BLUR:

Project Gotham Racing this isn't. Bizarre's brilliant racing series for Microsoft - like its Dreamcast ancestor, Metropolis Street Racing - was never exactly a simulation racer. The tight-but-loose handling and the hint of score-attack about the kudos style system told you that Bizarre always had one foot in the arcade. But they were technical games, and with their beautifully-modelled production cars, demanding tracks and reverential dedication to the art and science of cornering, they were lumped in with the Gran Turismos and Forzas of this world more often than not.


That, the Liverpool studio has now decided, is just another cul-de-sac in a "stagnating" racing genre. Backed by new owners Activision, it's making a stab at the mass market with Blur. Talking to Bizarre staff at their offices, you'll hear huge admiration for games like Race Driver GRID and RACE Pro, but a determination to reach more people, to design something more accessible. Need for Speed gets mentioned, of course, but the names that keep cropping up are much older, examples of a "golden age" of racers for everyone: Road Rash, OutRun and the one blockbuster, multi-million-selling racing game that still exists: Mario Kart.

So far, Blur is looking like a solid arcade racer, bolstered by an unerringly cool car collection and some evocative locations and lighting (the game always takes place in the semi-dark to pick out the neon effects of the power-ups, and the lasers and glow-sticks of the crowd, who are apparently all nineties ravers). But Bizarre, being Bizarre, has a trick up its sleeve.

Its "linear, RPG-style" progression is organised as a fictional social network of underground racers, organised into local groups. They'll message and invite you and comment on races, as well as chipping in with some (cheesy, but not irritating) audio lines mid-race. To some extent the network is just a front-end conceit, but the groups also organised Blur into racing themes, which is where the variety of racing objectives comes in: not just winning races, but protecting friends, team racing, aiming to cause damage, stunt and style racing and so on.

Dvader said:

gamingeek said:

Godsdamnit. Frakking damn hell money hate. I hate my life. Give me money.

Me and you, we're the same.

Make that three of us. 

So I called Blockbuster to see when they will get Punch-Out, friday it seems.

But it took a few Blockbusters to get my answer cause women answered the phone. Most women don't know crap about gaming, so when I say when will you have Punch-Out for the Wii they are like, "what?????". Two different women at two different stores checked the system for release and they both said its not on there. I bet they didn't type in the dash.

Finally I got a man on the phone and he instantly asked if it came out today in most stores, told me they received the UFC game and Terminator game but not Punch-Out. He then checked to see when it arrives and the computer said 5/22. Thank god, someone that knows what they are talking about.

So should I run out to the store and buy Punch-Out and say fuck it to Infamous. I will be very happy for a week, then reality will set in.

Dvader said:

SteelAttack said:

Dvader said:

gamingeek said:

Godsdamnit. Frakking damn hell money hate. I hate my life. Give me money.

Me and you, we're the same.

Make that three of us.

Mexican doctors dont get paid?

Yup. But we get paid in pigs, so with the recent outbreak of swine flu, well, things are getting a bit rough as of lately.

Actually, in order to force myself to fulfill my vow of not buying new games, I had to turn my credit and debit cards to my wife. She handles all the expenses now,  sort of like the steward of Gondor. Until the king returns, that is.

So yeah, for all intents and purposes, I'm broke.