The End of V8 Supercars [30-04-2009 | DH | Comments (1) ]
While many fans of the Race Driver series look forward to the return of such stalwarts as the DTMs and V8 Supercars, this article argues that it will never come.

Race Driver: GRID Review at BRnNR [14-08-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Fans of racing simulators have got a lot to crow about these days, with plenty of cool current and upcoming titles for all gaming platforms. It’s a different story for arcade racing games though, where things have been rather disappointing for awhile. Codemasters, the makers of the ToCA, Race Driver and Colin McRae series have recently changed that, with a hot new title featuring some of the world’s premier performance cars and tracks; gorgeous visuals, and a damage system that has to experienced to be believed. Racing just got exciting again. Welcome to GRID.

Race Driver: GRID Review at Out of Eight [10-07-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
DiRT succeeded in screwing up a proud franchise: the Colin McRae rally games. Now we have GRID, the newest version of Codemasters' Race Driver series, another proud franchise which I enjoyed thanks to a wide variety of tracks and cars with believable physics. Competition is stiff on the PC for racing games: oval racers have ARCA Sim Racing, touring car fans have RACE 07, and variety comes in the form of Live for Speed and rFactor. DiRT suffered from a console-oriented design, from the mouse-free menus to the arcade physics to the lackluster multiplayer. While this may fly on the consoles (which, apparently, it did), we PC gamers need more than a simple arcade game. Of course, if it's fun, the lack of authenticity will be forgiven (see Trackmania for a stellar arcade racing game). Does GRID encounter the same pitfalls at the previous Codemasters reboot attempt?

Race Driver: GRID Reviw at Computer Games [23-06-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Some news site has recently caught my attention with a cute (and ancient) photo of the two Codemasters founders, shot in the period when the recently founded company was releasing its Dizzy games, with an interesting piece of news associated with it: the queen of Great Britain has decorated them with a rather pompous title, in recognition of their contribution in the games industry. Although undeniable, the above mentioned contribution (along with the company’s role, in general) has decreased over the years, going on the beaten road of endless sequels.

Race Driver: GRID Review at Gamepyre [14-06-2008 | JZ | Comments (1) ]
Codemasters was a tiny company until one day Micro-Machines made Codemasters an overnight success.

Quietly but steadily over the years, Codemasters developed into one of the more successful gaming companies, tackling games from all genres, anywhere from sporting titles to military strategy shooters, such as Operation Flashpoint.

As many hours as I have spend in front of my computer designing maps and playing those missions with my friends, it was not Operation Flashpoint that made Codemasters one of my favorite gaming companies; it was their racing series. Games such as the Driver series, Dirt, the Colin McRae Rally series, and even 1sane (Insane as most call it) have raised the bar with competitors when it comes to the racing genre.

Race Driver: GRID Demo v.1.1 Released [14-06-2008 | JZ | Comments (2) ]
The demo offers 3 events to compete in. The eBay Motors Muscle Cup sees you taking the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT-R and the streets of San Francisco, the Advan International Trophy hands you a Nissan S15 Silvia and your playground is Yokohama Docks, and the Euro Touring Car Series provides some old-school tin-top thrills with a BMW 320si touring car and the sweeping curves and hairpins of Jarama.
This new version also includes the changes brought by v1.1 patch.

Race Driver: GRID eBay Demo [11-06-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Codemasters has released a new playable demo for Race Driver: GRID, a demo which is exclusively provided by eBay Motors featuring the eBay Motors Muscle Series.

Race Driver: GRID Review at TrustedReviews [09-06-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
The perennial underdog of the driving game world, Codemasters' TOCA series won and kept a hardcore fanbase, but never quite achieved the global recognition that the likes of Gran Turismo or Project Gotham Racing have enjoyed. This is a shame. The last effort, TOCA Race Driver 3, had its visual issues but offered one of the most authentic and exciting racing experiences on the last generation of consoles. Race Driver: GRID may have left the TOCA name behind, but it's still full of the same qualities and - importantly - the same attitude that drove its antecedents. I just hope it leaves the 'underdog' reputation behind, because GRID deserves to be big. It's not just comparable to the likes of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, Forza 2 and Project Gotham Racing 4 - it's actually a better game in some respects.

