TGS 2005: Tourist Trophy detailed

TOKYO--At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony Computer Entertainment announced a new PlayStation 2 motorcycle racing game titled Tourist Trophy. Developed by Polyphony Digital, the game is fundamentally a motorcycle racing take on the company's hit driving simulator series, Grand Turismo.

Like Grand Turismo, Polyphony Digital promises a realistic driving experience (or "realistic riding experience," in this case) in Tourist Trophy. As expected, the game features a lineup of real motorcycles from famous makers, including Yamaha's TW 225E '05, Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-10R '05, Honda's CB1300 Super Bol D'or '05, and Suzuki's GSX 1300R Hayabusa '05.

Because Tourist Trophy is a biking game and the rider is almost as important as the machine itself, Polyphony Digital is also paying attention to riding equipment. The game includes a wide selection of helmets, gloves, boots, bike suits, and other equipment from top brand names. The player can select different color schemes for their equipment, allowing them to be fashionable as well as functional.

The developers are paying close attention to accurately mimicking realistic bike motions and riding styles, making the racing experience vastly different from that of cars. The short trailer displayed at Sony's booth showed how the riders lowered their bodies extremely close to the ground as they cornered at high speeds, just like they do in real life. Along with the highly detailed polygon models, it's easy to understand how some almost mistook the trailer for real bike footage during the first few seconds of its presentation at Sony's booth.

Tourist Trophy is being produced by Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi, who's also the father of the Gran Turismo series. Leading the project as director is Takamasa Shichisawa, who's worked with Yamauchi on several GT games in the past. The game is slated for release in Japan this winter. GameSpot will provide more details on Tourist Trophy as they become available.