Gran Turismo 4 Online

Two online test programs for Gran Turismo 4, both referred as Gran Turismo 4 Online (グランツーリスモ 4 オンライン実験バージョン, guran tsūrisumo 4 onlain jīken bāshyon), were held in 2006 in Japan (with some South Korean players in it) and North America.
The programs were not intended to precede a Gran Turismo 4 Online full scale release, but instead to be used as a way to develop and test online features and structures for future online-enabled titles on PlayStation 3 and beyond.
==Japan==
The Japanese test program, called Online Test Version on the packaging (with disc code of PAPX-90523), was freely shipped to 4,700 selected gran-turismo.com members from Japan and 300 from South Korea (totaling 5,000 test players).
Selecting the extra "Online" mode leads to the "Online Home" that features additional game modes, "Quick Race", "Tuned Car Race", "Private Race" (that requires a password) and "Time Attack". "News" inform about the availability for the online courses or special events, with limited date and time.
Online services lasted three months from June 1st to September 1st, 2006 and included 6-player Competition, Time Trial, chat (mail message and microphone communication), and an Internet ranking chart was available in the game's website. Some special competition were also held involving actual Super GT drivers.
Although released later than international versions of the game, the build is based on the original Japanese release; as such, several cars added to the international releases of the car are missing in this version, likely to maintain parity with the released version.
==North America==
A lesser known test program was also held in North America in 2006 for 3,000 selected PlayStation Gamer Advisory Panel (GAP) members, an invitation-only, now-defunct group created by Sony Computer Entertainment America that received access to member-only forums and online beta tests, among others. The discs sent to them were labeled as Online Public Beta (with disc code of SCUS-97436); the build featured is based on NTSC-U version of the game, with some bug fixes not in the retail (both normal or Greatest Hits) versions. The North American test program likely occurred at the same timeframe (invitations were sent to GAP members in June 2006) with same features as its Japanese counterpart.GT4 online beta test - GTPlanet (thread from 2006)Gran Turismo 4 Online Beta Test - Apply NOW! - NeoGAF (thread from 2006)
Information on the North American online test is scarce, as testers were subject to a non-disclosure agreement.KryptonZod's post on the NeoGAF thread, with snippets of the beta prorgam FAQ
==Trivia==
* The online test program marked the debut of the N-class system later used in Gran Turismo Sport. The difference is that the GT4 Online also uses this for racing cars, with R prefix instead for them.
* Menu graphics for the Audi R8 (Audi PlayStation Team ORECA) '05 can be found in both builds, suggesting that the car was meant to appear in the online test program. 
* Unlike the original GT4, which shipped on a dual-layer disc, the online-enabled versions are shipped on a single-layer DVD. Some filler content, such as intro FMV, were removed in order to fit the game into a single-layer disc.
==Notes==
Category:Games
Category:2000s games
Category:PlayStation 2 games