cannot forget the photo addition [that allows users to take almost lifelike stills in the game and print them out postcard size via a USB printer].




Eurogamer: Is the online mode now to your satisfaction? Have you managed to correct the lag issues that you were talking about last year?

Kazunori Yamauchi: The network quality and network head to head play quality has improved significantly. Last year I was uncomfortable with the latency. This year the latency has been taken care of.




Eurogamer: Has that been the main reason for the extended development time?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Well, that isn't everything - but it is, of course, one of the factors.




Eurogamer: What are the other reasons, then?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Obviously the number one reason was the development and creation of the cars - the modelling of the cars, and of course the modelling of every track in which this has taken over one year since we first paid a visit to do the shooting, and since then to complete for GT has taken a year or maybe more - so those are also other factors which add to that delay.

One very important factor - probably the biggest - is in the past year is we have had to supply ten master gold disks across the year to the car manufacturers, so that adds a lot of weight onto the workload for the team to develop the game in parallel and do all the collaboration disks.




Eurogamer: Is this the last game on PlayStation 2 game from Polyphony - if so, can we assume your next project will be on PlayStation 3?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That's correct.




Eurogamer: Is there anything you can tell us about the PSP version?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Unfortunately there's very little we can talk to you about regarding the PSP. There is much to be discussed and decided, however one thing I'd like to convey conceptually especially, is that just because it's a handheld, I don't want it to just be GT4 on PSP shaved off and diluted. I'd rather it was the full specification on PSP - that's the concept. Other than that, there's really not much more I can say.




Gran Turismo 4 Prologue will be released on May 28th in Europe, with the full Gran Turismo 4 due out in November.

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Gran Turismo's Kazunori Yamauchi

by Rob Fahey
Eurogamer
4 April, 2008



Kazunori Yamauchi is a man living the boy racer dream - or rather, he would be, if boy racers even dared to have this kind of dream. As the creator of what is arguably the world's most authentic, most comprehensive simulation of race driving, he lives and breathes cars and motorsport.

The Gran Turismo games are so popular and influential among car manufacturers that Yamauchi has been given new cars as presents. And after expressing his love for Nissan's 350Z he was invited to help build their new supercar, the GT-R, by designing the vehicle's multifunction display. (For helping out, unsurprisingly, they gave him one.)

You could certainly argue that Yamauchi is living the dream. On the other hand, the cause of his immense success - his relentless, nigh-on obsessive perfectionism - is probably a key obstacle to his enjoyment of it.

Where you and I see a great game, an amazingly detailed model or a beautiful track, Yamauchi sees only room for improvement. The result is that Polyphony Digital is notorious for delivering games late (some, like the PSP version of Gran Turismo, seemingly disappear entirely for years on end). The games are always huge hits when they appear, delighting those whose tastes are in tune with Yamauchi's own perfectionism and deeply impressing even those who aren't.

Now Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has given European gamers their first taste of the next instalment, we caught up with Yamauchi in London. Read on to find out what the roadmap for the game is from here, what he thinks of the competition (hint: he's not impressed) and where in the bloody hell that PSP version has got to.




Eurogamer: With Prologue now out the door, where do you go from here - straight into full development of the full version of GT5, or are there more steps along the way?

Kazunori Yamauchi: There will be an additional major update to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue before the game is complete.




Eurogamer: So is this a case of basically building the final game, block by block, as you go along?

Kazunori Yamauchi: We're not exactly making it in blocks... But we did have a few more things left undone in GT5 Prologue that we'll be adding along the way. Those would be community features - friends lists and things like that - and also adding damage to the game.




Eurogamer: When you sat down to develop Gran Turismo 5, what were the big things you wanted to do - the key, headline things that you wanted to change about the franchise?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Of course, the quality of games you can make on PS3 is so much higher - and we wanted to establish the benchmark of videogames by creating something that utilises all of its power. The other aspect that we wanted to focus on was building a community, between the user, us, and the automobile manufacturers, so that we could communicate and create a new space, a new world in that respect.




Eurogamer: You said recently that damage would come "soon" - it's coming in GT5, then? We won't be waiting until GT6?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That's the plan, yes! It's actually really difficult to finish the quality that's possible with the PS3, in terms of the fine details - it's a lot harder than we first expected. A lot of things are very dependent on that, and we can't answer right away. However, we are planning to add the community features, and the damage, during Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.




Eurogamer: The online play modes you've provided in Prologue are pretty simple compared to what other racing games do - is improving that a big focus for you?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Yes, there'll be a lot of features added to that. We'll be adding a lot of the necessities, like being able to form your own car clubs within the game, or making racing teams in the game. Things like that, where the users can actually interface with each other, are something that we'll be adding.




Eurogamer: What's happened to the PSP version? It was announced a very long time ago - where has it gone?

Kazunori Yamauchi: We had been developing the PSP version, but the problem was that the PS3 version took much more time and effort than we had first imagined. So that's been delayed - I don't think we'll be able to make the end of this year for the PSP version, but we are working on it.




Eurogamer: In the process of developing GT5, have any of your thoughts on the PSP version changed?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That's definitely true. Once we experienced PS3 online and went through all of that, we came to the conclusion that PSP should not be a standalone product - it should be linked in to the world of Gran Turismo, linked with the PlayStation 3.




Eurogamer: When you look at the games which have come out since GT4 - with Forza Motorsport probably being the most notable - do you see things that you'd like to do, things that have moved the genre forward? Or do you develop Gran Turismo in a vacuum, ignoring the competition?

Kazunori Yamauchi: The latter is actually exactly fitting, I think. We don't reference any other games when we're making Gran Turismo - it's purely based on what we want to achieve as a game.

Actually, I have difficulty playing other games for over five minutes. A lot of the low-level quality just stands out so much in other games that I can't stand them!




Eurogamer: It's a long way down the line, but since you're making a game which simulates reality, will you at some point reach a moment where you say, "This is good enough - this looks real, this feels real"?

Kazunori Yamauchi: You know, I've been asked the same question time and time again since the PSone - but every time the hardware goes up, there's been so much to do! I think this trend will continue. There'll always be a lot more to do.

We're actually very aware of things that we're still not able to do in the game - things that we'd like to keep continuing to add. That's something that I think will be ongoing, forever.

This game, we've called it GT5 Prologue - but it's not really a teaser of things to come. This is the best we can provide at this point in time. It's just that we don't consider it up to par, in terms of volume and things like that, to be called a full game by itself - by our standards, not by other people's standards. That's one thing we want to make clear for people.




Eurogamer: Given what you've just said, do you see Gran Turismo as your life's work? Is this what you're doing for the foreseeable future - or do you see yourself turning around some day and saying, "You know what, I want to make an RPG"?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Well, I've got a lot of ideas for one, so I'd like to be able to say some day, let's make an RPG... But there are a lot of things that we think are still insufficient in GT5. There's so much more to do still. I don't think it'll be any time soon that I'll be able to consider something like that!

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E3 2003: Gran Turismo 4
First Impressions

by Kristan Reed
Eurogamer
28 May, 2003



As predictable as a new FIFA game, we hardly need to remind you that there's a new Gran Turismo title due out on the PS2 at the end of the year, and more than a few of you will be perspiring just a little at the prospect of opening the bonnet of Mk.4 and sniffing the fumes.

But thankfully we've got a little more than an enthusiastic press release to go on. First of all we got some decent hands-on time with the game, playing through three tracks, sampling some networked racing, and then we went off for a chat with the esteemed Kazunori Yamauchi from developer Polyphony Digital in a round table Q&A session; of which more later.



More more more



Gran Turismo 4, then. What's new? Oh, you know. More cars, different courses, an "all-new" physics engine with "revolutionary technology to deliver enhanced, if not perfected, game physics" [that's me stuffed then -Ed], new race modes, online gameplay and graphics that provide a "near-realistic automotive racing simulation".

