Gran Turismo: Sport: Difference between revisions
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Have you ever wanted to know how it feels to drive the world’s fastest, most extraordinary and most expensive | Have you ever wanted to know how it feels to drive the world’s fastest, most extraordinary and most expensive sports- and racing cars? In ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'', you might will get an answer to that question - at least from a virtual point of view. | ||
This site will be dealing with the motorsport-simulation in order to investigate it's research-relevant topics. A short overview about main facts and characteristics of the game is subsequently followed by a more detailed analysis of core game mechanics and further content which will lead to related research approaches. | |||
==About the Game== | ==About the Game== | ||
Published in 2017, ''Gran Turismo: Sport'' is the latest release of the ''Gran Turismo'' Series, developed and published by the japanese video game development studio Polyphony Digital. According to the slogan "the real driving simulator", which is the official subtitle of the series, the game considers itself | Published in 2017, ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'' is the latest release of the ''Gran Turismo'' Series, developed and published by the japanese video game development studio Polyphony Digital. According to the slogan "the real driving simulator", which is the official subtitle of the series, the game considers itself to be an almost hyperrealistic motorsport simulation. It is produced exclusively for Sony's ''Playstation''. | ||
Unlike other motorsport-simulation games like ''Project Cars'', ''the Crew'' or the Colin McRae Rally racing games ''(Dirt'' series), ''Gran Turismo'' is known for its extensive variety of officially licensed cars and tracks, containing road legal models and racing cars of the most popular car manufacturers as well as scaled racing circuits located around the world. Beside the arcade mode, ''Gran Turismo'' also features a career mode as well as an online mode which allows players from all around the world to compete against each other. | Unlike other motorsport-simulation games like ''Project Cars'', ''the Crew'' or the Colin McRae Rally racing games ''(Dirt'' series), ''Gran Turismo'' is known for its extensive variety of officially licensed cars and tracks, containing road legal models and racing cars of the most popular car manufacturers as well as scaled racing circuits located around the world. Beside the arcade mode, ''Gran Turismo'' also features a career mode as well as an online mode which allows players from all around the world to compete against each other. | ||
<youtube>2h-Kycm8Jxo</youtube> | <youtube>2h-Kycm8Jxo</youtube> | ||
==Research- | ==Research-Relevant Topics of the Game== | ||
===Core Game Mechanics=== | ===Core Game Mechanics=== | ||
The mechanics of the game haven't changed a lot over the relatively long period of time including more than twenty published versions since the first ''Gran Turismo'' was released in 1997. The following sections will provide an overview about | The mechanics of the game haven't changed a lot over the relatively long period of time including more than twenty published versions since the first ''Gran Turismo'' was released in 1997. The following sections will provide an overview about core game mechanics as well as related research approaches: | ||
====Racing==== | ====Racing==== | ||
Taking a selected (race-) car around the a circuit while racing against NPCs, the clock or online surely can be considered as one of the core mechanics of the game. Just like driving a car in reality, only four basic actions are needed to do so. Following scientist Aki Järvinen, who proposes a description of game mechanics by using verbs, the essential game mechanics while driving could be described as "accelerate", "brake", "steering to the right" and "steering to the left". Interestingly, the allocation of commands on the used input device has changed a lot since the first ''Gran Turismo'' was released, depending on how controllers have changed in the course of development of consoles and other controlling units like specially designed steering wheels, e.g. the ''Thrustmaster T300RS GT-Edition''. | Taking a selected (race-) car around the a circuit while racing against NPCs, the clock or online surely can be considered as one of the core mechanics of the game. Just like driving a car in reality, only four basic actions are needed to do so. Following scientist [[Aki Järvinen]], who proposes a description of game mechanics by using verbs, the essential game mechanics while driving could be described as "accelerate", "brake", "steering to the right" and "steering to the left".<ref>cf. Järvinen, Aki: ''Games without Frontiers: Theories and Methods for Game Studies and Design,'' Tampere 2009, p. 263.</ref> Interestingly, the allocation of commands on the used input device has changed a lot since the first ''Gran Turismo'' was released, depending on how controllers have changed in the course of development of consoles and other controlling units like specially designed steering wheels, e.g. the ''Thrustmaster T300RS GT-Edition''. | ||
Regarding compatible interfaces like the classic Playstation Controller as well as other control units just like the gaming steering wheel just mentioned, ''Gran Turismo'' can be a considered a vivid example for used game interfaces as bodily techniques. The concept of bodily techniques, established by french sociologist Marcel Mauss, was transferred to the context of gaming controllers and game interfaces by [[David Parisi]], who is pointing out three aspects of, as he calls it, bodily interfaces: modes of capture, haptics and button remapping.<ref>cf. Parisi, David: ''Game Interfaces as Bodily Techniques'', in: Ferding, Richard E.: ''Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education'', Hershey 2009, p. 111ff.</ref> | |||
