Fans of Criterion's vehicular vehicleslaughter sim Burnout Paradise were supposed to receive the title's third major update this coming Thursday, codenamed "Cagney". The vaudevillian actor-turned-downloadable content will give Paradisians the opportunity to play through more than 70 events online in FreeBurn mode -- unfortunately, Paradisians of the Xbox 360 variety will have to wait a bit longer than their PS3 counterparts to enjoy the free update.

Unsurprisingly, the source of the hold-up is the rigorous Xbox Live certification process, which took longer than Criterion had expected. Their new release date for "Cagney" is the following Monday, July 14 -- though this delay won't affect PS3 owners. Nor will it affect DS owners, restaurant entrepreneurs, professional poker players, the current Dalai Lama, or the actual James Cagney, who is, in fact, deceased.

Judging by the rather long title (and resulting headline), though, it doesn't do so very efficiently. We much prefer THQ's elegantly singular "Baja" (it's the Madonna of dirty bikes), but hey, we'll keep an open mind about Left Field Productions' take on the "world's most grueling off-road race." To be published by Activision on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Windows PC, Score International Baja 1000 will let players experience the "unforgiving conditions and blistering speeds" as seen in the popular, off-road event.

The desert-bound racer will offer up to 90 different vehicles across multiple classes (trophy trucks, class I, motorcycles, ATVs etc.), with "hyper-realistic dirt and damage modeling" threatening to do them all in just as you're about to cross the finish line. We've got the first screenshot in the gallery below, though it's stunningly devoid of any gas-guzzling machinery. The race only starts this Fall, you see.

Gallery: Score International Baja 1000

[Via press release]

Nintendo has said it considers Mario Kart Wii a "bridge game" -- a title that converts casual, Wii Sports-playing Wii owners into a more hardcore, game-buying type. For those bridge gamers, this quick retrospective will help fill you in on the history that has made the Mario Kart series one of the most beloved in gaming. For everyone else, it's a stroll down memory lane and a starting point for discussion about your hopes and fears for the impending Mario Kart Wii.

On top of the previously announced three new online modes to be introduced in Burnout Paradise's so-called "Cagney" software update, developer Criterion has revealed that the forthcoming download will also level the pavement between the open-world racer's two console versions, finally bringing custom soundtracks to Burnout Paradise for the PS3.

After the update, PS3 owners will be able to get at their own music using the game's Easy Drive in-game menu, allowing them to cycle through their own collection of tunes while trying to avoid careening into oncoming traffic. Even better, this update, welcome as it is, is just one of several Criterion has planned this year, ensuring many repeat visits to the junk yard in the months ahead.

Despite the name, D2C's recently announced WiiWare title SPOGS Racing has nothing to do with Northern English candy. Instead, the game features single-wheeled vehicles plastered afterburners, spoilers and "wacky" faces. Obviously! The title was a dead giveaway!

The fast-action racing game will feature 12 tracks -- including stunt tracks -- and gameplay based on ramming opponents and stealing their SPOGS-enhancing parts. Players can control their SPOGS by tilting the Wii remote or, more likely, using an attached the Classic Controller. The game is also planned for the PC and the PSP, but you all know we're only posting it because it's on the Wii's hip new download service. Plus we like saying it's name. SPOGS. SPOGS!

Check out the SPOGS-y video after the break.

At a recent sampling of THQ games, Baja entertained me, although I had a hard time deciding if it was a simulation or an arcade racer. Its developers touted the simulation and how accurately the game captures off-road racing. Not being an off-road driver, I can't make a comparison.

Relative to other driving games, Baja was unforgiving of my bad mistakes, pitching me off the track like a Colin McRae game. I'm not sure if it was difficult enough -- I guess I equate "difficult" with "realistic simulation" -- but I had fun playing it.

This August, 2008 game will include 50 licensed vehicles across nine classes, ranging from big trucks to VW bugs. So simulation fans will have those real-world elements. I drove a big F-series Ford over sand and dirt, even hitting a big jump with a soft landing. (Again, "simulation" doesn't seem quite right to me.)

Visuals looked good in my races, although nothing stood out against other games. Ambient life appeared a few times -- a rabbit dodged across the track, and a hawk flew overhead -- but the shadows and details blended together. Real-world billboards for Del Taco caught my eye, but mostly just as an exercise about in-game ads. (Still, there were a lot of billboards in the desert.)

But most of all, the game felt fluid, with close objects constantly flying by, and distant mountains drifting with turns. Arcade-and-simulation racing gamers will appreciate that smooth motion. It'll take more time to evaluate its realism, but Motorstorm has another game inching up in the rear-view mirror.

Polyphony Digital is still working on the PSP version of Gran Turismo. No, really! Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi confirmed as much to us during last year's Tokyo Game Show, blaming the portable racer's vaporware status on the Gran Turismo 5 time sink. Don't expect much movement on the mobile front until Polyphony makes it through the post-Prologue development chicane.

"We had been developing the PSP version, but the problem was that the PS3 version took much more time and effort than we had first imagined," Yamauchi recently told Eurogamer. "So that's been delayed - I don't think we'll be able to make the end of this year for the PSP version, but we are working on it."

