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Yamauchi opens up on Gran Turismo

By Luke Anderson, GameSpot UKPosted Apr 3, 2008 8:57 am PT

Producer completely focused on the racing series, GT5 Prologue only at "halfway point," PSP version not due this year.

Fans of Gran Turismo can sleep easy at night; the PlayStation's quintessential driving game is in safe hands. Gran Turismo's creator and producer, Kazunori Yamauchi, spoke candidly with GameSpot UK today at Sony's Three Rooms venue in Central London about Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and the long-awaited Gran Turismo 5, and reconfirmed that a PlayStation Portable version of the game and the mysterious Gran Turismo for Boys are still in the works.

Talking about the two vaporware titles, Yamauchi confirmed they're both still on the radar. He said, "Gran Turismo for Boys will most likely become a service within Gran Turismo 5, and for the PSP I don't think we'll be able to make this year."

When asked what's next for the Gran Turismo following GT5 Prologue's European launch, Yamauchi said that, "first off, GT5 prologue is only at the halfway point to its completion. So in the next update there will be many more features added to the game. From that point to Gran Turismo 5, there's just going to be a lot more quantity in terms of cars and of the tracks as well."

GameSpot asked if the development of GT5 Prologue meant a longer wait for the eventual Gran Turismo 5, and Yamauchi answered, "This is true, but creating games on the PS3 is so much more difficult than we imagined at first and it took us three years to get here, and I hope our fans understand that we're trying our best and will be moving forward [on GT5] from here on."

Yamauchi also stated that his team at Polyphony Digital is and will be completely engrossed in Gran Turismo for the foreseeable future. He said, "We want to do other things, and I have some ideas but we don't have any resources and time to do anything else right now, we're focusing on getting Gran Turismo evolved and moving forward and also [Gran Turismo] for the PSP as well."

While Yamauchi steered clear of discussing what the challenges were for developing on the PS3, he added that he thinks the PS3, "is finally at a level that is suited for expressing the beauty of cars, and I think that's the interesting part of developing games on the PS3."

Yet perhaps the most curious fact of the day is that Mr. Gran Turismo doesn't compare his craft to those in the next-door garage. Yamauchi confessed, "I've never played any other [racing] games besides Gran Turismo, so [I] wouldn't know about those, but in the past before Gran Turismo, there are games that were on the Commodore Amiga--a game called Grand Prix--that's one of the games that I think has some influence on Gran Turismo."

The full interview with Yamauchi-san will be broadcast soon on GameSpot. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is out now in Europe and Australia, and will arrive on US retail shelves on April 15, and in downloadable form over the PlayStation Network on April 17.

114 Comments

  • ghost1528

    Posted Dec 19, 2008 11:40 pm PT

    Well the negative side to reading this is, fact that he's never played another game so he has nothing to look at for improvement, seeing what other games did good and improve on that or what they did bad and not make same mistake, 1 game he's benefit from is Live For Speed, best simulator out right now. Then on a plus side I guess in a way it's good that he's not influenced by other games as only thing he has to compare his game to is real life which is the ultimate comparison if he's trying to make it more realistic. Either way, seems a little wack to me but i guess there's pros and cons to his method. I got GT5P and love it, frustrating sometimes though lol Some challenges seem impossible, then again i play with all aids off with H shifter G25 manual so makes it kinda harder..

  • tekken220

    Posted Nov 28, 2008 7:40 am PT

    why are they making gt for boys anyway? maybe they decided to make that game so they won't make gt4 mobile

  • sanim02

    Posted Jul 19, 2008 7:25 pm PT

    ok i made a thread about this a few mins ago.. soo yeah finally some answers.. i guess the psp version of the game won't be out before mid-ways through 2009.. if we don't get any info about this game by 2010 that means its probably not coming out or is simply a good bye psp title..

  • jwb-2007

    Posted May 7, 2008 1:35 pm PT

    jaredcrazy3232, I agree. I remember actually pre-ordering a psp on the basis that gran turismo was on it then when I heard it was delayed I cancelled it. How can they take over two years to release it. Since then I had bought a psp but when it broke didn't buy a new one because there is not many brilliant games or features on it. It's pathetic.

    As for gran turismo for boys it sounds like a stupid idea because gran turismo is too easy. At least on forza you can increase the difficulty settings if you want.

  • jaredcrazy3232

    Posted May 5, 2008 3:55 pm PT

    anyone remember the pictures with GT4 on psp before the psp was released?

  • greasejunky

    Posted Apr 22, 2008 12:19 pm PT

    Gran Turismo is the ulitmate Snooze Fest.. as a long time fan I thought Gran Turismo 4 was starting to feel dated..with Prologue GT feels like a Dinosaur. I don't know how they manage to make speed seem so slow but they do it. Stop knocking Forza..forza may have been inspired by GT but at this point maintains the excitement of driving GT has long forgotten.
    Maybe the nerds at polyphony will stop picking music for GT and hire someone to creata real soundtrack.

