GTPlanet

GTPlanet (Also referred to as ‘GTP’) could be considered the web's largest online community^{(See Statistics)} dedicated to the Gran Turismo racing game series for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable gaming consoles.

GTPlanet

GTPlanet's logo.
URL	gtplanet.net
Slogan	Covering the World of Gran Turismo.
Commercial?	No
Type of site	News Blog / Community Forums / Gaming / Online Media
Registration	Optional
Available language(s)	English Language
Users	200,000 +
Owner	Jordan Greer
Created by	Jordan Greer
Launched	January 25, 2001 (2001-01-25)
Alexa rank	21,600 (as of February 2012)
Revenue	$53,309.00 USD
Current status	Online

GTPlanet was originally created as an MSN group in 2000 by Jordan Greer. It became a fully functioning website in January of 2001. And has undergone several functional and visual changes since then. The site currently has over 200,000 registered members, features over 6 million posts and 200,000+ threads (or discussions) so far.
As of November 2007, GTPlanet owner Jordan Greer acquired the address GTPlanet.com. While the site remains at the .net address, typing .com will redirect to GTPlanet.net. The .com address previously belonged to the now defunct Gifts and Toys Planet.

GTPlanet's first logo in 2001 consisted of just type in Fuller Sans.

History & Features

The Forum section of the site could well be considered the core of the GTPlanet community. Though a minority of registered members actually visits the forums, almost all of the information in the Forums section of the site is generated by and from registered members.

Prior to the update to GTP8, GTPlanet featured sections for videos, car list data, prize car list data, race data and screenshots for each individual game from the Gran Turismo Series. These were called Game Guides. In an update to GTPlanet, these guides were scrapped and turned into an archive called the Library. The Library is where you can find all the data from each game in the Gran Turismo series (As well as other titles) organized by release date. Members can contribute to this library by submitting new data and/or verifying accuracy of pre-existing data. The sections included in the libraries are as follows.

Full Game Releases (In order of release date):

Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo 2
Gran Turismo 3
Gran Turismo 4
Gran Turismo PSP
Gran Turismo 5

Other Titles:

Gran Turismo Concept
Gran Turismo 4: Prolouge
Gran Turismo HD
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
Tourist Trophy

On January 20, 2008, GTPlanet updated to GTP9 giving the site and forums a completely new look. GTP9 also introduced GranTurismoTV, a section containing videos of Gran Turismo HD and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. On June 13, 2010, GTPX (GTP 10) was released. Registered community members can now upload and use avatars as big as 100pixels by 100pixels, regardless of how long they have been a member. The look and feel of the website had even dramatically changed since the CSS was redesigned from the ground up. On October 18, 2011, GTP11 was released. New features include a forum page width change, in which the page is narrower and easier to read. Members have the option to change back to the original width if they prefer. Other new features include Country Flags, where a member can select which country they are from. Thus makes it easier and faster to interact with the members from nearly 200 different countries that visit GTPlanet each month. A very valuble section was to added to GTPlanet that helps craft the evolution of Gran Turismo, titled “Feedback”. The current version (referred to as "GTP11") was released in October, 2011.

GTPlanet's Impact

With the release of Gran Turismo Concept in 2002, GTPlanet grew by a large margin and was featured Sport Compact Car Magazine being noted as "We found the amount of knowledge related to Gran Turismo intimidating in its nerd-like scope and obsession." Then again in 2004 with Gran Turismo 4 on the market, GTPlanet grew even bigger with GT Enthusiasts looking for a place to find all that is Gran Turismo is one convenient place. That growth caused the online presence to reach new heights. Over time Jordan had the opportunity to interview Kazunori Yamauchi himself. The success of GTPlanet has allowed Polyphony Digital to gain more feedback in an efficient process.
Read GTPlanet's 10 Year Anniversary and Jordan's first Interview with Kazunori Yamauchi at the 2011 SEMA Auto Show.

Mobile Access

January 15, 2006 and onwards, a mobile-device-friendly version, is available at http://mobile.gtplanet.net/ An App for GTPlanet is also available for iOS devices in the App Store and on the Android Market for Android devices.

iOS App
Android App

Connect With GTPlanet

GTPlanet offers members and guests with multiple ways to interact with the community. You can visit any one of the following websites:

Facebook ‘Like’ Page
Google+
Twitter
YouTube
Contact Page

GTPlanet Expanded

While GTPlanet’s main focus is Gran Turismo, there are also sections on the site forums dedicated to other games as well as a sister site for Turn 10 Studios' : Forza Motorsport (series); ForzaPlanet.net. ForzaPlanet.net was established at the end of May in 2007

Statistics

GTPlanet gets a high amount of traffic per day. Whether they be first time or returning visitors. Alexa ranks GTPlanet worldwide at #21,600. With the Netherlands being the highest rank by country at #5,624. USA ranks at #12,959. GTPlanet is visited by predominantly Males under the age of 35. GTPlanet receives more traffic on a daily basis than the Gran Turismo official site; with an average daily views of 100,000 to 200,000.
GTPlanet also beats out the PlayStation Network Community Forums section dedicated to the Gran Turismo Series. This section of the forums has just over 40,000 threads, or discussions.

Others

GTPlanet on LinkedIn
GTPlanet server status on Twitter

External links

• GTPlanet
• GTPlanet Forum
• GTPlanet Game Library