Securing some one-on-one time with someone as busy as
Kazunori Yamauchi
ain't easy but by the power of PH we managed it and, from that, explored the influence the man and his game have had over the cars we now buy, drive and modify in the real world. A few of the comments that followed expressed surprise at how little quoted contribution Kazunori made to the piece so, for those that wanted a bit more from the man himself, here's the transcript of his chat with Nick Gibbs.
In fairness we didn't get long and the interview was conducted through an interpreter, which is never the ideal way of doing it and often much of what you get in such conversations doesn't crop up in the general Q&A bit. But here you go...
Did you think GT would have the impact it did?
"I never thought about the impact on western car markets. When I was making the game I was making what I really liked. I never imagined that things I was creating will affect people in the west, and have such an impact. Now we have good synergy effect, between car culture and the car manufacturers. A mutual effect now exists between GT and the car industry in the UK. GT and the industry progressed together."
What made you choose the cars you did?
"The first title was born from the car culture in Japan. It is true there are many JDM cars, but now there are more and more foreign cars, so further GTs were well-balanced between Japan and foreign cars. When I first developed the game, I didn't even have a chance to look at the European super sports cars. I called directly to the automobile manufacturers, can you meet me, I asked. I would see anyone available. It was a bit of luck - lucky to get to know that car. No deep meaning, just about getting to know that car. I loved cars. I read lots of car magazines ever since I was at junior school."
How did you get hold of the few western cars in the game?
"When I found out GT will be released in Europe, the Sony Enterprise Europe offered to include some European or American cars and those cars in the game are the ones I could include, time-wise. I went to Europe and America to research those cars. One car per day."
What's in your garage?
"It didn't change much for the last five years. I have a Nissan GT-R, Porsche GT3, Honda S2000 [racing car], SL55 AMG, two Ford GTs, a white one and a silver one."
Favourite cars from that 90s era?
"I like the Nissan GT-R consistently, also the Toyota Supra, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. If you would tune up the Supra [in the game], it would be 1,000hp."
Why did you include tuning?
"Tuning has been at the heart. Every single game has a tuning function. Each car has a different method of tuning to reproduce that proper way of tuning. In life you can't purchase a Ferrari from the beginning. You have to start with a Honda Civic. Then GT is not a game, it's a car-life simulator."