Polyphony Digital

Credits

Descriptions by
IAmJefferson

Captures by
IAmJefferson

Video captures courtesy of
Alex Zampa, Westside62620, handymanshandle, FailBob2000, 20excalibur07 and PlayStation

Background

Following the success of the PS1 game Gran Turismo in Japan, the team at Japan Studio's Polys Entertainment were granted greater autonomy, reestablished as an individual company and renamed themselves Polyphony Digital on April 2, 1998. The company is mostly known for the Gran Turismo racing game series, which became the most successful racing series for the PlayStation. The series is designed to be a realistic driving simulator, in which it offers realistic driving physics.

1st Logo (Still variants) (April 22, 1999-November 24, 2010)

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Visuals: There is a still image of the company's logo, a purple "P"-like shape with a concentric cross pattern inside of it, and the rest of the negative space filled with vertical lines, on a black background. A stack of two words, "POLYPHONY" and "DIGITAL" can be seen besides the logo.

Variants:

• On early games developed by the company (specifically Omega Boost and the Japanese version of Gran Turismo 2), a stacked version of the logo was used and the text reads "A Polyphony Digital Production."
• On the PS2 game Gran Turismo 4, the logo fades in and out on a white background.
• On the PS2 game Tourist Trophy, the logo fades in on a black background, then fades out as the intro starts.
• On the PS3 games Gran Turismo HD Concept, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5, the logo is shown in a small size.
• On the PSP game Gran Turismo, it is almost the same as the logo used in Gran Turismo HD Concept, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5, albeit resized in large to compensate with the low screen resolution of the PSP.

Technique: Depends on the variant.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability:

• The stacked version can only be found on Omega Boost and the Japanese version of Gran Turismo 2.
• The white background variant can be found on the PS2 game Gran Turismo 4.
• The small version can be found on Gran Turismo HD Concept, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5.

2nd Logo (December 11, 1999)

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Visuals: On a live-action background, there is a scenery that's set in dusk. Then, as the company's logo fades in, the background changes to a fountain.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: The logo can be seen on the Japanese release of Gran Turismo 2.

3rd Logo (December 23, 1999-February 18, 2000)

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Visuals: On a dark background, there is a light from a projector moving to the left. As the light moves, a bright vertical line can be seen, which moves to the left and then it moves to the right, which reveals the company's logo.

Variant: On Gran Turismo 2000, the logo starts out as normal, but it stops halfway through after the vertical line reaches the letter "P" of the logo.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The opening theme of the game.

Audio Variants:

• On the North American version of Gran Turismo 2, the song "My Favourite Game" by The Cardigans is used as the game's opening theme. On the European version of the game, the Faithless remix of the song is used as its opening theme. Additionally, the North American version of the game features the sound of an old film projector that can be heard throughout the game's intro.
• On Gran Turismo 2000, the song "Mirage" by Daiki Kasho is used as the game's opening theme.

Availability: Seen on the PS1 games Gran Turismo 2 (US/Europe) and Gran Turismo 2000 (Japan).

• The Gran Turismo 2000 variant is known to be extremely rare, given the game was only released as a demo given away to attendees during the PlayStation Festival 2000 event in Japan from February 18-20, 2000. Given the demo only had a limited amount of copies available and a lack of other releases, it is considered the rarest and most sought-after game in the Gran Turismo franchise.

4th Logo (April 28-July 20, 2001)

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Visuals: On a blue-colored background that looks like the interior of a fuel tank, a blue trail is seen that appears to be the symbol of the logo. As the logo transforms into the symbol, the text of the logo and the camera begins to move, which turns the logo into its 2D form. The logo then glows in a blue color.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: It starts with ambient noise, which is followed by a choir and a dreamy synth note.

Availability: It can be seen on Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec for PS2.

5th Logo (January 1-May 16, 2002)

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Visuals: Over a grid-like background is some sketches of a car (some parts of the grid would light up and dim). Then as the camera moves to the next background, the grid disappears, which fades into a background of a tree moving during rainy weather. Then it transitions to a background of a road that has some leaves scattered on it, with a car moving towards the screen. Then a digital-based speedometer is seen on the background moving up to 98.1 kilometers per hour. After that, there is a background of a car's gear stick with the company's logo being formed and it fades out after the background is changed to a water-like background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: This logo can only be seen on Gran Turismo Concept 2001 Tokyo and Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Seoul for PS2.

6th Logo (July 17, 2002)

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Visuals: There is a world map that is moving to the right. The text of the city names "DETROIT", "GENEVA" and "TOKYO" can be seen as the circle ripples on those cities on the map. Then, the background fades out to an airplane's tail fin that has the company's logo in a stacked variant.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: This logo can only be seen on Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva for PS2.

7th Logo (December 4, 2003)

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Visuals: On a black background, there is a light that moves to the left. Then the company's logo distorts until it fades into its 2D form.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: An echoing beep sound, which is followed by a synth note.

Availability: This logo can only be seen on Gran Turismo 4 Prologue.

8th Logo (November 24, 2010-October 20, 2011)

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Visuals: Over a space background is the camera moving towards the globe with the company's logo fading in.

Variants: On the "Spec 2.0" update of Gran Turismo 5, the globe has been updated to include clouds.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: Can be seen on the PS3 game Gran Turismo 5 and its "Spec 2.0" update.

9th Logo (December 6, 2013-)

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Visuals: Same as the 1st logo, except that the logo is shown in a white color.

Variants: Up until the release of "Update 1.46" of Gran Turismo Sport for the PS4, the company's logo fades in on a black background. Then, the background fades in to a statue with the camera and the laser moving up. The logo disappears as the laser touches the logo.

Technique: Fading effects.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Can be seen on Gran Turismo 6 for PS3 and Gran Turismo Sport for PS4, though the logo was removed in a patch ("Update 1.46"), which is replaced by a new intro. The logo also appears on the 2022 PS4 and PS5 game Gran Turismo 7.

◄ Polys Entertainment

Polyphony Digital