====Economic activity==== | ====Economic activity==== | ||
Beside in-game progress gained by accomplishing several championships consisting of a certain number of races, there is another system ''Gran Turismo'' works with, incorporated with the purpose of keeping up the players motivation to continue the gaming process. Especially when playing the campaign-mode, ''Gran Turismo'' is operating with an in-game | Beside in-game progress gained by accomplishing several championships consisting of a certain number of races, there is another system ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'' works with, incorporated with the purpose of keeping up the players motivation to continue the gaming process. Especially when playing the campaign-mode, ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'' is operating with an in-game monetary system, allowing the player to advance in the game-state even faster and, of course, longer. By spending earned Credits, the player is given the possibility of buying better-ranked cars with which he will be more competitive during the next races and so on. | ||
Following media scientist Britta Neitzel and her approach of so called „strategies of involvement“, the rewarding system implemented in ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'' could be described as „economic involvment“ which is all about rewarding the player for his actions in a certain way to create a binding between game and player.<ref>cf. Neitzel, Britta: ''Involvierungsstrategien des Computerspiels'', in: Games Coop: ''Theorien des Computerspiels zur Einführung, Hamburg'': Junius, S. 75ff</ref>. Neitzel also speaks of several „levels“ of rewarding, a fact that can also be noticed in the game. The player is not only given Credits as a reward for achieving good positions in races: by gaining special cars as well, the player finds himself in a „financially“ comfortable position at an early stage of the game and is therefore free to either use the Credits to buy more cars in order to extend his car collection or unlock additional items just like liveries, helmets, racing suits etc. On that basis all the economic activity that can be done in ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'' is based on a multi-layered rewarding system, involving the player by providing rewards that evoke a feeling of fast progress on the one side and pushing an enthusiasm for collecting on the other.<ref> cf. ibid.</ref> | |||
===Further Content of the Game=== | ===Further Content of the Game=== | ||
====Gran Turismo Championship==== | ====Gran Turismo Championship==== | ||
In 2018, ''Gran Turismo'' and the FIA („Fédération Internationale de l‘Automobile“) launched the so-called Gran Turismo Championship, consisiting of World Tour and World Finals. These massive e-sport events are open to every player, but in order to attend one of the World Finals events held in places all over the world like Paris, Nürburg, New York City or Monaco, the players have to survive a series of preliminary rounds. Because of that, only the very best players are competing in the events and are therefore ensuring close and thrilling e-racing. | In 2018, ''Gran Turismo'' and the FIA („Fédération Internationale de l‘Automobile“) launched the so-called ''Gran Turismo Championship'', consisiting of World Tour and World Finals. These massive e-sport events are open to every player, but in order to attend one of the World Finals events held in places all over the world like Paris, Nürburg, New York City or Monaco, the players have to survive a series of preliminary rounds. Because of that, only the very best players are competing in the events and are therefore ensuring close and thrilling e-racing. | ||
<youtube>g29OTaMe94A</youtube> | <youtube>g29OTaMe94A</youtube> | ||
On that basis, the events | On that basis, the events can be closely linked to research approaches like [[Competitive Gaming|competitive gaming]]. The ''Gran Turismo Championships'' are covered by a massive media attendance, operating in ways mostly known from other medial channels like television: There are preliminary reports in front of every race and analysing post-reporting discussions as well as the whole race is hosted by live commentators reporting in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The events can be ususally streamed on YouTube, which shows that, regarding the ''Gran Turismo Championships'', media formats known from motorsport-reporting in real life are not only adopted, but also transferred into new medial spheres just as streaming, creating an entanglement of several medial channels. | ||
====Vision Gran Turismo & influence on actual motorsport discourse==== | ====Vision Gran Turismo & influence on actual motorsport discourse==== | ||
Another entanglement of different, normally rather seperated medial practices can be noticed if looked at the close linking of video game and marketing strategy of real-life automotive groups. As the benchmark of, at least ''Playstation''-compatible racing simulations, ''Gran Turismo'' is adressing a significant number of car- and motorsport enthusiasts all over the world. As already mentioned, one of the reasons of the game‘s popularity among them surely is attributibal to the variety of officially licensed cars and racing circuits. Over the last decade of releases, there have been plenty of collaborations of real-life car manufacturers and ''Gran Turismo'', allowing the companies to promote their brand by creating concept cars and studies which are exclusively to be seen within the context of the game. The chance of implementing these concept-cars, called Vision Gran Turismo, has been grabbed by some of the most popular, prestigious and influencial car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lamborghini