If you’re still on the fence about the forthcoming Gran Turismo Sport title from Polyphony Digital (let’s face it, a lot of us are), here’s a couple of fancy new videos to look at…that probably won’t sway you either way.
The recent Playstation Experience showed off Gran Turismo Sport’s shiny, new and admittedly impressive trailer. Now GTPlanet has exclusive, shiny and new “game-play” videos to let us wistfully drool over and prophesize about what could be. I put game-play in quotes because it is a replay, not actual game-play footage in my opinion. Granted it is direct capture, but there is something missing in these two videos. I’ll circle back around to the omission after you’re done watching.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/UlwkE93FlVc[/youtube]
[youtube]https://youtu.be/IFvwNwjn6SM[/youtube]
So…did you notice it? While all the gorgeous visuals of the Nordschleife went whipping by your screen and the promise of improved engine sounds danced through your speakers, it wouldn’t be surprising if you missed that one camera view that I think makes a huge difference in the sound department. The first-person/interior/driving camera (however you like to call it, no judgement here) is subtly missing in these direct capture footage videos.
Anyone who has played (or watched) the most recent iterations of Gran Turismo know that the in-car view can have some of the most brutal and cringe inducing noises of the past couple generations of consoles when it comes to engine sounds. Even with the reveal earlier this year of Gran Turismo Sport, the in-car sounds were still not much of an improvement over Gran Turismo 5 & 6. I mean, they did slide that bumper cam into these two videos, but the engine noise captured from that camera versus in-car is very different.
So why is the driving camera missing from the GT Sport, direct capture videos? Speculation can run rampant and let’s be honest, it’s hard not come up with a theory. I really would like to give Polyphony Digital and Kaz the benefit of the doubt, but in all seriousness, my love for Gran Turismo is slowing eroding away with each lackluster release since GT4 and each new trailer of GT Sport.
Polyphony Digital could still be saving interior sounds for actual and real game-play footage (not a replay).
Or, it could be that this build was just not good enough. The engine sounds are still too far off (yes, I’ve seen the most recent and actual game-play with in-car sounds and I’m still not impressed or sold) and that is why there was no release date given.
My theory is that Polyphony Digital and Sony had to re-evaluate Gran Turismo Sport based on the reaction of press and fans alike upon unveiling and hands-on coverage. “Here’s e-sports and photo-mode!” I think more GT fans and racers are interested in improving upon the roots of Gran Turismo which is the driving experience, the career and more recently, playing online with friends and in leagues. Hey, I like photo-mode and the idea of an e-sports console equivalent to iRacing (relax, I’m not saying it’s the same), but let’s not make it the main focus. I think what fans are looking for is an improvement of Gran Turismo to a more modern standard of racing simulator and one of the biggest improvements that can be made in Gran Turismo is the sound (and also damage).
I don’t think we will see Gran Turismo Sport (possibly re-branded to Gran Turismo 7) before November of 2017, which stinks because I believe the excitement will dwindle off for it by then. Polyphony Digital and Sony will have lost most of their marketing momentum for Gran Turismo Sport and the title has a very distinct possibility of falling flat with consumers. I hope not though, I really want to see the Gran Turismo franchise and Polyphony Digital rise back up to at least be on par with their peers.
I’d like to hear what your theories are as well, so leave a comment below to let me know.
I also encourage you to check out GTPlanet’s story here.