Polyphony has sneaked out some scant details on Tourist Trophy, the two-wheeled cousin of Gran Turismo currently in the works at the acclaimed SCEI development studio.
First up, the game is a simulator built around an arcade interface. It will be Gran Turismo for bikes - maybe not as exciting as cars we concede, but fairly exciting nonetheless.
Thus far, licensed vehicles from Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, Moto Guzzi, CCM and Triumph have been confirmed, with monsters such as Yamaha's TW 225E '05, Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-10R '05, Honda's CB1300 Super Bol D'or '05, and Suzuki's GSX 1300R Hayabusa '05 being named.
Frustratingly, no proper figures have yet been doled out. We have yet to be told how many bikes and tracks will be on offer, important elements of the game for two reasons. Of course, we just want to know. But we also are desperate to discover if Tourist Trophy will be on the scale we have come to expect from Polyphony.
The studio is eager to tell you that it will be spending a lot of time in biker leathers. You’ll be able to choose from a vast amount of helmets, gloves, jackets and boots - a very important element of riding a motorcycle in Japan, we are told.
It’s also worth mentioning that Kazunori Yamauchi, the wonderful creator of the Gran Turismo series, will be overseeing the new project.
Tourist Trophy will be available in the Winter, exclusively for PlayStation 2, though a PSP spin-off is considered a cert.
And here’s what we don’t know: What happens when things go wrong and you crash your bike? Do you get to see a Road Rash-style skidding cycle and rag doll rider or does the action just fade to a cut? How big is the game? Is it really big, or just normal in size? Will it be online? It was supposed to be, but Polyphony hasn’t had the easiest time with the Internet so it’s anyone’s guess right now. And when will Tourist Trophy be available in Europe and America?
Expect answers to all of these questions as we get them, and in the meantime, you may gaze longingly at this leatherised logo and screenshot we have scraped together.
First up, the game is a simulator built around an arcade interface. It will be Gran Turismo for bikes - maybe not as exciting as cars we concede, but fairly exciting nonetheless.
Thus far, licensed vehicles from Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, Moto Guzzi, CCM and Triumph have been confirmed, with monsters such as Yamaha's TW 225E '05, Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-10R '05, Honda's CB1300 Super Bol D'or '05, and Suzuki's GSX 1300R Hayabusa '05 being named.
Frustratingly, no proper figures have yet been doled out. We have yet to be told how many bikes and tracks will be on offer, important elements of the game for two reasons. Of course, we just want to know. But we also are desperate to discover if Tourist Trophy will be on the scale we have come to expect from Polyphony.
The studio is eager to tell you that it will be spending a lot of time in biker leathers. You’ll be able to choose from a vast amount of helmets, gloves, jackets and boots - a very important element of riding a motorcycle in Japan, we are told.
It’s also worth mentioning that Kazunori Yamauchi, the wonderful creator of the Gran Turismo series, will be overseeing the new project.
Tourist Trophy will be available in the Winter, exclusively for PlayStation 2, though a PSP spin-off is considered a cert.
And here’s what we don’t know: What happens when things go wrong and you crash your bike? Do you get to see a Road Rash-style skidding cycle and rag doll rider or does the action just fade to a cut? How big is the game? Is it really big, or just normal in size? Will it be online? It was supposed to be, but Polyphony hasn’t had the easiest time with the Internet so it’s anyone’s guess right now. And when will Tourist Trophy be available in Europe and America?
Expect answers to all of these questions as we get them, and in the meantime, you may gaze longingly at this leatherised logo and screenshot we have scraped together.
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Comments
TigerUppercut 21 Sep 2005 08:40
1/8
I'm surprised no one seems to care about this. I've checked around and it's made hardly a ripple in the gaming pond. How come?
tyrion 21 Sep 2005 12:16
2/8
Well there's the fact that bikes are "maybe not as exciting as cars".
The fact that GT4 was such an incremental update on GT3 that it should have been called GT3.5.
The fact that Polophony pissed people off by dropping online play from GT4.
Any more for any more?
The fact that GT4 was such an incremental update on GT3 that it should have been called GT3.5.
The fact that Polophony pissed people off by dropping online play from GT4.
Any more for any more?
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TigerUppercut 21 Sep 2005 12:28
3/8
tyrion wrote:
Well there's the fact that bikes are "maybe not as exciting as cars".
The fact that GT4 was such an incremental update on GT3 that it should have been called GT3.5.
The fact that Polophony pissed people off by dropping online play from GT4.
Any more for any more?
The fact that GT4 was such an incremental update on GT3 that it should have been called GT3.5.
The fact that Polophony pissed people off by dropping online play from GT4.
Any more for any more?
But:
It will look amazing - PS2 swansong for graphics
How much more could Polyphony do after GT3? The fact that the update was incremental illustrates the brilliance of GT3, not a shortcoming in GT4.
Yes, online was a massive disaster but - This is going to be GT on bikes - All the mental power and speed and crazy s**t that bikes do! It will be fantastic!
tyrion 21 Sep 2005 13:05
4/8
TigerUppercut wrote:
It will look amazing - PS2 swansong for graphics
It will be a tweaked GT4 engine to handle the bike physics. The graphics will be of the same quality. The PS2 "swansong" will come next year after PS3 comes out. What will it be? I dunno, but there's a few months yet for some WIP stuff to come out.
