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.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

You know why you're reading this instead of playing Grand Turismo 5 Prologue or 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.

We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but you know those racing games you think excite you so much? Well, they really don't. But don't worry, because according to Codemasters' game design chief Ralph Fulton, the studios' newly announced racer Grid aims to "make racing exciting again." How? Well, according to Fulton, the game, which is the latest in Codies' Race Driver franchise, is not about collecting cars or tweaking suspensions, but rather about "the drama, the rivalries, the aggression and the crashes." Sounds like someone's a fan of Burnout.

Due sometime in the middle of 2008 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, Grid is being developed on a refined version of the engine used to make Dirt, and will include a variety of different circuit and drift vehicles, new and old. Grid aims to test your driving prowess on both real life tracks as well as in street races "on the fringes of legality" in cities such as Detroit and San Francisco, as well as in the neon underworld of the Far East. Forget Burnout. It sounds like Need for Speed has passed the baton.