Polyphony Digital has also been involved in real life automotive projects. They have developed special versions of their Gran Turismo games for many car manufacturers as demonstrators for their cars. Nissan also commissioned them to design a special body kit for their 350Z coupe, which first appeared in 'GT Concept: 2002 Tokyo – Geneva' as the "Nissan 350Z Gran Turismo Aero", later becoming the "Fairlady Z NISMO S-Tune Concept by GRAN TURISMO" in GT4. There was also a faster 'Z-Tune' version with minor styling revisions and 400PS. The S-Tune was later sold in real life by NISMO (NISSAN MOTORSPORT) as a tuning package for existing owners.
In 2007, they were contracted to design the multifunction display on the new Nissan GT-R,[7] which displays performance information such as G-forces, acceleration opening, brake pedal pressure, steering angle, an "optimal gearshift map," to emphasize economical vehicle operation.
When Nissan was looking for a company to develop the GT-R's user-friendly 'multi-function meter', the carmaker says Polyphony was the obvious choice because of the simple menu systems applied to video games such as Gran Turismo. "If you think about the GT-R's multi-function meter with the g-force information and everything else, we wanted it to be very easy to read, very easy to use," says Nissan's global vice president of communications, Simon Sproule. "It's really about the logic of how video games work and their menu systems – which anyone can use – and then applying it to the car."[8]
In 2012, IGN placed Polyphony Digital at number 24 on their list of the 50 greatest developers of all time.[10] In the March 2015 issue of GamesTM magazine, the company was number 34 on their list of the "50 Best Developers In The World".[11]
