With the recent announcement of a December 6 release date and hot on the heels of a new trailer, we got a chance to speak with legendary Gran Turismo director Kazunori Yamauchi about the team's approach to the sixth entry. We also get an update on the new Gran Turismo movie.
Who is the ideal audience for Gran Turismo 6?
Every time we launch a new title, I go back and I see points that I should have done this way or that way. So Gran Turismo 6 is really something where we took GT 5 and corrected all of the things that we thought should have been done better. So the target is not so much a certain age group, it's really for people that love GT.
Do you have any interest in designing a game that is more arcade-inspired and has a wider appeal?
From my perspective, I don't separate between arcade-type and simulation-type games; Gran Turismo has an arcade mode. No matter what type of game mode, if it looks fun I'd like to include it in Gran Turismo.
Can you describe the damage models that you have in mind for Gran Turismo 6 and how that is changing from past games?
There's no major changes in terms of damage modeling. I think it's pretty much the same as GT 5.
What is your approach to the online mode this time around?
It's kind of difficult to explain what is different online, because a lot of it has to do with improvements with usability. In GT 5 we experimented with a lot of different features for online and we received a lot of feedback from players and community members over the last three years. So in GT 6 we made it a lot easier for these community managers to organize races, championships, time trials, drift trials, and just made it easier to organize and run their communities.
Will progress online carry over to your single-player campaign in any way?
The experience system doesn't exist in GT 6, but that system where you still receive some sort of reward for online racing is probably still going to be there.
Will Tourist Trophy return for GT 6?
I can't say no. [Laughter]
What's the team's approach for the course maker and custom-created content in Gran Turismo 6?
In the course maker for GT6, we are planning to prepare a lot bigger scenery locations that can be manipulated for making tracks.
Check out the second page of the interview to learn more about the upcoming Gran Turismo film and Yamauchi's thoughts on emotions in games.