Congratulations to the video game brand Gran Turismo on its 25th anniversary! To celebrate this milestone, special videos and a deep message from founder and producer Kazunori Yamauchi have been released. In addition, Ken Kutaragi and Kazuo Hirai, both closely connected to the creation and growth of the series, have recorded congratulations messages. Through his message, Yamauchi shares how his adventure with Gran Turismo began and how it has evolved over the years.
Gran Turismo celebrates its 25th anniversary
One of the most well-known video game brands in the world is celebrating its 25th anniversary. To celebrate, here are special videos and a deep message from Kazunori Yamauchi, the founder and producer of Gran Turismo.
Special videos and congratulations messages
Gran Turismo celebrates 25 years this year. The original “real driving simulator” was released on December 23, 1997. To commemorate the anniversary, a special “Gran Turismo 25th Anniversary Trailer” has been released, and Ken Kutaragi (former honorary president of Sony Computer Entertainment) and Kazuo Hirai (senior adviser to the Sony group), both closely connected to the creation and growth of the Gran Turismo series, have recorded a congratulations video.
Message from founder Kazunori Yamauchi on the history of Gran Turismo
And what about Kazunori Yamauchi, the founder and still-functioning producer? The Japanese man has published a message, which can be found below the videos. In the message, which can be read in full in the original English version and in a version automatically translated into German, Yamauchi gives information about how his Gran Turismo adventure began at that time and how it developed afterwards.
Message from Gran Turismo Series Producer Kazunori Yamauchi:
I’m very happy that we are celebrating our 25th anniversary since the first release of the Gran Turismo series. Back in 1992, Gran Turismo was the first project plan I created out of close to 100 others I came up with when I first started my career in this industry, so it means a lot to me. While making video games was something I started from 10 years old as a hobby, I had never thought about making it a career.
I started a movie production club when I was 14, and had been producing movies, so I first joined Sony hoping to create image products. But the department they assigned me to was not what I was expecting.
It was a department where the PlayStation console was just about to start, and was a place where Kutaragi-san was working feverishly to bring the concept of PlayStation to life.
That place was not what I had hoped for, but looking back now, you could say that I was very lucky.
I was fascinated by real time 3D graphics that many had been waiting for, and created and presented plans for all kinds of video games, not just limited to race games but RPGs, adventure games, action games, puzzle games, and more.
As a result, Gran Turismo took a more fantasy race game format in the “Motor Toon Grand Prix”, becoming one of the first 1st party titles for PlayStation, but if a plan for something other than a racing game had been the one that was approved, there is a good chance that I might have been making a title other than Gran Turismo today.
Thereafter the Gran Turismo project started from gathering a team of two part time artists and three engineers. From there, the number of comrades have continued to increase in number for over quarter of a century, and has become Polyphony Digital today, a company with over 200 staff members. I don’t think there are many video game franchises in the world that have continued for 25 years with the same title, and with the same team.
The founding members of the company are still working on the front lines, and I am thankful and proud that all 200 of our staff are a team that have the same motivation and love that the company started with in the beginning.
In the last 25 years, the cumulative sales total of the series have reached over 90 million copies as of November 16, 2022. And this result is something that could not be accomplished by ourselves alone.
Behind that 90 million figure, there are all the people of the media who conveyed the allure of Gran Turismo to their readers. There are the people of PlayStation who sold GT for us around the world with passion, and there is the incredible amount of support from the retailers who interfaced with our users. My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of them for their support.
And above all else, I can’t ever thank enough the GT users and people of the GT community who have played our new titles, which at times could be said to have been very experimental. We are here today because of all the people who supported us.
I believe the Gran Turismo series have always pursued “Beauty”. The beauty of the cars, the beauty of the scenery, the beauty of the lighting, the beauty of driving, the beauty of sounds / music and the beauty of the graphics.
The “pursuit of beauty” is the motivation for creating Gran Turismo.
We have newfound determination to continue our progress into the future with a strong sense of purpose.
We appreciate all of your support over the last 25 years.
Thank you.
See you on the track!
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