How Shuhei Yoshida saved Gran Turismo: the first game may have been too realistic for players

Gran Turismo has long been a symbol of PlayStation, but few people know that at the start, the cult series could have remained a niche game for hardcore car simulation fans. Former president of PlayStation Studios Shuhei Yoshida shared the story of how his advice changed the fate of the first part of the game - and possibly the entire franchise.

Here's What We Know

At the beginning of Gran Turismo development, the game's creator Kazunori Yamauchi was literally obsessed with the idea of maximum realism. The prototype of the game that Yoshida was one of the first to see was impressive in its detail, but it was so complicated that even experienced players could not complete the first turn - all the testers crashed their cars at the start. Yoshida, who was a producer at the time, not a game designer, advised Yamauta to make the controls more friendly to a wider audience, but at first the developer did not take these comments seriously.

To make sure he was right, Yamauta invited about thirty players to test the game. The result was predictable: no one could complete the first turn without crashing. It was then that Yamauti recognised that Yoshida was right and decided to "soften" the simulator, making the game more accessible to the masses. This approach was the key to the success of Gran Turismo on the first PlayStation.

Yoshida admits that he considers this story to be one of his most important contributions to the development of PlayStation: "In a way, I like to think that I partially saved Gran Turismo's fate and played a small part in its success."

Source: PlayStation Inside