Gran Turismo Documentary “KAZ: Pushing The Virtual Divide” Wins GMA 2014 Award

gma2014

The Gran Turismo documentary KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide has taken top honors at the 2014 Gaming Marketing Summit.

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Nominated in the “Best Long Format Featuring Promotional Content” category, KAZ went up against several other documentaries, including Forza Motorsport’s collaborative film with Audi.

Gran Turismo received another nomination at the GMAs for the GT6 “First Love” marketing campaign, which featured Mario Andretti and a five-day, live-streamed rebuild of his first race car.

SCEA’s Ken Chan, who was instrumental in commissioning Tamir Moscovici to produce and direct the film, accepted the award at a special event in San Francisco yesterday. Congratulations to everyone involved in the production!

KAZ is free to watch on a wide range of popular streaming services, including Hulu, Crackle, ReelHouse, and Amazon Instant Video. You can also catch the full version of the documentary right here on YouTube:

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Comments (120)

  1. kollosson

    @SZRT Ice can’t reply to your last post as I don’t get a reply option but anyway I agree with your points, GT has taken a jack of all trades approach, i think GT6 is a great game but yes it could be better. I preferred GT4’s single player setup where they had rally as a part of the main events rather than feeling like a small add on, lets hope when we get the new track we also get some more events added. I get the feeling that we may get a version 2 of the game like they did with GT5.

  2. kollosson

    @SZRT Ice , I don’t care if he’s the President, you should be able to question something, talk about power crazy, just wondering, who moderates the mod’s ? what am I going to be banned for anyway ? daring to question a moderator? this site is getting ridiculous…

    1. SZRT Ice

      We are actually able to discuss any of the topics we choose. But this isn’t the place for it, that’s what the forums are for. Ofcourse leniency is shown on news articles as opinions can differ, but it’s best to stick as close as possible to the topic @ hand or at least try to revert back to it @ some point. I actually made a post in the GT6 forums in response to a question u asked. U should check out the forums if u haven’t already since u clearly have opinions & points of views that u’d like to express.

  3. kollosson

    ‘Nominated in the “Best Long Format Featuring Promotional Content” category, KAZ went up against several other documentaries, including Forza Motorsport’s collaborative film with Audi.’

    As you can see any Forza vs GT was instigated by the article itself and the discussion followed form….

    1. kollosson

      This is a forum and if you read below you will see a reply about the documentary. Is there a rule about not discussing GT vs Forza, don’t think that’s covered in the rules section…

    2. Terronium-12

      Couldn’t care less. You either stop or you or anyone else will find a message in their inbox.

      Simple as that.

  4. kollosson

    @SZRT Ice, is there a console racer out there that has the graphical fidelity of GT6 and all those options you just listed ?

  5. kollosson

    That’s an ignorant comment, the Japanese follow a certain code of honour that permeates their society and social interaction, to make a documentary about oneself in the manner you mention Stitch Jones would be frowned upon and is simply not the done thing which is also the reason Kaz does not go into all the details of the game and what they have achieved like some other racing game devs do. This documentary was made because someone obviously thought it was necessary. Everything we have in racing games now we owe to Gran Turismo and Polyphony and the innovations they are responsible for that others simply copied. Gran Turismo 6 is a great game all said and done. MLRSparco I don’t believe that story at all, my friend is a programmer for a well known company and a PC gamer, he purchased an Xbox one knowing it was the weaker console but he’s into the switch TV jiggery pokery. He bought Forza 5 as he has always liked driving games and was /is enjoying it. I showed him GT6 and he had a drive around, he thought the handling physics were different but could not say that one was more realistic than the other. He thought the menu system was much better on GT6 but it was the replay that blew him away, he thought it was incredible especially as its on PS3 and thought it held more realism than Forza, we both came to the conclusion it was the incredible lighting engine on GT6 that made the difference, in terms of tuning options etc no problems, I’ve heard GT6 criticized but never for lack of options????