or Bugatti. | Another entanglement of different, normally rather seperated medial practices can be noticed if looked at the close linking of video game and marketing strategy of real-life automotive groups. As the benchmark of, at least ''Playstation''-compatible racing simulations, the ''Gran Turismo'' series is adressing a significant number of car- and motorsport enthusiasts all over the world. As already mentioned, one of the reasons of the game‘s popularity among them surely is attributibal to the variety of officially licensed cars and racing circuits. Over the last decade of releases, there have been plenty of collaborations of real-life car manufacturers and ''Gran Turismo'', allowing the companies to promote their brand by creating concept cars and studies which are exclusively to be seen within the context of the game. The chance of implementing these concept-cars, called ''Vision Gran Turismo'', has been grabbed by some of the most popular, prestigious and influencial car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lamborghini, Jaguar or Bugatti. | ||
<youtube>VDH-GE4CTfM</youtube> | <youtube>VDH-GE4CTfM</youtube> | ||
This clearly shows the reach and influence of the game on actual car- and motorsport discourse and -culture | This clearly shows the reach and influence of the game on actual car- and motorsport discourse and -culture besides the context of computer games. By collaborating with popular individuals just like formula-one world champions Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel or Formula 1 engineer Adrian Newey, this influence was and still is extended to a level no other racing simulation has reached yet. This observation shows that ''Gran Turismo'' is not only a computer game but constituing part of a whole cultural community. | ||
==Related Research Approaches== | ==Related Research Approaches== | ||
===Competitive Gaming=== | ===Competitive Gaming=== | ||
As mentioned before, the Gran Turismo World Championship can be considered a world-wide [[Competitive Gaming|competitive gaming]] event that is represented in ways originally known from other medial areas like television. The so called GT Academy, founded in 2008, is a programme to support young racing drivers in their way to competing in actual motorsport. Many of the future racing drivers are former winners of the Gran Turismo Championship, therefore an interlacing between game and reality can also be seen when it comes to competition. | As mentioned before, the Gran Turismo World Championship can be considered a world-wide [[Competitive Gaming|competitive gaming]] event that is represented in ways originally known from other medial areas like television. The so called GT Academy, founded in 2008, is a programme to support young racing drivers in their way to competing in actual motorsport. Many of the future racing drivers are former winners of the Gran Turismo Championship, therefore an interlacing between game and reality can also be seen when it comes to competition. | ||
===Game Interfaces | ===Game Interfaces=== | ||
[[Game Interfaces | The research approach [[Game Interfaces|game interfaces as bodily techniques]] surely can be linked and adopted to every type of game interfaces, no matter if a player is using a controller, a keyboard and mouse or other control units. But regarding the specially designed steering wheels, gear knobs and playseats, motorsport-simulations just like ''Gran Turismo'' seem to advance to an even more illustrative example of how bodily techniques can derivate into the context of video games. | ||
===Immersion and Involvement=== | |||
The so called [[Immersion and Involvement|strategies of involvement]] are a research approach developed by Britta Neitzel. In her paper, which is going to be summarized and discussed on the linked page, Neitzel analyzes different methods and patterns games are working with to involve the player. With regard to ''Gran Turismo'', especially the economic involvement could be pointed out, but there are a lot more of strategies Neitzel is dealing with. | |||
===Simulation in Games=== | ===Simulation in Games=== | ||
The aspect of [[Simulation in Games|simulation in games]] is, of course, not only to be found in racing games. But, as the official slogan of the game series exposes, the aspect of simulation might be pointed out more than in other games. This link leads to a site that is dealing with key points of simulation in the context of video games and how they are implemented in games. | The aspect of [[Simulation in Games|simulation in games]] is, of course, not only to be found in racing games. But, as the official slogan of the game series exposes, the aspect of simulation might be pointed out more than in other games. This link leads to a site that is dealing with key points of simulation in the context of video games and how they are implemented in games. | ||
==References== | |||
[[Category:Games]] | |||
<references /><br /> | |||
==Further Information/External Links== | |||
For the videos on this site the following sources were consulted: | |||
*Gran Turismo: Sport Announcement Trailer: https://youtu.be/2h-Kycm8Jxo | |||
*FIA GT Championships 2019: https://youtu.be/g29OTaMe94A | |||
*Gran Turismo X One Prototype Project Trailer https://youtu.be/VDH-GE4CTfM (please note that the footage shown in this video is not from ''[[Gran Turismo: Sport]]'' but from ''Gran Turismo 4''. It was selected in order to show both racing drivers and engineers to illustrate the game’s influence on actual motorsport.) | |||
<br /> | |||
Latest revision as of 21:56, 4 October 2020
Have you ever wanted to know how it feels to drive the world’s fastest, most extraordinary and most expensive sports- and racing cars? In Gran Turismo: Sport, you might will get an answer to that question - at least from a virtual point of view.
