Dreamcast owners could soon have the last laugh as Sega's potential Gran Turismo beater heads West...
Andy Ashwin

Homologation?
That's what we thought. Japlish, innit?

What are you on about?
Japlish ('ja-plisch) n. a word or phrase that's somewhere between Japanese and English. Classic examples include Continental Circus and Donkey Kong. They should have been Continental Circuit and Monkey Kong respectively.

Enough about the crazy name. What about the game itself? Better than Gran Turismo or what?
It could well be. The game's developers openly admit that Gran Turismo has been an influence (heck, they had to) and it follows the same formula to a tee. Sega GT is a driving game rather than a racing game. The car physics have been painstakingly reproduced and the onus is on under-the-bonnet tinkery. And that's not all - you can even build a car from scratch in the 'carzerria'. Grease monkeys can modify every aspect of their vehicle, right down to the individual components of the engine.

I'd rather just drive the damn things.
And you can. You can go into Sega GT as deep as you want, just like in Gran Turismo. It's nice to see that some developers cater for more than just the casual gamer. There's a full-on Championship mode, as well as Single Race, Time Attack and split-screen two-player Duel. Furthermore, various online modes are in the pipeline for Japanese gamers.