Gran Turismo Creator Won't Predict the Future Anymore

[Tom Goldman]

Gran Turismo Creator Won't Predict the Future Anymore

We might not hear much about Gran Turismo 6 until Kazunori Yamauchi is entirely certain he's ready.

Gran Turismo 5 [http://www.amazon.com/Gran-Turismo-5-Playstation-3/dp/B002BSA1C6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292445321&sr=8-1] finally made it out of the gate worldwide on November 24 or 25, depending on your region, and Polyphony Digital head Kazunori Yamauchi couldn't be happier about it. After more than 5 years of development on the game, he's realized that predicting where Gran Turismo will go in the future is just a fool's errand, so don't bother asking if you meet him at Monza.

Polyphony was forced to delay Gran Turismo 5 time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97527-Gran-Turismo-5-Forced-to-Pit-Again] again, and Yamauchi recently told Famitsu that he's "elated we got the thing out." He said that it took so long because its development cycle "wasn't predictable" by design. "We just had to peck away at it over time, and it was rough," he added.

So rough, in fact, that Yamauchi doesn't plan on making predictions or promises in regards to Gran Turismo 6 anytime soon. Famitsu asked Yamauchi if there were basic elements for the game already swimming around in his head, and he replied: "No, no. It's all in the future, so I just don't know yet."

"If this was ten years ago, it'd be relatively easy for me to throw out a number like 'three years from now,' but it's pretty well impossible for me to make predictions like that now," Yamauchi continued. "Even if I told you 'the next game's going to be like this,' it could be something totally different in three years' time. It's too hard to make predictions any longer, and I have to deal with that as I tackle the next project."

For now, Polyphony is focusing on releasing updates for Gran Turismo 5, fixing bugs, and creating online events. You'd think that a big DLC push would would go towards downloadable cars, but Yamauchi calls new vehicles "very hard work," so they might not be regular releases.

With over 1,000 cars, 71 tracks, and a multitude of different modes, I'm wondering if we even need a Gran Turismo 6, or if DLC can just fill in the gaps. Gran Turismo 5 is such a massive game, I feel like Polyphony deserves to take a few years off.

Source: 1up [http://www.1up.com/news/gran-turismo-coming-don]

Permalink

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Taking Valve's "when it's done" philosophy, I see. A smart move after GT5.

I have zero faith that Portal 2 will make it's new release date.

Just a thought, but does anyone know how GT5 compared to "Prologue"?

 

[Nurb]

"So rough, in fact, that Yamauchi doesn't plan on making predictions or promises in regards to Gran Turismo 6 anytime soon."

Ahhh, He had to learn the "Peter Molyneux Lesson"

 

[Krakyn]

Gran Turismo 5 is such a massive game, I feel like Polyphony deserves to take a few years off.

Man, that sounds like a great idea. I would really love a few years off without pay too. That way I could spiral into the deepest depression possible instead of just a half-assed one.

 

[Amnestic]

"So rough, in fact, that Yamauchi doesn't plan on making predictions or promises in regards to Gran Turismo 6 anytime soon."

Ahhh, He had to learn the "Peter Molyneux Lesson"

Has Peter Molyneux learned the "Peter Molyneux Lesson" yet?

/Serious

 

[Valagetti]

I suppose GT5 is huge? But... yeah still needs patches, the games still not finished. And I also heard of a DLC where you can ride motorbikes!

 

[Danpascooch]

By the time Gran Turismo 6 is done, it'll suck because it'll still based on land vehicles that people used back when it started development, and everyone will be using flying cars by the time it's released

 

[Danpascooch]

"So rough, in fact, that Yamauchi doesn't plan on making predictions or promises in regards to Gran Turismo 6 anytime soon."

Ahhh, He had to learn the "Peter Molyneux Lesson"

Has Peter Molyneux learned the "Peter Molyneux Lesson" yet?

/Serious

No. No he has not

 

[nipsen]

I'm just hoping they hire a good overall interface designer next time.

The actual game.. the game is fantastic. The driving is the best in the series, probably the best on any platform - and that's on just about all the surfaces and variations. Which all are in the same game.. snow, dirt, tarmac, mixed.. The amount of work that must have gone into replicating the Nordschleife alone is staggering. They have a track generator for all the themes in the game. There's weather, (extremely expensive)dynamic lighting, there's cars and cars, there's damage. The online lobbies are extremely good, the functionality with the chat and the blog functions themselves - all great. Except for some quirks on the lower levels, the AI is the best you've seen in a car-sim to date. And the physics in the car work very, very well, on just about all speeds and approaches to driving - I've never seen something as spot on as this before.

But the presentation before that is a mess. So they obviously had a lot of trouble actually piecing it all together in the end. And they ended up with something that feels like several fantastic functions that don't.. completely have a lot to do with each other. While some are just unnecessary and annoying.

There's also these small annoying slips. No rewind or time-step in the replay, with difficulty finding balanced cars to race against. Still no online events, which is sad. And they've hidden away the "simulation/arcade" settings from the prologue in some sub-menu.. strange, strange stuff. So no wonder that the prologue scored better - the impression that game gives off right away is a lot more polished.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

Just a thought, but does anyone know how GT5 compared to "Prologue"?

The handling is way better than prologue managed. Still not up there with a top end PC sim but certainly a really good effort.
Graphics wise it's about the same for the newest cars overall it still has the over precise clinical look to it's textures.
Game mode wise it obviously blows away the prologue; the career is what it always was a fun long term grind that'll keep you coming back even though it's largely disjointed and hung on a pretty poor interface.

There is a huge problem not found in the prologue though.
Overall Prologue felt more polished, things were in sensible places and the experience was tight and well made. GT5, not so much. It's layout is often confused and things you'd expect are missing. And there's worse yet.
Even though I knew the old cars were going to be left as they had been and was happy with that information, I wasn't ready for how half-finished they make the game feel. If I'd been on the dev team I'd be too embarrassed to put GT as is; I would have either outright removed them or took the extra time to make them properly.

If you have prologue and like it just buy GT5. Just make room for a little disappointment to go with your huge helping of virtual driving pleasure.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

By the time Gran Turismo 6 is done, it'll suck because it'll still based on land vehicles

Nah, when humanity are all getting to work by popping across the galaxy in brane tunnelling ships and dropping down to the local planet on their anti-grvity skiffs, GT6's surprising yet long heralded release with seem 'retro cool' right down to it's out of date graphics engine.
You know what? It'll still be missing promised features and have half made cars too.