    1. SZRT Ice

      Lack of customizing options [kits/liveries/stripes/secondary or car painted colors for available kits/tire sizing/rim depth/window tinting (lol, never)/wide body or racing & rally modification]

      Use the reply button.

      Options that GT6 lacks:

      Race type [drag (with tree)/drift (D1, gymkhana,kaido,touge)/limited rally (off-road/rally cross, trophy trucks, point to point, surface changes, etc./targa florio/see DiRT series for better track examples]

      Effects [sever visual damage to vehicles, debris, environmental dynamics like wind effects and trackside destruction of barriers & such]

      GT is a “Jack-of-all-trades” but “Master-of-none”. They really need to refine the career mode to make better use of all of the content it’s putting to waste.

    2. sailworksman

      Ice, you forgot multi – class Racing online and career in FM. Hands down one of the best features out there.

    3. MLRSparco

      I really have no reason to lie it’s not as if I was puting down GT6 and praising another sim,just because your friends a PC gamer and happens to enjoy Forza n GT6 doesn’t mean all PC gamers think the same also.At the end of the day graphics and menus don’t make the game iRacing isn’t even in the same ball park as GT6 graphically.You say you’ve never heard GT6 criticized about lack of options well have you checked the suggestions forums lately?

    4. SZRT Ice

      My list was a general inclusion of features lacking in GT6. NOT A COMPARISON. I don’t even play FM, and never brought myself to get one as I’m not a fan of MS and some of the influences they have made on gaming (not explaining here).

      They were features present in a wide scope of games I’ve enjoyed. Midnight Club (3+L.A.), Dirt(2+3), Test Drive Unlimited(2), GRiD, Tokyo Extreme Racer(3), and other games that have had these features present since the PS2/Xbox( the 1st one) era.

      Obviously these games aren’t sims, but they are racing video games (as is GT) and have set a norm for what many owners of the PlayStation franchise have come to know, enjoy, and expect in their games.

      And what better home for a game with these features than the GT series? A series that touched on every form of motorsport to some degree, giving way for it to grow in any and all directions?

      But it has not, and here we are, left wanting more. It would be one thing if there wasn’t a clue as to how to improve GT, but there are a million examples out there all around yet for the longest time, PD just kept looking straight.

      It’s seriously time that they took a look around for some inspiration from other “games” to make GT enjoyable again and to get a wide scope of how it’s being done by others (Not just FM). It would benefit GT to not only see other sims, but even some arcade racers as competition. Because if you truly love and enjoy racing as so many do, you’re not just playing one, you’re playing many. And GT in some way has touched on them all…

    5. MLRSparco

      ^ on point,unfortunately I don’t see PD ever looking anywhere for ideas,that’s just the way they are,arrogant an close minded.If they keep this up more and more people are going to stop playing there games.If GT7 isn’t a major overhaul then they’re gonna have serious problems.

  6. Stitch Jones

    I will say this at least makes sense…it won an award for Gaming “Marketing” which is precisely what this trash documentary was – a 90 minute ad on why Kaz thinks Kaz is awesome and why GT is the best driving sim ever made because PD says so. Worst documentary I’ve probably ever seen, yet it certainly makes sense from a marketing standpoint. So way to go I guess on making a horrible, self-serving, love fest for Kaz that worked as a 90 minute advertisement for…well, Kaz I guess.

  7. MLRSparco

    Let me start off by saying this was a pretty good documentary and I think it deserved a reward but GT6 does not.

    So with that out the way I want to tell you my funny experience watching this film with some friends that were PC gamers,car enthusiasts,and 2 were studying film production,all of them have heard of GT and Forza but they weren’t into consoles so I thought it would be fun for them to watch.

    Lets just say be the end of the film they were definitely sipping on that GT hype juice hahahahaha,so I decided to bring out my ps3 and G27 wheel and let them try it out,I had acquired a lot of money from the VGT glitch when the game started and have yet to use up even a quarter of it so I let them choose any car they wanted.

