It seemed like it would never come, but Sony and Polyphony finally announced a release date for the massive driving simulator Gran Turismo 5. The game will hit North American stores on November 2, and it will be packed with more than 1,000 cars. That's, er, a lot of cars.
At a presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week, creator Kazunori Yamauchi went into more detail about Gran Turismo 5, including how all those cars will appear in the game. There are two categories of vehicles in GT5 – Premium and Standard. The majority of the cars (more than 800) fall into the Standard category and are made up largely of the rides that have been included in all past GT games. But that doesn't mean they're simple copies. All are painstakingly modeled to take advantage of the PS3's graphics shader. They also sport physics-based damage modeling, and they'll show scratches, dust and dents collected during races. The Premium cars, of which there are more than 200, will have all those features plus fully rendered interiors and true damage modeling. That means panel separation and deformation – the ugly stuff.
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Gran Turismo 5 also includes rollovers, which means Polyphony has accurately modeled the bottoms of the cars as well. In case you weren't aware, Kazunori and his team are fanatical about detail in Gran Turismo games. You'll be able to see the bolts on exhaust pipes and the brushed textures of carbon. When detail screenshots of a few GT cars were shown next to their real-life counterparts, the two were nearly indistinguishable. That goes for the interiors of the Premium cars as well. Kazunori showed the interior of a GT500 race car, complete with harness, switches and wiring. It, too, was remarkably similar to a still image of the real version. Impressive stuff.
If you're a NASCAR fan, you're in luck. There are nine NASCAR models in the game, and Gran Turismo 5 has incorporated the full rule set from America's favorite motorsport. Not only that, but you'll be able to take NASCAR cars onto non-NASCAR tracks. Always wanted to race Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car on the Nurburgring? Now's your chance.
Polyphony also showed off six new tracks in its E3 demo session. The Madrid Curso Del Sol circuit is a bendy urban course that took the design team two years to build. It's tight, and clustered buildings line its length. Toscana, by contrast, is a wide-open trip through the Italian countryside. Then it's on to Rome, a GT3 favorite that's back with a new configuration. The Nurburgring is here in its 24-hour endurance setup, too, along with all the track graffiti that's accreted over the years (but minus the smell of barbecuing sausages). Top Gear fans will be psyched to see that the show/magazine's test track is in Gran Turismo 5. Hammerhead, Gambon and all your favorite corners are there, and so is the track's unique figure-eight configuration. Imagine the crash opportunities where Bentley and Chicago come together.
Better yet, snap some pictures and savor your destructive memories. In addition to the standard Race Photo Mode, which lets you pause the action and take photos of your cars in action, Gran Turismo 5 also includes a new feature called Photo Travel Mode. Special areas have been created where you can take your car, get out, walk around (in a first-person view) and take pictures of your ride in these beautiful settings. The E3 demo included a shrine in Kyoto, an Italian abbey called San Galagno and Red Bull's impressive Hangar 7. These locations come complete with authentic environmental sound and historical information.
Gran Turismo has included the concept of a 'home' area since the first game. But the new game will finally bring that idea online. The GT Life section of Home in Gran Turismo 5 tracks your licenses, trophies, cars and more. And with a couple quick clicks you can find out how you stack up to your friends. But it gets more interactive than that. You'll also see a section called GT Lounge that serves as your own personal lobby where your friends can come and race, observe or just hang out. Kazunori described it as if you and your friends rented out a racetrack for the day. You might race a bit, and you might hang out in the paddock with a radio talking your buddies around corners. GT5 even has message boards, email and text chat built right in to your personal GT Lounge.
As expected, the visuals in GT5 are looking seriously impressive. The day/night transitions are smooth and dramatic, and the addition of high/low beam headlights brings a real race feel to night driving.
With the addition of the PlayStation Eye and a pair of Sony 3D glasses, you'll be able to play the game in 3D and make use of the game's head-tracking system. Move your head, it your perspective will change in the car. We asked Kazunori if Polyphony had any plans to implement PlayStation Move technology in Gran Turismo 5.
"We haven't really made a decision on whether we will use the Move. For the most part, GT5 will be best played with a pad or a wheel," he replied.
Expect a lot more on Gran Turismo 5 at the Gamescom European gaming convention in August, where Polyphony is expected to finally reveal all. IGN will be there to bring it to you, so stay tuned for more GT5 news and impressions.
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Originally Posted by don_corleone
http://www.gtplanet.net/sony-rep-gt5...-october-2010/
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