Vision Gran Turismo: Kaz on PS3

He's better known for this extreme attention to detail, but now the Gran Turismo creator is thinking about the PlayStation 3 and beyond.

You may not know his name, but Kazunori Yamauchi has been entertaining you for years already. As one of the first members of Sony's PlayStation team, Yamauchi played a part in putting together the first console. Since then, though, he's become better known for his almost-pathological devotion to detail in Sony's award-winning and multimillion-selling Gran Turismo series.

Vision GT is a glimpse of things to come

In a recent interview, done by Sony itself, Yamauchi speaks of the changes that games are in for.

The biggest leap as we move into the next generation, obviously, is in aesthetics, which Yamauchi feels will work together with more accurate physics to redefine the idea of games:

"The PlayStation 3 is the first piece of hardware allowing photo-realistic computer graphics, and is the first game hardware that can perform calculations for physics simulation to the level of our satisfaction. With a matrix of such elements, a new world of entertainment is about to unfold."

"This is the beginning of a world, different to that of what we have called 'games' up to today."

Perhaps more interesting, though, is the shift that many see coming in how we buy games. Already Microsoft is moving towards digital distribution via its Xbox Live service, though this will be confined to simple content for now.

Yamauchi, too, sees the Internet playing a much bigger role as games progress, whether as a delivery medium or as a core part of games.

"I see the future of gaming changing, as it shifts away from packaged products, to service via network. This will vary from casual and open loosely coupled services, to more tightly coupled services for [massively multiplayer online games]."

And while Yamauchi sides with Microsoft and its Internet-over-all approach to games, he also agrees with Nintendo's sentiment that games do need to change if they are going to be allowed to mature.

"I don't think the industry can continue linear growth in the form we see today," Yamauchi says. "Rather, I would think the dynamic industry structure will change form as it continues to grow."

First up for Yamauchi though is more work on his Gran Turismo series. The PlayStation 3 instalment was briefly shown, in video-only form, at last month's Tokyo Game Show, but if history repeats itself, we may have a while to wait yet to get behind the wheel.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games