Revvin

Oh yes!!!!! this is just tooo damned fun!! A little more arcade than Forza 2 but a little more realistic than the last few Need For Speed offerings or the totally arcade 'juiced'. The multiplay runs a little like Halo3 where groups are formed and you go racing, it fosters a much better feeling of community and perhaps this is the new direction the multiplayer lobbies on Xbox Live are taking. Once again Xbox Live is flawless, I logged in tonight, went racing and then got a few messages from a mate and got an invite to join his game. I'm trying to find out if I can upload a video to show me racing an old skool Sierra Cosworth but so far I can only upload pictures from the game to the PGR Nations website in the same kind of way you can upload pictures from Halo 3 or Forza Motorsport 2. The cars all have stunning cockpit graphics and the Sierra Cosworth was just like I remember the old Sierra interior right down to the dials on the speedo :) Graphically its been tweaked a lot since PGR3, the speed blur effect is much better and as a friend online pointed out they've added little things like corner markers. Its still early days with this game but I'm glad I bought it as I very nearly didn't when I tried the demo but the demo doesn't really do it justice.

Maybe you can shed some light on this having the final version but in BETA there was not much of a penalty for bunny hopping where as in other games continually jumping would slow you down a lot, perhaps they changed this in the final release?

I really didn't think I'd like TF2 because of the cartoon style to it but damn its fun! its more enclosed than Quake Wars, perhaps if there is not so much bunny hopping in QW now I'll pick it up sometime.

I didn't think much of the Quake Wars BETA I tried, it was full of players bunny hopping

Simbin split some time ago, back before the last RACE game I think. Some staff went on to form Blimey games.

Its not that hard to imagine as the last time I did a fresh install I went through every download checking for updates, installing, testing, installing some more. It took a few nights work which is why I'm being far more choosy this time around and besides hopefully my copy of RACE 07 will arrive Friday

I'm not sure if I like the idea of all these track conversions for RACE 07 as it may make multiplay as hard to pick up as rFactor because of version mismatches but you can download a selection of GTR2 and other add-on tracks here at NoGrip. The legality of these conversions is a little unknown though discussions have been allowed on RaceSimCentral and they have quite close ties with simbin and usually tend to shut down any talk of unauthorised conversions like this. One member there suggested that Simbin has been ok about it in the past as long as its tracks from their older games being converted to their new game instead of the other way around. In this thread at RSC I suggested maybe Simbin should setup a system in Steam where you can enter your codes from the GTR2 and GT Legends manuals and be allowed to download officially converted tracks, maybe charge a small ammount for users who don't have them.

Yes I think it could be stopped and probably should for the benefit of online play. From discussing it at another forum it seems cars won't work online but add-on tracks will.

I wonder how much HDD space it would take to install every mod and every track from rFactor Central, and how long the loading time would be?...any volunteers?

You can download the PGR4 playable demo from the Xbox Live Marketplace now. The demo includes three cars, two motorbikes which can be raced at Macau and Nürburgring. The Nürburgring shows off the new weather effects with a snow laden track.

I don't if its being launched in the US but in Europe Sony are releasing a new PS3 with a smaller HDD (40GB), less USB ports, no multimedia card reader but perhaps most importantly no backwards compatibility. Should I switch to the Sony brand I do like to look at older games and maybe play things like older versions of Gran Tourismo as I still played the original Forza on my 360 until Forza 2 was released and I'm playing through the single player campaign in Halo 1 and 2 before I get into 3's single play campaign. I do recall Sony deriding MS for their backwards compatability and saying how important it was for the PS3. Times change but as other consoles such as the Wii and 360 drop in price Sony's price drops seem to revolve around chopping things out of their console.

The novelty wears off with the Wii and then you're left with a few tired old games where as the next gen consoles continue to develop, perhaps you'll try one once you've finished pracing around your room like the sugar plum fairy waving your magic wand ;) Those dual format players are expensive though. I've never used my Xbox as my primary DVD player (OK well once when my standalone DVD player died lol) but if Blu Ray did establish itself as 'the' format then it would perhaps entice me into PS3 ownership though I wouldn't buy it and keep my 360 it would have to be one or the other so Sony would also have to come up with a lot more games than it has now and improve its online service though I don't think that is beyond them. I think downloading films is the way to go but just like the next gen consoles are finding now its popularity will swing from country to country. While perhaps the US and Scandinavian countries seem to have widespread high spped access the British broaband scene is pathetically third world. One of the big providers here 'BT' whom I use are offering a digital TV service that runs along the same lines as your phone and broadband yet recently I've had a hell of a time getting them to fix a faulty line/exchamge as they pass the buck from one company to another. If I'd have had my digital TV with them I'd have been ripping my hair out but lucky I am with a satellite provider for television. Downloading will come but I still think it has some way to go for the majority of countries to catch up with some of the better one who have good infrastructure. Console exclusives such as Halo on the Xbox are nice but I mainly play sports or racing games and both formats have their own good exclusives in those departments. Both have good FPS games too so if Sony did get their act together (from my perspective as a potential buyer) then I wouldn't have a problem trading all my Xbox stuff in for a PS3.

