This fall, the current generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles (sorry, Nintendo fans) will each be blessed with new iteration of the long-running Forza and Gran Turismo racing series. Both Forza Motorsport 7 and Gran Turismo Sport promise next-level graphics and massive rosters of cars and tracks—along with plenty of fodder for fans of each title to debate which one reigns supreme. Sony and Polyphony Digital see your dynamic weather system, Microsoft, and now they're raising you some incredibly realistic night racing on the Nurburgring in an awesome new trailer for Gran Turismo Sport.
The two-minute clip of in-game replay footage shows an Audi R8 running in the Nurburgring 24 Hours race, and it seems to be a genuine step up for a series that has always been known for realism. Gran Turismo Sport's designers have managed to pull of some amazing things with light and shadows here, with finely-rendered details like dust billowing through headlight beams or lights reflected inside the cockpit adding to the illusion you're watching a real-life race.
And then there's the sound. If there's been one consistent knock against the series over the last two decades, it's that engine notes haven't always been the best. That appears to have totally changed for Gran Turismo Sport—the Audi R8's V-10 engine and sequential gearbox sound identical to the real thing in both exterior views and the cockpit camera. If you only listened to the audio of this clip without knowing what it was, you'd be hard pressed to guess it's from a video game.
Gran Turismo Sport comes out for PS4 on October 17th, while Forza Motorsport 7 takes a bow on Xbox One and PC on October 3rd. It's shaping up to be quite a month.