    That’s when things started going downhill,they started noticing the standard cars,the lack of performance upgrades,lack of customization,and lack of a few tuning options,we haven’t even gotten on track yet and they were already upset,once we did they instantly noticed the hideous sounds and within a hr of the game being started they turned it off.

    I tired telling them about the upcoming updates and DLC but they were not having it,needless to say they were not happy with this documentary afterwards.

    1. SZRT Ice

      Sad story… Idk why, but I would take this personally. I recall the days when I had a proud sense of ownership for GT games. I’d whip out my copy and a memory card and have some epic races with friends and family while showing off some drift skills along the way.

    2. MLRSparco

      At first I kinda did,I started defending GT but I realized that they were absolutely right the bad in this game really out weights the good,and if they can see it I’m sure everyone who saw this film and got hyped from it and went out and bought it saw it to.

      Before GT5 I was really proud to own all the GT games and people were impressed when they saw me playing it,but since then racing games have evolved but I don’t think GT has.i think this film was a perfect way to show how full of it KAZ is.

  8. kollosson

    @sailworksman its a term used to describe something being of lesser calibre silly and GT6 will obviously be cheaper to purchase as it is a last gen game although you are getting a hell of a lot more for your money in GT6 and you don’t need to spend money on DLC to get cars that should have been included in Forza 5’s limited vehicle count.

    1. sailworksman

      “and you don’t need to spend money on DLC to get cars.” – Yet, I would say, that is just around the corner with GT6.

      GT6 is lacking in content compared to FM5 at the moment. FM5 was pretty skinny out of the gate as well, but it still surpasses GT6 with career events (over 525 + of them), livery editor, motor/drivetrain swaps, tire width options and rivals mode. I also think they are over 50+ DLC’s to date, some free and some you had to lay out your $$$ for. All GT6 has, is a career mode which can be done in a couple of days and a few seasonals and some silly (and good) side events.

      Although FM5 does not have the exhaustive vehicle list that GT6 has, I don’t even use 3/4 of the vehicles in GT6 and wouldn’t. I prefer FM vehicle list from 2-5 as they have always pretty much introduced current year and newer models of vehicles throughout the series, and don’t have 30 + models of Miats, GTR’s etc.

      I do applaud you for giving FM a chance, and not just formulating an opinion from trying it at Walmart for 3min. with a germ infested controller. It’s not for everyone, just like GT is not as well. Some stick with one series, some play both, like me.

  9. kollosson

    I’m not lying TokoTurismo , the only thing Forza has over GT is the paint editor, I’ve played the Forza’s and they are a poor mans GT, people may have some gripes with GT6 but I think it is a wonderful game, I simply can not understand how anyone can think that Forza is a better game than GT, I own a 360 and PS3 so its not a fanboy opinion its an honest opinion based on playing both games.

    1. Master Weasel

      “I simply can not understand how anyone can think that Forza is a better game than GT”

      News flash: Not everyone shares your opinion. Crazy, I know.

    2. sailworksman

      Hum, can’t see how FM5 is a poor persons GT, when GT6’s retail price is now selling for less than FM5.

    3. PepeMickey

      I guess only a person that has never driven, heard or even seen a car in real life would come up with such a ridiculous conclusion. GT has been surpassed by it’s competitors in almost every single possible way, some have better sounds, others have better graphics but Forza does everything better and on top of that, it makes it fun.

      Only thing GT has going on for it right now is content but really, it’s not hard to do that when you have 15 years worth of content just being ported from game to game.

    4. HuskyGT

      I used to be a GT fanboy, but it’s sad how playing Forza 3 in the past month has proven to be much more fun than GT6. So I disagree. You know what’s worst? That GT is such a superior franchise, yet it fails at delivering what lesser games are able to.

      Sorry, but GT has failed completely to stay on top of its competitors. And it’s not that GT is bad, it’s just that it fails to keep up with its own hype.

      I honestly find it hard to go back to GT knowing how it lacks in everything that makes a game fun… I wonder how good Forza 4 and 5 are if Forza 3 is this good?

