bizarre
Latest
Blur's French TV spots are far from feminist
Look, we're not experts in the way of marketing things to the French, but we're pretty sure the advertising for Blur is all kinds of wrong. Seemingly tapping the region's most beautiful women to represent in-game power-ups, arguing their superiority over their peers, each spot concludes with the ladies throwing down in a faux race -- which is more an excuse for them to show off skin than to show off the game. Have you ever had to hit so many buttons while playing a racing game before? Yeah, we didn't think so. Head past the break to check out the two commercials. Bonus points if you can spot the exact moment where feminism has been set back 30 years. [Via VG247 and UK:Resistance]
Blur trailer and screens highlight Team Race, Team Motor Mash modes
In the latest trailer for Blur, lead designer Gareth Wilson takes us for a lap around the upcoming racer's bevy of team events. First, Wilson breaks down some tactics in Team Race, your run-of-the-mill us-vs-them race mode, in which teams duke it out on the track. Here, players can swap mods and lend assistance in a variety of ways -- all in an effort to finish the race in the best position possible, thus earning more points than the enemy team. The second portion of the trailer focuses on Team Motor Mash, another points-based team mode in which points aren't simply earned through pole position, but rather through the judicious application of power-ups. Players can also earn points by smashing into rival drivers, giving this mode a Destruction Derby-like feel. Aside from the new trailer, we've also got some new screens for you to check out in the gallery below. Blur races to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on May 25. %Gallery-93377%
Blur multiplayer beta updated; new trailer races into view
Activision must be in a celebratory mood, as it's just announced over a million drivers have downloaded the Blur multiplayer beta. Remember, you've only got until May 10th at 2am PT to take it for a spin yourself. Before the finished game launches on May 25, the beta will play host to some expanded playlist settings and other changes. Starting now, you'll be able to play with A-Class cars in the standard playlists. The Supercar Racing Playlist also offers two new races, Tokyo and Amboy, and power-up placement has been shuffled to be different in each race. Finally, the amount of fans you can earn for each race has been doubled, placing the illustrious Rank 15 within reach. If you have yet to sample the Blur beta's brand of multiplayer mayhem, check out the brief trailer above or read our impressions.
Activision registers new domain for GoldenEye game
The saga of a new GoldenEye game -- or the possible re-release of the original -- has acquired yet another new wrinkle. Said wrinkle comes in the form of a new internet domain registered by Activision. The domain in question, uncovered by superannuation, is goldeneyegame.com, which certainly points to some sort of revival for the storied title. While the prospects of an actual re-release of Rare's N64 classic have been all but crushed, an artist's resume discovered in October 2009 did mention work on a GoldenEye 2010 for Activision. Assuming the resume was accurate, Activision could be securing the domain in advance of an announcement. It's also unclear if any of this ties into James Bond: Bloodstone, the alleged title of the Bond game in development at Bizarre. We know Activision has Bond plans for 2010, but could the company be preparing us for a double-0 dose of espionage, perhaps rolling out a new version of GoldenEye to drum up interest for Bloodstone? Or maybe the company is simply getting its ducks in a row in case it does decide to revive GoldenEye. Whatever it is, something is definitely stirring shaking at Activision.
Blur trailer takes a lap around the world, pulls into the virtual garage
Xbox 360 owners can actually sample Blur's particular brand of chaos right now -- a decision we'd say is "most wise." For the rest of you, the only solace we can offer is via a new trailer, admittedly awesome in its own right due to a high volume of hot whips. From licensed cars to completely fictional autos, it's all covered in the video above. There's even a rundown of the 14 different locations you'll be able to deposit some burnt rubber, if that's what you're after. Check it all out in the video above.
Blur multiplayer demo now available on Xbox Live
Are you anxious to take Bizarre's chaotic arcade racer, Blur, out for a spin? The multiplayer demo -- previously exclusive to beta players -- is now accessible to all Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Pull into the demo section of Marketplace to download the one gigabyte sampler. Blur will launch on May 25 in the U.S. and May 28 in Europe. [Via Major Nelson] Xbox.com: Add Blur Multiplayer Beta demo to your Xbox 360 download queue
Xbox Live Deal of the Week: Geometry Wars 2 for $5
Though the Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 leaderboards have all rocketed to unsurpassable heights since its release in summer 2008, Xbox Live Gold subscribers shouldn't be afraid of picking it up this week for the temporarily reduced price of 400 ($5). We mean, you should be afraid of its propensity for stealing your evenings away from you as you desperately attempt to unlock that pesky "Wax Off" Achievement. But hey, at least those attempts are pretty fun! (Or, at least, the first hundred are.) Shortcut: Add Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 to your download queue [Via Xbox.com]
No plans for Geometry Wars 3, Bizarre says
While Bizarre Creations is hard at work getting Blur out of the garage and onto the road, many fans are still preoccupied with the developer's hit dual-stick series Geometry Wars. Well, it looks like Bizarre has no plans for another sequel -- at least, not at the moment. "Right now, we don't have any plans for Geometry Wars 3," Bizarre's Gareth Wilson told Kotaku. But, that doesn't mean the series has been retired, as Wilson said that should Stephen Cakebread, the designer of Geometry Wars, get an inspiration, he could start working on a new sequel -- but as of now Cakey's "working on all sorts of other projects."
