Race Pro - 1 New Screen Shot

Posted by: Bradley Wint on November 20, 2008 at 8:45 pm

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Thought Race Pro died? Well here is a new screen shot, I guess to hold our interest. It features a Raadzaak Racing Aston Marin DBR9.

Categories: Xbox 360

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 Announced

Posted by: Bradley Wint on November 19, 2008 at 8:30 pm

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Codemasters has officially announced the new game, Colin McRae: DiRT 2. In an interview with IGN, the creators of DiRT 2 had something to say about the game. They commented a lot about the EGO engine’s improvements (same one used in GRID), and spoke about some of the things to come soon. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

Last time we saw the EGO engine in GRID it was looking pretty spectacular – how much room for improvement was there for its third outing in DiRT 2?We made key improvements to the EGO engine during the GRID project which lifted the quality of the game to a level we were very happy with. The development team have learnt a lot from the development of GRID, and have strengthened massively in their ability to get the most out of the hardware, notably pushing SPU usage on PS3, improving multi-core performance on Xbox 360 and adding PC specific features and technology. In DiRT 2, we’re building on these changes to the engine, adding more physical modelling of the environment, improving lighting and shadowing, and broadening the use of our streaming system to allow much higher texture detail. Overall these changes mean we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the hardware as much as possible, and we’re confident in our ability to lift the quality bar again.

The career progression was an excellent part of GRID – will there be a similar mode in DiRT 2?

Absolutely, the single-player experience is a very important part of our games. For DiRT 2, we wanted to create a journey for the player which encapsulated the spirit of off-road racing – it’s about travelling the world in your RV, hitting off-road festivals and building your rep as a driver. Along the way you’ll build friendships with the stars of the off-road world – like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block – and these relationships help you move up the ladder. If you get on well with someone like Ken Block, he’ll invite you to cooler events and even offer to team up with you from time to time.

Also take a look at the included screenshots (courtesy of IGN)

Categories: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, PSP, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

EA, You Officially Ruined The “Need For Speed” Brand

Posted by: Bradley Wint on November 19, 2008 at 3:22 pm

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In 1994, The Need For Speed was created by a Canadian based company called Distinctive Software. The game was released for the 3DO, and subsequently for the PC, PS1 and Sega Saturn. Most of the cars and tracks were unlocked from the start. The few others had to be unlocked by racking up points via tournaments. It also featured pursuit police cars, which chased you along the way. Soon after this development, Distinctive Software became know as EA Canada. The original game set the pace for what we know as Need for Speed today, with intense hot pursuit cop action and high speed tournaments.

The Rise

Over the years, more titles came out including NFS II, NFS: Hot Pursuit, NFS: High Stakes, NFS: Porsche Unleashed and NFS: Hot Pursuit 2. Along the way there were a few variations such as NFS: V-Rally 2 (a European based title) and NFS: Porsche Unleashed (Porsche exclusive racing). The first NFS title was one of two attempts at creating a serious simulation-based racing environment, by taking into consideration things such as vehicle handling, physics, etc. NFS: Porsche Unleashed was the second attempt at then creating something serious, since less effort was put on the arcade factor, and more onto the Porsches themselves and the evolution of the cars and company.

Categories: Article

Need For Speed: Undercover In Stores Today

Posted by: Bradley Wint on November 18, 2008 at 2:45 pm

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November the 18th is finally here and the 12th installation of Need for Speed, NFS: Undercover, is finally here. Unfortunately only North Americans are getting to enjoy the game, but don’t despair because the European release is less than 3 days away from now.

The game, which features the new Heroic driving engine, has some of the usual features of the older NFS titles such as Sprints, Circuit Racing, Cops and Robbers, as well as new Highway Battles mode and the storyline mission entitle “The Heist”. There are a couple famous actors in the storyline including Maggie Q, David Rees Snell, Gregory “G-Mac” MacDonald and Christina Milian, among many others.

The game supports both single and multiplayer and is now out for the PC, PS3, PS2, PSP, Nintendo Wii and DS, as well as the Xbox 360. Enjoy.

Categories: Mobile Gaming, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

Ferrari Challenge US Patch Is Live

Posted by: Bradley Wint on November 17, 2008 at 8:09 pm

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After a couple of delays and mishaps, the Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli US patch is now available for download. Here is the changelog:

Features and Improvements:

Added PS3 trophy support
Added custom play lists functionality
Added photo mode to garage which saves to the PS3 hard drive
Added split times in Time Trial
Improved frame rate
Improved performance of the Thrustmaster wheels
Game now pauses automatically when the XMB is on (except during multiplayer)
Added gear indicator to in car view
Added option to invert the G25 sequential shifter
Added difficulty based AI qualifying times
Added G25 wheel configuration to include look left / right on the front facing red buttons
Added basic racing line to show racing line only and not braking zones
Players can now specify custom player names
Online -Private lobbies can now be created with half or all slots being reserved
Online/LAN -Host can now specify the maximum driving assist levels
Online/LAN -Host can now specify the grid order based on ranking (taken from the tutorial
score), or lap record for the specified circuit and can also do the inverse grid based on these
criteria
Online/LAN -During race player names can now be toggled on / off by pressing R3
Online/LAN -Race results alternate between race time and fastest lap during multiplayer
races
Online/LAN -When searching for games, the server select screen now includes the status
‘SYNCING’ to show that the game will begin imminently
Online/LAN -Server list screen now displays car name, grid order, and transmission options
Online/LAN -When returning back to the join game match making screen, the default car is
now the last one selected
Online - When a game is full, it now appears in the lobby list and will say FULL
Online -Opponent voices can now be muted
Increased transparency of tire smoke
Improved penalty zone on first corner in Monza
Replays are available for races which the player retired from

Fixes:

Fixed potential issue with save games becoming invalid after a set number of events are
completed
Fixed potential issue with not being able to unlock ‘The Collector’ accomplishment
Fixed broken shadows in the pit lane
Fixed black track when racing line disabled
Fixed the “Hard Lines” accomplishment
Fixed hang after watching a replay when the rev bar was on
Fixed driver disappearing with the car when driving through opponents in multiplayer
Fixed engine popping in replays
Fixed force feedback dead zones on steering wheels
Fixed potential crash in leader boards
Online/LAN -Significantly improved connectivity and reduced the likelihood of disconnects
Online/LAN -Fixed issues with collisions
Online/LAN -When a player leaves a net race, it now says they have retired from race as
opposed to finished
Online/LAN -When receiving the ‘Room no longer exists’ message players are now returned
to the join game screen
Online/LAN -Removed 2 second pause as players entered / exited a game while racing