Well for one thing, there aren't many simulation car racing games to feature motorcycles. Featuring both cars and motorcycles in Gran Turismo would mean there would be more options for people to race and use. Take the 1.2K vehicles in Gran Turismo 6 and take the motorcycles from the first Tourist Trophy, and you are looking at a total of about 1.3K total vehicles to race with. You would be able to have some extra replay value by having more machines to race with and compete in more events. Also, imagine the different online types who would want to set up car vs. motorcycle races.
Why would anyone want motorcycles be featured in Gran Turismo and not in Tourist Trophy? A number of fans of Tourist Trophy either want or wouldn't mind a sequel. If Tourist Trophy doesn't get a sequel, you have a number of fans who wouldn't mind doing motorcycle racing AND car racing through Gran Turismo. In fact, there are courses in Gran Turismo 6 that I wouldn't mind race on with a motorcycle as opposed to a car. I would (for example) enjoy racing Circuito de Sierra on a Ducati 999R. I have had no problem with karts in Gran Turismo since they were introduced in Gran Turismo 5. There are no issues of mine with karts, so what would make including motorcycles any different?
With all of this said, let's look at some of the finer details of this deal.
Can Cars and Motorcycles Coexist? Motorcycle Considerations
This section focuses on what has to happen for motorcycles to be great in a future GT should a GT include motorcycles. These are among many different ideas to take note of. Consider the following...
• Update the Ancient Lineup!
For one thing, the lineup of motorcycles need to be completely updated from Tourist Trophy. Tourist Trophy was released back in January 2006- a LOT of motorcycles have been created and sold since then. I can give you a Ducati example. The Ducati 999R was the hottest Ducati back around 2006. These days, it is the Ducati Panigale R. I would even rock a Desmosedici RR around almost any GT6 course. I wonder would it would be like being on a superbike going around Bathurst. I also kind of wonder what it would be like taking a superbike around the loop of the Cape Ring tracks. I'm sure you'd have to do a whole lot of leaning. But then again, it would probably be no different from racing the back end of Suzuka Circuit heading into Spoon Curve.
I would also add a few more motorcycles for diversity. I would even go as far as to have some touring motorcycles and some sport tourer motorcycles (like the Ducati Multistrada). Maybe you want to go full speed in a Honda Goldwing around a city course. The series will have to look into some more brands. This set should include other motorcycle makers as well as maybe a few oddball motorcycles. Think of companies like Bimota, Moto Guzzi, Gilera, Derbi, Vespa, Peraves, Piaggio, Campagna Motorsports (maker of the T-Rex three-wheel motorcycle), and yes- even BRP Can-Am. Yeah- imagine riding the Can-Am Spyder around a course in a Gran Turismo! You could even envision racing in some unconventional motorcycle like the Peraves Monotracer or the Piaggio MP3. Don't forget also the Lotus C-01 concept motorcycle. Only uncertainty would be the insane Dodge Tomahawk concept motorcycle- that four-wheel motorcycle powered by a Dodge/SRT Viper engine.
• Suit Them Well
If motorcycles are featured in a future Gran Turismo, you need to have courses and course layouts to better suit motorcycles. Some courses meant for cars can be quite dangerous for motorcycle riding. That's why some courses in Tourist Trophy can't be raced on with other bikes on the course. Some courses have alternate layouts and certain additions to better suit motorcycles. These usually feature courses with extra chicanes or something. Some courses would be just fine to have bikes race around them. You could put scooters around Kart Space or maybe middleweight/supersport bikes around Gran Turismo Arena.
One negative to motorcycle racing is that some races can be declared as dry races or wet races. So often times, you don't have the luxury of going from dry weather tires to wet weather tires as easily as you could with a car. You basically have to go from one bike to another in the event of a race that goes from dry to wet or wet to dry. That is among many other things to consider in making realistic motorcycle racing within the Gran Turismo realm.
Just as much as there are Licenses to acquire for cars, you have to make the motorcycle experience interesting by going with Licenses like in Tourist Trophy.
• Race 'em Hard
You need to have proper motorcycle racing with standing starts. I don't know of certain motorcycle racing series where races are done from a Rolling Start. Tourist Trophy had four bikes to a track (including yours). It would be an embarrassment if you didn't have at least six motorcycles to a track considering the power of the PlayStation 3 or the PlayStation 4. I say put 16 motorcycles on the track at once. If you can, have 20 or more. The Rolling Starts sort of make you wonder
If Polyphony Digital wanted to try something new with adding more kinds of motorcycle racing, they could look into any number of race types, including (but not limited to): supercross and motocross, supermoto, sidecar racing, endurance racing, and the like. A number of courses in Gran Turismo 6 have time and weather variable conditions. I also wonder how you would apply things like crashes and crash damage. Motorcycles can be absolutely destroyed in the event of crashes. It isn't like a car where you could probably have one of your tires suffer a puncture or you lose the rear wing of a car and still keep on going. Crashes are a big consideration in regards to racing.