The online mode is perhaps the most interesting development, with support for up to six players, offering petrolheads the chance to both race online and "chat with others to form an automotive community". Sadly, voice chat won't be available in game, and we know precious little about what online modes will be included.

Of the trio of tracks on show at E3, New York City particularly caught the eye, showing off the nigh on photo realistic backdrops to stunning effect (as long as you ignore the cardboard cut-out crowds), with incredibly detailed buildings and texturing throughout. The dusty rally-based Grand Canyon course was less impressive, while the stadium-based track was nothing you haven.t seen plenty of times before, but all amply demonstrate Polyphony's ability to push the PS2 further than many could have imagined. But before you ask, no there's no vehicle damage. Again.



Glitch Turismo?



Car wise, there was talk at the show that GT4 will have more cars than any previous title in the series, with an insane 500 plus figure being thrown around. We're not sure if this makes the game any more fun, or just makes it an insanely complex and completist simulation, but we can't really complain about more content. It just makes it pretty impossible to review like a conventional game.

Just as well, then, that the demo is a fairly focused affair. The actual car models are extremely well rendered, as you'd expect from the "masters". From the hour or so we hurled ourselves around the various tracks, the handling doesn't seem dramatically different from GT3, although it would be unfair to judge from such a relatively brief session. If we're totally honest, the demo of Project Gotham 2 was far more impressive both visually and in gameplay terms, encompassing the handling and the various distinct ways of playing it. Oh, and was more fun. But don't forget, GT4 has full online racing, although it must be noted that Gotham 2 will also have this, albeit lag free and for up to eight players, along with ghost downloads and time leaderboards. We know which one we're more excited about.[updated - Ed]

The six-player network games at the show gave us some hint of how much of a draw this will be when it arrives later in the year, but frustratingly you can't see what car your opponent has chosen until you're actually in the race, and voice support won't be included either, although it may yet make an appearance in a pre-race lobby situation. Meanwhile, there were a few lag-related graphical glitches apparent in the demo sessions, with cars jerking oddly in front of you as you approach, but we're assured that the problem will be addressed in the run up to its release.



From the horse power's mouth



Meanwhile, allow us to hand over to Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi, who was only too happy to field questions relating to the absence of car damage, online play and what got him into making obsessively detailed car simulations in the first place.



Press Panel: Will there be any car damage in Gran Turismo 4?

Kazunori Yamauchi: The simple answer to your question is: no. We are not planning to include any visual car damage. However, we are considering something, although we are not 100 percent sure... For instance, you saw the Grand Canyon course with the car running close to the ridges of the canyon? If the driver messes up and misses the course, we might show the car jumping off the cliff, but we won't show it falling into pieces at the bottom. We're still considering that and we don't know how far we can go with it.

Instead of visual damage, we are considering some kind of a penalty system in which players will be penalised for trying to run corners along a wall, as they did in Gran Turismo 3 for instance. Also, pushing against opponents' cars, again seen in previous GT titles, will be penalised. We're currently trying to find the best solution.




Press Panel: Will you include car damage in a GT game in the future?

Kazunori Yamauchi: One of the reasons it would be difficult to include damage is that, because Gran Turismo is a real driving simulator, we would have to consider damage to be real. I have done experiments, and a very high percentage - maybe 80 percent - of crashes in Gran Turismo would smash the car into pieces maybe two inches big.

Current specifications of the hardware will not allow us to represent this fully. If the specs are higher, then maybe, but then again, there are also other issues with manufacturers, licence issues. there are many hurdles we must get over. It's not all manufacturers, but there is a trend generally speaking that manufacturers have become a little bit more lenient towards the direction we would like to head, in terms of allowing for damage on cars in games. You do see that in other games - there are ways - it's just that with the range of cars we have, it's more difficult.




Press Panel: Will GT4 be the last PS2 game you make?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Maybe [smiles].




Press Panel: Can you tell us about the online features?

Kazunori Yamauchi: The reason why you haven't heard much [about online] is that there isn't much we can talk about, unfortunately. But my main area of interest is not actually the racing element of online, for instance, where people will compete against each other online. My main interest is to find a setting where players can come to share knowledge of cars - just car talk. Car talk is endless: you can talk about tyres; you can talk about oil, car parts, modification...




Press Panel: Will you include an 'online garage' where you can trade?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Technically it's possible, but we're currently studying all the possibilities.




Press Panel: Will you offer voice communication via the USB headset?

Kazunori Yamauchi: During racing? No, because Gran Turismo 4 uses the specs of the system to its maximum. Unless you want 30fps frame rate.but I'm sure no-one wants that.




Press Panel: It would be nice to know what car your opponent has chosen before a race - what about voice communication at that stage?

Kazunori Yamauchi: What you've brought to our attention is absolutely right, but that is only because we were very limited in time preparing for E3. For the finished game, there will be a system in place so that players know what each other has chosen, otherwise it wouldn't be fair. I think most of you will have experienced the demo downstairs and noticed in some of the online competitions that you might see an opponent car fidgeting in front of you. This is a technology problem due to latency and cannot be eliminated 100 per cent.

But the team is very, very smart and knows what it's doing. They know the problems, but they also know the solutions. It's just that due to the network, there are hurdles they cannot overcome. So you will always see that, and the further you are away from someone, the more "off" that will be. If you're closer it's not that bad.

There are so many areas we need to study if we're to say we're comfortable with where we're going. The biggest problem for me is that the images that players see will no longer be the standard of Gran Turismo, and that's the greatest concern for me we have in terms of taking the game online.

I don't think that problem will ever be solved. No matter how hard the team studies the programming side of the game, there will always be a network-related problem in which the quality of the gameplay will be decreased when seen in relation to the potential of the rest of the game. Being the perfectionist that I am, this will always be a problem in my mind, and I will have to continue examining it.

Maybe if this were another game it might not be such a significant point. But because it's Gran Turismo and because of the quality we've had, once we take the online step, we're afraid it won't be the Gran Turismo that we all know. That's not the way we would like to move forward.




Press Panel: Considering its accuracy, have you ever thought about commercial uses for Gran Turismo in the sense of teaching people to drive particular cars, or will it always be a game for entertainment purposes?

Kazunori Yamauchi: We have been approached by a number of car manufacturers and we are looking into some of those possibilities, but we haven't actually taken the step into taking action in terms of creating some kind of training simulator.

We're not as interested as the manufacturers in this case.




Press Panel: What got you into cars and making car games in the first place?

Kazunori Yamauchi: There's no specific incident in my life that triggered the passion. I feel it's an instinct a lot of boys have - it's just natural for boys to like cars and that's where it stems from.




Press Panel: What racing games inspired you?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Winning Run by Namco and Microprose Grand Prix.

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SEMA show: More news on the much-anticipated Gran Turismo 5 video game

By Mark Vaughn
AutoWeek
November 03, 2009


We met with Gran Turismo creator and godfather Kazunori Yamauchi at SEMA and asked him the usual phalanx of questions--most importantly, when the heck is the game coming out? We're dying here, man, dying!!!!!




When will you release GT5?

Yamauchi: We will release it in March in Japan but for other regions, it has not been decided yet, but it shouldn’t be too far off from the Japan release.




What's holding it up?

That's more depending on SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) marketing decisions.




Have you spoken with those guys?

My job is to create the product, not sell it, so unfortunately I don’t make those types of decisions.




What's taking so long with the product, then?

From our perspective, it doesn't seem like that long a time. To make Gran Turismo 5, we threw away the legacy code from GT4 and started from scratch. It's been five years from [the release of] GT4, and that's the same amount of time it took to develop the first GT(1). To create a game from scratch, that's about the amount of time it takes to get it right.




