GRAN TURISMO 2

A conversation with Kazunori Yamauchi
Executive Vice-President of Polyphony Digital Inc. 

“ We are deeply grateful to everyone who made GT happen:  first of all to the car manufacturers who were so receptive to our original vision and helped us so unstintingly, then to everyone in the media and on the shop floor who told the users about the game, and last, but not least, to the users who actually played Gran Turismo.

To be honest, we never expected Gran Turismo to become such an extraordinarily popular title.  It has been a real thrill for us, as the game's developers, to see the stocks in the game shops being picked up by customers and carried off to the cash desk (and just as gratifying to hear that the game lived up to their expectations!). 

On our casual visits to game shops overseas, the success of "our baby" has been brought home to us again and again.  We noticed the big promotional displays and saw the promotional video play countless times on in-store TV screens (indeed some of us were so unexpectedly moved by such scenes that we got our cameras out and took pictures!)”

In 1999, Polyphony Digital are now ready to reveal details of their much anticipated sequel to Gran Turismo.

Kazunori Yamauchi explains:  “it has not escaped our attention that expectations regarding the sequel to Gran Turismo are very high, and this has spurred us on in our work.

To start with, I can tell you that the title will be "Gran Turismo 2".  As the name suggests, Gran Turismo 2 can be seen as a normal progression from Gran Turismo. 

The original idea of Gran Turismo was to provide a realistic simulation of the behaviour of real cars, and establish it in the game field. To achieve this aim, we carried out research and development work that resulted in the creation of a model which, I believe, has been successful in at least some senses.  We have made the simulation as realistic as possible:  the cars featured naturally vary in their behaviour, depending on handling methods, tuning and so on.  Our attention to detail has even extended to giving each type of car a different engine sound, setting prices for second-hand cars, and introducing environment-mapping technology into the replays.  In other words, Gran Turismo 2 will remain faithful to the basic concept of Gran Turismo in offering the player all the fun of driving a real car.

In Gran Turismo, various constraints prevented us from including all the features we originally wanted to add.  In Gran Turismo 2, however, we should be able to include many of these features, as well as many others we have devised on the basis of feedback from users who have played the game.

In another very recent development, we are planning to update the car model selection range to reflect recent changes - model changes and new model launches - to cars in the real world. 

We are also intending to make a big increase in the number of car models that can be recorded.  Users have expressed the desire for an extremely wide range of models to be available in the game, so we are going to make every effort to accommodate their wishes.  In the original game, certain cars had to be excluded because we were not able to draw up licensing contracts with the manufacturers; but we are now engaged in negotiations to this end, and we will let you know the outcome as soon as possible.

The next big improvement is in the all-new courses we are now working on.  Users will be able to use much more strategic skill and judgement, carefully choosing car performance and features, and tuning and driving styles to match different courses (which will also be visually enjoyable).

With regard to car tuning, we think the first version of the game left room for improvement.  Within the time available, we will do our utmost to enhance the range of driving pleasures opened up by tuning, as well as making the presentation clearer and more user-friendly.

We are also working on the user interface, and making every effort to ensure that all users notice a distinct improvement in the new version.

This is about all the information we can release at this stage.  We naturally want to make this title available to users as soon as possible, but, as far as the release date is concerned, we cannot yet be more specific than "this summer".

As regards the future activities of Polyphony Digital, I can tell you that we are also currently working on the development of several titles in genres completely different from Gran Turismo.  One of these is to be released very soon as Polyphony Digital's very own first title.  Throughout the development process, now entering its final phase, we have striven to demonstrate our company's unique enthusiasm for videogame technology.  When our first title is finally released, we hope you will be kind enough to continue giving us your valued support.”

Visit our dedicated website :
www.playstation-europe.com/GT2

Developer:   Polyphony Digital   Genre:  Racing Simulation    No of Players:  1-2
Peripherals:  Analog Controller (DUAL SHOCK), Memory Card