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:

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.

Continue Reading »

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.

Superstars V8 Racing is just over a week from release and GamersHell.com has provided some new images of the game in action. They showcase vehicles from BMW and Jaguar in detail, with one image showing the field during a race. The game features 19 drivers from the Italian Superstars series racing on circuits from Italy, Portugal and South Africa. A demo was made available to Xbox Live Gold members last week.

A demo of Superstars V8 Racing has just appeared on Xbox Live Marketplace. At 258MB, it’s one of the smaller trial games available on Xbox 360 and it is currently restricted to Gold members only. The small file doesn’t mean it is short on features though – you can choose any of the 19 drivers to race on the relatively new Portimao circuit in southern Portugal.

Superstars V8 Racing Demo [Xbox Live Marketplace]

Italian developer Milestone has a long history of producing motorbike games, with the SBK series being one of its most notable achievements to date. The company has now decided to try its hand at creating a full scale car racing game and has chosen the European Superstars championship to do so. The game will be titled Superstars V8 Racing and is due for release in the last week of June. Players can look forward to driving a variety of V8 cars, like BMW M5s and Jaguar S-Type Rs. The first screenshots are below:

For a while, the motorbike simulation genre has been pretty much dominated by Black Rock Studio’s MotoGP series, especially on the next-generation formats. However, we’ve got a new contender in the form of SBK-08 which has already hit Xbox 360 in Europe and Australia. Time to weigh up whether this is worth your cash:

IGN Australia (74%) – “As a game SBK 08 is a pared back, pure racing experience that is a dream come true for two wheeled aficionados to whom realistic control is paramount. Having said that, it does suffer from a noticeable lack of polish in some key areas; namely sterile environments, lengthy load times between races, and some ‘barely there’ audio.”

Videogamer.com (60%) – “SBK 08 has clearly positioned itself as a game for a niche audience. It’s hard to say for sure how well it appeals to those hardcore sim fans, but it seems to be an accurate representation of the sport. As a video game it doesn’t really cut it though. It’s a game that is so hell-bent on being realistic that it’s forgotten to be fun.”

The Times (60%) – “No two-wheeled racing game so far has stood up to the challenge of the top car-based titles such as Gran Turismo. And SBK-08 does little to change that.”

If you’re still not convinced about whether this game really does deserve your money, a demo has found its way on to Xbox Live Marketplace today.