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Gran Turismo race winners to join Nissan racing team

Sony and Polyphony Digital have given Gran Turismo, its flagship racing game series, the title of being “the real driving simulator.” Anyone who took that line to heart now has the chance to prove just how realistic Gran Turismo truly is, at least in Europe.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan unveiled earlier this week a special program called the GT Academy. Gamers will be able to participate in an eight-month, pan-European competition composed of a series of elimination-based competitions on and off the racetrack, which will start at a national level with an online GT5 Prologue tournament hosted on PlayStation Network.

The winner at the end of the competition will be awarded a four-month training program to earn their racing licenses, followed by a real-life race driving a Nissan 350Z as part of the Nissan team at the 24H endurance race in Dubai in January 2009.

“Gran Turismo is one of the most successful global gaming franchises of the last decade and is renowned for its realism, quality of design and in-car physics technology,” said David Reeves, president and CEO of SCEE. “The academy brings the real and virtual worlds of racing together and is the ultimate test to see if virtual drivers have what it takes to race in a competitive environment where there isn't the option to play again.”

“We're delighted to build on the close relationship between Nissan and Sony PlayStation. This represents the competition prize of a lifetime for racing enthusiasts; a prize that brings the worlds of gaming and racing even closer together,” commented Simon Sproule, communications VP at Nissan Motor Ltd. “We look forward to welcoming our new team drivers for the race in Dubai.”

Perhaps the age old question of whether or not a videogame can accurately teach real world skills will get an answer at the end of this event.

This isn’t the first collaboration between Gran Turismo and Nissan. Developer Polyphony Digital was enlisted to help design the multi-function display (MFD) featured prominently on the dash of the upcoming Nissan GT-R.

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Coming soon in the news
By FITCamaro on 5/8/2008 8:36:35 AM , Rating: 5
"All the top contestants in Gran Turismo and Nissan's competition to let the top drivers join their racing team were killed as each driver went full speed in to the guard rail of turns as they though that, as in the game, was the fastest way to take the turn. Apparently they did not realize that race cars are not indestructible in real life as they are in the game. Gran Turismo and Nissan expressed sympathy to the families of the contestants."




RE: Coming soon in the news
By FreeTard on 5/8/2008 8:50:27 AM , Rating: 5
That's kinda what I was thinking.

I'm picturing a 12 year old with phone books strapped to his feet, mowing down a crowd of reporters, as he jams it into reverse with his foot firmly on the accelerator.


RE: Coming soon in the news
By DASQ on 5/8/2008 11:36:28 AM , Rating: 5
All the more reason to promote this contest.

What I wouldn't give to see that video on youtube.


RE: Coming soon in the news
By spluurfg on 5/8/2008 9:20:48 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
The winner at the end of the competition will be awarded a four-month training program to earn their racing licenses , followed by a real-life race driving a Nissan 350Z as part of the Nissan team at the 24H endurance race in Dubai in January 2009.


I guess learning how to drive in a race is a key part of the prize =P I think it's a cool prize anyway.


RE: Coming soon in the news
By Polynikes on 5/8/2008 10:13:36 AM , Rating: 2
I agree. That would be frickin' awesome.


lucky them...
By nugundam93 on 5/8/2008 8:35:16 AM , Rating: 2
them lucky europeans! :)

they better have fun for me when they go racing in dubai. :D




simulations
By Redback on 5/9/2008 6:17:56 AM , Rating: 2
Wow! After reading the majority of the posts on this topic, I can only assume that most posters here are either too young to actually drive, or have never had any real-world experience on a race track.

Driving a real car, on a real race track is nothing like any computer game. Yes, computer-game graphics are wonderful, - woopty-bloody-do! So what?

The input stimuli in a real driving experience isn't graphics, sound, or artificial "force-feedback".

It's the subtle messages from your fingertips and toes, the information from your inner-ear, the tension in your triceps, gluts and quads, the pressure on your hips and shoulders and the blur-rate of your vision, etc, etc, etc...

I doesn't matter if you're in a 350Z, an F1, or a bloody '62 VW! What's important is how close you can get to the particular vehicle's dynamic limits and remain in control.

The current crop of computer simulations (for obvious reasons) can't come close to the real thing and as a consequence, we seem to be breeding a generation of people who believe they're heros, but in reality are clueless dolts.

Concrete walls, road-side furniture and other competitors are vastly less forgiving than a comfortable lounge-room and <ctrl-alt-del>.




Realistic..
By whirabomber on 5/9/2008 10:32:26 AM , Rating: 2
"to prove just how realistic Gran Turismo truly is, at least in Europe" just like Pole Position did, except in GT5 you just bounce around when you crash, and your driver never burst into flames, so Pole Position is more realistic than GT5.




please...
By Randum on 5/8/08, Rating: -1
RE: please...
By DingieM on 5/8/08, Rating: -1
RE: please...
By nugundam93 on 5/8/2008 8:58:55 AM , Rating: 2
if GT5 finally includes damage modelling, i'm ok with waiting for it.

and i wish you can do race mods again like the ones in GT2's shops.


RE: please...
By Bioniccrackmonk on 5/8/2008 9:06:26 AM , Rating: 5
That is why this game is called teh "PROLOGUE" because it is not the full game. Damage is something that will be added to the "FULL" game either already built in or via download. GT5P is basically a huge demo, so it will not have everything possible in it.


