Black Bean Games has revealed the first details about its new World Rally Championship game, which will be based on the 2010 season and released in a few months. The game is said to include all 13 rounds featured in the real championship as well as a rendered co-pilot, career mode and online modes. The first image of the game in action was also released today:

Codemasters announced today that it is extending the development time of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 in order to take advantage of DirectX 11. The company’s Chief Technical Officer says that the Microsoft technology is “too compelling to ignore” even though it won’t arrive until compatible graphics cards and Windows 7 hit the market. It will all fall into place by the end of the year, with the PC version now scheduled for a December launch, two months after the other versions. To celebrate, two new screenshots were released:

Codemasters have released a trailer showing some in-game footage of DiRT 2 on Wii. The game is nearing completion and should be available in September, and the video shows that the new game is much more focused on races rather than timed runs.

FUEL has rolled on to the weigh bridge this week and it’s interesting to see a variety of different opinions and scores from games industry critics. The game lets you explore a massive open world (said to be the biggest ever produced) and compete in a variety of dirt racing events in many different types of off-road vehicle.

Gamespot (60%) – “Fuel is an ambitious game that tries to do a lot, but it doesn’t deliver where it counts. Perhaps if the driving were more exciting, checking out the world would be a bit more interesting. Fuel’s driving model isn’t bad–it’s just unspectacular. Some players will embrace Fuel’s overall ambition. But if you’re interested in racing–and there’s a good chance you are–then you’ll likely be disappointed by the game’s shortcomings.”

Eurogamer (50%) – “Of FUEL’s many promises, too many are either broken or undermined by its handling, layouts, logic or interface shortcuts. There’s no denying Asobo’s achievement in building such a daring, beautiful landscape on such a vast scale, but the core of any good racing game is falling in love with its vehicles, the things you can do with them, and the places you can take them, and by that measure FUEL is distinctly average.”

EDGE Magazine (80%) – “Packed with diversions, Asobo understands what makes its off-road wonderland a thrill to tour , and even if some of the fundamental stuff has been sacrificed to the creation of this huge world , Fuel still makes it across the finish line on a far-from-empty tank.”

In a surprise move Sony today released the first trailer for Gran Turismo 5. The pre-rendered video – described as a “concept movie” on the game’s website – includes confirmation that the game will feature licensed content from both the FIA World Rally Championship and NASCAR. Car damage is also briefly shown but players will have to wait a while to race as a release window has not yet been announced.

The final packshot of DiRT 2 has been revealed and it looks like the edgy X-Games theme will be present on the cover as well as in the game. The electric green Codemasters have chosen is a world apart from the subdued brown used for the original’s cover. Also notable is that the PC version will be Games for Windows LIVE enabled, presumably including achievements. Full image after the jump.

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Evolution Studios has revealed the next two major downloadable expansions for Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. The first is called “Speed” and includes three new tracks, three new variants on the old tracks and four new vehicles. Adrenaline is the name of the second and it contains another three tracks, five more variants, four new vehicles and six new characters.

The first pack includes new trophies and rewards but there’s no word on pricing for either expansion just yet.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift Third Game Update: Speed and Adrenaline Rush [PlayStation.Blog US]

Codemasters confirmed yesterday that FUEL will miss its intended release date by a week, with the game now hitting store shelves on June 5th. The open-world game will be available for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and its environment won developer Asobo a Guiness World Record for its sheer magnitude. EDGE described the map as being “as big as Northern Ireland”.

FUEL delayed to June 5 [VG247]

Xbox360Achievements.org and PS3Trophies.org managed to snag the complete list of FUEL achievements and trophies from Codemasters. There’s the usual mix of time consumers, such as rewards for acquiring all the vehicles in the game and collecting various items and there are a good variety of online rewards too.

FUEL Achievements
FUEL Trophies