[Update: the 1.06 update has gone live and is available right now. Check out the full details of the Gran Turismo 5 1.06 Update here.]
When Gran Turismo 5 game designer Kazunori Yamauchi tweets, we all listen. Yesterday, he did just that and gave all GT5 fans even more reason to never stop playing the game. Yamauchi tweeted that Gran Turismo Anywhere would be releasing sometime “early February,” in the form of a software update. Polyphony Digital continues to give their fans more of what they want: great content and diverse game play.
Gran Turismo Anywhere was first announced at TGS 2010. However, when Gran Turismo 5 released, this intriguing feature was not included in the retail version of the game, to the disappointment of racing genre fanatics everywhere. Now Gran Turismo Anywhere is finally coming, and is only (roughly) a month away! That is, unless Polyphony pulls one of their well documented and renowned delays, which, in all honesty, is not too much a stretch from what we're accustomed to when it comes to Yamauchi’s award winning racing simulator.
Gran Turismo Anywhere is a feature that allows players to remotely access their Gran Turismo 5 player profiles, making it possible to race in B-spec events from their very own saved games just by logging in at the official Gran Turismo 5 website. Players can remotely earn money and level their drivers up (or down) from a PC or mobile device. Also, they can earn money for new cars to race with on PS3, all while having a coffee at the nearest coffee shop.
B-spec racing is for all those itching to be a crew chief or owner of their own racing team. Select the drivers, and put them inside the cars to race for you! From here, players can give directions to their drivers. Tell them to hurry the heck up and get aggressive to pull back into the thick of the race. Or have them drive tentatively when they have such a commanding lead, the only way to lose would be to crash. This way players learn how to put their driver in the best position to win, all while leaving the actual driving to the AI.
This ability is coming via Software Update 1.06, due in February. It seems that Polyphony is making good on their promise to include near monthly updates for their tier 1 driving simulator.
Gran Turismo 5 launched in North America, Asia, and Europe November 24, 2010, then released to our friends in Japan and Australia the very next day. Despite only being available for purchase for the last seven days of November, Gran Turismo 5 still soared to number eight in November sales, and then dropped out of the top ten in December, 2010, despite selling 560,500 units that month.
Gran Turismo 4 came out way back in March, 2005, so we might not see Gran Turismo 6 for a while. That fact, along with Gran Turismo 5 being included in PS3 bundles, and all the attention Polyphony is giving to continually update and expand the experience for their fans with stuff like Gran Turismo Anywhere, is why I foresee this game being a long, slow-burn at retail.
So Ranters, what do you guys think of Gran Turismo Anywhere? Are you going to be one of those getting down on some crew chief action at school or work? Or maybe you think this is some useless extra function that no one will use? What do you think of Kazunori Yamauchi making this announcement over twitter, and not in press-release? Is he leaving the door open for a Gran Turismo Anywhere delay?