In a recent interview with TheGamer, Gran Turismo creator and Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi talked about developing games for the PS3, a console which has become infamous for how difficult it can be to work with.
“The PS3 was a nightmare,” Yamauchi-san said. “The hardware was so complex and difficult to develop on. It had the performance once you learned to use it right, but to get there was such a nightmare. It wasn’t until the release of GT6 [in 2013] when we managed to get the full performance out of the console - that’s how difficult it was.”
Gran Turismo was incredibly popular on the first two PlayStation consoles, but faded into obscurity somewhat throughout the seventh generation of consoles due to a fragmented development cycle as Yamauchi-san and company struggled to master the new hardware.
2007 saw the release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, an introductory experience of sorts before the fully-fledged sequel would emerge a number of years later in 2010. That’s a rather hefty gap between entries when you consider Prologue was intended as a demo of sorts to keep fans occupied while the main product was being worked on.
Gran Turismo 6 followed in 2013 shortly after the launch of PS4, with Yamauchi-san noting that it took Polyphony Digital a number of years to take advantage of the PS3, and by that point, he was happy to leave it behind. Development of Gran Turismo 7 across the PS4 and PS5 has proven far smoother, and is a new beginning for the series in many ways.
“The PS5 is much easier to create games on,” Yamauchi-san explains. “It meant we were able to create a well balanced experience that feels natural to play. Of course the graphics have improved and the 3D audio provides a very rich soundscape, and you honestly won’t feel the loading times. That creates a completely different experience, it opens up a whole new world.”
You can read our full interview with Kazunori Yamauchi here where we talk about the creation of Gran Turismo 7, preserving car culture through the medium of video games, and how he hopes for this new game to be an entry point for a whole new generation of motorsport enthusiasts.