PS4 racing game “Gran Turismo SPORT” (hereafter: GT Sport) enthusiast YouTube channel “GTsport Broadcast Station” MC Rico Otsuka and GT Sport player Tatsuya Sugawara interview. We delivered the first half of the article recently, and this time it’s the latter half. Please enjoy.

GT and Real Cars

By the way, what should we call online racing?

Rico: Sugawara-kun and I have seriously discussed this, but it’s surprisingly tricky.

Sugawara: Generally, the term eSports is widespread, but from our perspective, GT Sport feels different from typical eSports. Still, since it’s under the broad umbrella of gaming, for simplicity’s sake, calling it eSports is fine, I guess.

Rico: There are many ways to think about it, aren’t there?

Are real car races and virtual races completely different things?

Sugawara: Yes. I believe you shouldn’t compare games and real cars with the same yardstick. They’re totally different.

I’ve watched races since I was little, so I have knowledge about real cars, but it’s unthinkable that I’d be invited to commentate on real races, right?

But the reverse happens quite often.

Some pro racers are “dual wielders” who do both gaming and real racing, so I understand their commentary, but when someone with zero gaming knowledge talks only from real car experience, it feels very off.

Also, we don’t intend to compete with real cars, but sometimes real racers blatantly look down on us, saying, “It’s just a game, after all!”

But I think it’s not about which is superior or inferior. They simply can’t be compared.

Rico: There’s still a strong image in society that “real cars are more impressive.”

GT Sport’s cars look and behave realistically, so some people treat it like real cars. Others think, “Real car races are amazing; GT Sport is just a copy of real cars,” but as Sugawara-kun says, games and real cars are completely different.

Real car racing is, of course, incredible! But virtual racing has its own unique appeal. It’s important to see them as entirely different sports.

Sugawara: The real racing world is either a business or funded by wealthy individuals. Just entering a race costs a lot of money, so even if you want to participate, it’s not that easy.

On the other hand, anyone can join GT, and even if you invest in gaming equipment, you can start with about 100,000 to 200,000 yen. That’s less than the cost of a cheap used car in real life.

Also, real cars have maintenance costs, but in GT, once you have your setup, tires don’t wear out, cars don’t break from crashes, and no one gets hurt. If anything, it’s just the electricity bill (laughs).

I think the amazing thing about GT is that it dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for motorsports. It’s revolutionary.

Indeed, it’s amazing that people of all ages and genders from around the world can participate. Are there other unique appeals of GT?

Sugawara: I think the fun of GT is that you can compete purely based on driving skill.

In real car “one-make races,” it’s said that “all machines have no performance differences,” but in reality, there are quite a few differences. Perfect equal conditions don’t exist in real cars.

But since GT is data-based, it’s easy to achieve equal machine conditions. You compete purely on driving skill. That’s why it’s fun, and that’s a fundamental difference from real cars.

It’s not about better or worse, simply, real cars and GT are different.

Also, GT is a game, but unlike Mario Kart, you can’t drop bananas or anything, right? (laughs)

Sugawara: Exactly (laughs). Among eSports, GT is very unique. It has no game-like elements at all. Other games have items and game mechanics.

Like you said, in Mario Kart, you can drop banana peels to trip up the leader and overtake them, but GT has none of that.

So playing GT with school friends isn’t very fun. I always win, and they never can, so they say, “This is boring” (laughs).

I think there are few games where skill differences show as much as in GT.

Rico: I bought GT for the first time this year and have been learning from Sugawara-kun as my mentor. But I always think, “He must find it boring to put up with someone this bad… I feel sorry.”

So sometimes we play tag or drive the wrong way, making up our own weird rules to have fun (laughs). That’s also part of GT’s fun.

GT Sport is a gentleman’s game… it values sportsmanship, right?

Rico: Yes. In most eSports categories, the winner is the one who defeats the opponent. So, even if you use items or tricks, if you beat the opponent, you win.

But GT is different. It works because everyone races with sportsmanship.

Sugawara: Right. In other games, you don’t need to care about your opponent. But GT is different.

You’re required to respect your opponents while racing.

For example, during braking, you could intentionally not slow down and crash into the car ahead, or bump an opponent to overtake during a battle. Unlike real cars, nothing breaks and no one’s life is at risk, so you could do anything if you wanted.

That’s why we must respect each other and race based on trust for the race to work.

In tournaments, the same members often race together repeatedly. So if you don’t respect others, they’ll block your racing line in another race, and it will come back to you.

I’ve seen many players ruin relationships with others due to rough driving. So it’s important to respect others.

It’s more fun that way, and winning with dirty driving doesn’t make me happy (at least).