''Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec'' is a 2001
racing game, the first in the
''Gran Turismo'' series released for the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
. During its demonstration at
E3 2000
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...
and
E3 2001
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...
the game's working title was ''Gran Turismo 2000''. Like its predecessors, the game opened to critical acclaim and was commercial success and went on to become the best-selling game in the series to date and the second best-selling PlayStation 2 game (behind ''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', although it is the best-selling PlayStation 2 exclusive game), selling 14 million copies. It has been listed as one of
the greatest video games of all time.
Gameplay
The objective of the game is to win all the provided races, championships, complete license tests and achieve 100% game completion. Every 25% of the game completed results in the player being awarded a car as a special prize. For ''GT3'', the Gran Turismo Mode (Simulation Mode in the North American version) has a reorganized layout, with a more structured and progressive arrangement of races and challenges. Races vary from short beginner events to multi-hour
endurance races and also rallying events against an opponent. In addition to these modes, car shops are now organized by country and then by manufacturer.
The Arcade Mode is reorganized in "stages"; these stages are made up of 5 or 6 tracks pooled from all available tracks in the game, including both road and rally races. To get to the next stage, all tracks on a stage must be completed on Easy difficulty or higher. By beating the stage on Normal or Difficult, additional cars are unlocked as well for play in any mode of Arcade Mode (including two-player battle and time trial).
''GT3'' features 19 race courses, 14 of which have reverse variants and 4 of which are dirt tracks. Most of these circuits are at fictional locations, but California's
Laguna Seca Raceway
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...
and
Côte d’Azur
The French Riviera (known in French language, French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation "Azure (color), Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official bou ...
(which is heavily based on the
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigio ...
circuit) are not.
Other changes include the omission of the ability to "race modify" or add
downforce
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip ...
to production cars, removal of
suspension damage, and the absence of
torque
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
limits for races.
New to the franchise, ''GT3'' also contained unlicensed versions of six actual
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
cars, labelled as
F686/M,
F687/S,
F688/S,
F090/S,
F094/H and
F094/S (in the Japanese and American versions) that the player could win from endurance races. In the Japanese and American versions, the name of each car denotes various pieces of information (such as the amount of cylinders in the engine, the year the chassis was raced, and its driver, respectively). For example, the aforementioned F094/S was the 10-cylinder, 1994-season car driven by Ayrton Senna, whereas the F686/M represented the 6-cylinder, 1986-season car driven by Nigel Mansell. In the PAL release, however, there were only two F1 cars, not obviously based on any real-life counterparts and instead labelled as Polyphony 001 and 002 respectively.
''GT3'' also marks informal appearances of automakers Lamborghini and Porsche. A racing
JGTC
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...
Lamborghini Diablo was featured in the NTSC-J version (where the car has been cut from NTSC-U copy and being available in NTSC-U copy with a cheat device), and a
Porsche 911 GT3
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS.
The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...
can be found in the game code (though it cannot be obtained normally, and requires the use of a cheat device). Both cars, together with two hidden
Lancia Stratos
The Lancia Stratos HF (''Tipo 829''), widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is a rear mid-engined sports car designed for rally racing, made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for ''High Fidelity''. It was a very succes ...
es (road and rally versions), however, are completely absent in PAL version. Lamborghini would make its first official appearance in 2009's ''
Gran Turismo'' for
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...
, while Porsche made its first official appearance in ''
Gran Turismo Sport
''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 13th game in the '' Gran Turismo'' series, the seventh game in the main series.
O ...
'' for the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...
.
Development and release
![SC06 Aston Martin Vanquish green](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/SC06_Aston_Martin_Vanquish_green.jpg)
The game was developed by
Kazunori Yamauchi, who had developed the first two games. Yamauchi collaborated with computer and game peripheral maker
Logitech
Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe ...
for the game, which resulted in the
GT Force steering wheel. The wheel features force feedback and was designed specifically for ''GT3''.
A demo copy of the game under the working title was issued in the ''PlayStation Festival 2000'', allowing players to drive a
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V in the Seattle Circuit for 120 seconds. The game was more or less a beta version of GT3 named ''Gran Turismo 2000'', that was renamed to GT3 A-Spec due to the fact the game was taking longer to make than planned.