You're at the SEMA show, what do you think?

Every time I come to SEMA, I can feel the passion of the car owners who bring their cars here. The SEMA show is different from what you see at a typical motor show where manufacturers present cars. There is more passion here.




Will any SEMA cars ever be in GT5?

The SEMA GT awards winners will be in GT5, as you can see in this demo version.




What is the percentage of cars that are race cars and that are normal production cars?)

That’s hard to answer because I have never actually counted how many are race cars or production cars. We don’t normally decide the cars to include in the game in a ratio like that.




How many cars will be in GT5?

We are aiming for 1,000 cars in GT5.




Will those be on the disc when you buy the game or will we have to download them from other sources?

They will all be on the disc.




How do you chose which cars get in the game?

There will be three types: cars we want, the cars the users would like to see in the game and then cars the manufacturers would like to see in it.




Have any manufacturers paid to put their cars in the game?

There have been cases where they've shown that interest [in paying to play], but we've never accepted money to include certain cars.




Wouldn't that be a profitable venture for you?

A lot of times it develops into a relationship where we collaborate to raise the value of a certain car; that produces a mutual benefit for the both of us.




How many racetracks do you have in GT5?

There are 20 different environments and around 70 different track layouts.




Which tracks?

We can’t talk about that yet, but you can see for example the demo [playing next to us in the interview room] is of Route 246, which runs through the middle of Tokyo.




That must be ripe for wrecking cars. Does GT5 include damage to the cars?

Yes, and the demo has it.




Is it difficult to include that feature?

It was not very hard. It only took us two months to get where we are now with the damage.




Is GT5 more for the advanced player or can beginners play too?

Of course, the PSP version was also geared for entry-level players, but in GT5 we do have a setting for people who are just learning how to drive. The other setting is very strict, where even an F1 driver can learn new tricks from the system. And of course, there will be driver's aids, such as driving lines, ABS and automatic braking. You can reverse your game and record your laps and share them with others. All those things.




What is a major difference in the detail level of the cars from GT4?

There are 400,000 polygons per car, 100 times more than were present on GT4. GT4 had 4,000 polygons per car. You can customize and tune the cars, too.




You have NASCAR and WRC in the game. Does this include the complete list of all tracks in those series?

The NASCAR series is so large it would be impossible to put everything in the game. We will have select courses and select cars in the game. You will also be able to race the stock cars on a number of tracks not found on the NASCAR calendar. And in speaking with NASCAR, they said they’re actually interested to see their cars racing on other tracks like the Tokyo course, London course, etc.




Will you have F1, ALMS or FIA GT?

We’ve had a Ferrari F1 car in the game. For FIA GT and ALMS, we won't have that in the series yet. But we will have a lot of cars that race at Le Mans, so in that sense, there will be cars that are in the ALMS since their cars overlap.




Have you played Forza Motorsport 3?

I was watching the guys at our company trying it out in the office. I tried it a little bit. It's very similar in a lot of aspects to Gran Turismo, but some basic parts of the game are very different from Gran Turismo. It's a little bit different from a simulator and you can feel that when you drive it.




Will there be a Gran Turismo 6?

Yes. You won't have to wait as long as you did for GT5. GT5 was basically the creation of a whole new operating system, and developing GT6 will be like adding new applications that run on that new operating system.




Will there be downloadable content for GT5?

Eventually there may be but there are no actual plans set yet.




What did GT5 cost to make?

[Yamauchi and translator do some figuring, converting yen to dollars] $60 million. There are other games that cost more. Considering the size and scale of the game, I think it's probably a fairly small amount.




Where do you see the future of gaming? Is it taking over movies, music and video as a form of entertainment?

I think that's already happened. It does take up a part of somebody's time in life. Though what's taking the most amount of time in people's lives nowadays, is communication, in Facebook and things like this. I think that might take away from the time people spend on entertainment, whether it's movies or video games. And it might just be that basic instincts of human beings are starting to show. Maybe human beings are just satisfied by continually communicating, not even necessarily face to face but just communicating. The content they communicate doesn't seem to matter very much either; it can be pretty much anything, even meaningless at times. And there's a good possibility that even video games might fade away one day because of this.




But not right away?

Obviously not right away, since things like this change gradually over time across every generation.




Domo arrigato

You're welcome.

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New features for Gran Turismo 5: Prologue;
PSP version still in the works

by Vicious Sid
GamePro
October 03, 2007



GamePro talks to the lead producer behind the Gran Turismo series, Kazunori Yamauchi, for an inside look at the PS3 driving sim Gran Turismo 5: Prologue...and the future of that mysterious PSP GT.



GamePro: How much more realistic can you make the graphics in Gran Turismo, further than GT5? How do you define the next bar? Because GT5: Prologue already looks so realistic...

Kazunori Yamauchi: Under limited conditions, we are just now finally at a stage where it [GT5] looks almost photorealistic. But things of nature - sunshine, rays of sun coming through the clouds, rain falling, wet textures on the street, things like that - are so indescribably beautiful sometimes. We are not at that level yet. Obviously we are trying our best in terms of replicating weather conditions and landscape, but there is also the human element. We've brought that pretty far, but there is a lot of room for improvement. There are still many, many areas where we can make improvements [visually].




GP: You just announced "GT TV." After air, how fast can you upload a video to that service? How long will GT5: Prologue (and GT TV) users have to wait to see a race?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That would naturally differ by the type of content. It will also rely heavily on the nature of that program: if it's race footage, people would want to see it immediately or as soon as possible due to the nature of a race. Whereas a documentary-style program, there is less of an urgency. It could be a month after airing, or shorter or longer.



We are working on the PSP version, and we will get around to it eventually."

--Kazunori Yamauchi, producer for the Gran Turismo series and GT5: Prologue



GP: Is there any plan for GT5: Prologue to be a downloadable game, or a Blu-ray disc, or perhaps both?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Blu-ray.




GP: Are there any big technical advantages of being on a Blu-ray disc, and would GT5 even be possible to fit on a DVD?

Kazunori Yamauchi: One clear advantage to Blu-ray would be the access speed to the disc itself. It's faster, with faster loading times, in comparison to DVD. We may potentially be able to squeeze it onto a DVD, but taking the factor of trailers and things we want to include...single-layer DVD is no question [we couldn't fit it], but yes, the Blu-ray is a big advantage.

This demo that we are using for the Tokyo Game Show is already 4 GB. HD-quality visuals, streaming...that's a lot of data.




GP: You announced that you're bringing the Daytona speedway track into GT5: Prologue. Is that something you've always wanted to add to the series?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Yes. Not only looking at it as a new track option for GT, but also because we brought up the A.I. opponent cars to twenty cars [racing at the same time]. Without that, a track like this is not interesting to race on. You need [lots of cars] to make that happen, and we're finally at that stage.




GP: On that note, how has the PS3 allowed you to improve the A.I. in GT5: Prologue?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Absolutely. It gives us more calculation power, and more accuracy. Both. And that in and of itself is already helping us improve the A.I.
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GP: Has the team determined whether the Sixaxis motion sensor will be used? Are there any ideas?

Kazunori Yamauchi: If you look back at GT HD Concept, the free PS3 download, that game incorporated the Sixaxis motion sensor. Not for the controls of the car, but if you had the controller in your hand and then put it down, a menu would appear. If you pick the controller back up, the menu would disappear. Those elements we hope to implement in GT5: Prologue. Not the Sixaxis steering factor, though.




GP: You showed us "My Page" and how it works. Is that something you might integrate into Home in some way?

Kazunori Yamauchi: The nature of Home and GT are very different. Home is a chat system with 3D avatars where you can hang out. Bringing that experience into GT is probably not easy. But conceptually, we are thinking about building a "GT Clubhouse" or something into Home, where users can gather with their friends and [organize] a race, and launch into the GT experience from Home.




