2004 on GT3 with the PS2. I was 6 years old watching my dad do the races and every now and then I would try it out. GT3 was what got me into cars to begin with. Eventually he got me a PS2 Slim so that I can play GT3 and eventually GT4 (which my dad played first before I did) so that I can play more of it. Then eventually throughout the years, my dad got himself a PS3 to play GT Concept, GT5 Prologue. Meanwhile I had a PSP and actually got Gran Turismo for the PSP grinding and replicating races in there that I would see from the Best Motoring Japan videos that I would watch. Then when GT5 came out, as much as my dad would be getting it first, I couldn’t help but feel excited. The first 2 months I’ve watched him play GT5 then eventually his PS3 got the red screen of death and after having it fixed, he basically gave his repaired PS3 to me while he got himself a Slim. From that point, I was grinding on GT5 and made my first online Playstation account to make use of the online features.
On my 14th birthday, my dad got me a Logitech G27 with the shifter and I started to play GT5 like never before. It didn’t take too long for me to get used to the wheel and eventually I was becoming competitive in the clean open online lobbies established at the time. Me playing GT5 online with a wheel left an impact on me to this day and made so many memories racing around the Nurburgring with some other pro dudes always experimenting with different cars whilst learning how to tune cars in the game where my knowledge has carried on over to this day for me. GT6 eventually came out, was excited at first, but it sort of died quickly on me.
In late 2014, I got myself an Xbox One to experience Forza Motorsport and Horizon with a Thrustmaster TX. Forza felt fundamentally different to me and didn’t leave as much of an impact as Gran Turismo did, especially the online racing, however the online racing in FM6 at the time was decent, but it didn’t really compare to that when I was play GT5 online. I couldn’t really replicate the fun or experience I had despite putting many months into the game. However Forza Horizon’s 2 & 3 did leave a more significant memorable impact on me when it came to open world racing, especially online. Back then it was the closest thing of memorable experiences I had compared to GT5 and as for Motorsport, much less so.
In 2017, a month after I graduated Navy Bootcamp, I got myself a PS4 to play GT Sport (which that game came out during my bootcamp at the time). It was refreshing seeing the new graphics, the detailed cars, challenges, etc. However during that time, I was playing with a controller since me getting a wheel whilst I know I was going to be moving around quite a bit based on the orders that were assigned to me. The competitive online racing in GT Sport, both the open lobbies and the Sport Mode, gave me nostalgic vibes of GT5 when it came to the clean (mostly) but also competitive racing, despite me using a controller.
In 2018, I had orders to Japan (Gran Turismo’s origin place YAY), and based on how GT Sport was setup online based on the region of your PS Account, I ended up making a Japanese Playstation account so that I can play with their people in the correct time zone with their Sport Mode events and championships. The first few months there I was going to Japanese Internet and Manga Cafes to use their network to play GT Sport online. Despite using the controller (which I’ve managed to adapt quickly over time), I’ve made my way through the ranks of the country and the region to a B driver rating and a S sportsmanship rating.
Later that year after I got done with my first deployment, I got myself a living quarters where eventually, I went to Akihabara in Tokyo to get my Logitech (called “Logicool” in Japan btw) G29 and a wheel stand. My muscle memory kicked in very quickly using the G29 despite not having used a whew in over a year and I was back in my prime online where I started winning a few daily races and actual championships against other Japanese and Asian players where my driver rating did go to an A+ driver rating. It even made me the fastest Gran Turismo driver in the city of Yokosuka, which is an hour south of Tokyo. The one thing I’ve noticed throughout time playing against the Japanese is that whilst very competitive, they’re also more cleaner and courteous and will actually apologize to you in advance after a race. I tried very hard to uphold that standard and blend in to where throughout the 3 years I was in Japan playing GT Sport, I’ve managed to make some very memorable experience playing online and learning their ways of driving online on my own. It was a privilege and an honor to race among them.
Eventually, as my time in Japan was about to come to an end, I had to sell my wheel and everything else since I got new orders elsewhere (which is where I am today). One things for sure…my GT Sport experience was something to remember.
After I got back to California from my 4th deployment earlier this year, once again I’ve managed to get myself a living quarters, and eventually a PS5 to now play GT7 along with a Logitech G923. Initially, I was going to modify my actual car in real life which is a Ford Focus ST 2017 (which ironically is also in GT7 and GT Sport before that), but due to the raising gas prices, I got myself a PS5 and GT7 with the wheel as by means of occupying myself and saving money.
Having played GT7 for these past couple of weeks now, I must say I felt as if I got the full package now and a lot of nostalgic vibes from when I was little. The tuning, the difficult license tests (which I’ve managed to get ALL Gold btw), the car collecting, the grinding, the daily races, the online lobbies, the missions, the scapes, the refined cars sounds, etc. I haven’t felt this complete in a racing game since GT4. Now I’m having fun playing, experimenting, and tuning the cars in the open lobbies whilst being competitive in the daily races provided to keep my rank.
At this point, Gran Turismo has become a part of me in life where it has helped me open up to the world of cars, how to tune them, how competitive racing goes. Gran Turismo is the only game to where it gets me excited like a little kid to this day, and GT7 for me proves just that. Gran Turismo STILL and WILL remain the best video game adrenaline rush and competitiveness I can ever ask for. Yamauchi-San, thank you for your hard work for these past 25 years!