I'm about to do a fresh install of rFactor anyway so I'll just install the stuff I actually played like the Porsche Cup mod, Meganes, Euro F3 etc. I had waaaay to much installed lol

Well now it seems users are making progress on adding modded cars to RACE 07 too :( I've been excited about this games release but now I feel it will just be a headache to play online as it is in rFactor and GTR2 :(

I've heard different reports on how the format war is going in the US, how do you see it from a consumers POV? In the UK its of less interest it seems because the percentage of HDTV owners is still small but steadily growing. To me the PS3 seems to be more like a trojan horse for them to get Blu Ray into peoples homes because they stand to make huge sums of money from licensing the tech should Blu Ray win because surely they would not make the same mistake they did with the BETA Max format. IMHO winning the next gen console war is secondary to establishing Blu Ray. The Xbox Live service is the jewel in the crown for the Xbox 360 IMHO. The big disappointment for me with the Xbox 360 has been the failure rate and the damage that has done to the brand as this has stopped some friends buying a 360 despite liking everything else they have seen when using mine. That said MS are rolling out new chipsets that are starting to hit the shelves now so I've heard (the 360 elite did not have this new chipset apparently). I'm not so sure about the PS3 being blessed with as huge a array of games as the PS1 or PS2 because while the PS3 has plenty of power its raw power that the developers are apparently struggling to develop for. They also need to improve their online service to compete. My son has a Wii and to me its just an overclocked Gamecube but it does have a nice array of social games and the fun to use motion controllers. Why MS and Sony don't come out with their own I don't know, it would perhaps take some of the wind out of the sales of the Wii which is selling extremely well.

I don't think it will ever happen, the console manufacturers want their exclusive titles to help sell their system. Nintendo, SEGA, Sony and Microsoft have done it for years.

I was always more of a FIFA fan, mainly because up until I bought the original XBOX I had not owned a console since the SNES so being a PC gamer FIFA was really all we had though I kept hearing from Playstation owning friends that Pro Evo was great. I bought FIFA 2003 second hand for my original Xbox and that was it until I bought my 360. Last year my son and I rented both FIFA and PES and decided PES had far the better gameplay so thats what I ended up buying. So thats my background, I like both games and I'm open to either option again this year (yes I know I could buy both but don't want to buy two football games when there are so many other great games being released). I've tried the demo's so far and found FIFA to feel more like football, a little more flow and less like pinball which is the feeling I got from the PES demo. Graphically I think FIFA certainly has the edge over PES and I thought the menu system in the PES demo looked awful. I'm going to give them both a little more play time and will probably rent them again this year before buying but so far FIFA is the one that I think is the better football game at the moment.

Well I gave in today and sorted out my old games for trade in and bought FIFA 08. PES6 really was the better game last year but based on the demo's of this years offerings from both football game series it was clear to me FIFA was the better one. Graphically the FIFA games were always better, they never dissapointed when it came to presentation but the AI often let it down. This year is different however and FIFA has drastically improved the AI which has really helped the flow of the game. Now the AI just doesn't blindly run on and ignore the fact you've just been tackled it will run back and try to win the ball. The PES 2008 demo was just too much like pinball this year.

If Simbin released the tracks as I suggested by allowing users to input the codes from their copies of GTR2 and GT Legends into Steam then it would work as everyone online would have the same group of tracks but this will inevitably lead to more conversions of conversions of conversions of tracks made for sims many years old and showing their age with poor track textures, squared off corners etc.

Its sad I know but I'm starting to feel the hype over Halo 3. I've not completed the other two yet so I've started to play the first one through to complete the single player campaign. I got Halo bundled with my original XBOX but bought Halo 2 for multiplay as I do most games so never cared for the single play but now I feel I may be missing out if I buy Halo 3 and don't have the full single play experience. I'm 33 yrs old and yes I feel ashamed for feeling the hype

Simbin has announced that their RACE 07 simulation has now gone gold and they have a world map which you can view here listing the release dates around the world. RACE 07 features: • The full 2007 and 2006 seasons of the WTCC, the historic WTCC’87 class, Formula 3000, Formula BMW, the Mini Cooper Challenge, the Radical SR3 and SR4 (in various configurations), as well as the Caterham CSR200, CSR260 and CSR320 Concept • Intense “single seater” action: on these open racecars SimBin has developed a helmet camera as never seen before. Not only does it accurately resemble the view from inside a helmet, it also has all the visor dynamics the real fan could wish for. The visor gets dirty and can be cleaned by pulling a protective layer of plastic off, the so called “tear-off.” • 32 different tracks and variations from all over the world, including unique city tracks as well as legendary tracks such as Monza, Zandvoort, Brands Hatch and Imola • Online World Championship functionality with rankings and leader boards • Human-like AI opponents that behave as natural race drivers, trying to force the player into error • Enhanced community appeal, community drivers, customized skins and league-support

Yes the fanboys can be just as irritating as those who would look down on anyone who likes to play both real world location and futuristic FPS games just because they are not seen as 'hardcore' enough Then you get those who will look down on you because you like to play FPS games on a console - oh the humanity! I've been playing FPS games for years of all varieties, if its entertaining then I'll play it

I thought you might like it, not long to release now. Its been a while since I've been excited about a new racing sim release.

There is much good fun to be had in games like R6 thats for sure, I'm sorry I meant no offense to you Paul in my comments and they were not really directed at you I just got fed up at another forum where users would tend to be a little snooty and look down on you if you didn't like the latest FPS with a real world location. They seemed to think they were somehow superior because they thought they played tactically when in reality a lot of them did not. The multiplayer aspect is very strong in Halo, I'd like to have seen maybe more than 16 players but then for a while I got fed up with the games that boasted 32 and 64 players because quite often it stopped being a game of skill and just a matter of running and gunning to hit as many targets as possible. There is something a little more 'gladitorial' about a smaller group of players fighting it out. Deathmatch is good fun but I do tend to choose the team based game variants such as VIP, Team Slayer, CTF etc.

There's a nice video of someone driving a Radical around Pau in the rain here: http://stage6.divx.com/user/SimChallenge/v...ical-SR4-(rain)