Compared to ''Gran Turismo 2'', the graphics are greatly improved thanks to the PlayStation 2's hardware, but the number of cars has been drastically reduced in this game due to large work onto graphics, cars structure, detailed statistics of all the cars and the game's release being early in the PlayStation 2's lifespan. About 180 cars are featured in this game, rather than 650 in ''GT2''.
A giveaway launched at the release of the game included various prizes in North America; for example, there was a day at the
Skip Barber Racing School, car payments for a month and Gran Turismo themed shirt and hat up for giveaway.
''Gran Turismo Concept''
Due to its critically acclaimed reception, a short version, ''Gran Turismo Concept'', was released in Japan and various parts of the world except North America in 2001 and 2002. It included new models unveiled during famous Asian and European Motor Shows. Upon completing the game, the player was given a save game with all licenses completed and 10,000,000 credits for ''Gran Turismo 3''.
Reception
''Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec'' received "universal acclaim" like its predecessors according to
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
Reviewers lauded its graphics, realism, soundtrack, sound design and controls. Frank O'Connor of ''
NextGen'' called it "The best, most complete, and most impressive driving game so far, lapping its predecessors handily – and the first must-have for PlayStation 2."
In Japan, ''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' gave it a near-perfect score of 39 out of 40.
Sales
In Japan, the game sold 1 million units in its first three days of release. In North America, it shipped units in its first day and became the
fastest-selling software launch in the region. By July 2006, it had sold 3.8 million units and earned in the U.S. alone. ''NextGen'' ranked it as the third highest-selling game launched for the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
,
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...
or
GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. In the United Kingdom, the game received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the
Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association
The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) is a non-profit trade association for the video game industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Ukie was originally founded as the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), and the ...
(ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 600,000 units in the UK. In Europe, the game () in 2001,
adding up to at least more than grossed in the United States (by 2006) and Europe (in 2001).
The game had sold over units worldwide by March 2002, and over by March 2003. As of April 30, 2008, the game has shipped 1.89 million units in Japan, 7.14 million in North America, 5.85 million in Europe, and 10,000 in Southeast Asia, for a total of 14.89 million copies.
It is the highest-selling game in the ''Gran Turismo'' franchise. It is a part of the PlayStation 2's
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
. It ranked fifteenth in the list of
best-selling unbundled console games of all time, just below ''
Wii Fit Plus
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
''.
Awards
''
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' named it the fifth-best
console game
A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...
of 2001, and presented it with a "Best Driving Game" award among console games. It was a runner-up in the "Best PlayStation 2 Game", "Best Sound" and "Best Graphics, Technical" categories. The game won the award for "Console Racing" at the
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
' 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and was a runner-up for the "Console Game of the Year" award, which went to ''
Halo: Combat Evolved''.
Legacy
The game has appeared on some 'Top 100 Games' lists such as that by ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' in 2003. In 2004, readers of ''
Retro Gamer
''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...
'' voted ''Gran Turismo 2'' 97th top retro gamer, with the staff noting that "the mix of realistic handling and superb graphics, not to mention the fact that it features hundreds of licensed vehicles, has won it the admiration of car lovers everywhere. The gameplay may be a little too deep and difficult for many, but for its core followers, ''Gran Turismo'' is the be all and end all of digital racing, and ''GT3'' has been voted as the best of the bunch".
[''Retro Gamer'' 8, page 60.]
References
External links
*
''Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec'' Microsite
*
{{Authority control
2001 video games
Gran Turismo (series)
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation 2-only games
Racing simulators
Rally racing video games
Sony Interactive Entertainment games
Split-screen multiplayer games
Interactive Achievement Award winners
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Daiki Kasho
Video games set in California
Video games set in French Polynesia
Video games set in Monaco
Video games set in Rome
Video games set in Seattle
Video games set in Switzerland
Video games set in Tokyo
Video game sequels
Esports games
BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for Best Games winners
D.I.C.E. Award for Racing Game of the Year winners