      I never went to the other game thinking that I would not go to GT anymore; just did it while I wait for GT to get much better. But for now I’m done with GT. I’ll give it a chance with GT7, but they won’t see my money until I confirm the game has excelled and met all of our expectancies; expectancies that PD themselves have set upon us.

    5. GTHEAD87

      I played forza 4 for at least 6 months without touching gt5 because it became very boring. forza has some amazing features in the games. the even have the volvo 850 saloon and 850 estate! gt6 would have a supreme car l8st if they updated ford, vauxhall, opel, seat, audi, volvo, v8 supercars, dtm, touring cars in general, wrc the list goes on. look up the longbeach pack for fm5 and you will hear how much they love their fans. have to say, if pd dont do something fast to gain customers back then gt will die im afraid. I’ve been tempted to get and xbox one for fm5. think I’ll get a ps4 and pcars. had some awesome memories from fm1 to fm4, gt to gt6. not played fm5 but it looks pretty darn good.

  10. PepeMickey

    Good job, however, it wasn’t that good to be honest, it was all a big commercial for NISSAN, Chevrolet and a few other manufacturers, then it was Kaz just speaking nonesense and the direction was all over the place. Useless segments in between to make it longer because the people interviewed ran out of ways to praise Kaz.

    1. SZRT Ice

      It doesn’t and it’s not meant to. It’s news and it’s being reported by a website that posts all things “Gran Turismo” related.

  11. apexpredator100

    No surprise as the comments section hijackers returns to ruin another news article with their complaints that has nothing to do with the article.

  12. TokoTurismo

    Some people saying a movie beated Forza’s movie… So what? GT (a video game) remains struggling to even beat Forza in the game market.

    Anyway, congrats to those who were involved making this film, especially Jordan. :) Now can Kaz finish his game already?

    1. kollosson

      Are you serious? Forza 5 is the first Forza that actually is able to compete with GT and that is largely to do with the fact that it is next gen ( apparently ) so it is competing graphically and in the physics department but that’s it, content wise its a joke. Forza 4 is/was just horrible, racing sim? no, arcade racer pretending to be a sim? yes. The handling on Forza 4 is ridiculous, its like driving a bar of soap. GT remains the king of the hill, its Forza that is in trouble, with Project Cars around the corner and GT7 on the most powerful console on the planet. Also GT is still the biggest selling console racing sim.

    2. TokoTurismo

      Yeah, I pretty much stopped reading after you said “Forza is a arcade racer pretending to be a sim.” GT is no different either, despite it having “The Real Driving Simulator” in the title.

    3. King1982

      @kollosson Dude you are so full of sh*t. Stop trying everybody knows already that Forza was already beating Gt with FM4 on the same generation. You are delusional dude.

      Forza blows Gt out off the water and then some.

    4. TokoTurismo

      What @King said. We can’t disagree that Forza is the better game now. I still love the GT series, but its lacking behind Forza and every other racing game. Also, at least T10 doesn’t lie to all there fans.

    5. MeanElf

      Interesting though, that of the five main Forza forums here on GTP only one is showing a post from today, and four threads within that forum have posts from yesterday – the rest were three or more days ago.

      What that says to me, King, is that Forza isn’t so ubiquitously perceived as being the best game, at least not here, because the activity there would be a lot higher, surely.

    6. MeanElf

      I’m vaguely aware of it, and I’m sure also there are a number of other Foza sites around the web, but I was talking about the one here on GTP due to it being accessible by the same members – sort of proving a point that what King mentions, isn’t as widespread here as he seems to think.

  13. Swagger897

    I guess since Jordan published this and Kaz was vulnerable in the public, we might (might to be sure) be expecting another Q&A?

    Maybe? No?

  14. CorvetteConquer

    Gran Turismo’s demise has begun. It’s actually not as saddening as I thought it might be. It’s time for a new king to be crowned.

    1. SZRT Ice

      @ andrew#’s: PD did not win an award for marketing the game, and the director of the documentary does not make games.

