SEMA Highlights, Day 2

What a way to start off the day at SEMA!

Transported to the opulent Wynn Hotel by private courier, I entered the marble, glass, rare wood and snooty bellhop resort I worried more about my cheap shoes and bad haircut than I usually do. There was a Russian trophy wife hanging around the lobby whose belt and bag together were probably worth more than I'll see in two years.

Whisked into a plush elevator and into a private suite, I began to worry I'd hit a velvet rope and this interview would be over. Instead, the fashionista/PR types graciously invited me into the suite, which overlooked the Western U.S. All of it, I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, my subject was Kazunori Yamauchi, Japanese automotive designer and superstar Gran Turismo creator and designer. We are here to discuss, through the assistance of a translator, Gran Turismo 5. Besides updating the graphic quality to epic, breathtaking levels, the game features 50 different cars and allows for up to 16 racers at a time. What all the interwebs are talking about, however, is the inclusion of the Nissan GT-R in all its rare glory.

Nissan, like most automakers, fully cooperated with the programmers and designers of GT5 to make their representative high performance cars look and drive as much like the real thing as possible. Toward this end, the GT5 team took a Nissan GT-R on the Nurburgring at top speed, clocking in at exactly 7:08. Disbelieving types at Nissan repeated the test and came in at exactly 7:08. We needed no translator to read the excitement in Kazunori's face when he relayed this experience.

The designer went on to describe the downloadable preview of GT5, available only in Japan. The Nissan GT-R was listed under the cars as "Coming Soon", until the car debuted in Tokyo. That moment, engineers revealed the car in the game and players that otherwise might not ever get in spitting distance of the GT-R were racing it in GT5.

I don't have the game, it's still preview and I am a lowly journalist. However, I do have video. Ask nicely and I might provide it here.

Stay Tuned for Day 3!