GT5: “Better Than Reality”

In an interview with NowGamer, Polyphony Digitals’ Kazunori Yamauchi has spoken out about the graphics in his upcoming Gran Turismo 5. “Better than reality – yeah, that’s one way of putting it,” he said. “In a way, it’s kind of a given that it’s going to look better than reality. The thing about reality is that the criteria for looking real are actually a lot stricter and volatile than you’d expect. The way the sun shines, reflects off something, the way it lights scenery – we seldom have the opportunity to see what we consider reality under the best and most aesthetically pleasing conditions.”

“Every time we go out to the circuit and take photos of cars, we get that same impression again. When you see a race on television, compared to a race in a game, you realise that the reality isn’t as shiny or pleasant as the game. However, these “best conditions” do indeed exist. They happen every once in a while. Maybe, once a year, you’ll be watching a race on TV, or you’ll be outside, and a cloud will move in an ideal direction, and the sun will shine down at a perfect angle, and maybe just for a moment you’ll have this beautiful scene right in front of you.”

There’s no question that on paper the visuals in GT5 appear to be a step ahead those of its nearest rivals, but perhaps Polyphony should be looking a little harder at the competition with regards to visual and mechanical customisation and creating a vibrant, healthy online community, things that the Gran Turismo series has consistently failed to achieve.  Essentially, somebody needs to remind Polyphony that graphics aren’t everything and I’d personally rather take the raw excitement of Shift or the depth of Forza 3 over Gran Turismo right now.  We’ll see come next year.