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:

Today’s Blur news is both good and bad. The bad is that Activision is clearing the decks to make way for the release of Modern Warfare 2 and as a result, Blur will now not go on sale until early 2010. The good news is that there’s now some boxart to look at, and it’s very pretty (and very Wipeout) indeed. Full image after the jump. Continue Reading »

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:

There has been a bit of criticism on some message boards that Superstars V8 Racing’s content does not match the series on which it is based. Now that the game is released, it’s possible to look in detail at what is included and just as importantly, what is not. Most notably, several manufacturer licences are missing, as well as a significant new addition to this year’s calendar of circuits.

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Electronic Arts’ latest reveal of Need for Speed Shift focuses on a much less expensive car than the McLaren-Mercedes SLR seen last week. It’s time for Volkswagen’s Scirocco to enter the spotlight. In the images released today, there’s a good look at the body and headlamps which set it apart from other VW models, as well as a chance to see the distinctive glowing blue dials on the dash.

EA has released five new screenshots of Need for Speed Shift, showing the game’s action from a variety of angles. There’s a first chance to see the McLaren-Mercedes SLR, as well as some on track activity from the Ford GT and Lotus Exige.

A couple of weeks ago a demo of Superstars V8 Racing appeared on Xbox Live for premium members to play. Today a version has been released for PC gamers and it remains a small file to download at just under 400MB. The content is the same as the console version – a choice of 19 drivers to race at a variety of difficulty levels on the Portimao circuit in Portugal.

Download the demo here.

Electronic Arts is ramping up promotion of Need for Speed SHIFT and has released three new screenshots today. One image shows an old Nissan Skyline while the focus of the other two is the BMW M3 in different liveries.

The company has said in a blog article that it plans to release new images on a more frequent basis. The current plan is to feature one of the game’s cars per week and release new screenshots of it plus a high resolution render which fans can use as a desktop wallpaper.

Electronic Arts has revealed that a “driver profile system” will play a key role in both the single and multiplayer modes of Need for Speed: SHIFT. As has been hinted in some gameplay videos, rewards are given to players for performing well on track and these have today been confirmed to fit into two different categories. Driving skilfully will unlock “precision” rewards while ramming other players and gaining positions that way will lead to “aggression” rewards.

EA has highlighted three major rewards – overtaking others, taking out others and mastering corners. Each will give “profile points” which are used to assess a player’s rank. In addition, various badges will be shown to others who view their profile, illustrating which rewards they have earned and rivalries are generated between drivers who often clash. As the profile develops, vehicles and customisation options are unlocked, making it key to progression through the single player game.

The result should be a system whereby certain drivers become respected, while others are feared – that’s what the press release says anyway. It all sounds very promising, and possibly closer to Project Gotham Racing than GRID, to which it is so often compared. The game releases on September 17th in Europe and September 22nd in North America.

Electronic Arts has unleashed a trio of new Need for Speed: SHIFT screenshots. The images feature the now familiar BMW M3 GT2 along with an interior shot of the Volkswagen Scirocco and a first look at the Renault Megane RS.