Gran Turismo 5 frühstens 2010

Odds are, you haven't a clue who this guy is. But by the pictures alone, you can tell he's as JDM as an S15, so assumptions would lead to a tuner, driver, or drifter, but he's none of those. So, why is he in 2NR? Because unless you've been living under a rock, are Amish, or have been abusing really hard narcotics since 1997, I can guarantee you've been hands on with his product-or at very least, have heard of it. And if you're White or from the East Coast, aside from that wack movie, he's one of the reasons you got into the tuning scene. Still haven't the foggiest? Kazunori Yamauchi designed a little game called Gran Turismo.

That's right, the game that introduced the U.S. to the driving line, the GT-R, tuning vehicles, and made courses like Laguna Seca a household name, is the brainchild of Kazunori-san. His groundbreaking creation evolved into a franchise so successful it sold 50 million units and spawned countless knockoffs. But the creation of Gran Turismo isn't the only reason we're interviewing him; Kazunori is a car guy through and through. He helped Nissan with the development of the new R35 GT-R, designed some very wicked body kits, and even ran a 1:01 at Tsukuba. Video game geek, maybe, but he's way cooler than you.

Where did you get the inspiration for Gran Turismo?
I've always liked cars and I would play video games that had cars, but none of them were what I wanted to play. I was 15 years old and I couldn't drive yet, that's when I started coming up with the idea of GT.

What kind of cars were you into?
The Skyline GT-R, Mazda RX-7...and pretty much all the Japanese sports cars.

How about tuning?
Tuning was something I was very much into. I used to read Options magazine.

What other games did you work on before Gran Turismo?
I worked on one game before, Motor Toon Grand Prix. It was also a racing game.

What do you think made Gran Turismo so successful?
When you make a video game, you can make a rough video game or spend a lot of time and fine-tune it, which is what we did with Gran Turismo. That, in turn, presents a hidden allure to the game players.

How has the game franchise evolved over the years?
Games always evolve with the hardware. When we made the first GT for the PlayStation we couldn't do everything we wanted to. It was impossible. But with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, the hardware has evolved and we've evolved with the hardware, and a lot of it is obvious when you see the game.

What were some of the hardware limitations that you were able to overcome with the PS3?
One of the major things is, now you can race with as many as 16 cars, instead of the original six. Another, of course, is the high-quality graphics. We don't have to pull any punches when designing the car graphics because now the machine can handle it.

Gran Turismo 5 Kazunori Yamauchi

Can you explain GT-TV?
We've been wanting to communicate to our users through video since 2001 and it took this long to actually implement it into the game. GT-TV is a feature that I wanted in GT because when I come home from work I end up going through all the cable channels looking for car programs, but I can never find the ones I want to watch, and to go out and rent or purchase a DVD is too much trouble. So, I wanted a feature in the game where car enthusiasts can watch all the things I would want to watch, all in one place.

In order to access GT-TV do you need to have GT 5 Prologue?
Yes, it is a service within the game. GT-TV will have Top Gear, Best Motoring, Video Option, Super GT, D1 Grand Prix, as well as original programming, in high definition.

Is it going to be free?
Some of it will be, and others will have a small fee.

What are some of your favorite TV programs?
BBC's Top Gear and drifting.

Who's your favorite drifter?
I like Nomuken. He's a funny character.

Did you hear that Blitz is currently building a new R35 GT-R for him to drift?
I remember hearing something about it.




On the subject of drift, are you familiar with Formula D?
I'm interested in it, but you can't find it in Japan.

Are there any plans to include Formula D content on GT-TV?
We want to contact them and see if we can set something up.

As good as Prologue is, what can we expect in the full version of GT 5?
To be honest, I haven't given a lot of thought to GT 5, so I don't have an answer. And it's too early to talk about GT 5 because we still have updates coming out for Prologue.

Is there an ETA on GT 5?
It won't be this year and nothing's scheduled for next. It may be out in 2010, but like I said, we haven't really discussed it yet.

What many people don't know is that you've helped with some of the development on the new GT-R.
Yes. We were involved in the design of the Multi-Function meter, the information system that went into the R35 GT-R. I'm personal friends with a lot of the engineers developing the cars at Nissan, so we always have something going on. But that's not just limited to Nissan; we have contacts with other companies as well.

I heard that you were involved with the design of the body kits for a few of the Nissans.
For the Z33 and the Skyline coupe (G35) we designed some of the aero parts, like the front bumper, rear wing, and the side skirts.

How did you learn design?
I never studied design or anything, but I've liked to draw since childhood. It's the same thing for programming; it was something that I liked to do as a hobby.

How do you like the new GT-R?
I have one. It's a very fine car, but I'm waiting for the Spec V to come out.

What other cars do you own?
I have a Porsche GT3, a fully tuned Z33 and S2000, a Mercedes SL55 AMG, and a Ford GT.

What have you done to the Z33?
Mainly body modifications. It has a rollcage and the body's been reinforced. The sheet metal in the front of the car is twice as thick to increase rigidity. The engine is normally aspirated and puts out 355 ps. What I wanted is a high-performance car that doesn't have body roll, but is very comfortable to drive. It took almost a year for all the chassis modifications to be completed.

Did you ever take it to the track?
Yes, of course! I ran a 1:04 at Tsukuba in my fully tuned Z33, and a 1:01 in my carbon-fiber S2000.

Wow. What's been done to the S2000?
A lot. All the body panels are now made of carbon. It weighs 930 kg (2,050 pounds) and puts out 280 ps, and is really easy to drive. Opera did all the work.

So, will we be able to win a Kazunori-spec Z33 or S2000 in Prologue pretty soon?
The Amuse GT1 aero kit is in the game already. I designed that body kit. The body kit I designed for the Z33 is also in the game.

Are there going to be any cars from Japanese tuners in the game?
We have plans for the HKS time attack car.That would be pretty damn cool. Do you have a favorite racetrack?Nurburgring. It's the most fun to drive. I ran a 9:40 in the rain in the new GT-R. I want to go back in dry weather. I think I can knock off another minute.

Besides GT, are there any other games that you play?
No, not really.

Not even other driving games?
No. It's more fun to drive real cars.

If you had one car to pick to keep in your garage what would it be?
The Ferrari F430 Scuderia was a nice car to drive. It was almost a full race car. It's hard to say, but I'd have to say the new GT-R.

We couldn't agree more.