Yamauchi amongst Polyphony Digital staff moving to Fukuoka
Polyphony Digital appears to be making a larger move from Tokyo to new officies in Fukuoka, Japan, than previously thought. As more information comes to light, it appears boss and Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi will himself be based in the new location of Fukuoka Software Research Park.
The plans include expansion and hiring new developers and engineers, along with hopes to open an even larger studio in a few years and possibly a game development school.
Polyphony Digital employees on the move
Polyphony Digital is relocating around 50 of its 150 person workforce away from the current offices in Tokyo to a new set-up in Fukuoka, Japan, which is 500 miles away on the Western end of Japan.
The reason given for the move is the ongoing effect of the March 11 earthquake, and although there is still seismic activity in the new area, it’s generally much less than in the east of Japan. Fukuoka is Japan’s second-youngest, and second fastest-growing city and has been making a name of itself as a developer-friendly location, with several games developers already based there.
If relocation was already being reconsidered, the fact that rebuilding essential infratstructure in the east is still continuing is likely to have prompted this move – it would also mean less disruption in the event of any future events.
Nurgburgring 24 Hours puts Kazunori Yamuachi vs Team Need for Speed
Ever seen the world of videogames spill over into real-life racing? Well it will this weekend, as both Gran Turismo 5 creator Kazunori Yamuachi, and two Team Need for Speed cars are competing in the Nurburgring 24 Hours race.
In 2010 Yamauchi finished fourth in the SP-8 class with the Team World Car Awards outfit in a Lexus IS-F, and Yamauchi himself posted the second-fastest lap within the team, a lap of 9 minutes 48 seconds. This year he’s again in the SP-8 class, but this time he’s running in a Nissan GT-R with team-mates Tobias Schulze, Michael Schulze and Yasuyoshi Yamamoto.
But that’s not the only videogame representation, with Team Need for Speed fielding two teams. The first features drivers Edward Sandstrom, Tommy Milner, Fredrik Larsson and Claudia Hurtgen, whilst the second Need for Speed Team Schubert outfit includes Anders Buchardt, Peter Posovac, John Mayes and Stian Sorlie. Both teams will race a BMW Z4 GT3 in the SP9 GT3 class.
We’ll be cheering for all three teams, although we have to admit to being slightly more biased towards Yamauchi, as he’s an actual game developer who is also fast enough to race, rather than a team of professional drivers involved with a game and sponsored by them.
Gran Turismo 5 reaches 6.3 million copies worldwide
Gran Turismo 5 has reached 6.3 million units worldwide in figures released by developers Polyphony Digital (it’s not clear whether those figures are for units sent to shops, or actually sold to customers). The figures cover December 2010, following the launch in November…
Interestingly, there is a geographic breakdown, which shows how big GT5 is for European gamers, with 3.9 million units recorded, whereas the U.S is much smaller (1.5 million), and Japan and Asia combined reached 830,000. That means around half of the copies of GT5 have gone to Europe, but it’s obviously not yet clear whether that is down to retailers ordering larger numbers due to perceived demand, or European gamers actually buying more copies.
Either way, it raises the question of the undeniable Japanese focus of GT5, especially when compared to Forza, Need for Speed, iRacing etc – should they be cramming in so many variations of Japanese cars into the game, or boosting the European models? Either way, it raises total numbers for the entire Gran Turismo series up to 63 million.
Kazunori Yamauchi honoured by Esquire magazine
It’s always nice to see online racing appearing in mainstream media, and the December 2010 UK issue of Esquire magazine has featured Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi as one of their 10 ‘Man at the Top Awards 2010′.
Individuals were selected as those who “rewrote the future through their works in the past year”, and Yamauchi was placed fourth in the countdown. Within the feature is an interview with Kazunori, covering the philosophy of Gran Turismo 5, visions for the future and workings behind the scenes at Polyphony Digital.
The Esquire UK website includes some pictures from the Polyphony Digital offices, taken in preparation for the December issue.
My first week with GT5
It’s been six years in development and severely delayed, but having now spent a week with the game so many virtual racers have waited so long for – is it any good?
The short answer is yes, but not quite as good as it should be. The problem is when you wait so long for a game you expect perfection – and people that expect perfection will almost always be disappointed with what they get.
Don’t get me wrong, the game itself is excellent – but it has a few niggling flaws that stop it being a genre-definer. Firstly there’s the installation – which took my PS3 25 minutes to eek it’s way through, and even with a full hard drive install loading times are no faster than I would expect with any other game. I may have forgotten about it in a few week’s time, but the initial excitement of getting the game out of the cellophane wrapping and inserting it into the machine was tempered slightly by the delay before playing, although it did give me the chance to get some vacuming done.
