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Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson examines the Warthog in Forza 4
As the irreverent host of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson is used to hanging out with a near-mythical character that's obscured behind a shiny helmet. Commenting on Master Chief's fictional ride is just another day on the job, really.
Tesla sues Top Gear for libel, New Stig unavailable for comment (update: BBC responds)
Fans of a particular show featuring three middle-aged men with an unhealthy penchant for cars, plus a fourth individual whose interests are rather more elusive, probably remember a 2008 episode in which the Top Gear crew lambasted the Tesla Roadster. (If not, a particularly low-quality recording is embedded below.) On that show, Jeremy Clarkson could be seen flogging one around the track, complaining about a range of only 55 miles before showing that car being pushed into the garage, supposedly out of charge. Not true, says Tesla, who has filed a lawsuit against the BBC for libel and malicious falsehood. Tesla claims that, among other things, two cars were provided and at all times at least one of them was ready and willing. Beyond that, Tesla knows that neither car ever dropped below 25 percent charge, meaning the whole pushing into the garage thing was, well, staged. It's hard to look at this as much more than a PR move, Tesla waiting over two years to file, but that doesn't mean the complaint isn't legit. Now it's time for the Beeb to roll out its crew of tame racing lawyers. Some say their suits are made of wool, and that their briefcases contain actual briefs. All we know is they're very well compensated. Update: Well, the hornets' nest has been kicked, and it didn't take long for the swarm to arise. The BBC has dropped a bombshell, saying that it "stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim."
Forza 4 will have Kinect support, Top Gear content
With a quick tease during this past weekend's Spike VGAs, Turn 10 Studios revealed its next project: Forza Motorsport 4. Microsoft confirmed today that Forza 4 will feature Kinect functionality -- the teaser trailer we've dropped after the break shows a brief moment that looks identical to a few of the features we saw at E3 this year. Additionally, the studio is working with the US version of Top Gear "to create an automotive experience unlike anything before it" -- perhaps Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been cloned and will ship with copies of the game, cheering and jeering players as they pilot supercars? That remains to be seen. What we do know is that Forza 4 will drift into retail outlets sometime next fall.%Gallery-110457%
Top Gear Season 14 & 15 coming to Blu-ray January 15th
Top Gear UK fans in the US can mark their calendars, the last two seasons of the show were filmed in HD and will make their debut on Blu-ray next year. Season 14 is on three discs and includes the South America Special for its $29.99 MSRP while season 15 is on two discs and promises plenty of outtakes and special features with a $24.99 MSRP. They're scheduled for release on January 15, 2011, until then we'll have to get by with the US version on History Channel and whatever episodes we can wrangle out of the PlayStation Network.
BBC America programming now available on PSN
Sony announced this week that BBC America programming is heading to PlayStation 3's across the United States. To kick off the new partnership, BBC America has made the first episode of the American version of "Top Gear" available at no charge (normally $1.99 for SD, $2.99 for HD), at least for the first two weeks. "Doctor Who" and "Being Human" will join "Top Gear" on the network's launch list at some point in December, and BBC America promises to "rapidly add BBC programming each week, including the best of the BBC's library as well as currently airing series." As you've likely already guessed, the BBC's offerings can be found in the video section of the PlayStation Store starting right now.
Racespresso racing helmet / espresso machine might've been Top Gear's The Stig, after all
Turns out he survived driving off the HMS Invincible -- and didn't spill a single drop. The suped-up Jaguar? Still not so lucky.
Take a tour of Top Gear's test track in Gran Turismo 5
Fans of Top Gear are undoubtedly well-versed in the automotive show's test track -- mostly because it's featured in every episode. Regardless, you haven't seen it in Gran Turismo 5 yet and courtesy of the Top Gear blog, you now can. We've parked the video past the break, feel free to give it a look-see. Oh, and try not to be too harsh on the guy driving in the video. Like us, he's probably totally shocked to see other drivers on the track at the same time as him. %Gallery-71410%
BBC wants back into the game biz
The BBC has a ton of great IPs under its publicly-funded belt, but hasn't had a lot of luck transitioning those into quality interactive entertainment. According to MCV, the Brits are looking to change that, currently seeking out developers and publishers to turn Doctor Who, Top Gear, In The Night Garden and other properties into games for the Wii, DS, iPhone and (hooray!) Facebook. OK, so it's not quite the Doctor Who adventure game that we (and Telltale!) were hoping for. But we guess you've got to start somewhere, even if you're a Time Lord.
