This blog entry contains some thoughts of mine in regards to the possibility of expanding GT5's motorsports hierarchy a bit more. You may have seen my videos about if other international locales will help expand Gran Turismo's worldwide view a touch more. I'm going to use insight to help offer views of what if a national and/or international championship would enhance the Gran Turismo a touch more.
--- Championship Racing: Perspective ---
The game for perspective as far as geographical region championships go is "ToCA World Touring Cars." I chose not to use the American name ("Jarrett and LaBonte Stock Car Racing"), simply because you're marketing touring cars to be like stock cars. That's not right. But because a NASCAR name is given, it increases its value in the US. Shame. Anyhow, on to the real point of this.
ToCA World Touring Cars allowed you the opportunity to race around the world with various cars around the world. In Career Mode, you have seven National-level championships, three International championships, and one World championship. Each of those championships had their own cars available for you to race within each championship. The National-level championships are as follows:
* North American Championship (United States and Canada)
* South and Central American Championship (Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina (mostly Latin America))
* British Championship (United Kingdom)
* German (Germany and Austria)
* Mediterranean Championship (Spain, France, and Italy)
* Japanese Championship (Japan)
* Australian (Australia)
You need to gain enough points to enter the International races. Those races include:
* Pan-American Championship (United States, Canada, and Latin America)
* European Championship (United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, and Italy)
* Asia-Pacific Championship (Japan and Australia)
And finally, you take on a worldwide schedule. This will likely include cars and tracks from the world over.
The Gran Turismo series has matured in a way that there is more an international presence in selectable cars and different tracks to race. Most people who are usually critical of the GT series has talked so much about how there's too much Japan and not enough of other countries represented in GT. It's mostly understandable to have a touch of bias in what kinds of courses are usually shown. Polyphony Digital is Japanese, so there's a bias towards Japanese more than American or European cars and tracks. Yet, I see very few complain of British bias in Codemasters. Some people, I swear, have some kind of "always hate Japan" mentality. I don't get it.
--- Can Proper Regional and National Championships be Possible in GT5? ---
To have proper regional championships, you need a variety of courses based in various locations. A rule I go by is that you need at least three tracks from one nation or international region to have a proper championship in a video game.
To use Gran Turismo 4, here are some international championships that are possible on tarmac circuits. And I will use hypothetical names:
--- GT4 Regionals ---
* American Championship
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, Seattle, and El Capitan)
* European Championship
(Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)
* French Championship
(both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Opera Paris, Cote d'Azur, and George V. Paris)
* Continental European Championship
(Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi)
* Japanese Championship
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba)
* Asia-Pacific
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, and Seoul)
--- GT4 Internationals ---
I will use "Pan-America" to mean both North and South America, even though all the North American races in GT4 take place in America.
* Pan-America vs. Mediterranean
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, Seattle, El Capitan, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)
* Mediterranean vs. Asia-Pacific
(both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, and Tsukuba)
* Asia-Pacific vs. Pan-America
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, Seoul, Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, Seattle, El Capitan, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Opera Paris, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)
What if you could combine all real-world courses and locales from past GT games including some from Tourist Trophy and GT5: Prologue? This would be your end result:
--- GT Regionals ---
* American Championship
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, both Seattle versions, El Capitan, and both Daytona configurations)
* European Championship
(Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, both London configurations, and Eiger Nordwand)
* French Championship
(both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Opera Paris, Cote d'Azur, and George V. Paris)
* Italian Championship
(both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)
* Mediterranean Championship (including Tourist Trophy)
(Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo (Valencia), Opera Paris, George V. Paris, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, Eiger Nordwand, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, Citta di Aria, and Costa di Amalfi)
* Japanese Championship
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba)
* Asia-Pacific
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tahiti Road)
--- GT Internationals ---
I will use "Pan-America" to mean both North and South America, even though all the North American races in GT4 take place in America. Mediterrenean mostly pertains to mostly all European courses, though I have had ideas of European and African courses in GT5. Asia-Pacific mostly pertains to Asia (including Japan), though I seriously wish to see events in Australasia (mostly Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand). Asia-Pacific may also mean if any other venues on Pacific islands are possible.
* Pan-America vs. Mediterranean
(Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, both Seattle versions, El Capitan, both Daytona configurations, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, both London configurations, and Eiger Nordwand)
* Mediterranean vs. Asia-Pacific
(Nürburgring Nordschleife, Opera Paris, George V. Paris, both versions of Circuit de la Sarthe, Cote d'Azur, Citta di Aria, Costa di Amalfi, Grindelwald, both Rome Circuit configurations, Rome-Night, both London configurations, Eiger Nordwand, Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, and Tsukuba)
* Asia-Pacific vs. Pan-America
(Tokyo R246, all Motegi configurations, all Suzuka configurations, all Fuji configurations, Tsukuba, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tahiti Road, Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, Laguna Seca, New York, both Seattle versions, El Capitan, and both Daytona configurations)
As a little note, various cars can be entered into such championships. So for the Asia-Pacific vs. Pan-American championship, you may not be able to bring your BMW Z4 to compete unless there are specifications prohibiting certain nationalities of car from entering. But for the most part, I have this all in the basis of any nationality of car being acceptable to race. Then again, one could make the case that it wouldn't be very fair to enter a Japanese car into a Pan-American vs. Mediterranean championship. Your call.
--- Solidifying an International Championship Base for GT5 ---
Polyphony Digital will need to come up with more new courses for GT5. The key areas are in some places that have never been featured in a GT game (and may make good locations for events): Canada, Latin America, Scandinavia, Africa, Middle East, South and Southeast Asia (excluding Hong Kong), China, Australasia, and (maybe) Polynesia. A cheap way to get more racing out of such locales would be to find a track that can have multiple configurations. The Motegi tracks and Suzuka configurations are prime examples.
--- Do Nationalities of Car Represented in GT Need Suitable Venues in Their Native Lands? ---
I think to enhance the international appeal, you need to have venues for that specific nation. Every nationality of car needs at least one track from that nation for a proper "home field advantage." Look at GT4. America's completely represented, Japan has LOTS of tracks, France has a good deal of GT courses, Germany has a venue (by the way, if they are going to have the Nürburgring Nordschleife, at least include the Nürburgring F1 circuit just so that you aren't forced to race the super-long Nordschleife all the time), Italy is represented fairly, and even South Korea has representation. GT4's car nationalities without a track in each nation includes the United Kingdom, Denmark (Spyker), Spain (SEAT), Belgium (Gillet), Sweden (Volvo), and Australia.
For the unrepresentated nations, an effort to find various courses would be a great idea. The United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia have lots of courses. As for places like Belgium and Sweden, you have two options: put them into seperate championships, or incorporate both countries and try to find some suitable racing locales. So you might use Belgium for some German racing action like at Spa-Francorchamps or Zolder. You may include Sweden for some Swedish venues (like Mantorp Park or Anderstorp), or you may include some Finnish or Norwegian tracks for a Scandinavian Championship. Australia is a special case. You may have racing in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The best thing to do here is to look for Australian venues while also looking for a New Zealand venue or two.
So indeed PD will need some more venues to sweeten an already tasty pot.
I may edit this post to include more information. But for right now, that concludes my commentary on proper regional racing both in national and international region settings.
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