Kazunori Yamauchi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kazunori Yamauchi
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Yamauchi at the 30th International Automobile Festival in Paris, in 2015
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| Born | August 5, 1967 Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
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| Employer | Polyphony Digital |
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Notable work
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Gran Turismo series |
Kazunori Yamauchi (山内 一典, Yamauchi Kazunori, born August 5, 1967), often called "Kaz", is a Japanese game designer and a professional racing driver. He is the head of Polyphony Digital, a company that makes video games. He is best known for creating the super popular Gran Turismo video game series. These games are famous for being very realistic driving simulators.
Polyphony Digital and Gran Turismo
Kazunori Yamauchi became the president of Polyphony Digital after making his first game, Motor Toon Grand Prix. This game was a fun, cartoon-style racing game, a bit like Mario Kart. Later, a sequel called Motor Toon Grand Prix 2 was released. This was the only game in that series to be sold outside of Japan.
After these games, Yamauchi focused on his big dream: making very realistic driving games. This led to the hugely successful Gran Turismo series. These games let players experience what it's like to drive many different cars on famous race tracks. While he mostly makes racing games, Polyphony Digital also released a space shoot 'em up game called Omega Boost in 1999. This was his only game outside of racing.
Because Gran Turismo became so popular, Yamauchi became an important person in the car world. His company, Polyphony Digital, even worked with Nissan to design a special screen for the R35 GT-R car. This screen shows the driver important information like how much G-force the car is pulling or how fast they are going. The GT-R car and its special screen appear in many Gran Turismo games, including Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo 6, Gran Turismo Sport, and Gran Turismo 7. Nissan even gave him a GT-R car because of his help!
Yamauchi has said that his favorite car design is the Ford GT. He actually owns two of them in real life. A documentary film about Gran Turismo and Yamauchi, called Kaz: Pushing the Virtual Divide, was released in 2014.
Racing Adventures
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Kazunori Yamauchi isn't just a game designer; he's also a real-life racing driver! He has competed in several tough endurance races.
In August 2009, he raced in the VLN series at the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife track in Germany. He drove a Lexus IS-F and even set the fastest lap time for his team, helping them win their class. He returned to the Nürburgring in 2010 for the challenging 24 Hours of Nürburgring race. His team finished 4th in their class.
In December 2009, Yamauchi raced in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in the United States. He drove a Spoon Sports Honda Civic Type R. Even with some pit stops for car adjustments, his team finished 7th in their class and 23rd overall out of many cars.
He continued to race at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. In 2011, he drove a Nissan GT-R and his team won their class, finishing 36th overall. He returned in 2012 with a Nissan GT-R again and won his class for the second time, finishing 30th overall.
Yamauchi also raced a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 in the 2013 and 2014 24 Hours of Nürburgring races. In 2014, his team had a much smoother race and finished an impressive 14th overall. In 2016, he switched to a BMW M6 GT3 for the Nürburgring 24 Hour race, finishing 22nd overall.
Awards and Recognition
Kazunori Yamauchi has received many honors for his work.
In 2013, a street in the city of Ronda, Spain, was named after him. It's called "Paseo de Kazunori Yamauchi." The mayor of Ronda said that his work has a huge impact on people and that his games are like art and technology combined.
In 2015, he received the "Grand Prize of Creativity" at the 30th International Automobile Festival in Paris. This award recognized his important contributions to the car industry.
In 2017, he was given an honorary degree in vehicle engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy. This is a special award given to people who have made great achievements.
Yamauchi even made a small appearance in the 2023 movie Gran Turismo. In the film, he played a sushi chef, while another actor played a fictional version of him.
See also
In Spanish: Kazunori Yamauchi para niños