      @ mef, agreed.

  15. mmdct

    congrats to all that were involved… big accomplishment. personally, i found the movie horribly boring and it would not have motivated me to buy the game if I were not already a fan. i am concerned, though, that the gt franchise is losing steam. if a few more good pc games hit the street they will be hard to ignore. i really like the ease of use (and versatility) of pc games and gt6, to me, is only good for online, unlike gt5 which had better seasonal content. when the pc game houses improve their online experience, gt will have formidable competition.

    1. SnakeOfBacon

      Wait, you think the majority of the fanbase are going to give up on GT altogether and go into hardcore pc sims? That’s some wishful thinking on your behalf, the vast majority of GT players are casual console-only gamers looking for a good time, some only play the game once a month or less, as they have other games to play. Quite a small sector of people have the knowledge, money, and motivation to buy/build and maintain an expensive gaming rig and a wheel just for a few PC racing sims. That said, I’ll be interested to try the PS4 port of ProjectCars.

  16. SZRT Ice

    If “KAZ” marketed anything, it wasn’t GT6 individually, but it instead marketed the entire Gran Turismo brand name as a whole, its influences in the world of motorsports, and the role it plays to so many who have a love of any and all things cars and racing related.

    If you guys think it was simply a long-winded commercial/marketing push for Gran Turismo 6, you’re completely missing the grander scale of things in my opinion (And I for one, am loathing GT6’s current state as well), mind you). But the documentary “KAZ” will stand true for the GT series, even upon the release of GT7:P, GT7, and GT8 if there is ever to be one… Broaden your scope people, and separate the “game” from the “movie”. GT6 is merely fraction of what the movie was about.

  17. gtfanforlife

    I have to say that I think that it was a great documentary, and it made me remember why I fell in love with this series.

    1. chevyisawesome

      At least someone here liked the movie and the game. I feel the same way, I loved the game ever since I got my hands on number 3, it was the start of my career!

    2. SZRT Ice

      GT1 – GT4 are the staples of the series… Gran Turismo this generation was passable this gen to say the least. Thank goodness for other great games available throughout the PS3’s lifespan.

  18. numbnuts70

    Version 2.

    Take note Kaz, GT7 on PS4………It better be amazing or you’ll find that your loyal fanbase are gonna migrate to PC racing.

    1. KoldStrejke

      You should anyway. theres no match for PC sims Consoles are just too restrictive even PS4 and XBox0ne.

      Not ever gonna watch it. Kaz has gotten to full of himself. fans are very disappointed.

  19. numbnuts70

    Boring…..let’s all praise K.

    Why don’t you kick some PD ass and give us the content we deserve after spending £60 on GT5 beta version 1.

    1. another_jakhole

      And since Kaz represents Sony at a higher level and not at just a director of a developing studio,… what else would you describe it as? *rhetorical question*

  20. kollosson

    Swagger897, you’re sad, what is horrendous is that it matters not what positive news is posted about Gran Turismo or Polyphony individuals like you have to find something negative to say..fan boy, troll ???

  21. another_jakhole

    Sweet. That’s good to hear. I really liked what Tamir was able to do with this. If only Urban Outlaw was as long, or it might’ve been for the best that it was around 30 minutes.

  22. Swagger897

    This is horrendous… It’s like saying you won “best parents of the year” but you feed your children worms and left them in the desert…

    Sad…

    1. RACECAR

      Its horrendous for what? Let me guess, “Kaz was doing all this instead of focusing on the game” (nevermind the team doesn’t stop just because he steps out the office), is that why?

    2. Swagger897

      No. It’s the fact they use it to promote the game. What they are promoting though, is what makes it horrendous, and has been the model of PD since the ends of GT4. Unfinished, late, poor communication, horrible use of time, hardly any R&D, never seen a survey in my life, a game thought by many to be dropped…. There’s too many to list.

      It’s nod different than a car company winning an award for a commercial in which the car goes four feet and stops, doesn’t have a driver side door, and is missing a whole brake assembly for the right rear..