The problems with the game are not with the actual ‘racing’ itself, which is tremendous, but the bits you have to go through to get to the racing can be a little laborious. Once it’s all up and running, the main ‘GT Life’ career-game menu initially looks impressive, but despite the large install loading times still slow things down. It should be much easier to skip between all the menu screens, and waiting for each of them to load in turn can be frustrating. The GT series format hasn’t changed much since it’s PS1 inception. You still have to do licence tests and they are the same as always – stopping challenge, drive through the cones quickly, drive round a corner very fast without leaving the circuit etc. You still have to race in the Sunday Cup and Clubman Cup too. Whilst it’s a little nostalgic that these things are still there, that feeling in tinged with a sense of disappointment – an ‘oh, they didn’t come up with anything new then’. You could argue the ‘ain’t broke don’t fix it line’ but I don’t find the format exciting anymore – a bit like a year-on-year update of an EA Sports game that’s a bit better than the last version, but doesn’t offer much that’s new.
But a lot is new within the game, for example we now have the ‘Special Events’ menu which is how Polyphony Digital have incorporated the new game modes – karting, NASCAR and WRC, alongside other challenges such as racing the Top Gear Test Track in VW Camper vans. These challenges however aren’t different enough to the regular events to seem to warrant their own menu. The VW Camper event for example is more a test of patience than of skill, and felt to me more like a licence test than a motor race as you trundle along at 50kph and get disqualified for nudging a rival. Some gamers will enjoy this challenge, others will find it infuriating.
The game is also huge. No, gigantic. To obtain a Platinum Trophy, one must obtain a gold-standard achievement on EVERYTHING. That’s every race, every special event and every licence test. To do this would take some serious dedication, as getting gold on some of the harder events can take hours of practice. On the flip side, you certainly get value for money as it will take players months and years to obtain all of the top vehicles on offer. The ‘used car dealership’ has been well-implemented too, as some of the rarest cars in the game pop up now and again, so it rewards regular checking. It’s also still great fun to customise your cars and paint them, fix them with alloys and give them a wash. They do feel like your babies, and you can share them with online racers and even donate them to friends – a nice touch.
Speaking of friends, online racing is impressive. Based in a well-designed lobby, the loading times are good, communication is easy and the events themselves are stable. As a session host you can provide cars for other people to use, enabling some great one-make racing so the winner is determined by driver skill rather than whoever has saved up enough credits to get the best car. I also like Polyphony Digital’s decision not to offer credits for online racing. This deters players from ramming and makes it all about the fun and enjoyment of competition, as well as guaranteeing the longevity of the online racing community.
The course creator was initially disappointing but after a few goes I managed to make a couple of impressive circuits. The layout is almost too simple, but if you have the patience to sit and tweak your masterpiece it can be rewarding. The number of locations on offer is a little small however, and the ability to personalise the tracks by placing grandstands and advertising hoardings etc. would be welcomed by those who expected something a little larger and more detailed.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week with GT5 and have got into it more and more as the week has gone on, but I had to get over my initial disappointment. The game is not as polished and slick as I thought it would be, and arguably should be for a game that has been in development for so long. However the few flaws won’t stop me playing and enjoying a great game that still has a lot to offer anyone with the time and patience to get their teeth into it. I’m off to take another big bite, but if you’d like to read more about the game, ORD’s GTDon has done a rather lovely full review of it, which you can find here.
Gran Turismo 5 – New Trailer (HD)
Gran Turismo 5 launch delayed from November 2
The official release of the long-awaited Gran Turismo 5 has now been delayed, as revealed today on both the official US and Japanese Playstation blogs.
Originally scheduled for a worldwide release at the start of November, the reason for the delay is given as:
‘creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience’
There’s no date set for the launch, although both blog posts promise it will be during ‘the holiday season’, and you’d certainly expect them to be getting such a big game out before Christmas 2010 to take advantage of the holiday sales period (although missing the start of November will probably cost them slightly,GT5 is probably a big enough title to get away with it).
With work on the game originally starting in around 2004, delaying so close to the launch date seems to indicate something fairly major. GT5 was originally slated to appear in Japan in March 2010.
In Russia, retailers have already halted pre-order sales, with a notice from one referring to ‘technical reasons’, for the delay. At the time of writing, the usual American and European suppliers are continuing to offer pre-orders:
The various Gran Turismo 5 Packages:
Collector’s Edition: Game, Custom-etched keychain, 1:43 scale model of the Nissan GTR Spec-V, 300 page book, voucher for 5 DLC cars, Certificate of Authenticity.
Signature Edition (Exclusive to Europe/Australian): Steel case, book, Gran Turisimo wallet, 1:43 scale Mercedes Benz SLS, voucher for six ‘Stealth’ cars and more.
- Gran Turismo 5 standard edition (amazon) (Pre-order includes Mecedes SLS AMG Stealth)
- Gran Turismo 5 collectors edition (amazon) (Pre-order includes Mercedes SLS AMG Stealth)
- Gran Turismo 5 Standard edition (Game)
- Gran Turismo 5 Signature edition (Game)
- Gran Turismo 5 standard edition (Gamestop) (Pre-order: McLaren F1 stealth and GameStop NASCAR car with Gran Turismo 5 logos.
