Gran Turismo 5: your new car dealer?

by Nick Doerr { Oct 2nd 2007 at 3:30PM }

In addition to causing mouths to drop and tongues to roll on the Tokyo Game Show floor, Gran Turismo 5 has some pretty big plans, it seems. Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi spoke about his vision of the future of GT5, as well as confirming the game's ability to hold a steady 60fps while delivering full 1080p content. Yamauchi also expressed his relief at rumble returning, as he felt it was crucial in games like these. What we saw at TGS, the new My Page and TV Mode, were the big hitters and demand a little more discussion.

The My Page is fairly straightforward, adding a personal element to the gaming experience. You get to customize your car on display as well as the background. That's all fine and dandy, but the top of the screen has a band that really brings in the online capabilities of the game -- worldwide weather forecasts and an interactive buddy list that shows your friends as glowing dots on a globe, akin to the users spotted using folding@home.

The TV Mode is where things get interesting. This channel will allow you to see car-sporting events rarely seen, like the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (now called Super GT). Car manufacturers will get video content to you through this mode as well, but Yamauchi won't stop there! He plans to ultimately allow virtual test drives of the manufacturer's cars, with a real dealership spokesperson in the "passenger seat" telling you about the car via voice chat. If you decide to actually buy the car, for real, that can all be done through the Gran Turismo dealership -- you'll still have to go and pick up your new car though. Strange stuff, huh? Would you buy a car based off of a virtual test drive?

Tags: gran-turismo-5, gt5, polyphony-digital

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ruben @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:39PM

Ladies and gentlemen Game 3.0

tom @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:56PM

There were once a bunch of people that thought people would buy furniture online too.
"Game 3.0" (also known as "the stuff PC gamers have been doing for years") won't be selling $30,000+ cars to people.
How about spending less time putting in a virtual dealership and maybe work on some damage... or cars leaving tire marks on the pavement... or... fun?

Stef Geiger @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:56PM

That's amazingly stupid. No one is ever going to do that, and I doubt the infrastructure for it will never even come into existence.

ruibing @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:01PM

@2
I think its the car makers that prevent GT from showing damage to the cars. I meant GT is meant as a big game ad for a lot of the car companies and who wants to show that a nice light colored looking car looks terrible if scratched up a bit?

FM @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:24PM

Heheh,I wish GT credits would transfer into real life cash.

Anghel @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:26PM

The dealerships probably know that no one will really buy their car online. But they still see it as a form of Mass Marketing and advertising. They will be able to present a sales pitch while you are in your living room supposedly playing a game.

The downside of this game looking so real is the fact that you can really notice when something is not quite right. Like no damage and no tire marks. I saw a very impressive realistic video of a car drifting and enjoyed the beautiful sound of the tires loosing grip with every drift but no tire marks, Come on. It completely turned my focus away from the awsome graphics to the obvious non-exsistent tire marks.

I will still get the game, but I hope in future builds they will add the simple things that are ultimately keeping this game from reaching the level of realism that I know it can achieve.

Nate @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:38PM

I think it's great up until the test drives and buying online. Almost no one is going to buy online, and no one's going to expect an online "test drive" to give an accurate representation of driving the car's handling, even besides the fact that you can't tell if the car fits you ergonomically.

1080p at 60fps is fantastic, especially with how good the game looked even in the previews. That's a big selling point for me, and I'll be looking forward to picking it up when it comes out.

Paul @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:51PM

Never in a million years would I buy a car after a virtual test drive. Although, I'd go to a dealership and test drive a car that I found in a game like GT.

Aaron @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:58PM

Another awesome PS3 exclusive! Only possible on the PS3. I cant wait for GT5!

John @ Oct 2nd 2007 9:47PM

yeah, ruibing, it's true, car manufacturers wouldn't allow it. Yet they allowed it with Forza for 360. Why? Because the damage wasn't realistic. Polyphony Digital themselves said that the manufacturers, while becoming less weary about damage, still will not allow a car to roll, based on it's physical principles. They are worried cars with a higher rollover rate will tend to be seen as unsafe. So Polyphony is like-- we don't want to do crash unless we can do it as realistically as possible-- yet we're not allowed to roll a car, if that would happen in a particular circumstance? Car companies are very rich, and very powerful (well, maybe not Ford, right now...)

Anghel nailed it, almost no one will buy online... but by simply putting that feature there, certain people will know that others COULD be buying online, the car they want. It's an advert, and a bloody good one. Another mark for 3.0 (though this begins to get scary-- but then 10 tv monitors in my bank broadcasting disinformation is pretty scarey, too. Anyone with power is going to do anything they can to make you believe them.