May 16, 2005 - If Polyphony Digital's spectacular Vision Gran Turismo trailer from Sony's PlayStation 3 unveiling is any indication, then driving fans are in for a real treat. Shown near the end of an already-impressive lineup of trailers, the 90-second teaser showed off some truly impressive car models and environmental effects. Though not an incredible leap over those of Gran Turismo 4, the hi-res automobiles still had plenty of cool effects and goodies (high-end normal mapping anyone?). Our theory is that for the purposes of this demo Polyphony just imported cars from GT4 and gave them the old "added effects treatment" via the added PS3 power.
The most impressive aspect of the trailer, though, was how detailed the environments and objects were. Scenes that boasted people, for example, were extremely realistic -- with individually animated pit crews, cheering audiences, and and more. Each character even had individual texture sets and lighting bonuses, and to say that the result was imposing in an understatement. Luckily the backgrounds were just as cool, with awesome Monaco-inspired street levels and a vast El Capitan canyon stage that looked eerily realistic.
To see the first video and screenshots of Vision Gran Turismo for yourself, just click on our media page below. We'll be back with more impressions rather soon.
