Gran Tourismo Concept

Autumn track

Viper tail lights

Lexus SC430

Alan: You already know about the Gran Turismo series and if you’re a fan of GT3, you’re likely waiting for Gran Turismo 4. Of course, while we’ve been waiting, everyone else in the world has had a chance to enjoy Gran Turismo Concept.

GTC is a spin-off from the main Gran Turismo series and is essentially a look at what the future of GT4 will offer. GTC features a slightly modified GT3 engine, thus allowing us a glimpse into what GT4 will bring. That is, playing GT4 at E3 is one thing, but being able to spend hours upon hours with GTC is another.

Cien up close

Viper GTS-R at the track

The Mini Cooper

The Premise

The Gran Turismo 3 physics engine was second-to-none. Car manufacturers boasted that Gran Turismo 3 allowed gamers to test drive their cars from the comfort of their homes. Bob Earl, world renown racer, uses GT3 to train his students. When FiringSquad published our GT3 Review, it was the highest score we had given to date. What could a sequel possibly bring? More cars, more tracks, and of course, upgraded audio and graphics.

VW Golf

Born to race

Infinity FX45

Gran Turismo Concept was a spin-off game, that attempted to address the first two: New cars, and new tracks. Polyphony Digital, having earned the respect of car manufacturers internationally, was able to create a “special edition” game featuring concept cars. They knew that die-hard fans of the Gran Turismo scene would be eager to drive new cars on new tracks. However, in order to increase its appeal to the new gamer, GTC was designed to be a “lite” version of GT3 – a demo of sorts.

Acura NSX-R

When the S4 just isn't enough

WTG?

Instead of the complex simulation mode in which gamers had to earn money to buy and upgrade new cars to compete in races, GTC focuses primarily on the gameplay – the driving (the arcade mode from GT3). Almost 100 cars are featured in Gran Turismo Concept, many of them new to the series. There are only 10.1 tracks available (5 main tracks, 5 tracks with the reverse layout, and one special level in which you can only drive the Toyota POD), with 2.1 of the tracks being new. Oh, and GTC launched with a budget price of only $30.

Dualnote racing – 968KB (13 sec)

Alexis: The Toyota POD level doesn’t really count since you’ll only play it once. The POD, is a Sony/Toyota joint project in which the brains of an AIBO have been placed in a car. The car will wag its tail (antenna) when happy, or turn red when angry (i.e. braking too hard or turning too fast).

Alan: Well that’s why I said it was a “0.1” track. Anyhow, in real-life, the Toyota POD is orange color when the car is happy (i.e. the driver is approaching the car) and turns dark blue when it’s sad (and is running out of fuel). There are ten different emotional states. The cool part is that the POD has driving data from an expert driver in its databanks, and can provide praise or warnings to help improve the driver’s skill. It’s an interesting concept car, but it’s too bad the technology was wasted on a slow and small sedan.