Gran Turismo is a series of driving simulators developed by Polyphony Digital for the PlayStation systems, Gran Turismo simulators are intended to emulate the appearance and performance of a large selection of vehicles, most of which are licensed reproductions of real-world automobiles. Since the franchise's debut in 1997, over 90 million units have been sold worldwide, making it the best selling driving simulator under the PlayStation brand. The series has partnerships with Japan Race Promotion, Brembo, Michelin, Mazda, Toyota Gazoo Racing, BBS, and Fanatec. The series uses data from car companies and real-life races for its car physics simulation. It is also used as a concept car simulator for many car manufacturers. In 2023, a film was made about the series, and it became a sport for the Olympic Esports with the backing of the FIA.
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.
TOCA Race Driver 3 is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable and OS X. It is the sixth game in the TOCA series. The game features several fully licensed championships, including the DTM series and V8 Supercar championship. This is the last in the series to have TOCA in its title as following on from this TOCA was dropped in favour of just Race Driver, which later became the Grid series. Despite featuring the name TOCA in its title, the game did not feature the British Touring Car Championship. The game received positive reviews, frequently being compared favourably to Gran Turismo 4 and Forza Motorsport, in the aspects of cars on track, collision and wear damage.
TOCA Race Driver is a 2002 racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for PlayStation 2, Windows and Xbox. It is the fourth game in the TOCA series. The racing elements of the game continued to receive positive reviews and the game went straight to number one in the UK game charts. Xbox and PC conversions followed in March 2003, with a further Xbox version released several months later at budget price adding Xbox Live support.
TOCA Race Driver 2 is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Xbox, Windows, PlayStation 2, Mobile and PlayStation Portable. It is the fifth game in the TOCA series.
TOCA: Touring Car Championship is a 3D racing video game licensed by series organisers TOCA, and developed and published by Codemasters for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows platforms in 1997-1998. It was re-released by Codemasters for the Game Boy Color in 2000. It was the first entry in the eponymous series and was followed by TOCA 2 Touring Cars in 1998. The player takes control of a driver who races for one of the eight works teams that contested the 1997 British Touring Car Championship against fifteen AI competitors on one of the nine championship circuits. A championship mode is available for players with the objective of earning points to continue competing and unlocking new features.
TOCA World Touring Cars is a 2000 racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for PlayStation and Game Boy Advance. It is the third game in the TOCA series.
A number of video games have been made of Le Mans 24 Hours. The race, the Circuit de la Sarthe, and competing cars have been featured in racing games such as the Gran Turismo series.
Gran Turismo is a 1997 racing simulation video game developed by Japan Studio's Polys Entertainment and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was directed by Kazunori Yamauchi and produced by Shuhei Yoshida. It is the first game in the Gran Turismo series.
TOCA 2: Touring Cars is a British racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the second game in the TOCA series, based on the 1998 season of the British Touring Car Championship. Mainly an annual franchise update of cars and tracks, the game added more detailed graphics, physics, multiplayer modes and other minor features. Realistic tracks were added, and support races such as Ford Fiestas, Formula Ford and others also arrived. The level of car damage possible during a race was also enhanced, which was a significant selling point compared with the likes of Gran Turismo which had no damage model at the time.
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is a racing game developed by Eutechnyx and published by System 3, based on the Ferrari Challenge, a single-marque motorsport championship. The game features 14 playable tracks and Ferrari's own Fiorano test track, a vinyl editor and online play for all versions except the PS2. The Nintendo DS version, developed by Firebrand Games, features wireless multiplayer and the Wii version utilizes Wii Remote steering and support for the Wii Wheel. The game primarily features the driving and racing of the Ferrari F430 Challenge, along with a series of Ferrari road and racing cars that can be unlocked.
Race Driver: Grid is a 2008 racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, arcade, Java ME and OS X. It is the first game in the Grid series.
Race Driver: Create & Race is a racing video game developed by Firebrand Games and published by Codemasters exclusively for Nintendo DS. It is part of the TOCA / Race Driver series.
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters in 2009, first for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360, and then later for PC platforms. It is the sequel to Colin McRae: Dirt. Dirt 2 is the first game in the series since McRae's death in 2007 and the last to feature his name in the title. It is also the first and only game in the series to be available on a Nintendo home console and the last game in the series to be released on handhelds.
Jann Mardenborough is a British professional racing driver. In 2011 he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants to earn a professional racing contract with Nissan. He had no previous motorsport experience, having played sim racing video games instead. During his career, he has finished on the podium in his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won races and contended for titles in GT3 and junior formula cars, and competed at the highest level in Super GT, Super Formula and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Gran Turismo 6 is a 2013 racing simulation video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth main installment and the eleventh overall in the Gran Turismo series. It was released worldwide on December 6, 2013. It was met with positive reception and was a financial success. New features included the addition of more cars and tracks, improvements to the car customisation options, and partnerships with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Ayrton Senna Institute, the FIA and NASCAR. Gran Turismo 6 is the first game to feature officially FIA-certified content.
There have been numerous video games which have included the drivers, teams, cars and circuits from the Supercars Championship, the leading touring car category in Australia. Several of these games were officially licensed by Supercars. From 2011 to 2014, an online championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing. In 2017, Supercars launched an esports competition, now known as the Supercars Eseries, using Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Motorsport 7 until 2018 and iRacing from 2019.
Gran Turismo Sport is a 2017 racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is the twelfth game in the Gran Turismo series, the seventh game in the main series.
Grid is the racing video game series developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts. It serves as the successor of TOCA Race Driver series.