If and/or when the final product eventually arrives, Polyphony Digital hopes for it to have an online component "linked" to the PlayStation 3 version. As promising as that sounds, we're still going to file this one as a DNF until we see more.

This console generation has had no shortage of off-road racing games, from some that were terribly fun to others that were just terrible. While not completely bankrupt of merit, MX vs. ATV Untamed certainly edged closer to the latter end of this spectrum, especially compared to the likes of Motorstorm or DiRT, though this has not dissuaded publisher THQ from keeping at it. Today the company announced a new off-road racer named Baja, currently in development at 2XL Games, a new studio founded by -- surprise surprise -- the devs behind the MX vs. ATV franchise.

Set for release on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 this August, the off-road racer will include support for 4-player split screen gameplay, as well as up to 12 players online or over a LAN. And for those with setups that far exceed our own, the game will also support multiple-screen panoramic view. THQ has also confirmed that the game will include some 40+ different vehicles, as well as the ability for players to upgrade off-road rides using "a full array of upgradeable options with hundreds of authentic parts." Still, with an emphasis on arcade-style racing, it seems as if 2XL is attempting to strike some sort of balance between over-the-top and authenticity, something that, in our experience at least, rarely turns out well.

Months after its release, Forza Motorsport 2 is still unwilling to go quietly into a Gran Turismo 5 Prologue-induced night. The game will get a new DLC pack on Wednesday, March 19, that will cost fans (and anybody else, for that matter) 400 points ($5).

For your five bucks you're going to be getting 13 new cars including the 2008 Audi S5, 2006 Maserati MC12 Corsa and 2008 BMW E92 M3. We'd love to tell you more about the offerings, but we know literally nothing about cars. We can safely guarantee though that they are all fast. And made of metal. Check the full list after the break.

The ability to create customized soundtracks is a criminally underused feature in many games, as players are forced to turn down the volume and crank up the stereo just so they can tackle their boss of choice to the musical styling of their favorite 80s hair band. It's not too much to ask, and apparently Sony agrees, with the upcoming WipEout HD for the PS3 now confirmed to support fully customized soundtracks. Taking a page from the recently released Wipeout Pulse for the PSP, the upcoming racer will sport a handful of what we're sure will turn out to be suitably electronic tracks, though if you're in the mood for -- let's just say Barry Manilow – that's entirely your choice.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Exacting revenge for all those times we said, "This is mediocre," publisher Midway has announced "This is Vegas," shortly before kicking us into a mysterious pit acting as little more than a receptacle for cynical gamers and woefully outdated movie references. So what, pray tell, is this ... This is Vegas?

According to the press release, it's "an open world, lifestyle action experience, where players will live out their Vegas fantasies by fighting, gambling, driving and partying their way through the most decadent, fast-paced and wildest city in the world." Said gambling, driving and partying will occur in a world devised by Midway's internal studio, Surreal Software. The Suffering and Drakan developer is currently aiming for a Winter 2008 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Studio head Alan Patmore says the team is "thrilled" to indulge our "wildest Vegas fantasies," though fails to specify whether that includes the one where we become an inconsiderate, alcoholic grandmother addicted to shaking hands with the one-armed bandit. There will, however, be "partying in the hottest night clubs, racing in underground circuits," playing at the tables, impromptu barroom brawls and (presumably) other exciting, lifestyle action experiences. This is Vegas, baby.

It would be downright deceptive to describe this week's Xbox Live Arcade games as anything other than shifty. Though GripShift makes that stance fairly obvious, perhaps you weren't aware that Arkadian Warriors features a trio of shape-shifting warriors... from Arkadia. You know, a typically hapless fantasy realm in need of saviors skilled at hacking, slashing and a variety of other violent maneuvers. The co-op capable romp through randomly generated dungeons will set you back 800 MS Points ($10), roughly the equivalent of what you'll find in the unseen pockets of a slain monster.

If monster mashing isn't your thing, perhaps you'll be tempted to speed down GripShift's tumultuously twisty tracks. They're also suspended in mid-air, making for a gravity-defying thrill ride every racing fan must experience (it says here)! As you might expect, said experience is preceded by that of spending 800 MS Points ($10) -- if not for those lovely trial versions, that one would take you for an entirely different kind of ride.

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.

While recent Live offerings may have left us feeling jilted, like a lifelong pal or that leftover turkey sandwich it's impossible to stay mad at Microsoft's download service for long. This morning our frowns turned upside down as Sidhe Interactive sent word that it is bringing its over-the-top racer GripShift to XBLA later this year, which as we take a cursory glance at what's left of our calender looks to mean sometime in the next four weeks or so.

The game, which was originally released for the PSP in 2005, already made the leap to the PlayStation Network, and while its big screen debut was not as warmly received as it was originally, the game nonetheless marks a welcome addition to any download service, provided the price is right. While GripShift is good fun, we hope the game abandons its weighty $10 PSN price for something a bit more reasonable, say 500 Microsoft Points. Improved textures and sounds aside, this is still a two year old PSP game at heart, and holiday shopping has our wallets feeling a bit peckish.

[Via press release]