This site will be dealing with the motorsport-simulation in order to investigate it's research-relevant topics. A short overview about main facts and characteristics of the game is subsequently followed by a more detailed analysis of core game mechanics and further content which will lead to related research approaches.
About the Game
Published in 2017, Gran Turismo: Sport is the latest release of the Gran Turismo Series, developed and published by the japanese video game development studio Polyphony Digital. According to the slogan "the real driving simulator", which is the official subtitle of the series, the game considers itself to be an almost hyperrealistic motorsport simulation. It is produced exclusively for Sony's Playstation.
Unlike other motorsport-simulation games like Project Cars, the Crew or the Colin McRae Rally racing games (Dirt series), Gran Turismo is known for its extensive variety of officially licensed cars and tracks, containing road legal models and racing cars of the most popular car manufacturers as well as scaled racing circuits located around the world. Beside the arcade mode, Gran Turismo also features a career mode as well as an online mode which allows players from all around the world to compete against each other.
Research-Relevant Topics of the Game
Core Game Mechanics
The mechanics of the game haven't changed a lot over the relatively long period of time including more than twenty published versions since the first Gran Turismo was released in 1997. The following sections will provide an overview about core game mechanics as well as related research approaches:
Racing
Taking a selected (race-) car around the a circuit while racing against NPCs, the clock or online surely can be considered as one of the core mechanics of the game. Just like driving a car in reality, only four basic actions are needed to do so. Following scientist Aki Järvinen, who proposes a description of game mechanics by using verbs, the essential game mechanics while driving could be described as "accelerate", "brake", "steering to the right" and "steering to the left".[1] Interestingly, the allocation of commands on the used input device has changed a lot since the first Gran Turismo was released, depending on how controllers have changed in the course of development of consoles and other controlling units like specially designed steering wheels, e.g. the Thrustmaster T300RS GT-Edition.
Regarding compatible interfaces like the classic Playstation Controller as well as other control units just like the gaming steering wheel just mentioned, Gran Turismo can be a considered a vivid example for used game interfaces as bodily techniques. The concept of bodily techniques, established by french sociologist Marcel Mauss, was transferred to the context of gaming controllers and game interfaces by David Parisi, who is pointing out three aspects of, as he calls it, bodily interfaces: modes of capture, haptics and button remapping.[2]
Economic activity
Beside in-game progress gained by accomplishing several championships consisting of a certain number of races, there is another system Gran Turismo: Sport works with, incorporated with the purpose of keeping up the players motivation to continue the gaming process. Especially when playing the campaign-mode, Gran Turismo: Sport is operating with an in-game monetary system, allowing the player to advance in the game-state even faster and, of course, longer. By spending earned Credits, the player is given the possibility of buying better-ranked cars with which he will be more competitive during the next races and so on.
Following media scientist Britta Neitzel and her approach of so called „strategies of involvement“, the rewarding system implemented in Gran Turismo: Sport could be described as „economic involvment“ which is all about rewarding the player for his actions in a certain way to create a binding between game and player.[3]. Neitzel also speaks of several „levels“ of rewarding, a fact that can also be noticed in the game. The player is not only given Credits as a reward for achieving good positions in races: by gaining special cars as well, the player finds himself in a „financially“ comfortable position at an early stage of the game and is therefore free to either use the Credits to buy more cars in order to extend his car collection or unlock additional items just like liveries, helmets, racing suits etc. On that basis all the economic activity that can be done in Gran Turismo: Sport is based on a multi-layered rewarding system, involving the player by providing rewards that evoke a feeling of fast progress on the one side and pushing an enthusiasm for collecting on the other.[4]
Further Content of the Game
Gran Turismo Championship
In 2018, Gran Turismo and the FIA („Fédération Internationale de l‘Automobile“) launched the so-called Gran Turismo Championship, consisiting of World Tour and World Finals. These massive e-sport events are open to every player, but in order to attend one of the World Finals events held in places all over the world like Paris, Nürburg, New York City or Monaco, the players have to survive a series of preliminary rounds. Because of that, only the very best players are competing in the events and are therefore ensuring close and thrilling e-racing.
