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Gran Turismo's Kazunori Yamauchi

On damage, online and perfectionism.

Rob Fahey avatar
Interview by Rob Fahey Contributor
Updated on
147 comments
EurogamerWhat's happened to the PSP version? It was announced a very long time ago - where has it gone?
Kazunori Yamauchi

We had been developing the PSP version, but the problem was that the PS3 version took much more time and effort than we had first imagined. So that's been delayed - I don't think we'll be able to make the end of this year for the PSP version, but we are working on it.

EurogamerIn the process of developing GT5, have any of your thoughts on the PSP version changed?
Kazunori Yamauchi

That's definitely true. Once we experienced PS3 online and went through all of that, we came to the conclusion that PSP should not be a standalone product - it should be linked in to the world of Gran Turismo, linked with the PlayStation 3.

Wonkyness X shiny = excitment.
EurogamerWhen you look at the games which have come out since GT4 - with Forza Motorsport probably being the most notable - do you see things that you'd like to do, things that have moved the genre forward? Or do you develop Gran Turismo in a vacuum, ignoring the competition?
Kazunori Yamauchi

The latter is actually exactly fitting, I think. We don't reference any other games when we're making Gran Turismo - it's purely based on what we want to achieve as a game.

Actually, I have difficulty playing other games for over five minutes. A lot of the low-level quality just stands out so much in other games that I can't stand them!

EurogamerIt's a long way down the line, but since you're making a game which simulates reality, will you at some point reach a moment where you say, "This is good enough - this looks real, this feels real"?
Points for the first person to give us the correct plural for Lexus.
Kazunori Yamauchi

You know, I've been asked the same question time and time again since the PSone - but every time the hardware goes up, there's been so much to do! I think this trend will continue. There'll always be a lot more to do.

We're actually very aware of things that we're still not able to do in the game - things that we'd like to keep continuing to add. That's something that I think will be ongoing, forever.

This game, we've called it GT5 Prologue - but it's not really a teaser of things to come. This is the best we can provide at this point in time. It's just that we don't consider it up to par, in terms of volume and things like that, to be called a full game by itself - by our standards, not by other people's standards. That's one thing we want to make clear for people.

EurogamerGiven what you've just said, do you see Gran Turismo as your life's work? Is this what you're doing for the foreseeable future - or do you see yourself turning around some day and saying, "You know what, I want to make an RPG"?
Kazunori Yamauchi

Well, I've got a lot of ideas for one, so I'd like to be able to say some day, let's make an RPG... But there are a lot of things that we think are still insufficient in GT5. There's so much more to do still. I don't think it'll be any time soon that I'll be able to consider something like that!

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