Gran Turismo (series)

Gran Turismo ( subtitle: "The Real Driving Simulator ") is a video game series that is exclusively for the Sony PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, and for the PlayStation Portable ( PSP) available.

The game series developed by Polyphony Digital. " Gran Turismo " (GT ) is one depending on the game mode to different game genres. In Arcade mode it belongs to the genre of racing games, in professional GT mode, it is a race simulation. The company Sony therefore also advertises in the title with the statement: "The Real Driving Simulator " ( The real driving simulator).

To date ( November 24, 2010 ) Gran Turismo arose 1 to Gran Turismo 5. The new Gran Turismo 5 was released on November 24, 2010. The entire series has so far reached more than 50 million games sold, according to information provided by Sony Computer Entertainment. The edition Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (2008) was sold in the first week 374 607 times in Europe. On May 15, 2013 were officially announced in England on the Silverstone Circuit Gran Turismo 6 for Playstation 3. The game was released on December 6, 2013.

Gameplay

In all versions of the Gran Turismo series, the player begins his career with an initial capital. From this it must first acquire a car, to order to participate in the first small racing series against other drivers and thus can supplement his account. From this capital, the player can now modify their cars in order to improve his performance and his vehicle behavior in order to survive against the stronger opponents can. Alternatively, it is also possible to repeat the small racing series and so to save up for a new car.

In order to participate in the new racing series as the game progresses, different licenses are required. From ( added in Gran Turismo 5) at the National B License, supranational A, C International, International B, International A up to special license, the driver can be improved by the existence of different licensing exams gradually his skills. At completion of all licensing exams with at least a bronze medal, the driver wins a car. The difficulty of the race increases with continuous gameplay as well as the prize money, which forces the player to tune the car in his possession or to buy new cars. The private car can sell the player to get money for new vehicles.

The gameplay of the part of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is similar to the fourth part, but there are predefined missions, some of which include the old racing series with.

Completely new are the new multiplayer missions that change weekly. All nodes start in adapted vehicles on a route and there are cash prizes ( credits).

Rolling stock

The unique feature of the series compared to other representatives of this genre is the wide range of different car models of real-world manufacturers. In Gran Turismo 4, in 2005, the players are more than 700 cars, as new and used cars from brands such as Nissan, VW, Toyota, Audi, BMW and Mercedes -Benz are available. Particularly noteworthy is the wide range of different vehicle classes. As at the date of GT4 cars were present in the game, which were not commercially available at this time. Few vehicles, like the Toyota Triathlon Race Car, the Nike One or the Caterham Fireblade can not be used in the racing series. For them, the test drive on numerous routes remains.

However, it is noted that the large number of cars partly comes through variations or different model years of the same vehicles achieved, the Honda NSX total of 13 times is available including Type-R and Type-S, albeit from different years of construction. Also, the Nissan Skyline GT -R with its numerous variants and construction (R32, R33, R34 ) is representing a total of 29 times, not counting tuning and racing versions. Nevertheless, the car variety is many times higher than in most other racing games, as well as small cars Daihatsu Move, Suzuki Alto or VW Lupo exist that are not included in most other racing games. The fastest car is always the Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak with GT 1, 2, 3 and 4. In GT 5, it is the prototype Red Bull X1.

In Gran Turismo 5 players can also participate in karting and NASCAR racing for the first time.

Tuning

With a few exceptions, all vehicles can be modified in Gran Turismo 4. For this purpose, a tuning range the factory tuning company from the manufacturers has been established (eg Nismo Nissan ). There you will get the best engines, transmissions, brakes and suspension upgrades that can be had for money for each comparable totals. When fully tuned cars and the possibilities increase for heavier racing series, so that fewer vehicles are needed. In addition, you can with tuning companies and in the tuning department of some Japanese manufacturer already buy pre-modified sports cars, which are equipped with various pre- tuning parts. In Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, the tuning of the vehicles is only possible by means of quick tuning before the race. Tuning items such other gear, etc. can not be acquired in this part. Exception are already tuned vehicles that can be purchased from some manufacturers.

Damage model

Unlike other racing games no damage model for the virtual vehicles used in the series of games for a long time. Many manufacturers had firmly rejected a presentation of their damaged cars and this made ​​as a condition of licensing. Kazunori Yamauchi, chief designer of the GT series, said in several interviews regarding Gran Turismo 4 that the processing power of the PlayStation 2 is not sufficient to represent collision damage as realistic as it expects the development team. Since, however, no fake acting in the series features wanted, you have therefore dispensed with the presentation of external collision damage. Only the second part of the GT series includes racing modes in which the tires of the player's car can be pulled in collisions with the road boundary or opposing cars affected. Also, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue does not contain a damage model, but in the full version of Gran Turismo 5, a damage model included what was officially confirmed by Kazunori Yamauchi said in an interview.

At E3 2009, a trailer was presented on June 2, which provides an insight into the damage model. This includes a brief scene where you can see the damage of a car significantly, as this skidded and is measured using the front wall.

On the Gamescom in Cologne in mid-August 2009, the visitors were the first to allude to a demo version of the game, in a non-final version of the damage model was included.

The full version of Gran Turismo 5 contains the first Gran Turismo to be a damage model, but significantly behind those of its competitors Forza Motorsport 4 or Race Driver on its quality: GRID remains.

