Gran Turismo 5: Kaz Yamauchi Interview

We meet with the creator of the Gran Turismo series for a detailed chat about the next iteration on the PS3.

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Yamauchi: If we then look at the icons at the bottom, we can start the race - very straightforward; the next one is Garage, again something you may be familiar with in the GT franchise, it's the collection of cars you have obtained within the world of GT. Just like in previous GT, when you start the game, there are zero cars in your garage, but as you play and build experience, you will obtain more. The next icon is TV. To give you a conceptual idea, this is a mix of car related video material - it could be a famous TV show that covers cars, it could be in-house Polyphony-created video features, it could be something car manufacturers give to us, asking us to make it part of the content - it's something people can come to when they want to watch car-related things of this nature.

The Album is another feature that is part of the user's profile, for example in Photo Mode you can take still photos of your experience in GT, and you can put them in there to show to your friends. The same applies to any of the replay movies from in the game experience, for example I can post my best lap time from Nürburgring and show it to my friends, and challenge them to beat me. The final icon we have is Home. We are trying to create a seamless experience between Home, within the PS3 environment, and for players to be able to seamlessly go interact between the Home environment and the GT environment.

An overhauled front-end now organises your career and dates for events

Kikizo: Could you elaborate on how GT5 will be integrated with the Home service for PS3?

Yamauchi: One example would be, you start off in the Home environment, you open a door and discover the Gran Turismo world, you walk in, there's an online dealership - the car is rotating like on a car selection screen. All that past that door is actually GT, but the experience is a lot more seamless. Ideally anyway - that's the ideal scenario, we're still studying this.

Kikizo: There is a rumour that the Home service will come to the PSP in some form. If this were to be the case would you look to replicate this kind of concept on GT Mobile?

Yamauchi: That would be an assumption on top of an assumption! But if that were to happen then yes, that would be the case.

Kikizo: Can you give us an update on how GT Mobile for the PSP is progressing at the moment please?

Yamauchi: Right now we're targeting GT5 for next year, maybe later next year. The PSP will come following that.

Kikizo: OK, but previously I thought you had said it would come before GT5?

Yamauchi: Currently, our objective is to make sure that we have a strong core on PS3, before we go on to PSP.

Not only is the in-car dashboard rendered, but so is the whole interior

Kikizo: How important do you think rumble feedback is to the GT experience? Everybody knows that a rumble controller is coming, so is it something that you have already been working on with this in mind?

Yamauchi: Yes, that is correct.

Kikizo: Kazunori, thank you so much for your time and we look forward to playing more.

A demo of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be released in Japan on October 26 to coincide with the Tokyo Motor Show.

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