ow let me be clear - video games do not promote violence even if they let you hack someone to pieces with a Chainsaw on Miami Beach, direct a nuclear missile on your own position, shoot endangered Tibetan tigers in the face whilst doing a graceful backflip or just jump up and down on turtles. One man however, Kazunori ‘Kaz’ Yamauchi has a lot to answer for when it comes to the likes of me and you...
There are many great things - great leaders, great military leaders, great actors, greatest lovers and great white sharks, or a combination of those. This means that being the greatest as a prominent figure is very hard as you’re in a saturated market consisting of many great people or things. Thus, with gravitas and no jovial twinge to my voice, I say that Gran Turismo is the greatest driving/racing simulator.
In 1997 it roared onto your PlayStation 1 with Kaz at the wheel to great critical acclaim, consumer joy and impossibly high sales. Prior to GameRanking’s website closure in 2019, it was resolutely and rightly positioned at the #1 racing game spot. Its significance is in my opinion one of the foundations of the recent generation’s massive obsession and fanbase of the humdrum motor vehicle. If you’re a ‘millennial’ chances are Gran Turismo has impacted on your life in some way, for many - like myself – it was a launchpad of a life-long hobby and a constant pursuit of living the lifestyle it suggested as best as possible. The photos and screen-captures will hopefully demonstrate how much it’s impacted me at least.
It is a Japanese game, so naturally, there’s a focus on the Japanese domestic market as well as some locations the designers felt were important to recreate digitally, namely the mountain Touge track – Trial Mountain, Clubman Stage Route 5 – Fictional Japanese city where street racing was once commonplace (Mid Night Racing Team anyone?) and various test tracks inspired by Nardo.
ow let me be clear - video games do not promote violence even if they let you hack someone to pieces with a Chainsaw on Miami Beach, direct a nuclear missile on your own position, shoot endangered Tibetan tigers in the face whilst doing a graceful backflip or just jump up and down on turtles. One man however, Kazunori ‘Kaz’ Yamauchi has a lot to answer for when it comes to the likes of me and you...
There are many great things - great leaders, great military leaders, great actors, greatest lovers and great white sharks, or a combination of those. This means that being the greatest as a prominent figure is very hard as you’re in a saturated market consisting of many great people or things. Thus, with gravitas and no jovial twinge to my voice, I say that Gran Turismo is the greatest driving/racing simulator.
In 1997 it roared onto your PlayStation 1 with Kaz at the wheel to great critical acclaim, consumer joy and impossibly high sales. Prior to GameRanking’s website closure in 2019, it was resolutely and rightly positioned at the #1 racing game spot. Its significance is in my opinion one of the foundations of the recent generation’s massive obsession and fanbase of the humdrum motor vehicle. If you’re a ‘millennial’ chances are Gran Turismo has impacted on your life in some way, for many - like myself – it was a launchpad of a life-long hobby and a constant pursuit of living the lifestyle it suggested as best as possible. The photos and screen-captures will hopefully demonstrate how much it’s impacted me at least.
It is a Japanese game, so naturally, there’s a focus on the Japanese domestic market as well as some locations the designers felt were important to recreate digitally, namely the mountain Touge track – Trial Mountain, Clubman Stage Route 5 – Fictional Japanese city where street racing was once commonplace (Mid Night Racing Team anyone?) and various test tracks inspired by Nardo.
N
By Kotto Williams
Images via Polyphony
The Importance of Gran Turismo
If it wasn't for a certain computer game franchise, Kotto Williams' life might have turned out very different - and he thinks he's not alone. Gran Turismo has a lot to answer for
Sadly just 11 tracks were found on GT1 – a closed beta test volume compared to today’s expectations. My parents say they can still hear the four ‘honks’ prior to a race starting… Probably from grinding the initial Clubman Cup relentlessly to unlock the mk4 Supra, and then doing it all again to unlock the performance packs for it, then ruining your car by making it impossibly fast and tail-happy and not even the wide corners of Trial Mountain can save you. It featured 180 cars (granted many the same but different variations much like real-life) which was a big deal back then. Another modern, now taken-for-granted feature was the vehicles themselves – 3d modelled on real-life cars to an accurate scale and then given a ‘texture’ over that 3d model to ensure it looks as close to reality as technologically possible.
The sound too was synthesised to represent individual cars, for the first time (if you tried very hard) you could hear the difference between a straight-6 and a V8. On the subject of noise, the Japanese market’s soundtrack consisted of some genuinely great jazz music created by Japanese composer Masahiro Andoh who inadvertently created the legacy ‘opening theme song’; Moon Over The Castle. The US and European markets had some mainstream rock music from Feeder, Garbage and the Manic Street Preachers - perfect driving music.
