iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations and Skip Barber Racing School today announced a strategic alliance blending the latest in simulation technology with the real-world training expertise of the world's most well-known racing school.

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The two companies will collaborate on an online racing school and entry-level, open-wheel series to be offered as part of iRacing.com's simulation, and Skip Barber students will have a new way to acquire and hone their racing skills, even when away from the track.

"iRacing.com and Skip Barber are both in the business of teaching aspiring drivers how to race and giving them the opportunity to compete," said Brett Roubinek, Chief Operating Officer for iRacing.com. "With their history and accumulated knowledge of driver education, there's no question that they are experts. The fact that they see the value of our simulation as a training tool for racers and the potential of our online racing service to advance not only driver education but motorsport as a whole is a huge vote of confidence for our technology and our vision. We look forward to working with the SBRS staff and tapping into their expertise."

With a curriculum adapted from the proven-effective lessons of Skip Barber's famous three-day racing school, iRacing.com members will learn many of the same terms, techniques and secrets of speed that have launched the careers of stars like A.J. Almendinger, Marco Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. And through a special online version of Skip Barber's entry-level, open-wheel road racing series, iRacing.com drivers will have the opportunity to practice those skills as they compete wheel-to-wheel with drivers from all over the world.

"Skip Barber Racing School is the world's most recognized and most experienced professional organization dedicated to training race drivers," said George Ayres, President of Skip Barber Racing School. "Dave Kaemmer and the rest of the team behind iRacing.com are just as accomplished in their field. Their simulation technology and our instructional expertise are a perfect fit."

In addition to the lesson plans, iRacing.com drivers will also experience the same machinery as Skip Barber drivers. The online driving school and the first rung on iRacing.com's open-wheel road racing ladder will feature the 150-horsepower R/T 2000 formula car currently used for all six Skip Barber Race Series championships.

"As every racer knows, whether they are just starting out or have been at it for years, seat-time is the key," said Roubinek. "Now, though, that seat can be the cockpit of an R/T 2000 or the desk chair in your home office."

The multi-year alliance provides for extensive co-branding and co-promotional opportunities. Top finishers in the Skip Barber National Race Series and each of the Skip Barber Regional Race Series will receive annual iRacing.com memberships, and all Skip Barber Three-day Racing School graduates will receive trial memberships to sample the online simulation. iRacing.com, meanwhile, will award Skip Barber Racing School certificates to certain champions and other outstanding simracers amongst the iRacing.com membership.

"We're reaching out to the same audiences," said Ayres. "Whether an aspiring racer starts out in an Intro to Racing course on track with us or in iRacing.com's online driving school, they all want the same thing, to learn how to race and do it as well and as often as they can. Through this partnership, they'll have more opportunities to do so than ever before."

Il portale di Gamespot ha pubblicato a questo indirizzo una interessante intervista dedicata al prossimo Trackmania United, fatta al direttore della Nadeo. Qui sotto invece trovate l'ultimo comunicato stampa con la confezione del gioco.

Produced by the young, talented French studio Nadeo, TrackMania United is the latest version of the most entertaining car racing game around. Released in 2003, TrackMania has made incredible progress full of intense events that make it today one of the most popular video games on PC. 2006 was the year of TrackMania.

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In the spring the game brought together more than 6,000 players in France to compete throughout 60 stores during the FNAC Trophy. The game was also part of the Video Games World Cup held in Bercy (Paris) where 40 players from around the world came to battle for the title of Best Driver. TrackMania is a worldwide success with its free version of Nations, which has today been downloaded more than 20 million times.

Drive United

Providing innovation, a system for resource sharing and exchange, in-game downloads, online records, virtual money, connecting functionalities and a closed Internet network, TrackMania United will be the inspiration for tomorrow’s interactive and online video game experience.

The immense single player campaign includes 3 game modes and almost 200 new circuits. Drive at mind-blowing speeds on today’s most spectacular tracks full of extreme jumps, loops, ramps, turbo power, hairpin turns and other crazy racing blocks.

Play United

At long last TrackMania brings together the 7 environments offered in Sunrise, Original and Nations. Each TrackMania environment has its own universe, vehicle and driving technique. All the environments benefit from new features and improvements. ‘Stadium’, the most recent version, benefits from a total makeover with new blocks, ambiances and lighting system.

Like its predecessors, TrackMania United offers various amazing creation tools that increase the interest and lifetime of the game, including the well-known circuit editor which allows anyone to make their own tracks, playable in single or multiplayer modes, using more than 1,000 different construction blocks. In addition, a video editing studio can be used to create race and stunt videos, and the possibility of converting into any format allows for open distribution. And last but not least, the paint workshop lets players customise each vehicle.

Be United

More than ever before TrackMania United is multiplayer gaming heaven since gamers now have the possibility of playing any of the existing TrackMania environments. More than 100,000 circuits created by players are already available on the Internet and offer extraordinary game play duration.

