Playstation 2

Gran Turismo (GT) is developed by Polyphony Digital for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 gaming systems. The producer for all four games is Kazunori Yamauchi. Gran Turismo is partially responsible for the US introduction of cars once available only in Japan, such as the Subaru Impreza WRX, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and the 2007 debut of the Nissan Skyline, possibly under Nissan's luxury brand Infiniti. The game has also increased US awareness of such companies as Aston Martin, Ruf, Venturi (automobile), and Alfa Romeo.

The appeal of the Gran Turismo series is largely due to the meticulous detail evident in the simulation of driving and racing the licensed vehicles in the game. Every car sounds and handles according to real-life driving impressions. Vehicle tuning is similarly realistic, suspension settings affecting handling as they do in motorsports. Although Gran Turismo has a beer-and-pretzels arcade mode, the real heart of the series is its simulation mode, which guides the player through a circuit of increasingly difficult events—building up his cash, his skill, and his stable of cars all the while.

Although Gran Turismo is widely considered the best racing simulation (sim) available for the PSX and PS2, it is not without its drawbacks (however small). For example, the game contains no damage-modeling whatsoever—partly due to licensing agreements prohibiting car damage and partly due to the fact (as observed by developers) that many collisions during normal gameplay would completely destroy the cars involved. This lack of damage modeling has prompted many players to quip, "Who needs brakes? That's what my opponent's for!" Indeed, using the AI cars as impromptu barriers is a time-honored Gran Turismo tactic. This does not, however, undermine the realistic physics in simulating the actual driving.

Also, there are certain glaring vehicle omissions (despite a vehicle count of more than 700 in GT4), likely due to an inability to get the licenses; there are no Ferraris, Lamborghinis, or Porsches to be found (although Ruf, which is available, builds its cars on Porsche chassis).

None of this, however, has stopped the Gran Turismo series from being a wild success for Sony and Polyphony, or from GT4 being one of the most eagerly-anticipated titles of 2004 and 2005.

(material borrowed from This Wikipedia article licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License)

Latest News: