DF Retro Marathon: The Gran Turismo Saga - The Classic PS1/PS2 Era Revisited

In a marathon 113 minute video, combining two DF Retro episodes, 'remastered' at 4K, John Linneman goes back in time to the original PlayStation era, revisiting the origins of Polyphony Digital, the debut of the first Gran Turismo on PS1, the evolution of the game and its technology onto PS2 - plus how industry rivals scrambled to compete with The Real Driving Simulator.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:48 - Chapter 1 - The Birth of Sim Racing
00:08:57 - Chapter 2 - The Real Driving Simulator
00:21:40 - Chapter 3 - Of Mecha and Men
00:28:38 - Chapter 4 - The Perfect Sequel
00:43:08 - Chapter 5 - PlayStation 2
00:55:37 - Chapter 6 - Polyphony Unleashed
01:16:15 - Chapter 7 - Driving the Next Generation
01:34:44 - Chapter 8 - Fourth Gear

[FelixS.]

Gran turismo 3 (and later 5) were the only instances I can remember playing with my father who always despised video games. But seeing those graphics and realism as a car enthusiast he was unable to step away from it and even came to my room from time to time asking me to play some rounds with him. This was so precious to me I will never ever forget those moments and I will love the gran turismo series for those moments alone for ever.

[JamesDeColling]

I worked on both Lemans 24 Hours and Grand Prix Challenge (Melbourne House)....when we managed to get a copy of GT3 (ran it on a tool with an elf file...good ol days) it was amazing...depressed us all at the same time too hah.

on a side note, also worked on PGR3/4 (bizarre creations)...moving to PGR3 after grand prix challenge was crazy. we used to use 3500-4500 polys on PS2...suddenly 100k per car on Xbox360

[theresdentevil]

The Jump in Graphics from PS1 to PS2 really is staggering.

[charlyy]

Gran Turismo 4 was insane. The amount of content available was mindblowing, such a cool game. Via pcsx2 emulator at 4k it still looks awesome as well

[Poorgeniu]

I remember GT6 screenshot to it to photography class and they mistaken it for IRL photo impressively considering it was when GT Sport was out for a while, and its rendered on last gen (at the time) that is the PS3! Additionally, screenshots taken in GT4 to GT7 will have its EXIF data filled like a real camera but with Polyphony Digital as the camera brand and the game's title as the model.

[lievenvv]

We crammed into a tiny VW Golf (aka Rabbit) with 4 guys on our way to play Gran Turismo at a friend's house. I was in the passenger's seat being crushed by a massive CRT, wedged in between my lap, my face and the dashboard. Thanks to link mode, the bruises were totally worth it 👍

[Owlero]

For those concerned about these compilations not being _new, _ John just recently visited the kings of retro content, My Life in Gaming, so we're basically guaranteed more DF Retro videos soon.

[FitzGeraldGamingJr]

I still have all my original GT 4 Photos, I saved to a USB stick. Great game

[chrismitchell]

What?! That BLEEM image looks incredible. It's like magic.

[TheRealShedLife]

I also love how John films himself in this low-contrast 80s-like mode, complete with 80s jacket; John is just being brilliant, predictably. This was such a wonderful trip down memory lane

[Gounen]

Wow, what a nostalgia trip! I remember playing on the PlayStation with an old friend of mine and we would take turns racing with a focus on trying to make the coolest looking replay-back - which we would always watch at the time lol.

[TheEternalprayer]

Please do a part 3 soon, I would love a full breakdown of the GT HD, GT5 Prologue, GT5 and GT6 in the future!

[djtomoy]

Gran Turismo always reminds me of the time I was middle aged Japanese man hanging out at coffee shops, listening to smooth jazz, smoking a lot and washing my car every now and then.

[NightOfTheLivingbit]

My memories are attached to GT1 & 2.
My uncle who is a big car guy, never liked video games - still doesn’t.
But when he saw me first playing GT1…he was blown away.
We would have race nights every week and eventually one of his friends got in on it.
Then when GT2 released, it upped the ante even more.

I know everyone usually loves GT3 more, but I think that’s an age thing.

[DarkKnight]

Such fond memories of GT3 A-Spec and GT4.

[smash]

Me and my bro always used to say "squint your eyes and it looks real."

[Canma]

I started playing GT4 again on my PC on the PCSX2 emulator and I must say the game is holding up amazingly well for a 2004/05 release. I love it!

[TheRealShedLife]

I remember not caring about GT or GT2 until I saw a display of it, and it showed the cars' physics, dipping and moving, the suspension being activated, something I'd modeled as a kid, with toy cars. When I saw that I could purchase something like this and do it, I was ecstatic. And still remain so.

[irishxero]

While I can only go by memory, I remember reading a preview of Gran Turismo three in PSW back in the day and they mentioned the reason Gran Turismo 3 had fewer cars was because it took two weeks to render rather than the PS1 games only took a day

[dynamoog]

so much childhood memories!
big thank you, DF for the crazy amount of effort they put into these videos!

THANK YOU!