With a pair of successful first-party exclusives under his belt, Yamauchi re-pitched Gran Turismo to the powers that be. The Japan-only original performed well enough for Sony to request a sequel and, in 1996, Yamauchi and his Polys Entertainment team released a follow-up – which was distributed worldwide. Yamauchi and his team threw themselves into the silly but stealthily sophisticated Motor Toon Grand Prix, which arrived in December 1994, just two weeks after the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan. The game? Motor Toon Grand Prix still a racer, but its wacky cartoon sensibilities and the proven mainstream appeal of kart racers at the time made it seem like a safer bet for Sony. However, Yamauchi had suspected his realistic racer pitch might be a little too radical and he was already prepared to pivot to a different project. However, the first time Yamauchi floated it, the idea sank.