GP: Do you try playing games like Burnout or Motorstorm? They're very different from GT, but we were curious if you appreciated them as games as well.

Kazunori Yamauchi: I have to say that those games are almost from a different genre. It comes down to what emotions the teams want the players to experience. Obviously those intentions [for Burnout and Motorstorm] are different from those of GT. There are some feature sets that people often talk about, car damage is one of them, and we are looking at them but they aren't the end of the goal for us. They may be one angle we are looking at, but they are not the end of the road.




GP: Is there one feature in GT5: Prologue that you are most excited to bring to GT fans?

Kazunori Yamauchi: It's difficult [laughs] because there are so many aspects now. It's very difficult to put into words, but it's not just another race game...it's something that might propose a new lifestyle. It would be of course based on a race game, but it's pitching a new lifestyle. I hope people enjoy it.




GP: Is the team still interested in working with the PSP on a GT game?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Probably after GT 5. We are working on it, and we will get around to it eventually.

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E3: Gran Turismo PSP Hands On

by Eurogamer staff
Interview by Christian Donlan
Eurogamer
4 June, 2009



You can read far too much into an E3 demo, and we'd be wrong to assume that the finished Gran Turismo PSP won't feature much, much more than the version we've played in Sony's suite. But the early signs are that this will be a slenderer game than its home console counterparts - hardly surprising, given it will be a flagship launch title for the download-only, UMD-free PSPgo.

The main menu options are single-player, multiplayer, Mission Challenge, Car Dealer and Trade. Mission Challenge is a combination of the traditional GT Licence Tests that guide players through the basics of simulation racing, and GT4's more advanced Driving Mission scenarios. Trade and multiplayer weren't available to test, while the car dealer was a shop, pure and simple.

What you'll be shopping for will be instantly familiar to any Gran Turismo fan. Polyphony head Kazunori Yamauchi has his own particular taste when it comes to cars, and it's not the most up-to-date, but it is a real connoisseur's selection of eighties, nineties and early 2000s Le Mans racers, rally cars, Japanese tuner coupés, plush Euro production cars and esoteric classics. We spot the latest BMW M5 and Skyline, an '85 Lancia Delta rally car, a 2002 Lotus Esprit, a DeLorean and classic Mustangs and E-types as well as some unlikelier candidates, notably the Dodge Ram pickup and a vintage Citroen 2CV. There are 100 cars in this demo and we'd be surprised if that was all of them.

Single-player offered single race, time trial and the new drift trial modes, but none of the more substantial race events that we're used to from Gran Turismo. Drift trial puts markers around the corners of the selection of classic Gran Turismo tracks - the likes of Trial Mountain, Deep Forest, Laguna Seca and the Nordschleife Nurburgring - and scores you for the longest drift around the corner. Standard racing has adopted the racing line guide introduced by series rival Forza Motorsport.

There's no car modification or tuning on show at all in this build, although Yamauchi promises this GT staple will appear in some reduced form in the finished game. You can however set traction control, stability management, steering assists, change car and tyre settings, save replays and download time trial and drift ghosts.

The on-track experience is pure Gran Turismo - well, almost. The combination of the iconic tracks and cars means you couldn't mistake it for any other racing game, but the feel is a little way off simulation, especially in rear-wheel-drive cars which tend to oversteer and drift with extreme ease. It almost feels like Project Gotham in places - but the sense of weight, suspensions travel and road surface is still amazingly strong for a handheld game.

Read on for an interview with Kazunori Yamauchi (conducted by Christian Donlan).



Eurogamer: The demo doesn't have tuning or modification...

Kazunori Yamauchi: It's going to have a Quick Tune mode. You won't be able to replace parts or anything, but you'll be able to adjust your spring rate, ride height, and camber alignment.




Eurogamer: Was there a decision to rein that aspect in because you're on the go?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That's the main reason. One thing that we were careful about when we designed the PSP version is that Gran Turismo provides a really wide field of options and things that you can do in the world and on the PSP version we have such a small screen, if we provide that kind of options it will confuse the user, so we're very careful to make sure that the player would clearly know what to do next in incremental steps rather than have the same kind of system as Gran Turismo has provided before.




Eurogamer: Is it hard to strike a balance between getting it to work on a handheld and also providing that kind of depth that Gran Turismo players expect?

Kazunori Yamauchi: In the traditional Gran Turismo you're too free to do anything you want, and to have the player focus in on the small screen it has to be very clear what you have to do next, and it's that kind of presentation within the system. So the depth of the game hasn't changed, just how we present is different.




Eurogamer: Can you talk about developing for the PSP? Previous Gran Turismo games came on multiple discs, but presumably you've got a file limitation now this is downloadable.

Kazunori Yamauchi: We're still working very hard on that, and we're actually working to get it down to around a gigabyte.




Eurogamer: Is it a little bit scary being the launch title for PSPgo? Gran Turismo is such a Sony tradition - is there a sense that Gran Turismo has to sell hardware as well as software?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Not really, because it's actually just a matter of coincidence that the release of our software and PSPgo coincided.




Eurogamer: Gran Turismo PSP has been in development for a really long time. Can you explain what stretched development out and how the game has changed over that time period?

Kazunori Yamauchi: We first made the announcement in E3 of 2004, so [laughs] it's been five years. Since then we've released GT4, Tourist Trophy, GTHD and GT5 Prologue. Of course we were always working on the PSP version a little bit at a time, but every time we have one of those releases it's affected by that new title. So this is a software that was born in between GT5 Prologue and GT5, and it's affected by both of those titles.




Eurogamer: In return, does it have any kind of knock-on effect on how GT5 is coming along?

Kazunori Yamauchi: I don't think there was a direct effect, but I do believe that the development team really gained experience in streamlining displaying graphics on a very small space and also how to manage memory when the amount of memory available is very small. That sort of experience is something that was gained by the team.

And you know, this is the first time we've developed a portable game, and I think there is an effect on how we see games, and how we understand videogames.




Eurogamer: Could you expand on that a little bit?

Kazunori Yamauchi: When you think of a game you have certain expectations for it, but we were going from a full HD screen to a screen this size [gestures PSP shape], and the dynamic range between the two experiences is very different and changes your thinking.




Eurogamer: Have you been thinking about other racing games? It seems that Forza is in the same space, but other racing games have gone into really quite strange areas with power-ups and weird effects and elaborate open worlds. How much do you take notice of what's happening in the wider genre?

Kazunori Yamauchi: I've created games before with power-ups and things like that - Motor Toon Grand Prix for example - but Gran Turismo is always just Gran Turismo. That's just the same as U2 is always going to sing U2 music - they're not going to sing hip-hop all of a sudden.




Eurogamer: Can I ask you a little bit about what motivates you as a game creator - is it cars or is it game design?

Kazunori Yamauchi: That depends on the time period actually. Right now creating the game system has my interest, because we're creating things like this, and when I'm creating GT5 I'm always thinking about how the system's going to be arranged. But at a certain point in time my heart goes out to cars, so it kind of swings back and forth!




Eurogamer: In terms of GT PSP connectivity, is there downloadable content planned, and is there any plan for connecting with GT5 at all?

Kazunori Yamauchi: First off, for the PSP version we're not thinking of any downloadable content. And as for the link with GT5, we're hoping maybe to make it so you can share the garage with the PSP version so that cars you unlock on PSP will be available immediately on GT5.




Eurogamer: I appreciate you're not here today to talk about GT5, but is there anything you can say about how development's going?

Kazunori Yamauchi: I want to release it as fast as I can, but GT5 for us, when you talk about its status, it's at a point we can release it any time we want, but we can always keep working on it. It's very important for us to make sure everything is done perfectly and everything is done in detail.