What would be fun is if you could have Le Mans starts where you run towards your bike, start it up, and go. I'd save this for any endurance races, though. Some courses may need to be overhauled or modified to take advantage of different races. For example, you can take Suzuka and be able to race at night there if you want to make your own 8 Hours of Suzuka. You may even add the Bugatti Circuit to race on rather than just the Circuit de la Sarthe. It is what the motorcycle racers race on for events ranging from MotoGP to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Moto. Bugatti is a tough track, so this would benefit the cars also. You could even bring in tracks meant to be raced by motorcycles like Barber Motorsports Park and Losail International Circuit.
• Trick my Bike
Tourist Trophy didn't have a suite of buying parts to upgrade machines. You could, however, tack on a few parts in Tourist Trophy to enhance its performance... namely a different muffler. My motorcycle knowledge is not very good. You could buy some upgraded sprockets to help in the acceleration. You can buy mufflers and exhausts for better horsepower. Don't forget those suspensions or the brakes. You should be able to make your motorcycle into as much of a performance machine as you would like as you would almost any car.
• Avatar Effect?
You could customize your rider in Tourist Trophy in more ways than just what the rider wears. For instance, you can adjust the height of the rider. I made my rider in Tourist Trophy to meet my height of 6'0". You could even adjust the lean angle and how your rider leans into the corners. These options make for a more realistic experience when customizing your avatar for racing. The thing I wonder, however, is how your customized avatar will be like when going from motorcycle to car. Would my 6'0" frame fit into something like the Mazda AZ-1? It would be something strange to consider in regards to making the avatar realistic.
I mentioned updating the motorcycle lineup. You could also say the same for the different street and racing outfits like in Tourist Trophy. How about a new set of leathers and more gear for motorcycle riders? One may like the motorcycle gear to wear even as regular clothes for the avatar. Only thing I'd stress against is wearing a motorcycle racing suit in a car or a car racing suit on a motorcycle. You'd have to draw the line and prevent from not wearing the proper style outfit for either a car or a motorcycle.
• Online Realm?
As much as there are races set up by us gamers and by Polyphony Digital, the idea of Seasonal events for motorcycles would be just as intriguing for motorcycles as they would be for cars. Events would range from certain PP-restricted races to Time Trials. You could be racing in a Seasonal that may involve entry-level bikes around Mid-Field Raceway or RacingModify superbikes in a Time Trial around Matterhorn Rotenboden. It would be a great way to enhance the feel of doing racing with motorcycles.
You know, I thought of something. On the topic of Seasonals, imagine motorcycle Seasonals where you can have trials where you perform wheelies and stoppies. It was something I thought of when I saw a Driveclub Bikes video online. This would be an even more unique experience to racing motorcycles in Gran Turismo games. The only thing I would bet against is the possibility of stunt riding. I am not sure you could be your own Jason Britton if you wanted to within the Gran Turismo realm. Imagine the possibilities! :)
• You Can Have Whatever You Like?
Gran Turismos 5 and 6 had just about every machine available to be bought rather than having certain hidden or not-for-sale machines available. One of the unique bits of Tourist Trophy is that you could race any of the five 8 Hours of Suzuka motorcycles in Tourist Trophy. You could even try to unlock the Polyphony Digital racing suit.
Can Cars and Motorcycles Coexist? Final Thoughts
I would want to see a sequel to Tourist Trophy. However, the best chance people get to enjoy motorcycles within the realm of Polyphony Digital would be to race them through Gran Turismo. It would not be depressing for Tourist Trophy not to get a sequel for motorcycle racing fans. I still think it is not impossible to put together a package featuring a world of motorcycles to go along with the cars in Gran Turismo. Having motorcycles along with the cars would not only enhance the appeal of races in the Gran Turismo realm, but it would also provide many unique experiences only possible through Gran Turismo.
I was under the impression that motorcycles among the Polyphony Digital universe should be with Tourist Trophy since there aren't as many quality motorcycle racing titles. But in recent times, I feel the Gran Turismo series couldn't really be hurt by having motorcycles exist along with the cars. I actually wouldn't mind racing on two wheels (or sometimes three) in the Gran Turismo realm along with my cars.
That is what I think. What say you in regards to the prospect of having both cars AND motorcycles in the Gran Turismo realm? Feel free to comment at will. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
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