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• Gran Turismo 6 is Playstation 3-Bound This Holiday Season [w/ Videos]

  In Video Games / By Tom Anderson / 15 May 2013

  

  After a gestation so lengthy that Axl Rose was quoted as saying “What the hell is taking Kazunori and crew so long?”, Gran Turismo 5 finally arrived in November of 2010. And while it was without question a tremendous game with gorgeous graphics and a mammoth car list, it felt, in many respects, rushed. Hard to believe when you consider it came out almost six years after Gran Turismo 4, but things like a new-but-half-baked damage model, continued use of angry appliance exhaust sounds, woeful under-utilizations of the WRC, NASCAR and Top Gear licenses and, perhaps most aggravating of all, many times more “Standard Cars” (i.e. models ported from GT4 and the Gran Turismo title for the PSP) than “Premium Cars” (i.e. brand new car models built from many thousands more polygons and featuring fully-modeled interiors) left many longtime fans of the franchise feeling underwhelmed, if not out-and-out cheated.

  So you can imagine our skepticism when we heard rumors that the father of Gran Turismo, Kazunori Yamauchi, and his team at Polyphony Digital would not only be revealing Gran Turismo 6 sooner rather than later, but also bring it to market by the end of the 2013 calendar year. Well, following a massive press event (which also served to celebrate the series’ 15^th anniversary) at England’s Silverstone Circuit earlier today, we can report there’s more than a little truth to those rumors. More than a little truth, and some gorgeous, gorgeous visuals.

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• Real Racing 3 is Available for Download on iOS & Android [w/Video]

  In Video Games / By Vinh Pham / 28 February 2013

  

  Firemonkey’s Real Racing 3 is out now for both iOS  and Android as a free to play game. Real Racing 3 has a brand new Mint 3 engine rebuilt from the ground up that provides stunning real-time graphics that rivals almost anything you see on a console game like Forza or Gran Turismo. There are enough control configurations to satiate everyone, which includes everything from gyroscopic controls to a traditional touch-based steering wheel and pedals.

  New to the series is the Time-Shifted Multiplayer provides a seamless asynchronous experience amongst you and your friends. This unique spin on online gaming allows a player to race “ghost” versions of their friends that is controlled by a dynamic AI. Players can also race against top global scores, and be notified of when their time has been beaten.

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• Real Racing 3: Latest Dev Diary Details Asynchronous Multiplayer [iOS] [Video]

  In Video Games / By Vinh Pham / 4 February 2013

  

  Check out the latest Real Racing 3 developer diary from Firemonkey, the studio behind the Real Racing series on iOS. The team details game’s time-shifted multi-player feature, which is a unique spin that combines a standard “ghost” mode common in most racing games and asynchronous play found in popular iOS games like Letterpress and Words with Friends.

  Time-shifted multi-player fills every race with your friends’ ghosts that is controlled via a dynamic AI that behaves as your friends would. This mode makes it possible for friends to race at their own leisure. Players may also race against the top scores of the week, and a push notification will let you know if someone crushes your time.

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• Freebie Alert: Need for Speed: Most Wanted [iOS]

  In Video Games / By Vinh Pham / 2 February 2013

  

  Heads up, everyone. They’re giving away free copies of Need for Speed: Most Wanted for iOS over at IGN. The promotion should run through the end of February. The app is currently selling for $4.99 (Universal) in the App Store, so you’ll want to take advantage of this if you have an iOS device.

  For those of you who are not in the loop, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is EA’s latest racing game in the Need for Speed franchise. While the console version was developed by the highly talented Criterion Games, this mobile version was developed by Firemonkey, who you may be familiar with from their Real Racing series. This version of the game features over 40 unique and customizable cars that include the recently added Pagani Zonda R.

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• F1 Race Stars is the Pinnacle of Motorsports…Only Cuter [w/ Video]

  In Video Games / By Tom Anderson / 25 October 2012

  

  Ever since it acquired the highly-prized Formula 1 license for video games in 2009, Codemasters has been turning out super realistic, super polished F1 games for PC, the major consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) and, in the case of some installments, the major hand-helds (PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS) and Apple iOS. All are about as close as you can get to being a real Formula 1 driver without having started karting at age five and presenting Sir Frank Williams or Vijay Mallya with an eight-figure check.

