Reading the Game: The Japanese Spirit Behind Gran Turismo Saga
A journey through Japanese design, spirituality, and the birth of The Real Driving Simulator.
Hello my fellow gamers!
When you are passionate about video games you really observe, sometimes in a subconscious way, every small aspect and detail within the game and it’s design — I like to define that moment as being reading the game.
I would like to speak about the influence and design of Japanese games, to be more specific driving games.
Aesthetics, sound, music, UI, and gameplay (in that specific order) all those pillars will be working together to make us feel part of a whole experience or even on a higher stage they may achive make you feel part of a community of gamers.
Each culture have a different vision of this world and their own way to craft things, and yes I really think videogames have that kind of handcrafted process from the bottom to the top when the initial ideas is being shaped. That’s the way I feel when I’m just
The spiritual mindset of Japan, minimalistic and careful treatment for everything around them.
The ancient Japanese believed that plants, animals, natural phenomena, and even the terrain itself could possess spirits—known as kami. By venerating, or at least recognizing, these divine beings, believers positioned themselves as part of a much larger natural and supernatural order. A version of these beliefs persists today in the religion of Shinto, which literally translated means “the way of kami.”
I’ve been on Japan at the beginning of this year and you can apply their spiritual vision to many scenarios:
How carefully they serve food
How clean their cars are
How tidy and clean their houses are
So after this introduction of just one of the aspects about the amazing Japanese culture, let’s go back to what we came here for, videogames.
With just 33 Mhz CPU power and 2 MiB of Memory…
Playstation came as the next 3D Generation system built by Sony Computer Entertainment founded in Tokyo (1993. November) a platform with a clear message at his name.
A system is nothing without titles and here is when the care, passion and love they put on everything they do, show us the results.
Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation 1)
Released: December 1999
Platform: Playstation 1
Players: 1-2
Publisher/Dev: Polyphony Digital
One of the fields we can highlight from Japan is their automobile industry, not only because worlwide known brands like Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda are Japanese and they probably have the best automobile engineers.
Cars designed in Japan have won the European Car of the Year, International Car of the Year, and World Car of the Year awards many times. T
They doesn’t only have the best people on the field but we can confirm they are really passionate about engines and mechanic.
Gran turismo series is their ode to automobiles, and yes there are other driving games before Gran turismo 2 and Gran turismo were released, but there are some important aspects they deep into that makes the difference.
The Real Driving Simulator
When you first start Gran Turismo 2 (Simulator Mode) a song with Jazz rythms and high tempo triggers making us feel both relaxed and excited to race at the same time, we can go to take our Licenses, we can also go for some races to earn money and later we can go to the car dealer, the same way we would go on real life. Let’s not forget to wash our cars from time to time.
Those are different activities we can take in whatever order we want, but by your own you will start creating the following loop:
Take driving licenses
Race to earn money
Wash your car =)
Buy your dream cars
Compete again with your new engine
Here is when the The Real Driving Simulator subtitle show the real message behind the game, they are not speaking about the Real Racing Simulator, instead they are connecting with the intention of being a driver. To be a driver we need a license and we need to own a car.
Aesthetics
Kazunori Yamauchi (Current Director of Polyphony digital) is well known for his efforts towards perfection, thinking about each Gran Turismo title released across all the generations they all have something in common, their level of details, effective polygons, lights reflections are insane and above the average.
Kazunori Yamauchi - When we started working on Gran Turismo, I was 25 years old, and I finished it at 29. The creative process of the series has already become part of my own growth as a person and as a professional. When I began developing Gran Turismo, it was just me and a part-time worker. Shortly before finishing it, we were already 15 people.
Kazunori Yamauchi have his own named street in Ronda (Malaga, Spain)
Game Feel
Gran Turismo 2 is really connected to emotions, chemical reactions inside our brain like adrenaline, dopamine (buying new cars!) and being commited to a driving license to be better, improve your technique and success being the best driver.
When you first pick up the controls they immediately feel weighty but precise. Unlike many arcade racers of the late ’90s, the cars don’t whip around with exaggerated responsiveness. Instead, every input carries a sense of mass.
The camera complements this experience in its own way. The chase cam sits just far enough behind the car to give a clear view of the track, but it isn’t completely rigid — it sways slightly with the car’s motion, adding a natural sense of speed and weight.
Switching to the bumper or hood view intensifies the immersion; the car disappears, and you’re left with raw track and motion blur, which makes every mistake feel like your own rather than the game’s fault
The Experience
Gran Turismo Saga (Not only Gran Turismo 2) is about creating a small virtual world where everything moves around driving and they created a celebration for it on each title.
Original Soundtrack.
Metropolitan Vibes for Menus and Relaxed moments.
Rock/Enthusiast for Racing
They tell you the history behind each car manufacturer
Driving License School
Classic, Urban and Modern Sport Cars.
Tuning
Be able to wash your car
Those ingredientes working together are the ones able to create this unique experience with a strong Japanese influence. You can’t find any other Driving game that triggers the same emotions, I can guarantee you that. (The same way there is no other Animal Crossing)
Thank you Kazunori Yamauchi