Race Driver: GRID Gone Gold [17-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (7) ]
Codemasters today announced that Race Driver: GRID, the racing game previously known as Race Driver One, has been approved for manufacturing and will be available on May 30th for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 - a Nintendo DS edition will follow. In related news, Codemasters has released the final car and track lists. The PC demo is locally mirrored here - the Xbox 360 demo was in the top ten most-played games on Xbox Live Last week, coming in at number 8, making it the highest-placed racing game.

Race Driver: GRID Preview at Games32 [16-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Colin McRae Dirt brought one of the best middle-ware graphics engine for racing games called Neon Engine which is now the perfect weapon for Codemasters Studios. This engine will be used in further titles including Flashpoint 2, and is also the graphical support for Race Driver: Grid. So physics and damage systems should be at their best in this title, along with eye-candy graphics and high definition rendered cars. To check out if our guess will receive a concrete confirmation we have grabbed the official demo to see what the fourth installment in the Race Driver franchise has to offer.

Race Driver: GRID Multiplayer Hands On [16-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Playing Race Driver: GRID online with eleven of Codemasters' finest developers, QA testers and PR people, we find something unfamiliar running through our head. It's a Dodge Viper. This happens quite a lot, and this particular one has just knocked off our bumper, but more immediately worrying is that it's flipped our car onto its back and crippled the engine. Thanks for that.

Race Driver: GRID Multiplayer Details [15-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Reflecting the ethos, spirit and attitude of the offline game, GRID will bring the world of motorsports to life online as Codemasters today announced that the game's multiplayer content will feature 32 exhilarating online race events on 80 circuits at 15 intercontinental locations. Featuring up to 12-player events with incredible full car damage, GRID's online multiplayer races will see gamers competing in aggressive races on iconic city streets and famous championship circuits across Europe, the U.S. and Japan.

"GRID online is the ultimate expression of what the game is all about - collision-packed, aggressive, wheel-to-wheel racing," said Ralph Fulton, Chief Game Designer, GRID. "Our wide range of motorsport disciplines, stunning locations and full damage 12-player races make for a uniquely spectacular race experience and our immersive new ranking system rewards player skill and deepens the challenge online."

Players will earn fear and respect by taking their custom paint jobs online and competing in a huge range of racing disciplines - from drifting around Yokohama Docks, charging through the mean streets of Detroit, racing touring cars around Spa-Francorchamps to competing in chaotic demolition derbies.

Race Driver: GRID Preview at Hookedgamers [14-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
Codemasters are set to release a new arcade style racer named GRID later this year. Codemasters have had a fairly good history in this genre, with many titles spanning from the Toca Touring Cars Series to more recent titles such as DiRT. When I first laid eyes on the game, I uttered a simple but all-revealing “Wow”. I was overwhelmed to say the least. The amazing graphics are some of the most impressive you and I will see in this particular era of gaming. Needless to say, my interest was piqued.

Race Driver: GRID Demo Released [11-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (4) ]
A playable demo for Race Driver GRID is now available, offering a test drive of the PC edition of the next installment in the Race Driver series of motorsports simulations. Word is: "The demo offers 3 events to compete in. The eBay Motors Muscle Cup sees you taking the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT-R and the streets of San Francisco, the Advan International Trophy hands you a Nissan S15 Silvia and your playground is Yokohama Docks, and the Euro Touring Car Series provides some old-school tin-top thrills with a BMW 320si touring car and the sweeping curves and hairpins of Jarama." Demo is 894Mb big.

GRID Demo This Week [05-05-2008 | JZ | Comments (0) ]
The demo has 3 events to compete in. The eBay Motors Muscle Cup sees you taking the wheel of a ford Mustang GT-R and the streets of San Francisco, the Advan International Trophy hands you a Nissan S15 Silvia and your playground is Yokohama Docks, and the Euro Touring Car Series provides some old-school tin-top thrills with a BMW 320si touring car and the sweeping curves and hairpins of Jarama.

You’ll also have the opportunity to use the console versions of the demo to win an amazing prize. More details when the demo comes out.