  Now, the British-based company is looking to get a lot more out of what’s probably its priciest property. But instead of staying on the serious simulator path, Codemasters is taking its new F1 offshoot – F1 Race Stars – in a decidedly more whimsical direction. How much more whimsical? Take a look at the gameplay trailer after the jump and decide for yourself.

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• Top 5 Racing Games for the New iPhone 5

  In Video Games / By Vinh Pham / 29 September 2012

  

  The release of the new iPhone 5 and fifth generation iPod Touch will bring a flood of new gaming enthusiasts to Apple’s platform. If you’re new to iOS, you are likely on the hunt for some apps to make use of your fancy new iDevice. Here are five suggestions for great racing games to get you started…

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• VIDEO: Criterion Games Names Some Key Features of Need for Speed: Most Wanted

  In Video Games / By Tom Anderson / 24 September 2012

  

  After crafting Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, the hyper-addictive, critically-acclaimed reboot of the cops-and-racers sub-franchise, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the folks at Criterion Games would be taking a long, well-earned vacation. And when two Need for Speed games not developed by Criterion – Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed and Need for Speed: The Run – landed on store shelves last year, those suspicions seemed to be confirmed. But it turns out the gaming gurus of Guildford weren’t spending all of 2011 sleeping late and watching football on the telly.

  They were, in fact, working on Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which had its coming out party at E3 in June. And as with Hot Pursuit, Most Wanted shares little more than a title with a game from the Electronic Arts cash cow’s past. In fact, there are so many new ideas being crammed into the 2012 incarnation of Most Wanted that EA and Criterion are rolling out a series of video features highlighting what players can expect to find when thy boot up their copies beginning on October 30th. Check out the first of these videos after the jump.

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• E3 2012: Top Racing Game Debuts [w/ Videos]

  In Video Games / By Tom Anderson / 8 June 2012

  

  The 2012 edition of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 for short) wrapped up at the Los Angeles Convention Center yesterday, and there was plenty of monumental video game news being announced. There were numerous sequels to beloved adventure, first-person shooter and sports games, as well as some intriguing new properties like Watch Dogs, ZombiU and The Last of Us. There were also new services announced, such as Microsoft’s SmartGlass, which will allow smartphones and tablets to interface with the Xbox 360.

  Of course, there were also many new racing games that had their coming out parties at E3. And because racing games are the ones we cover most closely, they’ll be the only genre you’ll see highlighted here. You want info and insight on the likes of Assassin’s Creed III or Gears of War: Judgment? There are umpteen hundred other outlets that will give you that. Anyway, on with the games that will get your motor running.

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• Forza Motorsport 4’s April Car Pack Brings a Little of Everything [w/ Video]

  In Video Games / By Tom Anderson / 4 April 2012

  

  On top of the vast tuning and customization options, stout physics engine and comprehensive online play, Forza Motorsport 4 has a fascinating variety of vehicles from which to choose. Whether your proclivities lean toward mammoth SUVs, fire-breathing supercars, snappy hot hatches or out-and-out race cars, the latest installment of the Xbox 360’s flagship racing title has something for you.

  This is not to say, however, that the folks at Turn 10 included as many vehicles as they could have on the disc. To remedy this, the company has been releasing downloadable 10-car add-on packs for the last six months. Each one has added variety and depth to the already eclectic car roster, and the one for this month – the April Alpinestars Pack, which dropped yesterday – is no different.

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• O Racing Game Pioneers: Night Driver

  In Video Games / By Tom Anderson / 11 February 2012

  

  Modern video games are remarkable achievements, and a far cry from their ancestors in terms of sophistication and realism. This is particularly true of racing or driving games; watch a replay in the likes of Gran Turismo 5 or Forza Motorsport 4 and passers-by might ask you which channel you're watching. Turn back the clock to the genre's formative days, however, and it's hard to imagine how even the most powerful imaginations managed to envision those crude congregations of pixels as cars on a race track.

  This is not to say, though, that these trailblazing titles aren't worth revisiting. After all, without them there wouldn't be any Dirt 3 or Gran Turismo 5 or Need for Speed: The Run. Hence the reason we're starting this series, chronicling the racing games that helped shape the genre into what it is today. And where better to start than with the first commercially successful and popular first-person-view title, Night Driver?

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