Eurogamer: One of the things that stood out in Microsoft's press conference was the Forza team saying it was the definitive simulation racer. How do you feel about that?

Kazunori Yamauchi: I don't exactly know what their announcement was about, but we've evolved over 10 years through our history, towards GT5, and I don't know if it's something that can be compared.




Eurogamer: As a car fan, any thoughts on the troubles the car industry is going through at the moment?

Kazunori Yamauchi: My first and foremost concern right now is not about the game industry but it's more about the automobile industry. I'm very worried about it and I don't think it's a problem that's just limited to the United States. One of the reasons why we made this game now and are releasing it now is that we want teenagers to get into cars. That's something I had in mind when I created the game. Cars are fun and just wonderful to drive, and it's something we have to relay to younger generations and all over the world.




Eurogamer: And, with how exhaustive GT is and how detailed and specific it is about cars, is there almost a sense that as the economy steps away from building these elaborate, really exciting bits of technological brilliance, you're almost becoming a curator for the really great cars?

Kazunori Yamauchi: 20 years, 30 years away, I think you're right - Gran Turismo will have that kind of effect where people look back and say, oh, cars back then used to be like this. But videogames doesn't have a very long history yet - they're just getting started. But cars have a hundred years of history, and when we read books about cars, we think these cars were created a hundred years ago, and we have something to gain from that. And that's also because the history of books is long as well. But I think in the future maybe videogames will have that kind of effect on people as well.

_____________________________________________________
Gran Turismo PSP is due out on 1st October. Hands-on by Oli Welsh, interview by Christian Donlan.

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E3 2008: Gran Turismo Q&A

by Chris Roper
IGN
July 17, 2008



We sit down with the creator and learn about the future of gaming's premiere racing franchise.



At this year's E3, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kazunori Yamauchi, the founder of Polyphony Digital and creative mastermind behind the studio's Gran Turismo franchise. The focus of the show for Polyphony was the full rollout of GT TV, the "television" channel built into Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Besides finding out about this portion of the game, I was also able to find out the status of the damage patch for Prologue as well as the current progress of Gran Turismo 5.



IGN: So to start off, can you give us an overview of GT TV?

Kazunori Yamauchi: GT TV actually came from a personal wish of mine to have programs that you could watch anywhere, anytime, because when I go home from work, I turn on the TV and look for car programs on cable and satellite, and they're not always easy to find. So that's why I wanted to provide a service where you could have automotive and autosports programs 24 hours a day, anywhere, anytime. We're starting off with Japanese programs and the BBC's Top Gear, and that's where this all started.




IGN: I noticed in some of the shots from the trailer that you're personally featured in some of the spots. How much involvement did you have with the production of some of the specials?

Kazunori Yamauchi: One thing that I want to make clear is that Gran Turismo TV is not a video distribution service - that's not just what it is. We're producing our own programs to spread more information about cars and the automotive world.

So to answer your question, with Gran Turismo TV we're going to be gathering interesting automotive events and news from all over the world, and these are going to be put into our original programs. We have a staff of about 30 people at Polyphony Digital who are dedicated to creating programs for Gran Turismo TV, and I produce all of this, so you could say I'm 100% involved in all of these programs.




IGN: How much of the content is geared towards the hardcore fans versus the more casual racing fan?

Kazunori Yamauchi: For example, we have BBC's Top Gear, which is more of a casual show. It's for anyone from kids to adults. And then we have D1 Grand Prix and the Super GT which are more for core fans of motorsports and cars. There's no real setting of a ratio between the two, we just want to balance it out so that everyone has something to enjoy.




IGN: I'm an especially huge Ferrari fan, and I noticed that you're going to have a behind-the-scenes look at the production of Ferraris. Do you have a segment in there where you actually show off their test track?

Kazunori Yamauchi: We went into the Ferrari factory with high-definition cameras, which is the first time that's ever been done. And that's also true for the Fiorano Circuit, Ferrari's test course. It's the first time in history that anyone has ever brought a high-definition camera to take footage of the track.




IGN: Are there any plans to have this content transferrable to the PSP so that you can watch it on the go?

Kazunori Yamauchi: We definitely want to do that in the future.




IGN: Earlier this year, you mentioned that Polyphony was working on a patch for GT5 Prologue that would add damage modeling to the game later this year. Is that still happening?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Our plans haven't changed, and we're working on it. But this is Gran Turismo, so it might be a little bit late. [laughs all around]




IGN: Lastly, what's the status on the full Gran Turismo 5? Where are you at in production?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Of course after this next update, we're going to have another update later on in the year. There's no plans in the works for GT5 yet - that might be 2009, or it might be 2010... But we're totally focused on getting the updates through for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and that's all we're focused on.




IGN: Thank you!

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Joystiq Interviews Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi

by Christopher Grant
Joystiq
Oct 24th 2007



During TGS, we had the opportunity to visit the studios of Polyphony Digital and meet with the man behind the Gran Turismo series, Kazunori Yamauchi. We had just finished watching a demo of their video-on-demand GTTV service – which was announced during a Japanese-press only event at TGS the preceding day – and got to poke around their studios (check out Gamespot's fancy video tour) before sitting down with the man himself. We talked about GTTV (of course), the current status for Gran Turismo on PSP, how they reached the elusive 1080p goal, and if their PSP/PS3 connectivity ideas are any better than a rear-view mirror.




Thanks for taking the time to meet with us and show us the game and your studio. It's very much appreciated. Could you explain the rationale behind releasing GT5: Prologue before releasing the full Gran Turismo 5?

So there's basically two reasons behind GT5 Prologue. First one being, as we move with the franchise to a new generation of hardware, the PS3‚ and trying to extract the maximum out of it and being comfortable, it's already taken us three years to get to a point where we're almost happy with what we're delivering on the system.


But we thought it's about time we release something on our franchise. We thought if we waited until the full numbered series product is out, number one we'd keep our customers waiting too long and we wanted to keep people aware we're still around, and keep GT in people's minds. So that's the more obvious reason. The second reason kind of relates to the first one; if we waited for GT5 with the online elements that we're talking about, such as GTTV or whether it's the online dealership concept or given the basic racing head to head online capabilities, we wanted to keep those experiments to a rather smaller compact designed game and be able to experiment on a base that is small rather than having a humongous base to start with and for us to be for the first time bringing the online elements to the franchise with the scale of a huge mothership so to say.




Speaking of GTTV, you've just said that GT5 has taken so long to develop, are you worried that things like licensing complications could further delay the actual, final product?

Looking at the angle of our relationship with car manufacturers and licensing that surrounds those, luckily we have a history of ten years in our franchise and we've managed to establish a very good relationship with all if not most of those parties. so that really isn't affected in any way. So that's one thing. The other angle surrounding GTTV, again a lot of the content really doesn't have a deadline or an airing date that needs to be hit, so it's just a matter of us clearing the rights for the content and whatever is cleared first will appear within the window of GTTV and we can add and expand on that.




Just yesterday at the keynote they announced the rumble controller. Is that something you guys have known about for awhile? Is it being built into GT5 Prologue?

Yes, we did know about the new DualShock 3 controller. In fact, we were part of the evaluation process here at PDi and, for obvious reasons, we've always historically supported DualShock controllers since the first generation and we will support DualShock 3 with GT5: Prologue.




How about things like SixAxis controls? Have you thought about implementing motion controls into the game?

Obviously, yes, there is a feature set of the SixAxis but we do not plan to implement that in using it to control the car, the actual car in the race, but we have studied the characteristics of the controller, we have experimented with it and the GTHD free download that we started last year. We implemented one feature which was, if the person puts the controller down, the user interface will disappear, and if they pick it up it will appear back. Features like that we plan on implementing in GT5: Prologue. We feel like that is a good match.




