Kaz and Shiro talk Gran Turismo 7 details, Titan Nismo and more in AMA

Tue, 01 Jul 2014

One of the greatest innovations to come about thanks to the gigantic popularity of Reddit is the Ask Me Anything (AMA) question and answer format. The AMA becomes especially worthwhile, of course, when the person(s) answering the questions have detailed information or insight on products we love.

So, in the case of the recent AMA session with Gran Turismo creator and mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi (above), and his buddy and Nissan chief designer Shiro Nakamura (right), it was basically must-read stuff.

The pair really lived up to our expectations, too, with Kaz offering a lot of useful information about the future of the Gran Turismo franchise (especially the upcoming GT7 for Playstation 4), and Shiro promising to bring some interesting new ideas back to his colleagues at Nissan.

We'll start there, as Shiro's bit is quicker. Perhaps the most interesting response to a question that the Nissan designer gave all day was when he was asked about any interest in doing a Nismo-tuned Titan. Probably nothing more than a flight of fancy at this point, but Shiro's response was enthusiastic:

"A Nismo Titan? A very interesting idea. We've never thought about it. If you think about it, a big-engined truck is almost like a sports car. Two passengers, fun to drive – it's a fun idea. I will take your request back to the office with me."

Ford Raptor, watch your back.

As for Kaz, well, the Polyphony Digital head honcho was dropping tantalizing knowledge all over the forum. Here are some of the highlights:

The "fantasy" tracks from GT5 and earlier may be making a return in GT7. Fans of El Capitan, Tahiti Maze, etc. should keep their fingers crossed.
When asked creating a Formula 1 game, Kaz responded "There's some distance there to actually making that into a game, but who knows – you might just discover it all of a sudden." We're not sure if that indicates promise for inclusion in Gran Turismo, or a new title.
For whatever it's worth, Porsche's exclusion is from GT is "not an issue between Polyphony Digital and Porsche."
A major update to the sound engine is coming in GT7 (hurray!), but nothing is planned for the July update to GT6.
Apparently, Shiro would love to see the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge in a GT game, when asked he responded: "Sure. Why not? We like the design and we like the performance. We'll start working with Yamauchi-san immediately."
A beta version of track maker is around now, Kaz says it's in his hands. But no timing yet for when it'll be offered for players.
Perhaps most importantly: Kaz won't rule out including the Subaru BRAT in some iteration of GT. "I won't say we won't include it." It's hard to type with this many fingers crossed.

By Seyth Miersma