Haven't seen this posted yet. Report OP if old.
And yes, I went for the title which would cause the most fuss.
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/298n04/i_am_kazunori_yamauchi_the_video_game_designer/
On fantasy Tracks:
I'd like to have a lot of those tracks back in the game as well, but I guess you can say that even our production teams ride certain trends when they're working. One of those is that we started out with all fantasy tracks when we first created Gran Turismo. But once the teams started researching methods of creating real tracks, that became the focus of their work, and less work was done on those fantasy tracks.
Though I think real, existing tracks are important, I also think that fully designed tracks are also very interesting and have their own place so I think that's something to look for in GT7.
On what games he likes:
Recently I like games like Angry Birds and Plants & Zombies.
On sound updates:
The major update to the sound will be coming in GT7, so don't expect anything on that front from the July update.
On other racings sports:
I actually love the F1 / Grand Prix. But that's really a driver's sport. There's some distance there to actually making that into a game, but who knows -- you might just discover it all of a sudden.
In the collaboration that was announced with the FIA, my objective now is to really revitalize and reconstruct motorsports. That's also the dream of the FIA chairman and so that's the goals that we're working toward.
The last message in the FIA press conference was that this is for the expansion and prosperity of motorsports for the next 100 years. That's exactly it -- I've always wanted motorsports to become as popular as football or soccer and my feelings haven't changed regarding that.
On Polyphony's relationship with car manufacturers:
The relationship between Nissan and Polyphony is an old one. Probably starting around 1999 around GT2. And as you know, the hero car of GT1 and GT2 was of course, the GT-R. Back then it was the R32 and R33 GT-Rs. The package was a R33 GT-R and the Toyota Supra.
I was myself a GT-R owner, so there were personal reasons for wanting a collaboration or partnership. And really that led into a deep relationship. It's not companies or corporations that make friends -- it's the people that make friends. Friendships then lead into taking on projects together.
So it's the same with the G33 or the R35 -- it's really -- they're all projects that came from the friendship between myself and Shiro.
In regards to any obstacles with adding any detail, there's no single obstacle that gets in the way. It's really a lot of work for everyone involved. There are diligent efforts to make it happen.
This is a good opportunity so I want to really emphasize there's an incredible amount of work to make this happen. A designer works for six months straight to bring a single model into the game. So undoubtedly, these designers are the ones who really support Gran Turismo.
On whether he'd like any other manufacturers in GT7 which he can't get in:
Yes. Porsche.
That's also not an issue between Polyphony Digital and Porsche.
On his favourite real-world car:
I think my answer kind of overlaps with Shiro a bit. Right now the car I really like driving the most is the Nissan GT-R GT3. It's a car that only weighs 1350 Kg with 650 HP turbo engine and it's rear-wheel drive, so it's actually very challenging to drive.
On Photo mode:
Gran Turismo actually really reflects my personal interests -- cars, photography, and video/film. So photo mode is something that's very important to me. So obviously I'm not pleased with the current rendition.
And I know how good it was in GT4, but it just so happened that the architecture of the PS3 wasn't really suited for this feature. But in PS4, I'm going to try to make sure that there's a photo mode that can satisfy any connoisseur of photography and you can really look forward to that -- because as a photographer, I'm really not satisfied with what we have yet.
On future Gran Turismo games:
So regarding the next generation PS4 and beyond, there's always ongoing research going forward at Polyphony Digital and Sony. There might be some technologies that may change the world and until recently I was thinking that video games might reach a saturation point but I found out that there's much more to come and much more to look forward to in terms of technology of the future -- not that I can discuss any details right now.
On his inspiration to make games:
My starting to create games was really a coincidence from the beginning. I'd always dreamed of becoming a movie director. When I was young, seeing Sony purchase Columbia, I figured that working for a company that owned a theater company would allow me to become that. But it just so happened that I was assigned to a new team making video games.
In terms of making the games, I'd started fiddling with code at the age of ten, but that was really just a hobby, I never meant for it -- or thought -- it would become my life's work.