You've obviously been more than busy with GT5 over the years. A couple years back there was an announcement of Gran Turismo for PSP and we haven't heard much about it since then. Has that been put on hold for GT5, or are you still actively pursuing it? Sometime in the future or not at all?

This is still in the works, so we are still working on it, but this will be after GT5 on PS3. Because of the interaction of the PS3 – well, it's not that easy to develop on PS3 – we've had to put it aside a little bit, yes. But once we get GT5 out we hope to position it as the satellite to GT5 on PS3, GT on PSP.




Interactivity between PSP and PS3. One of the examples they showed at E3 two years ago was the idea of a rear-view mirror in a racing game ...

*laughs*




... so that example probably not being the best application of the PSP, have you considered any other kind of PSP interactivity with the PS3 and GT5?

Well, one example would be for people to utilize replays of their race experience. Take that outside the home, whereas at home you would need the PS3, but they can take that away and share. Another would be – and we would need to do further research, we're just talking ideals here – but it would be nice if we were able to allow people to compete whether they're on the road or in their living room on the PS3, compete in the same race. Even though the visual qualities will be different depending on which hardware they're on it would be nice if we could allow for that. Technically, we think we should be able to. Or another would be – a feature we had on GT4 B-spec – which is basically you're the race manager. You don't even need to steer the controller, you just set the car and let it go; you're managing it. Another example would be the PSP would be your management tool: give it input and give it instructions and the car would continue on with the race.




So the game runs at 1080p, 60 frames per second. That's something that, even on PS3, a lot of games haven't been able to accomplish. How much of a development concern was that when you were building it? How much time did it take to get the engine – which looks great running at that resolution – up to snuff?

First of all, Kazunori insists that a racing game runs at 60 frames per second. That's a must have from his point-of-view. And the characteristics of racing, or racing games, is that you're most of the time driving at high speeds. At high speeds, your view points are in the distance. You need detail, even for distant images, and 1080p was the only resolution that he could possibly think of. Both 60fps and 1080p were both must haves for the GT experience to be the GT experience. They've done some experiments on 720p to see if they could find a compromise but the minute they saw it, it was out the door.




So that's GT5. Gran Turismo PSP we already discussed. What's next after that? More Gran Turismo games?

Kazunori always wanted to do something beyond Gran Turismo, but with the PS3 and all the downloadable possibilities, that dream is further and further away. *laughs*




Thank you so much for your time!

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Gran Turismo 5: Kaz Yamauchi Interview
We meet with the creator of the Gran Turismo series for a detailed chat about the next iteration on the PS3.

By Adam Doree
Kikizo
October 11, 2007




There's a reason why the Gran Turismo series has racked up nearly 50 million sales world wide since its debut on PlayStation 1 back in 1998. It is the most finely crafted, most obsessively detailed and stunningly authentic racing simulator in the world. The resources - and budget - afforded to series creator Kazunori Yamauchi to recreate the unique handling, engine noises and sheer persona of thousands of vehicles, and translate them into a simulation, has probably never been matched, not even by the fantastic, critically acclaimed release of the Forza MotorSport series from Microsoft - the only racing simulation game to come close to GT's crown.

But regardless of this unrelenting commitment to realism, many would argue that the crown actually now belongs to Forza. With its superlative game structure, global online functionality and painstakingly realistic game physics that few could tell apart from the Sony series, the recent release of Forza 2 for the Xbox 360 arguably left Gran Turismo in the dust. But Kazunori has never been one to rest on his laurels, and has in fact been working on the true successor to Gran Turismo 4 since before the unveiling of PlayStation 3 itself.

With Sony so keen to position the PS3 as the ultimate high-end console - regardless of its actual competence next to the Xbox 360 - its flagship driving game franchise is going to be more important than ever. Later this year, Sony is releasing a taster of what to expect from GT5, called Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which will be available in shops as well as via download from the PlayStation Store. The full game will follow later in 2008, according to developer Polyphony Digital's current development schedule. In this exclusive interview, we quiz Mr Yamauchi on the imminent release of Prologue as well as the eventual Gran Turismo 5 itself.
We last met with Kazunori in 2003 as he was deep in development on the unrivalled prospect that was GT4 for the PlayStation 2, and again the following year when he was nearing development. So it has been a while - and the excitement of the PS3 launch has been and gone, with the very early teaser 'Gran Turismo HD' for PS3 a distant memory. Now it's time for him to show his hand for real.

Without a doubt, the preview we were given of GT5 by Yamauchi looks incredible, with fine detail on everything from pit crew to in-car upholstery that Forza 2 could really only dream of. But can the series genuinely better itself? GT4, after all, scored lower than any previous GT game in the reviews. Does it stand a chance at regaining its idolised past, let alone surpassing the current darling of the genre, Forza? For that matter, what does Kaz himself think about the Microsoft rival title? And what, exactly, is the deal with Gran Turismo Mobile for the PSP? The answers we received were interesting.




Kikizo: Would you say it's getting incrementally harder to continue the high standard of visual quality with Gran Turismo? Because obviously, GT4 was already extremely good looking.

Yamauchi: Well I feel that yes, there are obvious difficulties, but the passion we have is always to create the best visual qualities available, that we can possibly extract from PlayStation 3. In a racing game, one of the most important aspects is that, because you are travelling at high speeds, you need high resolution to accurately create objects in the distance, and also to give you enough sense speed, sixty frames at 1080p resolution display is another must-have to further enhance the racing experience.




Kikizo: One of, or perhaps the only real criticism of Gran Turismo 4, was the lack of accessibility; it was very difficult for many players to get into the game. Is this something you would look to address in Gran Turismo 5?

Yamauchi: One thing is that we now have two levels of driving physics available: Standard is more for the beginners or the novice players; Professional is a further enhanced and more real experience, where even professional drivers can use Gran Turismo as a training tool.




Kikizo: So does Standard mode offer things like braking assist to achieve this more accessible play, or something else?

Yamauchi: Actually braking assist and things of that nature are in other categories you can select; it's more that the core physics design itself is geared towards less experienced players; it picks up on your mistakes, and is more forgiving, whereas Professional is more hardcore; you know, you make a mistake, you will pay for it! To try to explain it more simply, Standard would be closer to the original Gran Turismo, whereas Professional is where we are taking it to these extreme [physics] calculations. You know, a simulator designed for the novice player is not applicable for Michael Schumacher to use, and vice versa. So they are two different things that are included.




Kikizo: Could you give us your opinion on Forza MotorSport 2 for the Xbox 360, and in particular, the ability to reskin your car in very great detail - are you going to have this degree of superficial car customisation in GT5?

Yamauchi: Straight off the bat, I think that in terms of feature sets, Forza is ahead of us. They have more options, you can do basically anything. We take a different approach obviously - we try to concentrate on what are the core values for a racing game, and we try to elevate those standards up as high as we possibly can. I am having difficulty trying to explain the differences, but one way you can look at it is, you can buy a watch that is super multifunctional, but economical, or a watch that is reduced in functions, but premium - higher end.




Kikizo: Certainly, this demo you have shown us looks phenomenal, please can you tell us about some of the background to achieving this standard on PS3?

Yamauchi: On average, the car models in GT5 Prologue is 200,000 polygons - this is fifty times more than what we used to have on GT4 PS2, which was on average 4,000 - so fifty times upscaled. We are now able to see very fine details. Another new feature is the in-car camera, because we are now modelling the interior of the car as well. You'll also notice that we have taken the extra step to represent the stitching of the leather, to the full extent, and the dashboard and so on. We've notice throughout our development process that to allow for an in-car camera it gives you a further enhanced experienced that is even more real that it was in GT4. To the extent of even reverse, or other angles, it's not just the front dashboard that is detailed like this. GT5 Prologue will also allow up to a maximum fifteen [other] cars on the same track, previously it was six. And the visual quality in-game is 1080p, 60fps.