  • leroys4

    Posted Apr 19, 2008 12:49 pm PT

    gt forever woooooooooooooooooooooooooh who

  • jpfondeur

    Posted Apr 19, 2008 12:01 am PT

    ARG! I NEEED a psp version, NOW!!!

  • white_jaguar

    Posted Apr 17, 2008 2:31 pm PT

    Wow I never player Forza but I might have to take ur word for it. I Gamespot rates forza real high.

  • chickenoverlord

    Posted Apr 7, 2008 11:17 pm PT

    Unless u can hardly afford to feed yourself you should definitely buy prologue...
    sure it's very small and therefore obvioulsy repetitive but it's REALLY pretty... I got it last week and love GT5 so far... I'm sure any fan of the series will just about wet themself if they have a good qual HDTV
    (btw i still think my 360 is better overall than my PS3.. BUT GT5 makes Forza look like crap)

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Apr 7, 2008 12:57 pm PT

    Do us all a favour: DON'T BUY THIS SHODDY PIECE OF UNFINISHED SH1T THAT IS GRAN TURISMO 5 PROLOGUE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Instead, just buy "Ferrari Challenge". It'll have 16 players online, matching this game, and innovative community features, whatever that means. And a preview at www.gameplayer.com.au has said that the enemy AI seems to be quite the best ever in any racing sims!!! Also it said that the detail like the physics, and even the crash modelling are superb! Wow. And it drives well.

    Oh, and IT'S ALSO GOT OVER 30 CARS THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE FERRARI BRAND! I mean, HOW GOOD IS THAT!? Combine these cars with the realistic details, and you've got pure orgasm !!!111oneonone111!!!!

    Interesting fact to know: Ferrari Challenge is only gonna come out for the PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, and DS. Not a Xbox 360 version in sights. I think that's because the game would have such huge data space that the latest-generation graphics & other such stuff could only be burned onto the PS3's BD, and not the X360's disc, while the other console versions obviously have inferior graphical power, so that they ain't judged harshly. Maybe it's either that, or the fact that there's already Forza 2 on the X360.

  • tworkma

    Posted Apr 7, 2008 8:27 am PT

    GT5 is king, BUT, this thing has been delayed endlessly. At what point do you actually have to deliver? Forza has been fun and I have to wonder if the next Forza will be out before GT5. Either way the level of realism will be the best on GT5.

  • Pun_Laca

    Posted Apr 5, 2008 8:28 am PT

    They can take as much time to get it right as far as I'm concerned. Maybe by the time it comes out, I could finally afford one of them real PS3's...?

  • Breackneckboy

    Posted Apr 5, 2008 5:51 am PT

    @atomD21
    One of those"100 or so boxy compacts"could be your own car!
    Aren't you interested in driving you own car through London or Daytona?
    I know I would : )

  • flip13lolb

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 2:22 pm PT

    @V-nine

    people in this world haven't gotten over the fact that chicks can play games

    I just can't get over the fact that I can lose to an 8 year old in mario kart but it happens

  • darkride66

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 11:34 am PT

    Autolycus. Here you go. This worried me a bit. I don't know if damage is needed. That'll be a tricky little balancing act. I want Gran Turismo for Grandmas. "You just completed 2 laps with your right turn signal on! You win!"
    http://ps3.ign.com/articles/864/864142p1.html

  • V-Nine

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 11:29 am PT

    ..so gran tourismo has gone sexist...........

  • taj7575

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 11:15 am PT

    omgggggggggg ive been waiting forever for the GT on psp...WTH?

    and last time i checked, i saw news for GT on PSP sometime during 2006...lets go guys...-.-

  • NinjaMunkey01

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 10:26 am PT

    those saying that there should be less cars, you are wrong. No not everyone will use every single car. But if there is a normal car you like, you might want to try it. If you own that car you might want to see what its like in game, or is a friend has a car in the game and you have one, you could race to see which car is best.

    the more cars the better, as long as it is released 2nd quater 09, prolouge and updates will keep the GT fans sort of happy.

  • Autolycus

    Posted Apr 4, 2008 10:06 am PT

    darkride66

    Generic_Dude "I'd like to see some damage modeling... why no questions about that?"
    You missed that topic a little earlier on. Yamauchi recently stated in another interview that Prologue would receive damage modeling via an update later on in the year.
    ---
    I have yet to see that spot, have a source for me? THat would be awesome if they add it, but its going to p'off a LOT of loyal GT players when they go to race online and damage is on.

    My guess Nov 2009, game will be released.

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