Gran Turismo 5 Prologue creator interview confirms PS3 HD, Rumble and Gran Turismo Mobile

14 October 2007

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Posted by:Ferry

After nearly 50 million series sales worldwide since its Gran Turismo debut on PlayStation 1 back in 1998, Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo 5 set for late 2008 promises to possibly be the most exacting and detailed racing game ever created. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue due in early 2008 gives you an online-enabled sampler of the GT5 experience on PlayStation 3 exclusively. What follows are some choice quotes from a recent interview with the Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, where he discusses how high-definition the game really is, that it will feature rumble, and that they will work on Gran Turismo Mobile after they finish Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5.

Question: Would you say it’s getting incrementally harder to continue the high standard of visual quality with Gran Turismo? Because obviously, GT4 was already extremely good looking.
Answer: Well I feel that yes, there are obvious difficulties, but the passion we have is always to create the best visual qualities available, that we can possibly extract from PlayStation 3. In a racing game, one of the most important aspects is that, because you are travelling at high speeds, you need high resolution to accurately create objects in the distance, and also to give you enough sense speed, sixty frames at 1080p resolution display is another must-have to further enhance the racing experience.

Question: Can you tell us about some of the background to achieving this standard on PS3?
Answer: On average, the car models in GT5 Prologue is 200,000 polygons – this is fifty times more than what we used to have on GT4 PS2, which was on average 4,000 – so fifty times upscaled. We are now able to see very fine details. Another new feature is the in-car camera, because we are now modelling the interior of the car as well. You’ll also notice that we have taken the extra step to represent the stitching of the leather, to the full extent, and the dashboard and so on. We’ve notice throughout our development process that to allow for an in-car camera it gives you a further enhanced experienced that is even more real that it was in GT4. To the extent of even reverse, or other angles, it’s not just the front dashboard that is detailed like this. GT5 Prologue will also allow up to a maximum fifteen [other] cars on the same track, previously it was six. And the visual quality in-game is 1080p, 60fps.

Question: How far have you come in terms of adding new vehicles to your line up since the last game?
Answer: Nissan will unveil their Nissan GTR Prototype production vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show later this October, so between the window of now until the end of the year, we will be featuring lots of new and upcoming performance vehicles.

Question: So this is the first time this Nissan has been seen?
Answer: Yes, that’s right – first time in a game.

Question: 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?
Answer: Yes, that is correct.


Question: Does Standard mode offer things like braking assist to achieve this more accessible play, or something else?
Answer: Actually braking assist and things of that nature are in other categories you can select; it’s more that the core physics design itself is geared towards less experienced players; it picks up on your mistakes, and is more forgiving, whereas Professional is more hardcore; you know, you make a mistake, you will pay for it! To try to explain it more simply, Standard would be closer to the original Gran Turismo, whereas Professional is where we are taking it to these extreme [physics] calculations. You know, a simulator designed for the novice player is not applicable for Michael Schumacher to use, and vice versa. So they are two different things that are included.

Question: Could you give us your opinion on Forza MotorSport 2 for the Xbox 360, and in particular, the ability to reskin your car in very great detail – are you going to have this degree of superficial car customisation in GT5?
Answer: Straight off the bat, I think that in terms of feature sets, Forza is ahead of us. They have more options, you can do basically anything. We take a different approach obviously – we try to concentrate on what are the core values for a racing game, and we try to elevate those standards up as high as we possibly can. I am having difficulty trying to explain the differences, but one way you can look at it is, you can buy a watch that is super multifunctional, but economical, or a watch that is reduced in functions, but premium – higher end.

Question: Can you give us an update on how GT Mobile for the PSP is progressing at the moment please?
Answer: Right now we’re targeting GT5 for next year, maybe later next year. The PSP will come following that.

Question: OK, but previously I thought you had said it would come before GT5?
Answer: Currently, our objective is to make sure that we have a strong core on PS3, before we go on to PSP.

The Gran Turismo 5 Prologue trailer from E3 2007:

Read the full interview at Kikizo. And here’s the official Gran Turismo 5 website.