OPERATION:

Exclusively Yours, Love PS2

At Sony's E3 2003 press conference, Sony just announced some 'exclusives' that PS2 gamers can look forward to. Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater will be an exclusive on the PS2 in 2004. The next game in the Grand Theft Auto series, which has sold upwards of 17 million units sold worldwide, will also be a PS2 exclusive. It should come as no surprise that the next Gran Turismo will be a PS2 exclusive, as it's made by Polyphonic Studios (either a first or second party SCEA development team), but what was a bit surprising was that Kazunori Yamauchi, the President of Polyphony Studios, was on hand to give some insight into the nature of the upcoming Gran Turismo 4, which is apparently subtitled 'The Real Driving Simulator'.

Yamauchi said that the goal of the Polyphony Team for Gran Turismo 4 was '...to explore and maximize the unused potential...' of the PS2. The development team spent time on many trips to various locations - observing, filming, taking notes, and studying the marriage of the automobile and the everyday world around us. This study seems to not only have improved the accuracy of the game, but it has apparently led the developers to view the role of the automotive in a philosophical light. Yamauchi stated that he hopes to allow PS2 gamers to ?experience the history of cars? and that some of the environments chosen will be selected not only for their beauty, but because their beauty would ?only be improved with the introduction of a car?. If they follow through with such a vision, Gran Turismo 4 could very well live up to the potential of video games to be much more than entertainment ? to become art.

For those of you who are nodding off at my attempt at waxing philosophical, I?ll give you a few notes of gameplay interest. Gran Turismo 4 will be the first Gran Turismo sequel to introduce improved artificial intelligence (AI) of opponent racers, improved vehicle physics (that supposedly ?satisfied the car companies? ? wonder what THAT?S about?) and a new online feature to allow you to play with someone across the street or across the country. No details regarding the online feature were revealed at the press conference, but GT4 looks like it could be a new ?must-have? for PS2 gamers everywhere?