Kaz: Pushing The Virtual Divide Gran Turismo Documentary Now Free on YouTube

First, the Sony PlayStation allowed for 3D graphics that could create a recognizable model of a car in 360 degrees. Also, GT offered a huge breadth of vehicles that could get almost anyone interested. Up to that point in time, most driving games focused on just Formula 1, rallying, production cars, or other specific subsets of the autosphere, but GT had everything, which made it possible to find your dream car and go racing. The full-length documentary movie Kaz: Pushing the Virtual Divide delves into the mind of series leader Kazunori Yamauchi, and now it's available for anyone to watch for free.

Kaz originally launched in the US on Hulu in January, but not everyone has access to that streaming service. The documentary looks at the history of Gran Turismo starting from its early development and interviews Yamauchi about his theory behind making it. It also examines some of the racing that the series of games is emulating and influencing, including little kids getting into karting and the Nissan GT Academy. It's all done with beautiful cinematography and direction from Tamir Moscovici, who also helmed a 30-minute documentary about Magnus Walker. Note: Large portions of the movie have Yamauchi speaking in his native Japanese, so you're going to want to turn on subtitles to watch this intriguing film.