New GT5 features include browser based game mode....

by Guest Fri 17 Sep 2010 - 13:45

At a press conference Thursday at the Toyko Game Show, Gran Turismo 5 Developer Kazunori Yamauchi disclosed additional features so far unrevealed by the E3 2010 and GamesCom 2010 conferences.

First up is a series of new tracks and cars. Laguna Seca, Trial Mountain, and Circuit de la Sarthe may all be familiar to racing buffs -- but the cars are a bit strange. The Kübelwagen, Schwimmwagen, Samba Bus, and 4200R are all technically "old" cars developed years ago -- but maybe people haven't ever seen them. Additionally, Kazunori also revealed the GT by Citroën R.

Next, Kazunori revisited the My Home social networking feature built into GT5. In addition to status updates via browser and track-sharing tools, he revealed a Remote Racing feature where friends can race via web browser using the b-spec mode. Players can leave their PS3s on, creating servers for these web-based games.

"Right now the browser game industry and the console game industry are two totally different things," Kazunori said through a translator. "But [this mode] is the first [that] bridges the two."

Kazunori briefly touched on the game's special-events system using a live demo of Rally Mode. In this dirt-track mode, the courses are generated dynamically right when you load into the course. A navigator calls out turns, or you can use a course-overlay view to track turns. Like a real-life rally race, times are cumulative, and other cars get to start first.

Lastly, Kazunori revealed the Dynamic Weather Changes system. For courses where applicable (like the endurance run courses), a "forecast" set by the developer creates conditions for weather events to occur. For example, a course my be "partially cloud" and then during the race, the player may experience rain or sleet. The effects of weather create real road challenges, like a slick road at night that reflects lights oddly or a dry desert course with sand blowing in front of the windshield. Kazunori said this is a feature that'll probably be more for the hardcore than the casual racer.