Polyphony Digital

As you probably know, the “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” has taken the world (and social media) by storm over the past few weeks. It’s resulted in a lot of fun videos of people getting cold water poured over their head, and it’s raised more than $88.5 million dollars to help victims of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and help fund a global team of researchers looking for a cure.

Each year at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – the world’s most famous and prestigious car show – Kazunori Yamauchi selects a car to be awarded the “Gran Turismo Trophy”, after which it will be digitized and immortalized in the Gran Turismo series.

Polyphony Digital has just released the “Beyond the Apex” mobile app in the iTunes App Store; click here to download it for free (332MB).

Kazunori Yamauchi has published the third post in his series discussing the engine sounds of Gran Turismo on Polyphony Digital’s “PitStop” blog.

The FIA Online Championship coming to Gran Turismo next year certainly will be pushing the world’s governing body of motorsport into the future, as the organization sanctions and stewards an entirely virtual racing event for the first time in its 110-year history.

Kazunori Yamauchi is the latest person to host a session of Reddit’s IAmA (I Am A, Ask me Anything), and is accompanied by Nissan’s chief designer, Shiro Nakamura, as both unveiled the Nissan 2020 Concept Vision Gran Turismo at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Yesterday’s announcement of Gran Turismo’s partnership with the FIA has made shockwaves around the Internet and right here at home on GTPlanet, and now we have a few early details about the FIA Online Championship – the first virtual race event to be organized and sanctioned by the world’s governing body of motorsport.

As confirmed in a major announcement from Polyphony Digital and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Gran Turismo 6 has become the first-ever video game to feature FIA-certified content, with four of the game’s real-world tracks receiving approval from the governing body of world motorsport.

Polyphony Digital has launched a new blog called the “PitStop” as a place to provide more frequent and informal communications with the public. A “variety of authors” from around the world will be contributing to PitStop, and comments can be posted via Facebook.

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!

In memory of the 20th anniversary of the passing of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, Polyphony Digital have formally unveiled their plans to support the Ayrton Senna Institute, developed in close cooperation with Senna’s family.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVnsx_df8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O30hygmGhkM

In a certainly unexpected turn of events, Cigarette Racing Team has announced a surprising partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Sony to build the $1.5-million Cigarette Racing 50’ Vision GT Concept boat. Yes, that’s right – a speedboat.

Tamir Moscovici’s documentary about Kazunori Yamauchi and the Gran Turismo series has now been released on YouTube, via PlayStation’s official channel.

At the Fukuoka Motor Show in Fukuoka, Japan (home to Polyphony Digital’s new headquarters), a new version of Gran Turismo 6 was available, revealing multi-screen display support.

KAZ: Pushing the Virtual Divide is now available, premiering exclusively on streaming service Hulu (it will be widely released on Sony Movie Channel, Sony Entertainment Network, Amazon Instant Video, and Crackle starting February 5, 2014).

It may be the best time of the year, but bad things can still happen.

EuroGamer has published a lengthy and comprehensive interview with Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, discussing everything form his childhood, his philosophy on life, motorsports, Gran Turismo, and just about everything in between.