La Techland, anche lei presente alla fiera dell'E3 con un proprio stand, ha comunicato che il nuovo Xpand Rally sarà disponibile nei negozi a partire dal 23 settembre 2004: sono inoltre disponibili alcuni nuovi e spettacolari screenshots che potete visionare qui.

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Techland, the producer of Xpand Rally informs, that the game will be presented at it’s booth at the E3 Expo taking place in Los Angeles this week.
Everyone who is interested is invited to visit Techland at the booth #6015 in Kentia Hall between 12th-14th of May.
At the same time Techland would like to announce the final release date of Xpand Rally and the list of publishers and distributors that purchased rights for this title:
- Germany, Austria and Switzerland - KOCH Media
- France - MicroApplication
- Spain - Zeta Multimedia
- Portugal - Porto Editora
- Russia - 1C
- Czech Republic - US Action
- Poland - Techland
In all of these countries Xpand Rally will be available on the shelves on September 23rd, 2004.
The company is still looking for publishers for United Kingdom and other territories.

Direttamente dalla fiera dell'E3 a Los Angeles, il portale GamesRadar ha pubblicato alcune nuove informazioni e screenshots riguardanti il nuovo Colin McRae Rally 2005 della Codemasters.

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KEY FEATURES

Ci riferiamo ovviamente all'atteso Richard Burns Rally della SCi, che sta "partecipando" al Pirelli Rally di Newcastle, per acquisire il maggior numero di dati reali possibili da implementare poi nella simulazione: per saperne di più correte qui.

The game which includes the Pirelli International Rally in its 36 photorealistic tracks has been developed as a rally simulation by world acclaimed developer Warthog Plc to give the player the real rally experience. It features, realistic weather effects, time of day, animals, pot holes ruts & rocks, licensed cars and stages alongside the intricacies synonymous of real-life rallying such as crash damage, helicopter rescues and spectator assistance.

La Bethesda ha annunciato il nuovo IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005, titolo che vi permetterà di mettervi alla guida di potenti dragsters americani sia su console che su PC a fine 2004: per saperne di più correte sul sito ufficiale.

Bethesda Softworks® announced today it will publish IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005Ô (IHRA 2005) for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, and PC this fall. IHRA 2005 marks a new direction for the popular IHRA series with its new racing engine and gameplay that have been completely redesigned from the ground up to simulate the thrill and excitement of racing a 6,000-horsepower dragster.

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Utilizing the IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) license to its full potential, IHRA 2005 features over 24 professional drivers and all 11 IHRA-sanctioned tracks from the 2004 Hooters Racing Circuit. Using NDL's Gamebryoâ„¢ graphics engine to render the tracks and cars in stunning detail, IHRA 2005 will feature broadcast style race presentation with TV-style camera fly-bys and color commentary to fully immerse the user in the on-track and trackside environment.

"What Bethesda Softworks has accomplished with this new generation of drag racing game is amazing," said Aaron Polburn, Vice President of marketing for the IHRA. "Everything Bethesda and the IHRA have worked so hard for over the last four years is now going to become a reality. Seeing how fantastic the cars and tracks looked in the new game gave me goose bumps the size of golf balls."

Designed to appeal to the casual racer along with the drag racing enthusiast, the game will offer a quick play Arcade mode along with a detailed simulation mode where players can build a top racing team and compete in the 12-event National IHRA Professional Drag Racing Championship. More than 50 accurate and detailed vehicles will be fully customizable in the games garage and paint shop. All new off-track options like the parts shop, garage, and trophy room along with detailed weather/atmosphere dynamics and day and night racing ensure endless hours of game play.

"What we have accomplished with IHRA 2005 will bring drag racing to gamers in a way that is both familiar and different," said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. "Every aspect of the game from the shop to the strip is designed to make this the definitive showcase for the IHRA events, tracks, and drivers with all the detail and depth that you'd want. At the same time we're able to do it in a very straightforward way that is accessible enough to put the raw power of these awesome cars in the hands of anybody."

IHRA Professional Drag Racing 2005 is scheduled for release in Q4 2004 for Playstation®2, Xbox, and PC CD-ROM.

I SimBin hanno annunciato l'utilizzo di una nuova tecnologia per lo sviluppo del loro prossimo titolo, GTR: il "Live Track Technlogy". Questa funzione renderà le proprietà del tracciato dinamiche a seconda delle condizioni di gioco.

SimBin Development Team AB today announced LIVE trackâ„¢ technology to be utilized in their upcoming PC racing simulation, GTR. This technology will cause racing circuit conditions to change dynamically, affecting the optimum driving line and offline characteristics, delivering yet another leap forward in racing simulation detail.

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Innovation for a new breed of simulation
LIVE Trackâ„¢ technology includes several genre and industry firsts, including a racing line that variably builds up grip levels as rubber is laid on the circuit, and a subsequent decrease of grip over the course of a race as the oils from the cars mixes with the rubber on the racing groove. Another new enhancement is the amount of grip found off the ideal racing line which is decreased as 'marbles' of rubber are shed from the big slick GT tires, and the further offline the car is, the less grip there will be, especially later in the racing session. "All of these exciting new factors are visually represented, so the racer can tell the condition of the track at a glance," reports Eric Boosman, art director, SimBin Development Team.

"LIVE Trackâ„¢ represents an important step forward in creating the ultimate authentic racing simulation by constantly altering racing strategy and giving the racing circuit its own personality. Now the simulation enthusiast will have to think about whether or not to try that overtaking manoeuver and risk being offline in the muck, or to stay on the line and wait for a better opportunity or to pressure the opponent into a mistake, the same way a professional race driver does in real life, thus delivering a richer, deeper, more authentic experience," says Ian Bell, head of studio, SimBin Development Team.

Dall'E3 di Los Angeles arrivano inedite news riguardante l'atteso Gran Turismo 4 per PS2: tra una gara e l'altra, potremo girare liberamente sulle piste ricreate da Polyphony Digital e scattare foto, che sarà possibile stampare (con una qualsiasi stampante USB collegata alla console) o spedire via Internet (e-mail) ad altri giocatori.

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Sono queste le prime informazioni sul "Photo Mode" che verrà inserito in Gran Turismo 4, il gioco di guida più atteso della fiera E3 e dell'intero anno, almeno tra gli utenti PlayStation 2. In argomento "date", la versione americana è prevista a novembre, mese che dovrebbe fornire una buona indicazione anche sul corrispettivo europeo. Un'ultima nota: negli annunci è assente il supporto al disco fisso (per nuovi contenuti), citato poco tempo fa e rimasto, per ora, sulla carta.

[Fonte: NextGame.it]

Nuova anteprima dedicata all'atteso GTR del team Simbin, pubblicata questa volta dal portale di Gaming Nexus, che anticipa già un giudizio globale di 9:

Because the preview does not include any races or other cars, I can't say anything about the quality of the AI. I also can't tell what the additional cars on the track will do to frame rate. What I can say is this: with those caveats, this sim will be worth whatever they end up charging for it. I've managed to get my personal best time in the GT car at Spa down to 2:26-something. Considering that a good real-world time is 2:17, I'd say that's just about right.