Racetracks

There are some really existing tracks like Le Mans, Laguna Seca, Suzuka, Motegi, Fuji and the Nürburgring - Nordschleife. Sony also includes minimal variations at a distance equal to the new course. GT4 offers 40 different routes, some of them in several variations. Each fictional race track is also backward passable usually.

The realism claim of the development team went so far as to almost all vehicles driven in the original and the thereby resulting noise for each model was taken into the game. In the route of the Nordschleife there should be no deviation of more than five centimeters in all directions with respect to the original route. Even the lap times of professional drivers soft in the game where they go in reality to no more than one percent.

Furthermore, there are (since GT2) also rally stages with loose surfaces, since GT4 also snow and ice-covered paths.

Physics

The developers have already united when published in 1997 the first part of the series easy controllability with realistic driving physics. While the vehicle is in really hopeless situations at least partially controllable and driving errors rarely have catastrophic consequences, but the dynamics is due to the realistic elements still able to convey the impression of a real race with powerful vehicles. Specifically, the various characteristics and the advantages and disadvantages of front-, rear- and all-wheel drive vehicles are presented. Other technical issues that do not have such an immediate impact on the dynamics, such as the increase in output by the turbocharger have been simplified, however. Thus, the decline in grip of tires is taken into account, but not the wear on the brake pads or aging damper.

For Gran Turismo 4, the driving physics has been revised for the first time fundamentally within the GT series.

Graphic

GT 1 and GT 2 are graphically equivalent and provide a resolution of 240 lines. Given the possibilities of the Playstation neither aliasing nor texture filtering is offered. The graphics still received good reviews because the animation is very fluid in almost all situations, and then set new standards in terms of realism. Furthermore, could impress the car models by the then unusual use of mirroring effects.

GT 3 and GT 4 in particular make use of the Playstation 2 hardware use and offer filtered textures. With the Photo mode (since GT 4), however, came as images in the media, which does not reflect the actual in-game impression. The PAL version uses in the game a screen resolution of 512 × 512 ( in 3:2 format ), the photo mode has a resolution of up to 1280 × 960 and produces images with motion blur and super-sampling anti-aliasing, after which the actual must renounce game.

The NTSC version of GT 4 has a 480p mode and a 1080i mode for HDTV owners.

GT 5 Prologue provides a substantially revised graphics, the image can be output in 576i, 720p and 1080i also hochgerechnetem / p. The full version of the game also offers the option play with a 3D TV to play in 3D.

Controller

Already the original Gran Turismo made ​​use either the analog controller. For GT 4 (which can also be played with the standard PS2 controller ) was developed by the Logitech Driving Force Pro. The 900 ° mode, 450 ° steering angle in both directions, is used by all PC games. Gran Turismo was one of the first games that supported the vibration function of the DualShock controller. The controller has been delivered at the same time with the game. In Gran Turismo 5 is a connected PSP can be used as a rear view mirror in GT 5 Prologue this is despite the then notice not yet possible, but will eventually replenished by an update.

PSP version

The PSP version is severely limited. So no tuning kits are included, not a career mode and no pre race series. The purchasable vehicles can only be purchased from the " car dealerships of the day". In the PSP version you can drive all the race tracks at once, an unlock is not necessary. To earn extra money, " driver tests " must be passed, or in the different races, which you created yourself will land among the first places.

Published versions

• Gran Turismo (Japan: December 1997 U.S. & Europe: May 18, 1998 PSOne )
• Gran Turismo 2 (1999, PSOne )
• Gran Turismo 2 Platinum (2000, PSOne )
• Gran Turismo 3: A- Spec (2001, PS2, during the development of Gran Turismo called 2000)
• Gran Turismo 3: A- Spec Platinum (2001, PS2)
• Gran Turismo Concept 2001 Tokyo (2001, PS2)
• Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo - Geneva (2002, PS2)
• Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo - Geneva Platinum (2003, PS2)
• Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo - Seoul (2002, PS2)
• Gran Turismo 4: Prologue (2004, PS2)
• Gran Turismo 4: Prius Edition (2004, PS2)
• Gran Turismo 4: BMW 1 Series Virtual Drive Dealership (2004, PS2)
• Gran Turismo 4 (2005, PS2)
• Gran Turismo 4: Platinum (2005/2006, PS2)
• Gran Turismo 4 Online test version (2006, Japan, USA, PS2)
• Gran Turismo HD Concept ( November 2006 Europe: March 2007): Ten cars, each one tuned version, a link ( Eiger ) in two directions, a free download for PS3 in Playstation gates.
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec -I ( Japan: Since 13 December 2007 at the Japanese Playstation gates available for download and on Blu- ray Disc for PS3. )
• Gran Turismo 5: Prologue Spec II (USA and Europe: March 26, 2008, PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5: Prologue Platinum (January 2009, PS3)
• Gran Turismo (October 2009, PSP )
• Gran Turismo Collector's Edition (October 2009, PSP )
• Gran Turismo 5 ( November 24, 2010, PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5 Collector's Edition ( November 24, 2010, PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5 Signature Edition ( November 24, 2010, PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5 Platinum ( October 14, 2011, PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition (USA: January 17 2012, PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5 Academy Edition (26 September 2012 PS3)
• Gran Turismo 5 Edition 2013 (Asia: December 21, 2012 PS3)
• Gran Turismo 6 (December 6, 2013, PS3)