Gamers gear-up for V8 experience
7/12/2001 23:05 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Rev-head gamers from across the country are drooling on their joysticks in anticipation of two soon-to-be-released V8 Supercar racing simulators.
Rival software developers, Codemasters and EA Sports, have finally realised the void in the marketplace of a quality V8 Supercar game, and are both in production with exciting V8 racing titles.
The Codemasters release, V8 Supercar Race Driver, is the first “official” V8 Supercar game, fully licensed by V8 governing body, AVESCO.
But it will be trumped by EA Sports’ rebel V8 Challenge, which is due for release before Christmas – six months before the Codemasters game hits the shelves.
V8 Challenge is endorsed by the Holden Racing Team, and will allow gamers to tackle four Australian circuits – Bathurst, Sandown, Queensland Raceway and the Adelaide street course – as well as other international tracks.
Players will compete in or against the factory Commodores or the Castrol Perkins Holdens, while the OzEmail Racing Falcon will represent Ford.
EA Sports are promising “unrivalled car and track detail, realistic damage, dynamic weather effects and accurate car set-up.”
V8 Challenge will only be available for PC users. The Web Site can be found here.
Codemasters’ V8 Supercar Race Driver, set down for a June 2002 launch, is being described as “the most immersive racing experience ever.”
Adapted from the worldwide Race Driver series, the Australian version is a plot-driven, episodic game following the fortunes of one young V8 Supercar driver, Ryan McKane, in his quest to conquer the motorsport world.
Twenty current V8 Superstars will feature in the game, racing on seven Australian circuits, including Bathurst.
Finite Element Modeling (FEM) will ensure the cars, drivers, circuits and, importantly, the crashes, are recreated accurately. Photo-realism graphics are a feature of both games.
AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane has already given Race Driver the thumbs-up.
“Codemasters has a proven history of excellence for authentically recreating world-famous racing experiences in best-selling computer and video games,” he said. “We’re delighted to partner with them and have the company’s talent working with us to develop the official V8 Supercar game.”
V8 Supercar Race Driver will be available for PC CD Rom, Playstation 2, and the new X-Box console. The official Web Site is located here.
|
|
