SEMA

Before the 2012 GT Awards, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kazunori Yamauchi for a brief interview. We covered a wide range of topics, and I tried to cover some of the most frequently asked questions and discussed topics in GTPlanet’s forums.

The 2012 Gran Turismo Awards were held last night in Las Vegas, where Kazunori Yamauchi himself selected the David Eckert’s Ford Mach Forty as “Best in Show” from among the five category finalists.

Kazunori Yamauchi toured the show floor at SEMA in Las Vegas today, visiting all of the individual category winners in this year’s Gran Turismo Awards. They are:

Hip-hop star Snoop Dogg (or “Snoop Lion”, as he now prefers to be called) will be headlining at the 2012 Gran Turismo Awards, to be held at the Palm Resort’s Rain Nightclub in Las Vegas, this Thursday, November 1st at 9:30pm.

The Gran Turismo Awards have become a popular staple of SEMA 2012, the massive modified car show that takes place in Las Vegas each fall.

At the 2011 SEMA Show last week, I had the very special opportunity to – for the first time – personally interview the master himself: Kazunori Yamauchi. We had a great chat, and I am happy to report that Kazunori seemed happy, relaxed, and in good spirits.

The 2011 Gran Turismo Awards were held last Thursday night in Las Vegas, and Kazunori Yamauchi himself selected this year’s “Best in Show” winner: a 1971 Chevrolet Camaro, customized and tuned by Mary Pozzi of Salinas, California.

The 2010 GT Awards are right around the corner, and Sony is taking applications from all SEMA attendees who want a shot at getting their car featured in Gran Turismo 5.

Yes, you’ve seen some of these screenshots before, but not at these resolutions. I’m a sucker for high-megapixel images, so when when Stefan1904 dug these up at 3840×2160 (8.2MP) and 5760×3240 (18MP), I had to share them with you one more time. The previous images were only at 1920×1080, so there’s significantly more detail to take in. Enjoy!

Most of the Kazunori Yamauchi interviews from “mainstream” gaming sites are generally pretty weak, but I’ve got to hand it to IGN editor Ryan Geddes for asking some direct, important questions during his time with the GT series creator at SEMA. Although Yamauchi’s ability to talk his way out of specific answers remains strong, Geddes’ latest interview drew some interesting comments. Watch the interview above (look out for replay interior footage of J.R. Rocha’s G37), or keep reading for complete analysis of all the high points…

Enjoy this second round of SEMA Gran Turismo 5 screenshots in their full, 5760 x 3240 resolution. The details which emerge at this size are, as always, breathtaking!

Finally, we’ve got our first look at video of J.R. Rocha’s G37 in the latest Gran Turismo 5 SEMA demo. Unfortunately, the quality is very poor compared to what people managed to grab at previous shows, but it’s better than nothing, right? The lack of footage seems to indicate that the GT Awards show was the only place the demo was playable, which would explain the lack of more footage. Thanks to akumatose for sharing these! The first clip, above, shows replay footage, and the second provides a look at the interior.

A few more pictures Philip Koenen’s 1970 Ford Mustang were snapped by AutoBlog, providing a much closer look at the latest addition to Gran Turismo 5’s roster. We’re still, collectively, waiting on video footage from the new SEMA demo, which supposedly features previous GT Award winners, so if you see anything floating around on the web, please let me know!

It’s taken a surprisingly long amount of time for word on the latest GT Awards winner to get out, but IGN is first to break cover and confirm the winner: a 1970 Ford Mustang with a 427 SOHC “Cammer” engine. The car is a mean-yet-classy addition to Gran Turismo, carefully pieced together by Philip Koenen and Grand Touring Garage in Oregon for a “Hong Kong client” after a long search for the right body and engine. The powerplant is particularly special: considered one of the best Ford has ever built, it produces 616 hp at 7000 rpm and 515 lbs/ft of torque at 3800 rpm.

Yamauchi’s latest interview with AutoWeek magazine has quite a few surprises, with Yamauchi going so far as to confirm GT5’s development cost and a controversial new feature. Keep reading for a quick summary of everything you need to know…

It’s time for the 7th annual Gran Turismo Awards at the SEMA show in Las Vegas! As you may recall, this unique event is a big deal for GT fans and car tuners alike, as Yamauchi picks his favorite car from the show to be featured in the next GT game. Award winners from previous years have brought us some of the series’ most memorable and cars, including the 1962 Buick Special (’03 winner) in Gran Turismo 4 and the 1960 Art Morrison Chevrolet Corvette (’06 winner) in GT5 Prologue.

Gaming site IGN was at SEMA this year for the unveiling of the 2008 Gran Turismo Awards, and they caught up with GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi for a few questions.  Like most ‘mainstream press’ interviews (and nothing like Ahmed’s), the questions are not very pressing, and very little is revealed.  Still, it’s worth checking out.  Video after the jump…

We’ve finally got some official photos from the 2008 Gran Turismo Awards held at SEMA last week.  Apparently, the JR Rocha’s winning G37 was painted black since he posted pictures of the vehicle on his blog.  We also have the winners from the other categories – all of which were in the running to be included in the next game.  Here’s how the awards break down: