Replacing political and social unrest with "go-anywhere" driving, Codemasters has partnered with French dev Asobo Studios to publish the company's open world-style racer, Fuel, for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC sometime next year. Asobo's track record isn't likely to relieve you of your socks anytime soon, however. The studio's recent efforts include video game adaptations of Ratatouille, Wall-E and The Mummy, so we're not expecting another GRiDor DiRTjust yet.
On top of dynamic weather and dozens of drivable vehicles, Codies boasts that Fuel will feature the "largest environment ever created" in a racing game, and that the game's absurd 5,000 square miles of weather-ravaged terrain will "revolutionize" the genre. There is that old saying about size not mattering as much as how you use it, though clearly this is not the approach being used here.
Triumph Studios' excellent (but flawed) Overlord will receive a sequel on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, along with new versions for the Wii and DS, all scheduled for 2009. IGN reports Overlord II will have smarter minions who can ride mounts, use war machines and sail ships. The scope of the game world has been broadened in the sequel and the controls for the Pikmin-style gameplay have been "greatly improved." We loved the first game, and it's great to hear about all these improvements for the sequel, but we hope "polish" is a word that Triumph doesn't forget this time around.
The Overlord franchise will also spawn Overlord Dark Legend on Wii by Climax Studios, an "all new game" penned by Rhianna Pratchett. The game seems to be set in the original Overlord's world with many of the same characters, but with the inclusion of some fractured fairy tale aspect. Finally, on DS (and also by Climax Studios), Overlord Minion will present players with a puzzle action game. OK, does that about cover all the Overlord info? Good, all hail the Overlord!
Source -- Overlord 2: Xbox 360, PS3, PC Source -- Overlord Dark Legend: Wii Source -- Overlord Minion: DS
If you've watched the latest trailer for Codemasters' Rise of the Argonauts and have been wondering about the music you've since been humming along to in the shower, you can thank film and television muse, Tyler Bates.
Bates, whose credits include the testosterone-fueled 300 and the upcoming movie adaptation of The Watchmen, will provide accompaniment for Jason as he flexes his mythical muscles against both gods and monsters this fall when Rise of the Argonauts ships for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The Liquid Entertainment-developed title represents Bates' first stab at scoring a video game, and while we're not prepared to award him the Golden Fleece just yet, we certainly approve of what we've heard so far.
You all can keep your King Leonidases and your Kratoses (Krati?). Jason, protagonist of Rise of the Argonautsand mythical leader of the group for which the Codemasters RPG was named, is a tried and true badass. As such, one cannot expect him to take the assassination of his ladyfriend lying down. The trailer above details some of the trials Jason must face to revive his sweetie -- namely, a group of irate Ionians, and the Unreasonably Grumpy Father-in-Law, surely the most terrifying monster in all of Grecian lore. Seriously. Hydra's got nothing on that guy.
If you're curious just how much it costs to make a B-movie nowadays you could always risk a fat lip and call up Uwe Boll ... or just talk to the folks from Codemasters and Microsoft, who are releasing You're in the Movies this fall. According to a Microsoft representative, the game is being bundled with the Xbox Live Vision Cam for the not unreasonable price of $60 (remember, the camera is $40 alone). We've asked for information on the standalone SKU and we'll let you know when we hear back.
Midway has enlisted a new face to help Vin Diesel find a job. The company today announced the appointment of former Codies man Craig Duncan as the new head at Midway's Newcastle studio, where he will help steer the development of Wheelman. Duncan spent five of 10 years in the industry beneath the Codemasters roof where he worked in a variety of roles, including most recently as the director of worldwide product development
However, with Midway's Wheelman movie prequel shipping this fall, Duncan can also breathe easy knowing that he's settled into the position for the long term; the company notes that the newly named exec will also occupy his time overseeing other unspecified future projects as well, hopefully with even more ridiculous tie-ins.
Did you have a good week? We had a terrific one at Big Download but with the release of Spore Creature Creator next week it promises to be an even busier time for our site. In the meantime here are the highlights from the past week
With the latest in Codemasters' Race Driver series, GRID, expected to roll up to the starting line next week, the company has announced that the demo for the upcoming, not to mention decidedly un-boring racer has been downloaded over a million times over Xbox Live, PSN, and the PC.
The demo, which was released a couple weeks back, offers a look at what players can expect when Race Driver: Grid races to European retail shelves on May 30. Following this, North American players will be able to slip behind the wheel on June 3, while a more touchable version for the Nintendo DS is expected around the same time as well.
When we're not shopping for cars online or squabbling with forum goers over botched video coverage, most of our time spent with Codemasters' cryptically named racing game GRIDwill likely be spent online. It's something the devs obviously understand, as the company has revealed what multiplayer shenanigans we can look forward to when Race Driver: GRID ships for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on June 3.