Gran Turismo 2 built upon the incredible 3d graphics, sound, features, physics and tracks. It had a near complete roster of Japanese cars but had now forayed into Europe and America, it even featured some oddities such as the Peugeot 406 Coupe, Citroen Saxo VTS and my particular favourite - the TVR Chimaera. This game introduced real tracks – Laguna Seca and Pikes Peak so you could re-live some of the glorious scenes on TV. I’m not 100% sure but I think Gran Turismo 2 was the first to feature Laguna Seca and allow you to tumble down the infamous corkscrew in a variety of exotic, race or cars a bit closer to home – your mum’s Renault Laguna.
Sadly just 11 tracks were found on GT1 – a closed beta test volume compared to today’s expectations. My parents say they can still hear the four ‘honks’ prior to a race starting… Probably from grinding the initial Clubman Cup relentlessly to unlock the mk4 Supra, and then doing it all again to unlock the performance packs for it, then ruining your car by making it impossibly fast and tail-happy and not even the wide corners of Trial Mountain can save you. It featured 180 cars (granted many the same but different variations much like real-life) which was a big deal back then. Another modern, now taken-for-granted feature was the vehicles themselves – 3d modelled on real-life cars to an accurate scale and then given a ‘texture’ over that 3d model to ensure it looks as close to reality as technologically possible.
The sound too was synthesised to represent individual cars, for the first time (if you tried very hard) you could hear the difference between a straight-6 and a V8. On the subject of noise, the Japanese market’s soundtrack consisted of some genuinely great jazz music created by Japanese composer Masahiro Andoh who inadvertently created the legacy ‘opening theme song’; Moon Over The Castle. The US and European markets had some mainstream rock music from Feeder, Garbage and the Manic Street Preachers - perfect driving music.
Gran Turismo 2 built upon the incredible 3d graphics, sound, features, physics and tracks. It had a near complete roster of Japanese cars but had now forayed into Europe and America, it even featured some oddities such as the Peugeot 406 Coupe, Citroen Saxo VTS and my particular favourite - the TVR Chimaera. This game introduced real tracks – Laguna Seca and Pikes Peak so you could re-live some of the glorious scenes on TV. I’m not 100% sure but I think Gran Turismo 2 was the first to feature Laguna Seca and allow you to tumble down the infamous corkscrew in a variety of exotic, race or cars a bit closer to home – your mum’s Renault Laguna.
"The progress since the original with GT4 is astonishing, the sheer volume of cars, over 50 tracks to race on, in-depth modification and tuning that affects a car’s dynamics and performance, a photography mode to capture your favourite cars"
Kotto Williams
Within the game’s lifespan I discovered Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson’s VHS special and later on the Fast & Furious movie was released, and I believe it was at this point my blood type had an octane rating, being able to go to the game and buy an Eclipse or an RX7 in the colour I wanted and change the wheels to ones like the movie was incredible. Kaz was keen to augment the series given the success of the debut title, he sought sponsorship from SEIKO, the Japanese watch company for a share in his adventure and their name appears as official timekeeping scoreboards like you’d expect from Formula 1 or Le Mans coverage in real life. He also introduced off-road/rallying as a race style, the racing formula changed too, allowing you to participate in individual races rather than a series in a tournament – a lifesaver if you’re ADHD. If you felt a bit frisky the GT2 title also held Dualshock vibration support for controllers.
Now, I couldn’t drive when Gran Turismo 3 and 4 were released but it was effectively a database in which I kept cars I yearned to have, ones I’d discovered in previous titles but like puberty, I matured into a petrosexual. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec matured too, on the new Playstation 2 console it pushed the boundaries of graphical prowess and even included an in-depth rallying mode. The game was the new benchmark for any racing game on graphics alone, once more 3d modelled cars created with agonizing detail, only 187 cars featured in the GT3 game due to the graphic processing demands but even now the game to me seems graphically robust.
I wish I could tell you GT3 was a success story - and I can - it sold $120 million worth of games in the US alone, quite possibly one of the very first ‘AAA’ games in the golden age of electronic entertainment. GT4 however, is my absolute favourite title - over 700 cars from 80 different manufacturers painstakingly brought to life to become the ultimate driving simulator.
The progress since the original with GT4 is astonishing, the sheer volume of cars, over 50 tracks to race on, in-depth modification and tuning that affects a car’s dynamics and performance, a photography mode to capture your favourite cars. Gran Turismo 4 is the absolute peak of racing simulators, it let you start at the bottom, just a few quid to buy a relatively mundane car to thrash about amateur racing events to earn some money towards modifying it, giving you an easier time and earning more cash to put towards precious metal. For me that was usually a silver-green Sylvia S13.