Dakar Rally 2012
Sponsored Post: Dakar 2012 – The Ultimate Race?
When it comes to challenges, there’s nothing bigger than the world’s biggest rally raid, the Dakar Rally. Running since 1978, the race originally followed a route from Paris to Dakar, but following terrorist attacks in 2008, it has since switched to South America, and this year runs from Mar Del Plata in Argentina to Lima in Peru.
Strangely there haven’t been many videogame versions of the rally, with Paris-Dakar by Activision in 2001 for Xbox, PS2 and PC, and Dakar 2 following up in 2003 for Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox. The main reason is probably the immense scale of the race and the challenge of including all the competing classes, which span motorcycles, quads, cars and trucks.
But if you’re a racing fan, you need to see what the Dark involves and there’s amazing coverage with videos and photos on the Red Bull Dakar 2012 site , in addition to sponsoring a number of competitors.
Their team in 2012 includes Toyota Hilux driver Giniel de Villiers, who became the first ever South African winner of the Dakar in 2009. He’s looking set for a podium position at the moment after a tough battle with the Hummer of American Robby Gordon, which means he can relax a little and admire the scenery!
‘The second part of the stage was super tricky and technical. We had to climb up a big canyon and the four-wheel drive of our Toyota Hilux was a definite help. As we came to the end of the stage, we were found ourselves amongst a million big rocks. On the rare occasion the pressure to avoid all the obstacles was off, we had a look around and I was blown away by my first views of Peru – it was like we were racing on the moon!’
You can read see more about the challenge of competing on four wheels on his Dakar 2012 Diary
But possibly even more insane than driving a truck at high speed through these stages is the idea of tackling it on a bike. And the battle for victory is between two Red Bull riders, the legendary Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. Coma has won the Dakar rally three times, as has Despres, and the pair are still separated by just a matter of seconds going into the final stage.
Both riders are amazingly calm when they pass on their experiences:
The day started with me getting a bath in a stream as I pushed the bike along the track. After that it was another hard day but, apart from a small crash I had at low speed, I’m pleased with how the stage went.
There was a modification to today’s roadbook and that meant one of the tracks wasn’t very visible. I rode 100 metres too far at one point but then I saw that Marc was turning around and coming back. Marc started two minutes ahead of me today so it was good to catch up with him.
It may sound relatively normal, but check out the videos on the Red Bull Dakar site to see exactly what it’s really like!
NASCAR race offer for game fans
If you’re a fan of NASCAR, you might be interested in a deal through the GameStop Racing package. Basically, if you buy two tickets for the March 20 Jeff Burd 500 Presented by Food City, it’ll cost you $150, but you’ll get a $20 GameStop gift car for free. Alternatively, you’ll also get a $20 gift car if you buy four tickets for the March 19 Scotts EZ Seed 300.
Both races take place at Bristol Motor Speedway, which not coincidentally, is also featured on the cover of NASCAR 2011 The Game, which is released on March 29, 2011 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and then on April 12 for Wii.
“Bristol embodies everything that is cool about the sport and about our game. Our game is about pack racing, damage, excitement, everything Bristol is.” Ed Martin, Executive Vice President, Eutechnyx North America.
NASCAR 2011: The Game is being developed by Eutechnyx and published by Activision.
Farewell video for Bizarre Creations
UK developer Bizarre Creations was officially closed on Friday, after 17 years and games including Metropolis Street Racer, Project Gotham Racing 1-4 and Blur.
It was original put up for sale by owners Activision, but no deal was forthcoming and the decision was made to close the studio on February 18th, 2011.
Bizarre’s video editor, Eamon Urtone released this emotional video tribute to the company…
Farewell Bizarre…it’s been an absolute pleasure! from Eamon Urtone on Vimeo.
Bizarre Creations set to close
It looks as if Liverpool-based developer Bizarre Creations will close, following a recommendation of closure by owners Activision. It was announced in November that Activision were looking to part company with Bizarre, and immediately there were reports of multiple parties interested in buying the company, which developed the racing games Blur, Metropolis Street Racer, and the Project Gotham Racing series.
However, although the consultation period is still ongoing, Activision has issued a recommendation for studio closure, affecting around 200 staff, and meaning that the chances of the company surviving are extremely slim. The threat to the studio followed the release of Blur, which achieved disapointing sales figures.
Coincidentally, our sister site FPS Prestige recently followed reports Activision could pull out of the UK entirely, following the decision of the UK Government to scrap tax breaks for the games industry. Given that the tax breaks were promised until the 2010 Budget, which took place in June 2010, the fact that Activision decided to divest itself of Bizarre 4 months later might not be unrelated.
Activision ditching Bizarre Creations (PGR and Blur)
It’s been revealed that games publishing company Activision is ditching Project Gotham Racing and Blur developers Bizarre Creations, either by sale or closure.
Multiple sources have reported closure for the Liverpool-based developer, with 200 staff at risk. It was acquired by Activision in 2007, and has since released Blur along with non-racing games including the recent James Bond title Blood Stone.
Prior to acquisition, Bizarre gained fame for both the Project Gotham Racing franchise, which was a key Xbox and Xbox 360 title, and the minigame spawned from PGR – Geometry Wars.
NASCAR The Game 2011 – confirmed
The American NASCAR series has signed an exclusive multi-year and game deal with developers Eutechnyx, beginning with ‘NASCAR The Game 2011’ at the start of next year.
It’ll be the first NASCAR sim for two years, and will be created for the XBox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. It follows the move of Ed Martin to Eutechnyx from Electronic Arts – and his last move at EA was to secure an exclusive deal with NASCAR which ran from 2003 to 2009. EA famously closed the Nascar 2009 servers in February 2010.
There’s already an official holding page and forum up, with the nascarthegame.com site currently featuring a countdown clock. The ESPN site already has an interview up with Ed Martin, including details of 16-player online racing, and an intention to build an online community.
Single player includes the usual Sprint Cup career mode, a paint kit to custom your car, and money-making elements including helping out your sponsors and drafting your opponents. At the risk of over-exciting ORD’s own Tom Bowker, there’s also going to be two-player splitscreen racing.
It also includes 22 tracks, and the AI of the drivers is claimed to be modelled on that of their real life character.
“While NASCAR has enjoyed a rich history in video games, we really wanted to take the next generation of NASCAR games to a new level,” said Blake Davidson, Managing Director of Licensed Products at NASCAR. “By partnering directly with Eutechnyx, the leading driving game developer in the business, to create NASCAR The Game 2011, we are convinced NASCAR fans and gamers alike will be blown away by the result. With Activision as the publishing partner, we have the perfect combination to set the bar for all future NASCAR titles.”
If you’re thinking this is a U.S. only game, remember EuTechnyx are actually headquartered in the UK (Although they have U.S offices), and besides being immensely popular in the States, races are apparently broadcast in 150 countries and in 20 languages.
The world premiere of the first official NASCAR The Game 2011 trailer will be on Sunday October 3rd during the NASCAR raceday on SPEED, and the game itself is set for a February 2011 launch.