RE: please...
By FITCamaro on 5/8/2008 9:31:00 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
or via download


It would be quite difficult to patch in damage modeling. Thats something that needs to be in the game engine. Both for calculating the damage taken to the car to redraw how it looks and to determine how it will affect the handling of the car. Assuming they implemented both of those things.


RE: please...
By Bioniccrackmonk on 5/8/2008 10:35:21 AM , Rating: 3
If they can release a full game for download I wouldn't see why they couldn't release a patch to implement damage. Anyway, here is a link to an interview where they discuss damage for GT5:

http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/2313.html

Highlighted part about damage to cars:

" Now, what about damage? Well, good news, there are a variety of damage models being tested internally at Polyphony Digital. The challenge is choosing one that isn't hyper-realistic to the point where a single, tiny error destroys your car and throws you out of a race when you've completed 90% of it. Additionally, because Gran Turismo 5 is dealing with hundreds of cars, covering virtually every manufacturer, some car brands still don't want to see their cars getting damaged, while others don't mind. And so the issue is out of Polyphony's hands, forcing them to prevent certain cars from being damaged. So while most should be damageable, there will be some that won't be."


RE: please...
By Omega215D on 5/9/2008 1:20:46 AM , Rating: 2
All Rally cars should have the damage modeling and if not I would be surprised. Anyhow many of the Le Mans type of racing games I played all show cars like Mercedes and Porsche getting full on damage so I wonder which manufacturers are not on board. And Forza 2 has some high end cars, doesn't that game also have damage?

I also feel that GT5 should have a selectable Ultra realistic mode for those of us wanting to experience what tiny errors will throw us out of the race. It is labeled a driving simulator.


RE: please...
By Ratinator on 5/8/2008 11:23:33 AM , Rating: 3
That depends. If they include a mode to shut off damage, it is not difficult at all - they would have already allowed for it to be patched in.


RE: please...
By amanojaku on 5/8/2008 9:31:31 AM , Rating: 2
FIT was just pointing out that GT historically has not had damage. Supposedly that will be added to Prologue this fall, but I'm not holding my breath. To go from no damage to realistic damage seems like a Herculean effort. If it becomes reality, though, every fan would be plunking down some cash for this game or it's full-blown sibling GT5 (whenever that's released.) Hell, damage in GT5 might get me to buy a PS3; I'm still playing GT4 and loving it!


RE: please...
By FITCamaro on 5/8/2008 9:40:30 AM , Rating: 2
Honestly I've got Forza 2 if I want a good driving game with damage. But they quickly bore me. I mean I can only drive around tracks for so long. GT4 was great until it suffered the same fate.

As much as I love cars and driving in real life, I won't be picking up GT5 even if I do own a PS3. Not because I think it'll be a bad game. Just because it won't be worth the $60 to me since I'll get bored of it rather quickly.

I'll still be playing GTAIV by then. Shooting my friends in the face with rockets doesn't get old. ;)


RE: please...
By mmntech on 5/8/2008 9:44:17 AM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't hold by breath either given Polyphony is well known for delays. Grid is supposed to have full damage modeling like Dirt did. Hopefully Codemasters will solve the issue with the twitchy controls that Dirt had. Supposedly there's a demo coming out soon.
I have Prologue and I noticed a definite improvement over GT4, not just in graphics. The physics seem a lot more realistic. GT5P is a decent racing game and it is worth getting since it looks like we'll be waiting a while for its big brother.


RE: please...
By sliderule on 5/8/2008 10:33:58 AM , Rating: 2
I feel the same way. I love racing sims, and the only reason I bought a ps1 and ps2 were for the GT series, but this whole no damage, hit the wall at 200mph and go on like nothing happens is getting old.

I also bought the first gen xbox back in the day for Forza, and I was impressed with that game too.

As of right now I don't own a 360 or a PS3, I've been waiting to see what GT5 would be like. Even though the game trailers for GT5 look AMAZING, I'll be picking up a 360 and Forza2 if there's no damage this time. :/


RE: please...
By A5un on 5/8/2008 1:23:02 PM , Rating: 3
I think the reason of not including "collision damage" to the cars is that no one can model the damage well enough yet. I mean, look at Forza 2's damage model. It's completely unrealistic in terms of the physics and the extent of the damage.

What the GT series has to offer, though, is superb "driving" physics with a "good" player at the wheel. For experienced players / drivers who knows when to brake and how to brake in a corner (for example), GT series offer the most life-like physics. But for those who're just starting out, they invariably "drive" the car "incorrectly" and this gets into the zone where mathmatical models can't really accurately model the real physics. Hence, you get an unrealistic game play. So, how accurate GT is has a lot to do with the player.

And as for sense of speed, you can't get a sense of speed in real life either. You get a sense of acceleration. If you're constantly cruising at 200 mph on a silky smooth road, you can't really tell if it's 200 mph or 100 mph...


RE: please...
By FITCamaro on 5/8/2008 1:44:43 PM , Rating: 3
Microsoft limited the damage on the cars in Forza because the auto manufacturers don't want to see their cars completely trashed. They could easily model the damage better. But car companies don't want their car folding up at high speed when they impact a wall because it casts a bad light on the car.

And Gran Turismo's physics were hardly highly realistic in the