On that basis, the events can be closely linked to research approaches like competitive gaming. The Gran Turismo Championships are covered by a massive media attendance, operating in ways mostly known from other medial channels like television: There are preliminary reports in front of every race and analysing post-reporting discussions as well as the whole race is hosted by live commentators reporting in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The events can be ususally streamed on YouTube, which shows that, regarding the Gran Turismo Championships, media formats known from motorsport-reporting in real life are not only adopted, but also transferred into new medial spheres just as streaming, creating an entanglement of several medial channels.
Vision Gran Turismo & influence on actual motorsport discourse
Another entanglement of different, normally rather seperated medial practices can be noticed if looked at the close linking of video game and marketing strategy of real-life automotive groups. As the benchmark of, at least Playstation-compatible racing simulations, the Gran Turismo series is adressing a significant number of car- and motorsport enthusiasts all over the world. As already mentioned, one of the reasons of the game‘s popularity among them surely is attributibal to the variety of officially licensed cars and racing circuits. Over the last decade of releases, there have been plenty of collaborations of real-life car manufacturers and Gran Turismo, allowing the companies to promote their brand by creating concept cars and studies which are exclusively to be seen within the context of the game. The chance of implementing these concept-cars, called Vision Gran Turismo, has been grabbed by some of the most popular, prestigious and influencial car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lamborghini, Jaguar or Bugatti.
This clearly shows the reach and influence of the game on actual car- and motorsport discourse and -culture besides the context of computer games. By collaborating with popular individuals just like formula-one world champions Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel or Formula 1 engineer Adrian Newey, this influence was and still is extended to a level no other racing simulation has reached yet. This observation shows that Gran Turismo is not only a computer game but constituing part of a whole cultural community.
Related Research Approaches
Competitive Gaming
As mentioned before, the Gran Turismo World Championship can be considered a world-wide competitive gaming event that is represented in ways originally known from other medial areas like television. The so called GT Academy, founded in 2008, is a programme to support young racing drivers in their way to competing in actual motorsport. Many of the future racing drivers are former winners of the Gran Turismo Championship, therefore an interlacing between game and reality can also be seen when it comes to competition.
Game Interfaces
The research approach game interfaces as bodily techniques surely can be linked and adopted to every type of game interfaces, no matter if a player is using a controller, a keyboard and mouse or other control units. But regarding the specially designed steering wheels, gear knobs and playseats, motorsport-simulations just like Gran Turismo seem to advance to an even more illustrative example of how bodily techniques can derivate into the context of video games.
Immersion and Involvement
The so called strategies of involvement are a research approach developed by Britta Neitzel. In her paper, which is going to be summarized and discussed on the linked page, Neitzel analyzes different methods and patterns games are working with to involve the player. With regard to Gran Turismo, especially the economic involvement could be pointed out, but there are a lot more of strategies Neitzel is dealing with.
Simulation in Games
The aspect of simulation in games is, of course, not only to be found in racing games. But, as the official slogan of the game series exposes, the aspect of simulation might be pointed out more than in other games. This link leads to a site that is dealing with key points of simulation in the context of video games and how they are implemented in games.
References
- ↑ cf. Järvinen, Aki: Games without Frontiers: Theories and Methods for Game Studies and Design, Tampere 2009, p. 263.
- ↑ cf. Parisi, David: Game Interfaces as Bodily Techniques, in: Ferding, Richard E.: Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, Hershey 2009, p. 111ff.
- ↑ cf. Neitzel, Britta: Involvierungsstrategien des Computerspiels, in: Games Coop: Theorien des Computerspiels zur Einführung, Hamburg: Junius, S. 75ff
- ↑ cf. ibid.
Further Information/External Links
For the videos on this site the following sources were consulted:
- Gran Turismo: Sport Announcement Trailer: https://youtu.be/2h-Kycm8Jxo
- FIA GT Championships 2019: https://youtu.be/g29OTaMe94A
- Gran Turismo X One Prototype Project Trailer https://youtu.be/VDH-GE4CTfM (please note that the footage shown in this video is not from Gran Turismo: Sport but from Gran Turismo 4. It was selected in order to show both racing drivers and engineers to illustrate the game’s influence on actual motorsport.)