Blur issues Twitter challenges between friends, across platforms
Not only are the cats and dogs living together, but they're using Twitter. According to MTV Multiplayer, upcoming racer Blur will allow some social interaction not only between players, but between different platforms. Whether you're on Xbox Live -- silver or gold -- or PlayStation 3, you'll be able to issue competitive challenges to friends, with Twitter acting as a neutral intermediary. Think of it as that time you had to pass messages between your feuding parents, only you're telling Dad that Mom just utterly destroyed his pathetic lap record. Speaking at a Blur presentation, lead designer Gareth Wilson offered an interesting anecdote as explanation: "I've got a friend from university who lives in Australia, and I can't play with him, because he's available at night time when I'm sleeping. So the Friends Challenge thing was really, 'How do we get people together to play who might not be able to.'" And while PS3 and Xbox 360 racers might not be able to play together in real time once the game launches on May 25, Bizarre Creations thinks of the Twitter connection as an innovative way to foster some healthy, cross-platform rivalry. Wilson also notes that the social integration won't be a "horrible, spammy thing." So no Facebook support, then.
Blur arrives May 25 in the U.S., May 28 in Europe
Click image to slide into our gallery With the Blur multiplayer beta going live on March 8, we're anxious to get some quality time with Bizarre Creations' upcoming racer. In the interim, the game's official blog details what players can expect from the beta, but perhaps more interesting is what's tucked at the bottom of the update: a release date of May 25. Europeans will have to wait a few extra days, as the game won't be in shops until May 28 over there. While you wait, might we suggest you check out some new screens in our gallery below? That is, if you want to -- no pressure or anything! %Gallery-87187%
New Blur trailer meant to be watched with friends
If you and your buddies were wondering what the upcoming real-life kart racer (with realistic cars), Blur, has to offer in terms of multiplayer content, the latest trailer for the game was made specifically with y'all in mind. Like Super Mario Kart -- the game is often said to be a direct inspiration for Bizarre Creations' latest endeavor -- local split-screen seems to be a prominent component of the multiplayer experience, unlike the online-focused games we're so used to at this point. Oddly, though, the trailer speaks repeatedly of the "social" aspect of the game, while no mention whatsoever of any online components are made (and what of that multiplayer beta, eh?). We're not exactly flummoxed quite yet though, as Blur still only has a "2010" release window and we've hardly seen it since last year's PAX Prime. That could always be, though, that, you know, we missed it. It is a blur, after all. %Gallery-63796%
USK: Multiplayer Blur demo for Xbox 360 in the works
Leadfoots looking to put the pedal to the metal in Bizarre Creations' upcoming racer, Blur, may just get their chance, as Germany's USK database has posted (machine translation) that a Xbox 360 multiplayer demo is in the works. The listing makes no mention of a PS3 demo, though we wouldn't suggest our PS3 brethren start taking long walks off short piers just yet. Odds are if a Xbox 360 demo makes its way onto Microsoft's console, a similar demo will also eventually end up on PS3, right? Blur is currently geared up to race onto consoles sometime in 2010. [Via VG247]
Wiiwaa is the greatest Wii game ever made, we assume
Wiiwaa is a forthcoming Wii game which involves you cramming your Wiimote into the mouth of the bizarre stuffed animal you see... oh just watch the video after the break.
