Almost 25 Years Ago, Gran Turismo 3 Offered Ultra-Widescreen Support On PS2 1
Image: @jamesfmackenzie

We're used to seeing games displayed in ultra-widescreen these days, but back in 2001, this was a less common sight, as the vast majority of players were still gaming in a 4:3 aspect ratio on their CRT TVs.

Not wishing to be limited by the display technology of the period, Polyphony Digital coded a mode into Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec that allowed players to access a super-immersive mode using i.Link / FireWire connectivity.

The catch was that you needed three consoles, three screens and three copies of the game—as well as an i.Link hub—which naturally put this mode beyond the reach of most PS2 owners back in 2001.

However, fast forward to 2025, and it's much cheaper and easier to obtain all of these components and to prove it, James Mackenzie has hooked everything up for a demonstration. After some brief teething troubles, Mackenzie gets everything working as intended, and the effect is pretty remarkable—especially for hardware that's a quarter of a century old.

What's even more impressive is that Mackenzie then comes up with a PC-based hardware solution which allows him to capture the footage from the three PS2 consoles and fuse them together, displaying the action on a modern ultra-widescreen monitor.

Were you flash enough to have experienced Gran Turismo 3's ultra-widescreen support back in 2001? Or, like us, are you only finding out about this now? Let us know with a comment below.

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[source youtube.com]