- Gran Turismo 5 signature edition (Gamestop) Pre-order: McLaren F1 stealth and GameStop NASCAR car with Gran Turismo 5 logos.
- Gran Turismo 5 standard edition (Play.com) (Pre-Order: Mercedes SLS AMG and Nissan GT-R GT500 Stealth models)
- Gran Turismo 5 Collectors edition (Play.com)
Gran Turismo 5 demo pod videos
In addition to the photos of damage in Gran Turismo 5, it appears plenty of people have been capturing videos of GT5 from the same demo pods which have appeared in U.S Best Buy and Target stores.
The guys at GT Planet compiled what they think are the best of the captured videos, and who are we to argue:
And as always, if you haven’t pre-ordered you copy yet, and fancy supporting ORD in the process (without costing you anything extra), then we can help:
Gran Turismo 5 standard edition (amazon) (Pre-order includes Mecedes SLS AMG Stealth)
Gran Turismo 5 collectors edition (amazon) (Pre-order includes Mercedes SLS AMG Stealth)
Gran Turismo 5 Standard edition (Game)
Gran Turismo 5 Signature edition (Game)
Gran Turismo 5 standard edition (Gamestop) (Pre-order: McLaren F1 stealth and GameStop NASCAR car with Gran Turismo 5 logos.
Gran Turismo 5 signature edition (Gamestop) Pre-order: McLaren F1 stealth and GameStop NASCAR car with Gran Turismo 5 logos.
Gran Turismo 5 standard edition (Play.com) (Pre-Order: Mercedes SLS AMG and Nissan GT-R GT500 Stealth models)
Gran Turismo 5 Collectors edition (Play.com)
Different Gran Turismo Packages:
Collector’s Edition: Game, Custom-etched keychain, 1:43 scale model of the Nissan GTR Spec-V, 300 page book, voucher for 5 DLC cars, Certificate of Authenticity.
Signature Edition (Exclusive to Europe/Australian): Steel case, book, Gran Turisimo wallet, 1:43 scale Mercedes Benz SLS, voucher for six ‘Stealth’ cars and more.
Gran Turismo 5 can’t come soon enough…
So another month, another delay. Gran Turismo 5 is now officially late. I am one peed-off Playstation owner. I pre-ordered my copy last summer when I read rumours of a release before christmas. Then it got put back to March. Now it’s been put back to September 2010 at the earliest – and I’m not happy. Here’s why:
I’m a sim racer. I can’t stand arcadey car handling. Ridge Racer, Need for Speed and Burnout all make me want to eat my joypad. Motorstorm made me want to eat my Playstation. Not that GT: Prologue is bad, but it’s insufficient to keep me going. There are only six tracks, albeit with a couple of variations, but there’s only so many times you can go round each. As a virtual racer, when you start to find Suzuka boring, you know you need a fresh challenge. Polyphony Digital – could we not have a couple of new tracks? Could you fix it so I can race Suzuka backwards? How about giving the cars guns? Hell, I even took to oval racing the other day because I was fed up, and then gave up completely.
Image by sergesegal on Flickr, used under CC Licence.
The online racing is great, but servers are populated with people who pick the best cars for the same tracks over and over again. Well done you. Well done for making it so repetitive for everyone else. I’d love a ‘random’ mode where you don’t get to pick your own car… or a qualifying session followed by a reversed grid… or a staggered start… or just anything to help me enjoy it again. The menu music is now something I’m considering for my funeral.
Why do I persevere? Because the alternatives suck. Put simply, there just enough decent simulation racers on the PS3. F1 Championship Edition now feels out of date, and whilst fun enough to play, the graphics are looking a little shabby and the AI isn’t good enough for me to want to carry on for long periods. Race Driver: Grid was horrible. Colin McRae Dirt 2 somehow managed to be worse than the first one, but nobody except Codemasters is even bothering to produce the games I love most – hence my desperation for GT5.
My frustration lies in that I love this type of game, but there hasn’t been a recent one that’s up to scratch. Maybe they don’t sell well enough, but there’s been nothing to rival the Crammond GP series, or anything decent with one-make formula and all-equal set-ups where the winner is always the best, or luckiest driver. Racing the online Seat Leon championships in Toca Race Driver 2 was immense – it was all about driver skill, not car choice, and had great British tracks like Oulton Park and Knockhill. It’s so rare you’ll get three good drivers heading into the last corner three-abreast and you know two are going to end up in the gravel trap. Because that’s what it’s all about for me – those great racing moments, not my best lap times.
GT5 has carrying all my hopes for so long because I want it to be the next game that I fall in love with. I feel like a long-suffering groom-in-waiting who’s fiancé keeps putting off the wedding because they haven’t quite got the table decorations right. Of course if it is perfect when it arrives then all will be forgiven, but until then I have nothing to do except keep on reading the wedding magazines, and remembering how good my exes were with rose-tinted glasses.