Kikizo: With sixteen cars on the track, it looks more like a race when you see the replay. Is this the reason why we can see that it runs at only 30fps in the replay view?

Yamauchi: Yes that's right. There are two reasons why. For example, in the race, the camera is fixed, so the amount of power you need is measurable. Whereas in a replay, the camera may zoom in, zoom out very wide, so the variables we need are quite wide, so we took the route of choosing in-game 60fps, replay 30fps, but enhanced with more effects, motion blur and so on.




Kikizo: Another visually striking aspect is in fact humans - the crew that you see in the pit as they change wheels or just chill out before an event presumably - how do you justify so much effort into this exceptional detail? Is it all real graphics?

Yamauchi: These sequences are rendered realtime rendering in 1080p, and you will notice that the pit area decoration and attire for the pit crew and driver - everything is along the lines of the Ferrari image. Right now, because it's Ferrari, it's red. Red is the colour of the direct link with the image of Ferrari, and that will change depending on which car or manufacturer you have chosen. This area itself will take full advantage of the high dynamic range [lighting] technologies - we have taken the extra step to make sure that the qualities are very high in that area, and we think that this is a unique point.




Kikizo: And all these animations on the humans in the pit crew are all seriously real-time as well?

Yamauchi: Yes. The idea is that, for example this is the pit for the Suzuka circuit in Japan, but we will have a number of other circuits worldwide, for which we want to feature the pit area that is true to each of the respective locations.




Kikizo: How far have you come in terms of adding new vehicles to your line up since the last game?

Yamauchi: [Takes controller to demonstrate] - this is the Nissan GTR Prototype; Nissan will unveil their production vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show later this October, so between the window of now until the end of the year, we will be featuring lots of new and upcoming performance vehicles.




Kikizo: So this is the first time this Nissan has been seen?

Yamauchi: Yes, that's right - first time in a game.




Kikizo: This must reflect strong relationships with the manufacturers - so on what level will you be incorporating car damage? Forza has fairly extensive car damage; they told us they were able to achieve this because they have particularly close relationships with the car manufacturers. What would you say to this?

Yamauchi: I think they have different levels of damage, perhaps depending on their relationships with each of the brands. What I mean is, there is still a limitation that still exists within the agreements that we have with car manufacturers, even with the example of Forza; one car will be more damaged than another, and that is probably because they are limited with that brand. And that would apply to us as well. To clarify, our main objectives are to raise the bar for AI, physics, car modelling, sixteen cars on the track, 1080p, 60fps, these kinds of things - the core of the racing game category, we want to bring the standards to a high level. Of course, on our road map, yes we have damage, we have changing weather etcetera, but we will get to that once we build our pillars first; those are details that you can add afterwards.




Kikizo: Does the AI make mistakes now? Or is there a dynamic element to the AI opposition drivers, now that you have more power with PS3, so that it is more authentic in a race?

Yamauchi: The simple answer to that is yes. But in reality when you design the AI, the most difficult part is to make sure that all of the opponent cars are driving and trying to keep their positions without bumping into each other, or destroying the race. It is actually easier to incorporate, for example, what a driver would do under pressure and things of that nature, but we need the core bit done first, to allow for that. The AI has also been redesigned completely; it had to be; the new AI drives the opponent cars more smoothly throughout the track.




Kikizo: You have redesigned the front-end of the game quite extensively so that it is more sophisticated and perhaps more in-line with more recent rival games. Can you tell us more about how this is set up?

Yamauchi: So, the front end of the game is quite different and unique this time. The standard configuration before was that you would have a title screen and then a game mode underneath, inside the game mode second layer would be to select the track, select the car, but now, it's a big difference. This was our answer when we studied, what happens when we combine the Gran Turismo experience together with the online feature set. In a nutshell, the user has his own 'Mypage' within the world of Gran Turismo. For example, players can collect their favourite cars and their favourite background image to be part of their Mypage.

The one I showed you happens to be a background showing a town in Germany near the Nürburgring track, but eventually we will have background scenes for Tokyo city at night, London, whatever - a variation of locations, and various cars that the users can select and combine to use as the background for their Mypage. Looking at the top of the Mypage, you will be able to put on the global map where you are located, it will display your time zone in your local area, and you will be able to see other players online who you have met - maybe someone in London or so on - and you will see on the map where they are, their time zone, and their weather, and it gives a more intense experience by getting to know them online. The scheduler you see here will help players do their schedule management, remind you of race events that are coming up, and things of that nature.

If we then look at the icons at the bottom, we can start the race - very straightforward; the next one is Garage, again something you may be familiar with in the GT franchise, it's the collection of cars you have obtained within the world of GT. Just like in previous GT, when you start the game, there are zero cars in your garage, but as you play and build experience, you will obtain more. The next icon is TV. To give you a conceptual idea, this is a mix of car related video material - it could be a famous TV show that covers cars, it could be in-house Polyphony-created video features, it could be something car manufacturers give to us, asking us to make it part of the content - it's something people can come to when they want to watch car-related things of this nature.

The Album is another feature that is part of the user's profile, for example in Photo Mode you can take still photos of your experience in GT, and you can put them in there to show to your friends. The same applies to any of the replay movies from in the game experience, for example I can post my best lap time from Nürburgring and show it to my friends, and challenge them to beat me. The final icon we have is Home. We are trying to create a seamless experience between Home, within the PS3 environment, and for players to be able to seamlessly go interact between the Home environment and the GT environment.




Kikizo: Could you elaborate on how GT5 will be integrated with the Home service for PS3?

Yamauchi: One example would be, you start off in the Home environment, you open a door and discover the Gran Turismo world, you walk in, there's an online dealership - the car is rotating like on a car selection screen. All that past that door is actually GT, but the experience is a lot more seamless. Ideally anyway - that's the ideal scenario, we're still studying this.




Kikizo: There is a rumour that the Home service will come to the PSP in some form. If this were to be the case would you look to replicate this kind of concept on GT Mobile?

Yamauchi: That would be an assumption on top of an assumption! But if that were to happen then yes, that would be the case.




Kikizo: Can you give us an update on how GT Mobile for the PSP is progressing at the moment please?

Yamauchi: Right now we're targeting GT5 for next year, maybe later next year. The PSP will come following that.




Kikizo: OK, but previously I thought you had said it would come before GT5?

Yamauchi: Currently, our objective is to make sure that we have a strong core on PS3, before we go on to PSP.




Kikizo: How important do you think rumble feedback is to the GT experience? Everybody knows that a rumble controller is coming, so is it something that you have already been working on with this in mind?

Yamauchi: Yes, that is correct.




Kikizo: Kazunori, thank you so much for your time and we look forward to playing more.





A demo of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be released in Japan on October 26 to coincide with the Tokyo Motor Show.

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Gran Turismo 5, Preview [Gamescom]

by Tom Bramwell
Eurogamer
19 August, 2010


Kazunori Yamauchi is excited. He's showing us three cars from the 1967 Le Mans 24-hour race - the Ferrari 330 P4, the Ford Mark IV and the Jaguar XJ13 - and they all look beautiful. The P4 is one of Yamauchi's favourite cars of all time.

That's not why he's excited though. He's excited because only two of the cars - the P4 and the Mark IV - actually made it to Le Mans. The XJ13 was cancelled just prior to the race. Yamauchi is excited because now he can finally drive the 1967 Le Mans the way it was meant to be.

Yes, we're at another trade show being taught about cars by Kazunori Yamauchi. He introduces us to the Pagani Zonda R'09 - all Batmobile curves and yellow rims - and reminds us it beat the course record for commercial cars at Nurburgring recently. Then there's the Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STI '10, and the Lexus IS F Racing Concept '08 - "originally intended for the DTM".