      They get an award for making half-assed games? No, that doesn’t fly by me.

    3. KoldStrejke

      “””—They get an award for making half-assed games? No, that doesn’t fly by me.—“””

      I AGREE.

    4. SZRT Ice

      Lol, Kazunori/PD didn’t win the award! The director of the film did! The “density” is too thick around here, I swear!

    5. Swagger897

      I’m not saying that PD/Kaz won.

      I’m stating that the film being used to promote a horrendous game, and it wins awards for promotion, is sickening.

      What are they (film team) promoting? What is it?

    6. SZRT Ice

      Why is it sickening that a promoter got rewarded for doing a great job at promoting?

      You ever see commercials at the Super Bowl? Most of the products being sold half the time aren’t even all that great, but the production value in the marketing is through the roof and is in turn one of the greater aspects of watching the Super Bowl. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m gonna run out and buy some Heinekens if I favor Corona’s just because of a commercial. But that doesn’t mean that the director of said commercial shouldn’t receive his dues for doing a great job at creating an awesome and memorable commercial that highlights what so many have come to love about the said product.

    7. Swagger897

      To know that the back story -Which is the whole purpose of the doc – Hasn’t changed since the start. It’s been the same old, same old repetitive story that probably will go on for another 15 years… And it will only get worse looking at the way things are going now..

      Look, I’ve never been so pessimistic about something this minor to me. But I along with everyone else who purchased this were lied to, and I still haven’t seen my money fulfill what it was used for…

    8. SZRT Ice

      I read “I am angry at GT6, Sony, and PD and not this documentary. And even though the director of this documentary has no part in the development of a Gran Turismo game, his work should not be acknowledged because the game is rubbish.” By this account, you might as well start hating on Jordan, Terronium, and all of GTPlanet for its relation to the Gran Turismo series the way you’re going.

    9. Swagger897

      So do you want to explain to me where you read

      “I am angry at GT6, Sony, and PD and not this documentary. And even though the director of this documentary has no part in the development of a Gran Turismo game, his work should not be acknowledged because the game is rubbish.”

      And the rest is senseless… Obviously you have zero analysis skills of reading ones work.

      The documentary may be good, but the fact that it represents the business model PD carries out and you win awards for promoting such, is sad.

      No where have I said, ” I am angry at PD and affiliates”, but rather the film maker and the judges board.

      No doubt in my mind, however, that the game is rubbish because it’s been the same for the last three iterations..

    10. Swagger897

      And if you haven’t noticed, a good amount of active users of GTP on the forums are upset in an angry way as how PD is performng…

    11. SZRT Ice

      Duyde, I understand your dismay wit’ GT6, but your anger is misguided here. It’s like if you made a documentary about GT as a whole and people hated on it because the current GT is lacking. That wouldn’t be your fault.

      Tamir Moscovici produced the film. Not PD and not Kazunori. Your barrel is aimed in the wrong direction bro. But I do understand your points.

    12. SZRT Ice

      Hah! That was my thought! But PM me if you’d like a respectable breakdown/discussion on the topic.

      This is dragging.

    1. SZRT Ice

      You didn’t know Toko?!? GT has a better livery/vinyl editor, better car customization, better sounds, better tuning options like engine swaps, a better line-up of supercars, and a better more balanced list of cars that isn’t biased towards one company or country in the slightest! GT beats Forza @ absolutely everything!

      ::Grabs fishing rod::

    2. Johnnypenso

      GT has done some wonderful things with the PS3, but there’s no comparison graphics wise with Forza 5. PD might have the trimmings like night/day but just on pure visual clarity, I’d give up night/day for Forza’s graphic clarity any day.

  23. kollosson

    Well deserved, great documentary showing the passion, commitment and attention to detail of Kaz and Polyphony and best of all it beat Forza’s entry lol, love it…..

    1. TokoTurismo

      Okay, sooo… A movie get’s all the passion, commitment and attention, but not a game which has been around for 15 years? Blast for me.

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