Gran Turismo - On this day

The simulation racing genre began to take shape during the 1990s with titles such as the Grand Prix and NASCAR Racing. However, this type of game became popular only in 1997 with the arrival of Gran Turismo on the PlayStation console, just today, at least as far as the Japanese market is concerned.

Gran Turismo was a significantly different game compared to other arcade runs. In his main mode, he asked players to pass driving tests first to obtain the appropriate racing licenses. Cars could be won by winning cups, but the prerequisite for participating in competitions was that the player bought a vehicle of a certain type or brand. Namely, not all cars could be driven in all Gran Turismo races, which was also unusual for the games at the time.

In total, Gran Turismo had 140 cars from manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Dodge, Chevrolet, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota. They were ridden on 11 different tracks, each of which had one variation (driving in the opposite direction). Licensed music by the band Garbage, Feeder, and Cubanate was played during the ride.

The development of Gran Turismo lasted for too long five years. Still, game creator Kazunori Yamauchi and his Polys Entertainment Cyberhead team paid off. Players liked the concept of Gran Turismo as a serious racing game and Gran Turismo eventually sold 10.85 million copies, making it the best-selling game of the first PlayStation console.

We waited two years for the sequel, and each subsequent Gran Turismo moved the quality scale. The structure of the game, which includes taking exams, buying cars, and participating in cups, has remained largely the same to this day. Its format has meanwhile been taken over by other racing games such as Forza Motorsport and Project CARS.

In recent years, Gran Turismo does not have the dominance in the market as it once had, but it is still an extremely valuable series whose existence is appreciated and respected in the automotive industry and the world of racing.