Polyphony Digital

Located between Great Britain and Ireland, the small Isle of Man annually hosts one of the most dangerous and thrilling motorcycle events in the world: The International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race. Although the race is entirely devoted to motorcycles, for the last several years Subaru has been coming to the course in order to challenge the four-wheel lap record. Their latest entry saw a significant improvement, beating the 2014 record by more than 100 seconds!

At this point, it’s been confirmed beyond doubt that the partnership between Polyphony Digital and Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (view the original announcement) will greatly influence the gameplay structure of the incoming GT Sport. But by how much?

https://youtu.be/djZToFEFw_0

When the Vision GT Project took off back in 2013, nobody really knew how long the collaborative effort between Polyphony Digital and leading automobile manufacturers and design houses was going to last. Speaking with GTPlanet in London last week, Kazunori Yamauchi confirmed the initiative is far from complete, and that players can expect further additions in this year’s Gran Turismo Sport:

In less than a month, citizens residing near Colorado Springs will get the chance to attend the 100th anniversary race of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb challenge, one of the most dangerous point-to-point racing events in the world. Conquering the peak of this 12.42 miles long course has always been one of motorsports’ cream-of-the-crop undertakings, with various numbers of unique machines trying to beat the environment in the hands of unbelievably talented drivers.

Does anyone remember the initial announcement regarding one of the largest collaborations between a motorsport organization and a video game developer: the agreement between Polyphony Digital and Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile? The partnership was followed by the certification of four of the game’s real world circuits and an official FIA Online Championship, a mode destined to merge real life racing with the virtual world of Gran Turismo.

Our man Jordan is on the ground at the GT Sport press conference right now, and Polyphony has released the targeted release date for its new PS4 title: November 15, 2016.

“We Love Cars!”

We’re now less than 24 hours away from the GT Sport reveal in London. The anticipation is palpable, as even Polyphony has stoked the fire with their brand-new official Snapchat account. Here at GTPlanet, GT Week celebrations continue unabated!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably on Snapchat – one of the hottest social networks out there. It’s about to get a bit hotter, as the Polyphony Digital guys are launching a new official Snapchat account to share content about Gran Turismo games and events.

A good driving song can make a boring journey into a memorable one, or a good trip into one of the greats. By that same token, while Gran Turismo is fondly remembered for the driving, there’s a lot of memories tied to the audio cues. A song will stick with you, intertwining itself with the game until you can’t separate the two. To this day, I’m still annoyed every time I walk into a Mazda dealership and this catchy tune isn’t playing.

If you’re like us, you can’t wait for the big GT Sport event in London this Thursday and Friday. In an unprecedented move, Polyphony is making the first playable showing of the game open to the public, and if you were lucky enough to snag some of the tickets GTPlanet had to give out last week, you’ll get to take part in the festivities.

Bang the gongs, cue the avalanche of GIF’s – it’s happening! After over six months of silence, GT Sport is ready for its first gameplay showing. As you’d expect of a company that has announced a title at a racetrack (GT6), and taken over an entire town for a release party (GT6 again), Polyphony is pulling out all the stops, showcasing the PS4 title in downtown London, at the Copper Box Arena, a former Olympic site.

Last week we reported that Polyphony Digital’s CEO Kazunori Yamauchi would be returning to the Nürburgring in the lead up to the 2016 ADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Sharing the driving duties of the #101 BMW M6 GT3 with Matias Henkola, George Richardson, and Max Sandritter, Yamauchi was set to participate in the top SP9 class under the Walkenhorst Motorsport banner.

Kazunori Yamauchi will be returning to the gruelling Green Hell this year. Polyphony’s man in charge took 2015 off, after an accident during the qualifying session the year before. In a surprising turn, however, Yamauchi will be slotting in behind the wheel of a Bavarian motor for the ADAC qualifier this weekend.

More news on the Gran Turismo collection from Hot Wheels: It looks like even the world of diecast cars can receive expansion packs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjkfOY5vNXM

I believe many of you will recall our report from the 2015 SEMA automotive show several months ago when we closely followed the battle between five 2015 GT Awards finalists, all brought together from various categories. Presented by Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi himself, the ”Best in Show” crown was awarded to a painstakingly-modified Datsun 240Z, which is owned by popular Fast & Furious movie star Sung Kang.

On January 23rd Gran Turismo was presented with the Golden Marker Special Award at this year’s Japan Car Design Awards ceremony being held at The Gallery Too in the Minato district of Tokyo, Japan.

In December 2015, Polyphony updated their website, including profiles on some of the personnel. These interviews shed some light on the people behind the scenes that make Gran Turismo what it is. We offer them here in translated form, which wouldn’t be possible without the generous efforts of community member Imari.