music

If you think of a music album bearing the Gran Turismo name, it’s likely there’s only one that springs to mind. The Cardigans’ Gran Turismo, including the Gran Turismo 2 title track My Favourite Game, is legend.

Driving music. Some will tell you the very concept is wrong — the engine and tires provide all the auditory stimulation you could possibly need. Others cannot possibly get behind the wheel without it.

As we speak, Slightly Mad Studios is putting the finishing touches on Project CARS 2. While the game should be in our hands in just a few weeks’ time, its soundtrack was only recently finalized. A newly-released video has given us an inside look at the process behind the upcoming sim racer’s dramatic score.

It’s easy to forget precisely how much work goes into making games these days.

With so much attention poured over graphics and sound design, it’s easy to overlook the role music plays in a game’s presentation. In Gran Turismo’s case, music has always been a key part of the experience, and Polyphony Digital clearly sought to establish a unique sonic aesthetic for the series from the very beginning.

When the off-track, open-world racer known as Forza Horizon was introduced to the gaming world in 2012, it was clear that the atmosphere of the Motorsport spinoff was just as much about the music as it was about car culture.

If you watched the Gran Turismo documentary KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide and took note of the music, you’re not alone – it’s been a frequent topic of discussion around the film, and the full versions of the songs have not been available anywhere – until now!

Since the release of Gran Turismo 1 in 1998, one feature has been on the wishlists of GTPlanet members everywhere: the ability to load your own music into the game.  With the release of the new PlayStation 3 firmware update 2.4, those dreams will finally come true.  The 2.4 firmware allows you to access the XMB PS3 menu while you are actually playing a game on the system, including all of the music that you’ve loaded onto your PlayStation’s hard drive.  As you can see from the video below, you simply turn down the in-game tunes (so they won’t interfere with your own, obviously), fire up the XMB, find your song, and hit the play button**.  Also, because the PlayStation 3 is backward-compatible with both PS1 and PS2 games, you’ll be able to take advantage of this new feature in every single Gran Turismo game released in the series.  Many of you don’t listen to music while you’re driving, but this is a very welcome addition to the games for those who do!  The new firmware will be available to download via your PS3 on July 2, 2008.