Activision announced today that its next-generation racing game, BLUR, will not make it in 2009. The game is the first title from Bizarre Creations, who you probably know better as the developers of the Project Gotham Racing series owned by Microsoft. According to published reports, the game is being delayed so the development team has more time to improve the game’s online multiplayer modes.
More information on this story as it develops.
Source: GI.biz.
We’ve heard about Blur in passing, but today Activision and wholly owned studio Bizarre Creations revealed some details on racing game that they say will redefine and revolutionize the racing genre. Bizarre Creations is certainly is a position to do just that: the company is best known as the creative force behind four iterations of Project Gotham Racing for Microsoft, Formula 1 for the PlayStation and Metropolis Street Racer for the Sega Dreamcast. If anything, Blur will serve to fill a hole left by the PGR team no longer having that franchise to work on. Now instead of creating PGR games, Bizarre Creations will be going head-to-head with the brand name racer it helped to create.
The game drops players into action themed races with 20 cars on a track all targeting the finish line and battling each other as they trade paint and collect power-ups, including the ability to blast other cars out of the way with huge bursts of energy, boost their speed, and more. While controlling these cars, gamers can use offensive and defensive attacks as they battle for the lead through real-world track locations ranging from L.A. and San Francisco to the streets of Hackney, UK and the treacherous roads of Barcelona, Spain.
Beyond the action, Blur will put an emphasis on a narrative that is presented through a new community-based interface. This social network evolves dynamically as players compete in different races, make new friends, rivals and fans, and connect with other racers both in-game and in real life.
Looking beyond Blur’s single player story, gamers can engage in competitive and team-based multiplayer races with up to 20 players online, or on a single console via 4-player split-screen. Bizarre is also introducing custom groups, where anyone can create multiplayer modes based on their favorite ways to play the game. These new modes are immediately shared through Blur’s social network for other players to check out.
Blur is planned for release this fall on the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PC.
Activision Blizzard posted a net loss for the fourth quarter, but the good news is that most of it was due to accounting rules for deferred revenue. The company did manage to beat the street’s expectations on sales of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Call of Duty: World at War, which were strong performers during the Christmas shopping season. For the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, 2008, Activision reported a net loss of $72 million, compared to earnings of $86 million, for the same period a year ago.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said during the earnings call that followed that 2008 was the company’s 17th consecutive year of growth and that operating income was up 20 percent from the previous year. Activision ended the year with $3 billion in cash and no debt.
The company also said that it would only be introducing three new original IPs in 2009: Raven’s first-person shooter Singularity, an unnamed racing game from Bizarre Creations and Prototype. The rest of the company’s catalog will consist of familiar brands like Guitar Hero, and the next Call of Duty game. The company said that 2009 won’t see a new James Bond game - with talk of this new game being some type of driving - shooting game. Finally it was revealed that Blizzard will release at one title this year, though what it will be was not revealed.
Activision, Publishing’s Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is now available on Xbox LIVE Arcade today. Developed by Bizarre Creations, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is the sequel to the original, putting players back into the the fray to shoot it out with hordes of deadly enemy shapes in six new gameplay modes. In addition to the single player game, each level is now playable in multiplayer mode for up to four players.
The game is available for 800 Microsoft Points and a trial version is available so you can take it for a test drive before you buy it. For more indepth commentary on Xbox Live Arcade’s latest releases, check out our latest LiveWare column.
Sega’s game that makes human hunting an almost literal race has now completed the developmental phase of its journey and is heading to manufacturing for final replication and packaging today. The game will be released for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in North America on Feb. 19, 2008.
Developed by Bizarre Creations The Club puts you in a hunt or be hunted tournament where the goal is to take out your assigned target, earn points and move onto the next target. The game promises a blend of fast-paced action combined with a scoring system that rewards the player for how fast a kill is taken down and the technique used to do it. Points are also awarded based on how you damage your target and upon location-based damage (headshot, gut shot, etc.).
Players choose one of eight uniquely trained killers, each with their own set of combat and backgrounds in an attempt to stay alive in this last-man standing style contest. The Club features a single-player experience and eight different multiplayer modes for up to eight players at a time. A playable demo is available for download via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. A new PC demo will be released soon.
The Club carries a suggested retail price of $59.99 and is rated M (Mature).
