Before Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo, there was Need for Speed. For those in need of a history lesson, the first Need for Speed game appeared in 1994 for the 3DO, with PC, Playstation and Sega Saturn games following up in the next couple of years. At the time is was one of the only attempts to create a realistic simulation, and a main part of the gameplay was being chased … [Read more...]
Blur TV advert
Split/Second TV advert
nail’d Announcement Trailer
A nail'd announcement trailer for the off-road arcade racing title from Techland and Deep Silver. The game was developed for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, arriving on November 30th 2010 in North America and in 2011 in Europ and Japan, with a focus on ATV and dirt bikes. The soundtrack was probably most notable with bands including Rise Against, Slipknot, the … [Read more...]
The demise of the two-player split screen
I've had some great gaming memories over the years - completing Metal Gear Solid, blowing up my sister in Bomberman, winning the Champions' League on Pro Evolution Soccer, failing to complete Metal Gear Solid II, defeating Dr Robotnik (who is this Eggman these days?) and spending hours and hours racing against my friends in various guises. Lotus II, Domark's F1, the original … [Read more...]
Atari announce Test Drive Unlimited 2 for 2010
Test Drive Unlimited 2 will arrive in Fall 2010 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC, according to an official announcement from publishers Atari. The sequel to the original Test Drive Unlimited arrives four years after the first release in September 2006, again developed by Eden Games and attempting to define Massively Open Online Racing (M.O.O.R). Over 1 million … [Read more...]
Awaiting Codemasters F1 2010
Hey everyone - great news! Codemasters’ F1 2010 has a release date! Bad news! It’s scheduled for exactly the same day at Gran Turismo 5. I may have to take a week off on September 24th. Or two weeks. Or just give up my job, especially if my long-standing virtual racing dream is realised… and it just might be. I fear you sense the inevitable explanation of what this dream is … [Read more...]
Gran Turismo 5 can’t come soon enough…
So another month, another delay. Gran Turismo 5 is now officially late. I am one peed-off Playstation owner. I pre-ordered my copy last summer when I read rumours of a release before christmas. Then it got put back to March. Now it's been put back to September 2010 at the earliest - and I'm not happy. Here’s why: I'm a sim racer. I can't stand arcadey car handling. Ridge … [Read more...]
From franchise to gaming dynasty
So, what does it take to go from a hit racing simulation, to a franchise, to a dynasty? In a word, “vision.” Making a video game into a hit simulator is hard enough. Taking a one hit wonder and making it a franchise, even harder still. Going from solid franchise to an era leading dynasty within the genre becomes extremely difficult for any game, simulation or not. Ultimately … [Read more...]
Phillip Island circuit guide – MotoGP 08
Phillip Island is regarded as probably the best MotoGP circuit of them all. If you ask anyone decent, like Rossi or anyone rubbish, like Canepa, they would cite the Island as one of their favourites. Although great Eurosport commentator Jamie Whitham never liked it. It’s great on the PS3 game as well – making you feel like you’ve travelled the many miles to Oz and are am … [Read more...]
A risk of online racing – EA to shut NASCAR 09 servers
Console racing games might not carry the physical risk of racing, but they do have risks nonetheless. And one is that the time and effort you may have spent will be for nothing when someone turns off the game server. Which is the case with EA to shut NASCAR 09 Servers (along with those for NASCAR 08) That's what will happen for anyone playing Nascar 08 on the Playstation 2, … [Read more...]