Dopo l'annuncio di ieri e in attesa di un articolo più completo, emergono direttamente dall'evento stampa ufficiale (tenutosi ieri pomeriggio alla fiera di Milano), alcuni nuovi dettagli su SBK 07 - Superbike Word Championship di Black Bean Games.

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In particolare vogliamo completare l'informazione data nella notizia di ieri riguardo le piattaforme cui è destinato il gioco: oltre alle edizioni PS2 e PSP in arrivo sul mercato ad aprile 2007, sono previste quelle per PC, Xbox 360 e - si sussurra - PlayStation 3, con le prime due attese a ottobre 2007. Interessante il fatto che, per quanto riguarda la nuova generazione e il PC, Milestone sia direttamente impegnata nella realizzazione dell'engine di gioco, a differenza di quanto avviene per l'edizione PS2, basata su RenderWare (per quanto ormai pesantemente personalizzato dopo le esperienze maturare con S.C.A.R., Evolution GT e Super-Bikes Riding Challenge). L'impegno di ricerca e sviluppo tencologico riguarda anche l'edizione PSP, anch'essa mossa da un motore grafico proprietario sviluppato internamente da Milestone.

[Fonte Nextgame]

Gli utenti di Test Drive Unlimited, caricando il gioco se connessi ad Xbox Live, incontreranno un nuovo aggiornamento (anche detto "patch") che Atari ha pubblicato su Internet in queste ore. Le aree su cui è intervenuto il team creativo sono in massima parte legate al gioco in rete, eliminando alcuni "exploit" ossia vantaggi usati per migliorare i propri punteggi, ma anche numerosi bug.

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Secondo gli annunci, è ora perfettamente funzionante il commercio di veicoli tra utenti sulla rete ed è stato migliorato sia il controllo delle moto, sia la funzione di replay. Per leggere un elenco completo delle correzioni apportate da questa patch, in Inglese, cliccate qui.

[Fonte Nextgame]

Nuova carrellata di immagini sul sito ufficiale che mostra in azione il prossimo titolo rallystico di casa Codemasters, quel Colin McRae DIRT previsto su PC, PS3 e X360 che ha il compito di ridare linfa vitale alla serie e trasportarla nella fantomatica "prossima generazione" di giochi. Potete inoltre leggere qui una nuova intervista fatta dal sito di IGN, mentre qui sotto trovate il nuovo comunicato stampa:

Colin McRae: DIRT gets accelerated with Neon, all-new engine exclusively for next-gen formats.  Codemasters Studios’ proprietary Neon engine to drive off-road racing so real, players will be picking dirt from their teeth.

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Colin McRae: DIRT™ will roar in with all the sensational realism and sublime car handling that the series is renowned for, only this time, with true next-generation technology under the bonnet. Coming 2007 for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC, Colin McRae: DIRT is the first game being created using Codemasters Studios’ proprietary engine, Neon.

Neon is a growling powerhouse of a game engine that will drive the next-generation of the series’ impeccable car handling, incredibly detailed vehicles and fantastic living environments. Neon is a multi-platform continuous technical development that’s already been in production for over 18 months with over 30 tech experts on the team. Neon is being used to build Colin McRae: DIRT from the ground up with technology developed exclusively for next-generation formats; there’s no adaptation of previous McRae tech in DIRT.

Neon will ensure that DIRT’s exhilarating mix of off-road race events will be compounded into one adrenaline rush of a video game with playability that’s true to the Colin McRae series. With more than 40 officially licensed vehicles covering 12 car class categories, fans of the McRae series will get their fix of throwing official 2WD, 4WD, Classic and RWD cars, including Colin McRae’s prototype R4 and Travis Pastrana’s X Games-winning Subaru Impreza, around the most challenging and treacherous rally stages around the world.

Says Gavin Cheshire, Vice President of Codemasters Studios:
“Neon delivers an engine that provides us with so much more scope and possibilities than an update of existing tech would have ever allowed. The most obvious result is in the visual detail and physics that produce incredible particle effects. Neon makes it possible to go into seemingly minute detail but will create the most realistic and involving environments in the racing genre.â€

The detail Neon provides enables the team to model locations and environments as accurately as possible, providing each with a unique look and feel, right down to the effects of the wind. Using real-time physics to model air movements, everything will be affected by the wind: exhaust smoke, trees, foliage, trackside flags, rainfall and the vehicles themselves. A car will create an air rush wake that will have an effect on everything it passes and also generate a real-time slipstream.

Impact from damage will see metal crumple, glass smash and everything that you collide with in the environment will be destroyed in a realistic way. Small trees snap and bend, grass can be flattened, wood will splinter and stone will be smashed, it’ll even wrap a car around a tree if the crash is serious enough.

As the evolution of the world’s favourite rally game series, Colin McRae: DIRT is coming in 2007 for PlayStation®3, Xbox™360 and PC. Sign up for total mud splattering, gravel churning, handbrake turning, off-road racing online at the site