TigerUppercut wrote:
How much more could Polyphony do after GT3? The fact that the update was incremental illustrates the brilliance of GT3, not a shortcoming in GT4.
So they didn't have enough of an update to justify releasing the game, but released it anyway? That plays into the hands of the people who believe Sony is a bunch of money grabbing gits.
TigerUppercut wrote:
Yes, online was a massive disaster but - This is going to be GT on bikes - All the mental power and speed and crazy s**t that bikes do! It will be fantastic!
Racing bikes don't do crazy s**t. Racing bikes keep on two wheels as much as possible.
GT never had much of an impression of speed, not like Burnout. Now Burnout on bikes! I'd be in to that!
TigerUppercut 21 Sep 2005 14:18
5/8
tyrion wrote:
It will be a tweaked GT4 engine to handle the bike physics. The graphics will be of the same quality. The PS2 "swansong" will come next year after PS3 comes out. What will it be? I dunno, but there's a few months yet for some WIP stuff to come out.
I doubt anything will surpass a final Polyphony PlayStation 2 outing.
Tyrion wrote:
So they didn't have enough of an update to justify releasing the game, but released it anyway? That plays into the hands of the people who believe Sony is a bunch of money grabbing gits.
How is it not enough of an update? That's my point! It is - The massive amount of new cars and tracks and options and improved handling. For how many hours have you played GT4?
Tyrion wrote:
Racing bikes don't do crazy s**t. Racing bikes keep on two wheels as much as possible.
It won't just be racing bikes though - it will be loads of different bikes. (One assumes) And the fact that they are supposed to stay on two wheels makes it more exciting when they don't.
Tyrion wrote:
GT never had much of an impression of speed...
You have got to be kidding...
tyrion 21 Sep 2005 14:54
6/8
TigerUppercut wrote:
Tyrion wrote:
So they didn't have enough of an update to justify releasing the game, but released it anyway? That plays into the hands of the people who believe Sony is a bunch of money grabbing gits.
How is it not enough of an update? That's my point! It is - The massive amount of new cars and tracks and options and improved handling. For how many hours have you played GT4?
How does the following quote support your point that there was enough of an update?
TigerUppercut wrote:
How much more could Polyphony do after GT3? The fact that the update was incremental illustrates the brilliance of GT3, not a shortcoming in GT4.
You agree that it was an incremental update. You didn't refute that and say it was a proper update.
I played GT4 for about 20 or so hours. I didn't notice much more to it than GT3 as far as the handling, or gameplay went. Let's face it, the GT mode of play hasn't changed since GT1.
More cars and more tracks isn't an update to the game, it's an expansion pack.
TigerUppercut 22 Sep 2005 13:42
7/8
You know what I mean.
Do you think that GT4 shouldn;t have been released?
Here's a test:
Take Tom's Castrol Supra or a well known car out on well known track in GT3. Something most GT gamers will have spent days doing. Then do the same in GT4 - the difference in handling really, really shows.
The amount of new cars and tracks, combined with the reworked physics make GT4 a perfectly justifyable game.
The fact that you can blast around the Nurburghring in a suped up S-12 Sylvia is worth it alone!
Do you think that GT4 shouldn;t have been released?
Here's a test:
Take Tom's Castrol Supra or a well known car out on well known track in GT3. Something most GT gamers will have spent days doing. Then do the same in GT4 - the difference in handling really, really shows.
The amount of new cars and tracks, combined with the reworked physics make GT4 a perfectly justifyable game.
The fact that you can blast around the Nurburghring in a suped up S-12 Sylvia is worth it alone!
Joji 22 Sep 2005 20:46
8/8
The reason I never posted on this news is that I'm kind of sick of GT. Once upon a time it was fun but it fall short next to Burnout 3.
I only ever bought the first GT game and that pissed me off enough with it's stupid driving test crap, apparently those test are supposed to be fun but I always found them an annoying reason to switch the damn game off. If I want a driving lesson I'll take some proper ones, thanks Sony.
Burnout 3 on the other hand is always in my PS2 drive because it's simple to learn from go and a hell of a lot of fun without being a pain in the arse. Be it crashing or racing I always switch that game off with a high feeling GT never gave me.
I'll leave GT series to the real petrol heads out there. I haven't played anymore of the GT series series and neither do I intend to, unless I get GT3 or GT4 in a bargain bin raid.
As for Tourist Trophy. I'll consider it but there also Namco's Moto GP series, so it'll be a toss up between the two. We'll see.
I only ever bought the first GT game and that pissed me off enough with it's stupid driving test crap, apparently those test are supposed to be fun but I always found them an annoying reason to switch the damn game off. If I want a driving lesson I'll take some proper ones, thanks Sony.
Burnout 3 on the other hand is always in my PS2 drive because it's simple to learn from go and a hell of a lot of fun without being a pain in the arse. Be it crashing or racing I always switch that game off with a high feeling GT never gave me.
I'll leave GT series to the real petrol heads out there. I haven't played anymore of the GT series series and neither do I intend to, unless I get GT3 or GT4 in a bargain bin raid.
As for Tourist Trophy. I'll consider it but there also Namco's Moto GP series, so it'll be a toss up between the two. We'll see.