Gran Turismo

Release Date: October 1, 2009

GRAN TURISMO The Ultimate Racing Game?

Heavens to Betsy. You should see the replay mode on SCE Japan’s latest racer. Squint your eyes just a little bit and you'd swear it was video footage of real cars. Eschewing their usual cartoony style, the Japanese are working on what could be the PlayStation’s most visually spectacular title...

Describe the game in 100 words

Gran Turismo is a realistic car racing sim, There, said it. The game includes some 87 licensed cars from 10 of the world’s leading manufacturers, including Mitsubishi, Chrysler, TVR, Subaru, Aston Martin and Mazda. The development team has used detailed performance stats to ensure that each car behaves as much like the real thing as possible. You start with a bit of cash and you have to buy yourself a motor — win races and you earn more cash, allowing you to buy more cars. Add a slew of circuits and a split-screen option and we could be looking at the PlayStation’s finest racer to date.

Is there anything in this game that we haven't seen in all the other racers available?

Certainly, there has never been a racing game with so many ‘real’ cars ~ pretty much all the major manufacturers are represented with a selection of their most popular models. But what really makes Gran Turismo stand out from the crowd is the attention to detail shown in every aspect of the game, particularly in the look and handling of the cars themselves. True, V-Rally’s cars looked realistic, but this takes the PlayStation a step further.

What other games have influenced Gran Turismo?

Formula One is an obvious point of reference, Also the team has spent a lot of time playing World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. Doubtless, they'll have tucked into V-Rally and before the game is finished, they'll have played the excellent TOCA Touring Cars from Codemasters.

Any specific technical innovations to speak of?

Hurrumph, Technical innovations? This is the most photo-realistic game we've ever seen. It's just amazing, The programmers created the visuals using detailed scans of the real cars, a superb rendering routine and real-time lighting effects. They've also developed a new ‘Environment Mapping system and utilised their unique ‘Automobile Physics Simulation Model’ which was originally created for Motor Toon.

What's the pedigree of the team?

The leader of the gang, Kazunori Yamauchi, has been fiddling with the concept of Gran Turismo for some five years, now. He worked on the original Motor Toon Grand Prix, but his aim with this project has been to produce the ultimate racing game.

Why should anyone care about the game?

Because SCE in Japan is pushing the PlayStation envelope. Gran Turismo is, at least in visual terms, a step forward, Once other developers start to catch on we'll be seeing the PlayStation doing things we didn't think possible, And how many other programing teams have hired out loads of cars to see how the real things actually performed?