Then we see another veteran of 1967, the Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone Prototype. "Only two were made, but one was destroyed in an accident. The other car was maintained in pristine condition by JW Marriott in the US, so we went and did a session with his car and perfectly recreated it within the game."

We also see the Monza track briefly - a new course for gamescom - and Yamauchi reassures everyone that the game is nearly finished. "Even as we speak 140 staff back at polyphony are working night and day to finish everything," he says through a translator.

But none of this is why we're here today. We're here to meet "The Red and Blue of GT". The red in this case is A-Spec mode, The Real Driving Simulator, the bit we're all familiar with. The blue is B-Spec - The Racing Simulation RPG.

"In 2001 when I released Gran Turismo 3 it had a name, A-Spec, and that was because I had intended to release a Gran Turismo B-Spec immediately afterwards," he says. "Unfortunately that didn't go too well and though we included this in Gran Turismo 4 experimentally, now we've been able to create what I originally intended. Now this will be included in the game at the same level as A-Spec."

While A-Spec concerns itself with straight-up racing, B-Spec is about managing a team of drivers. Races play out in a "command view" where you can watch one of up to six drivers on your books through a main viewer, keep an eye on tyre wear and relative positions, and issue instructions.

There are several other ways to keep track of your driver's progress. You can go to a full racing view and switch between standard in-game camera angles, and you can switch to a live timing view showing sector times, best and last laps, and the gap between cars.

Every screen shows you your driver's mental and physical endurance levels and whether he's calm or agitated by what's going on. You then issue instructions - to slow down, maintain pace, speed up, attempt to overtake, pit or not pit. Drivers should listen to you, but you need to manage them carefully, because an agitated driver may ignore you.

Yamauchi does a quick demo but there's hardly time to take it in because then he's on to the Course Maker. "This isn't something you would use to make an exact recreation of a road," says Yamauchi, scotching visions of a proper 3D track creator. "But you can make tracks that suit parameters you specify."

He switches to the game and starts by picking a theme - sunset in Toscana, although there appear to be lots of others - before playing with some slider bars and dropdowns to change the number of sectors, course type (one-way or loop), weather and time of day. Tracks can be up to 10km long.

He then jumps into the game via the Test Drive button and within seconds he's zooming down highways through parched fields and villages. He exits back to the Course Maker screen and tunes a couple of sectors, changing the frequency of curves, course width, sharpness of corners, degree of topography tracing and bank angles. When he hits Test Drive again he's facing a totally different course of rising straights and increasingly sharp, technical corners.

"It's not practical to have a regular course creator," says Yamauchi, "because it ends up being a complicated 3D tool and nobody would be able to use it." Course Maker certainly looks easy to use.

At E3 Yamauchi showed off a couple of the game's photo modes, but he was saving one up for gamescom - the 3D version. "At this point in time I think this is one of the best ways to use the 3D format," he says, inviting us forward to look at a few shots, which are stored in a format that you can output to your PC and share with people. "You can actually get a better experience of 3D if you're looking at a still image."

Finally, Yamauchi shows us kart racing. "This is something we were actually saving for Gran Turismo 6, but the information leaked out so we decided we would just put it in this one," he says. Never mind - by the time GT6 comes out we'll be worrying about flying cars and voting for Obama's kids.

It's been a whirlwind of features and car chatter, beneath which the game still looks fantastic. It may have been in development for the whole of this console generation, but the technical arms race has slowed down and GT5 still looks as good as any other racing game we've seen, and it is, to say the least, comprehensive.

It's also definitely, totally and utterly coming out on 3rd November, says Yamauchi. We ask him if he'd take another year if Sony offered it to him, and he laughs. He says no.

Gran Turismo 5 is due out for PS3 on 3rd November.

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Gran Turismo’s creator takes a fifth stab at a perfect racing game

Dean Takahashi
VentureBeat
January 14, 2010


Kazunori Yamauchi is the creator and producer of the Gran Turismo racing games on Sony’s PlayStation game consoles. The new game is launching soon, although Sony isn’t saying exactly when. It has 16-player multiplayer, as well as mechanical and external car damage. The Polyphony Digital studio at Sony released Gran Turismo 5 Prologue a year ago to whet appetites for racing fans, but the real deal has been in the works for five years. Sony had the latest creation on display at its booth at the Consumer Electronics Show. We caught up with Yamauchi for a translated interview there.



VentureBeat: Can you tell us a quick history of Gran Turismo?

Kazunori Yamauchi: Gran Turismo started production in 1992 when the PlayStation game console was in development. Gran Turismo was one of a hundred proposals I made for games back then. It was finally completed in 1997. There were so many other proposals, it was really by chance that I wound up creating Gran Turismo. It could have gone in a completely different direction. When the first game came out in 1997, I expected it to be a niche game. But it wound up selling so much, that led to the second game and the third edition and now we’re here.



VB: How many units has it sold?


KY: 53 million copies worldwide.




VB: That’s a lot.

KY: Just lucky, really.




VB: There were lots of racing games. What set it apart?

KY: We wanted to put real cars into the game. It was an anomaly back then. There were no simulation-based racing games. Most of them were arcade games. Gran Turismo was new in their eyes.




VB: How many people made the first game?

KY: On the first one, there were seven to 15 people, at different times.




VB: And now?
KY: We have 140 staffers.




VB: What has changed?


KY: The difficulty of creating games hasn’t changed that much. It takes a lot of time to communicate with a team this large now. Before, you could wake up one morning and have a good idea. You could see it implemented in some form by the evening. Now, if you have a good idea, it may be two or three years later before you see the result. It’s because it takes so many more people to do it.




VB: How has the level of detail changed, and the level of realism risen?


KY: We had maybe 300 polygons in a car in the first game. Now we have about 500,000 polygons in each car. Back then, pieces of the car were more like symbols. Now they are real and reflect light.




VB: How do you try to make the game different? Burnout tries to depict spectacular crashes. What do you aim for?

KY: I try for realism in game systems and game design. That’s where I look for new innovations. We want to keep changing what the player experiences and feels when they play the game.




VB: The Naughty Dog designers felt like they used 30 percent of the PS 3 for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. For Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, they said they used 80 percent of the processing power of the PS 3. What about you?


KY: It is about the same for the PS 3, about 8o percent of the processing power. The PS 3 hardware has a very high peak performance. The better you manipulate it, the better it performs.




VB: How do you get new gamers and make your games more accessible to wider audiences?


KY: We have tried to create a new standard and format for a racing game. We can’t tell too much detail yet.




VB: Sony is making a new kind of motion controller now. You already have steering wheel and gas pedal accessories. Do you think the interface for racing games can be improved?


KY: It’s fun to play with steering wheels and gas pedals. But when you see the new motion controllers, I want to create a different kind of game.




VB: What did you try to accomplish with the landscapes of the newest game?


KY: We have always tried to create landscapes in Gran Turismo that look better than real life. In Gran Turismo 5, we have objects on the race tracks that interact with the cars. We have fences, tires, and barriers. You will interact with objects on the course.




VB: How long does it take to make a game?


KY: This one has taken five years. Nothing is getting easier or less expensive. It does get easier if you are making a second version on the same platform, like the PS 3.




VB: Will you keep doing this until you get to Gran Turismo 10?

KY: (laughs) Not sure.




VB: Why do you keep doing it?


KY: Every time, it’s the same for me. I am usually pretty frustrated when a version comes out. Right after the release, I think we should have done this or should have done that. A game release is not a very happy time for me. When a new title comes out, I look to the next one to fix it.






VB: Sounds like you are a perfectionist.

KY: Yeah, I’m usually pretty angry after the release of the title.




VB: What will you do for Gran Turismo 6?


KY: Nothing is decided for that.

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