Blur crossing finish line in 2010
Blur won't be making its scheduled November release, as Activision has officially pulled the arcade racer from the track, pushing it toward a 2010 launch. According to Activision CEO Mike Griffith, the move is being made to "fully optimize the vision [Bizarre] set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience." The vision for Blur!Activision still has plenty on its plate this holiday season with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and DJ Hero. Then again, with the early part of 2010 as packed as it is with pushed releases, who knows what delays are still lurking.%Gallery-63796%
PAX 2009: Blur gets Twitter support
Bizarre Creation's arcade-style racer, Blur, has received a nitrous-level boost of social networking. Initially, the social component of the game was limited to mock text messages and emails sent from AI racers in the game, who you build love/hate relationships with over the course of your races against each other. Additionally, Blur features faux social networking sites like "Inner Tube" (a Bizarre version of YouTube). Today, real Twitter support has been confirmed for the game, although current details can be summed up in less than 140 characters.Here we go: Twitter apparently working in both 360 and PS3 versions of Blur. Update example: "I just won 1st place at Hackney!" etc.So, will we be tweeting from our existing accounts? Is the Xbox 360 version's integration independent of the Xbox Live partnership? Can we see tweeted replies in-game? Can we post Twitpics of our victories? Will the Fail Whale be drivable? We want answers -- and we shall get them!
Bizarre stands to make $40m if Blur is a hit
If you doubt the potential for success with Blur, the first racing game under the protective wing of new mother bird Activision, then you don't know how popular Bizarre's Project Gotham Racing franchise has been. We didn't either, to tell the truth, until Bizarre's Chris Pickford revealed to Develop that the franchise has sold over seven million. This is the kind of runaway success Activision is looking for in Blur, as Bizarre could make $40 million should the game meet projected sales by 2012/13. While we don't know what the target sales are, Blur will have close to three years to reach the goal set by Activision when it releases later this year, so we'd say something around the four million mark is definitely not out of the question.
Bizarre: Racing games not meeting sales expectations
We're not certain whose expectations Bizarre Creations' communications manager, Ben Ward, was referring to in his recent -- and incredibly vague -- statements about supposedly disappointing sales of (equally unspecified) racing games, but they must belong to someone. "I won't name any names, [but] more recent titles that were really good, critically acclaimed and we all played them, they didn't sell as well as can be expected," Ward posited to VideoGamer.com.It's difficult to argue against Ward, as he doesn't suggest anything concrete, but racing games have been competitive in the sales charts this generation (if that's recent enough). Console exclusives such as MotorStorm, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (a glorified demo!) and Forza 2 all rank among the top 10 bestselling games to date on their respective platforms, and Burnout Paradise has succeeded both at retail and digitally in its lengthy, multiplatform run. Sure, a niche racer like GRID is never going to gain mass appeal (nor is it intended to) and certain staple franchises, like Need For Speed, have dwindled in popularity and quality (hence the reboots), but the racing genre is right where it should be -- at least, in terms of our expectations.Perhaps Ward and Bizarre just have greater expectations for their upcoming racer, Blur, which we called "a hyper-realistic Mario Kart." That puts Blur in good company, as Mario Kart Wii -- what Ward calls "the exception rather than the rule" -- has sold in excess of 15.4 million units by last count in May. But, really, there's nothing realistic about expecting those kinda numbers.
Hands-on: Blur
Blur is a hyper-realistic Mario Kart. There is no sugar coating it. After being behind the development wheel of realistic racing titles like PGR (well, realistic at least in look), Bizarre Creations has decided to do away with its half-and-half arcade style and create a different kind of racing experience. That experience is Blur, published by (new parent company) Activision. As we sat down at the (ridiculously loud) Activision booth in the West Hall during E3 2009, we were greeted by an enthusiastic Bizarre employee who explained this was the game the developer always wanted to make. A fun, almost party-game style racer where players jump behind the wheel of powered-up, real-world vehicles. Yes, strangely, Blur features licensed cars -- with unreal abilities.%Gallery-63796%
Why Blur can damage its cars
Car manufacturers are notoriously cranky about letting their autos show damage in racing games. So why will you find bumps and bruises on the cars in Blur but not in Bizarre's other racing title Project Gotham? Apparently, it's all about the make.Because a game like Blur doesn't have to have companies like Porsche and Ferrari, Bizarre is able to focus on the ones that will let Bizarre beat up its cars. Plus, according to Bizarre's Gareth Wilson, car-crunching games like GRID and DiRT helped to pave the way. Just out of curiosity, how much does damage modeling matter to you?
Bizarre Creations' Blur to trade paint this fall
After a few weeks of kind of announcing it, Activision finally got around to actually announcing Blur, Bizarre Creations' new title, today. The arcade racer, once described as "Mario Kart meets Forza," is due on PS3, 360 and PC this fall.With little more than a non-working official site to go off, we still don't have a great sense of how the game will play. At this point, we know it features 20 "photo-realistic" cars battling it out with offensive and defensive power-ups in locales like L.A. and Barcelona. There's also apparently some kind of narrative that evolves as players compete online. ... Yeah, we can't make heads or tails of that either.For a better take on the game, you -- like us -- are just going to have to wait for E3.
