There are many franchises that has helped to catapult the PlayStation brand to the heights that it currently dwells in, and while each has contributed in their own special way, it can be argued that Gran Turismo might be the important cog in the machine, at least early on.
The UK's PlayStation Blog recently had a chat with the creator of the franchise himself, Kazunori Yamauchi, along with the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Jim Ryan, to look back at where they've been, as well as the road ahead.
Among the highlights was Ryan's skepticism that the original Gran Turismo for the PlayStation would fare well, because he was a much bigger fan of Yamauchi's previous game, Motor Toon GP:
"I was over in Tokyo at whatever the development studio was called then and someone said 'Come and see Kazunori’s new game.' I was used to a very fun cartoony racer and picked up this early version of GT and thought 'ahh, it could be very good and technically impressive, and the graphics are lovely, but I’m not sure if this is a good idea. Motor Toon GP was such a great game!'"
And while not asked what his favorite game was, it would appear to Yamauchi that the entry that mattered the most was part three:
"I remember when we launched PS2. We’re now 13 years away from that, 170 million units produced, greatest success story in history for a TV-based console. However, at the start of the life cycle it was very difficult in Europe. Price points were high and we found it very difficult to sell the system. But then along came GT3. It came in this lovely red packaging and we did a lot of hardware bundles. Sales of PS2 went through the sky and it never stopped. GT3 made a huge, huge impact on the life of PS2."
Though the most telling answer is to the question that many have asked: why isn't Gran Turismo 6 on the PS4? And the answer makes a lot of sense for longtime fans of the series:
"You had GT1 and GT2 on PS one, GT3 and GT4 on PS2, then there’s GT5 on PS3 and a space next to it. The difference between Gran Turismo and GT2 is unbelievable, but they’re both on the same platform. The difference between GT3 and GT4 is huge. We’re absolutely confident when GT6 comes, you’ll see a big step change up from GT5 too…
And the other factor is that on PS3 we have an install base of 70 million units. On PS4 on launch day we’ll have an install base of zero units. There’ll be plenty of games to help drive PS4 – not least Driveclub in the racing genre from Evolution Studios, a studio with a fantastic pedigree."
It’s perhaps a safe ber that Gran Turismo 7 is being worked on, for the PlayStation 4, somewhere in some not so deep corner of Polyphony Digital. Or how a PS4 version of GT6 is being prepped, much like how GT4 was updated for the PS3 in the form of Gran Turismo HD.