According to Codemasters, the game will have us eating the dust of up to 11 other racers at once on some 32 different online racing events spread across 80 circuits and 15 different global locations. The devs also note that care has been taken in "maximizing" the time spent actually racing, while keeping the minutes spent in lobbies idling in neutral at a minimum. Of course, our driving skills, or rather lack thereof, have us more interested in what the Codies call "full car damage," which will be able to be turned on or off. The laundry list of features also includes the ability to download ghost cars of top drivers to race against as well as a spectator mode, you know, for those of us who learn by watching instead of doing.
There's been a lot of controversy surrounding GameTrailer's comparison video of Race Driver: GRID, which pitted the PlayStation 3 version up against ... um ... the PlayStation 3 version. Is the site horrifically biased? On Microsoft's payroll? We spoke with GameTrailers Editor In Chief, Shane Satterfield, to clear up the matter.
How did this mistake happen?
It was a mistake in our post-production process. After we captured the footage from both versions, some of the footage of the PlayStation 3 version of the game was incorrectly placed in the bin for the Xbox 360 footage. Our video editor on this particular project is not a games person and completely overlooked the fact that he had the wrong footage in the wrong place. We normally have multiple checks from games editorial on every segment that is published, but there was some confusion on who did/did not look at it before it was sent out for compression. Thus, the mistake.
You know why you're reading this instead of playing Grand Turismo 5 Prologueor Burnout or any of the multitude of other racing franchises available? Because they're boring. It's a true, scientific fact straight from Codemasters who said they're going to "make racing exciting again" with its latest entry in the Race Driver series, GRID. Now, you can put that to the test with the 750 MB demo that's just been dropped onto Xbox Live. (We're not sure, but with this being a Thursday we'd bet you'll see this on PSN later today as well.)
Graphically, Codemasters certainly seems to be on the way to its lofty goal. But the rubber doesn't truly meet the road, as it were, until you get your hands on the controller. As usual, we'd love for you to give the demo a spin and share your thoughts, that is if you can control your shaking hands long enough to type them out. You know. Because of all the excitement.
After turning its back on its Sega Racing Studio, Sega has handed the British developer over to Codemasters, which will integrate the company into its existing Codemasters Studios. Sega cut the studio loose earlier this month following lackluster sales of Sega Rally Revo, the developer's one and only release.
Codemasters, however, see the studio as a worthwhile addition to bolster its ongoing development of racing games by bringing on more than 40 new employees with at least one published racer to their credit. However, it looks like Codies' may be returning for seconds, and after the dust settles there may be more acquisitions in the company's future. As chief exec Rod Cousens puts it, "there will be more to come as we are not content to stand still."
Codemasters and in-game ad firm Engage have announced that the upcoming Race Driver: GRID will feature integration with the eBay Motors marketplace, allowing players to buy and sell in-game vehicles in a "realistic setting." GRID's love affair with eBay doesn't stop there, with the online auction house also sponsoring a race series in the game called "The eBay Motor Muscle Series," allowing players to the race the eBay Motors Mustang GTR concept car in downtown San Francisco, Long Beach, Washington D.C. and Detroit.
Codemasters describes the inclusion of the eBay Motors marketplace as an "essential element" and "a revolving plot point" in GRID which players will use to "continually upgrade or swap out vehicles," though whether or not sniping auctions out from under other drivers will be included remains to be seen.
Worlds are colliding, as Codemasters has announced what it calls a "strategic partnership" with automotive 3D effects firm Realtime Technology to share vehicle rendering and modeling practices for upcoming projects.
The partnership includes collaboration over rendering tools such as RTT DeltaGen and RealTrace, used in rendering CAD models in real time, and Codemasters' EGO game engine, seen in titles such as last year's DiRTand the upcoming Race Driver: GRID. What exactly this meeting of the minds will mean for gamers remains fuzzy, though considering Realtime Technology's considerable footprint in the automotive industry with clients such as Audi, Maserati and Rolls-Royce among many others, maybe this is all part of Codemasters' grand scheme to make racing games exciting once more.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith once responded to the negative reviews of his heartfelt drama Jersey Girl by stating that the film "wasn't for critics." It was a comment that attracted the attention of Penny Arcade, and even spawned some of their most memorable characters. So imagine how our favorite webcomic entrepreneurs will react to the recent comments made by Spark Unlimited CEO Craig Allen, who believes that Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is being reviewed the wrong way.
Responding to recent unfavorable reviews of Turning Point, Allen stated that the game was never meant for "core gamers," and that those looking at the title with a critical eye are not the intended audience. According to him, the alternate-universe World War II FPS is a "high concept idea," enjoyable by those who just want to have fun, and aren't looking for innovation or technical breakthroughs.
Despite his defense of the title, Allen states the team's next game, Legendary, will address many of the problems gamers and critics had with Turning Point, but it won't necessarily be a "better" game. Because Turning Point wasn't actually "bad." Apparently.
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