Gran Turismo was the big racing-sim kid on the block when it released on May 8, 1998 . Now, its facing competition from Microsoft's Forza Motorsport, and Codemaster's Grid series on consoles and the Real Racing series on mobile. Each entry of Microsoft's racing sim has eaten more and more of Polyphony Digital's share of the racing pie since that game's release for the original Xbox in 2005. Gran Turismo 5's inconsistency in quality did it no favors. As the series' 15-year anniversary approaches, Gran Turismo's creator Kazunori Yamauchi has plans to speak on the future of the franchise this upcoming Wednesday at Silverstone Circuit in the U.K. Obviously, this means a new iteration in the franchise. Lets hope that the series can fix a few issues that have held the series back.
Better car customization
Compared to Forza, Gran Turismo is extremely lacking in car customization department. There aren't those cool paint jobs or true body panel upgrades that give cars the Fast and Furious look. That also goes for internal customization. Upgrading one's car has been a feature of the series since the beginning and that's it. How about the ability to do true engine swaps or change a car's drivetrain from AWD to RWD?
Streamlined car selection
There were a total of 1,083 cars in Gran Turismo 5; many were the exact same car with minor details. Who's tired of having eleven different versions of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. It just comes off as filler material. It would make more sense for the guys at Polyphony to look into getting more car makers like Porsche or Tata Motors to put their cars in the game.
Visual pop across the board
That division of "Premium" and "Standard" cars must go. Every vehicle must have the now standard interior view and full scale damage. Though the tracks themselves were a marvel to look at, they felt empty and lacked a lively feeling. The feeling of racing in Gran Turismo is great mechanically but the feeling of racing seems flat out boring at times. Codemaster's GRID has got the feeling of being a part of race day down to a science no matter what the race style is. If it is going to be released on the Playstation 4 as rumored, then the development team should have plenty of time to optimize the half decade old engine.
What would you change about the game?