Top Gear team builds EV, shows how complex car production really is
The presenters of Top Gear, among the finer specimens of British television talent (Dr. Gregory House being another), were this past week engaged in designing and building an electric vehicle purportedly intended to compete with the likes of the Chevy Volt. Set a time limit of a mere 18 hours, they produced the marvel of rushed engineering and shoddy workmanship you see above. The Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust (believe us, you'll have no reason to remember the name) was even put through its paces by Autocar magazine, whose video "review" can be found after the break. We won't spoil the details for you, but if you want a conclusion, this one's pretty unequivocal: "there's a really good chance you could kill yourself" riding in this car.
BBC confirms Top Gear is filming this season in HD
We've been wondering for some time when the regular edition of Top Gear (the Polar Special was a glorious, yet singular, event) would make its debut in high definition, and today the BBC Internet Blog confirmed this is the year. Set to debut November 15th, we'll finally be able to see the Stig -- whoever he is -- put some of the world's most exclusive cars through their paces in great quality. Whether that news has you checking the channel lineup for BBC America HD or bookmarking a torrent site we can all agree this is a fine day indeed.[Via Digital Spy]
BBC America HD launch July 20 brings plenty of science fiction starting with Torchwood & Dr. Who
After (in our opinion) a too long delay, BBC America is ready to launch its HD simulcast July 20, getting things kicked off with a load of science fiction programming for the summer. Torchwood: Children of Earth is scheduled as the first HD offering, with five consecutive nights of the new season to get things going before the season finale of Primeval shows its stuff in high definition along with the U.S. premiere of Being Human. That's all just a tease until the Sunday, July 26 U.S. premiere of Dr. Who: Planet of the Dead. Of course, in this day and age more than a few may have turned to the internet to catch quality UK television long before the programmes air here, but until iPlayer HD comes across the pond everyone else can look forward to getting their BBC re-airs in the quality they were intended - here's hoping for Top Gear HD next.Full press release and details are after the break.
Gran Turismo TV goes live
The latest update to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has turned the game into a video download platform rivaling the console you play it on, with episodes of Top Gear and other auto shows, plus exclusive HD content filmed just for the game. Also packed in the update are some gameplay fixes, although we're still waiting for Sony to put real collision damage in our Real Driving Simulator. One step beyond watching HD video of others playing the game, all the content that costs is available for $.99 for the first two weeks, if you're still not sure check out the PlayStation Blog's video embedded below, or hit the read link to download 720p video of the Japanese version's video marketplace in action.
GT5 Prologue update hits on Friday
As we reported during E3, the next evolution of the Gran Turismo series isn't Gran Turismo 5 – it's enhancements to the glorified GT5 demo, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Specifically, Sony and series creator Kazunori Yamauchi are all revved up about the roll out of Gran Turismo TV, an on-demand video service featuring motorsports shows from around the world – as well as original programming – accessible from within GT5P's front-end.We've learned that these features will finally hit this Friday, August 1 as part of an update for the game demo. Auto aficionados will be able to download episodes of programs including England's Top Gear and Japan's Best Motoring. Programming created by Polyphony Digital itself – and indeed even hosted by Yamauchi – will also be up for purchase. Speaking of which, SCEA has announced that PPV content will cost 99 cents per episode for the first two weeks of GTTV, after which it will increase to $1.99.In addition to the debut of GTTV, Sony has confirmed that some welcome gameplay tweaks will be introduced via the update. These include improved collision physics for online races (a biggie), more tire choices for Time Trial play, and fixes in penalty judgments. In speaking with Polyphony's Yamauchi at E3, we learned that the next GT5P update will introduce new tracks and cars. No date has been set for that yet. [Via PS3 Fanboy]
Top Gear HD, NBC editions stuck in park
Remember how excited we were to hear that the next season of Top Gear might be delivered from across the pond in HD glory, and that NBC was considering producing an American edition? How we danced in the streets, partook of libations, and slaughtered the fatted calf? Scratch all that, as it appears neither is coming to fruition, at least anytime soon. Autoblog has word that NBC couldn't find a cast for Top Gear (although they've had no problem scratching together a group for that abomination of a Knight Rider remake), while the BBC edition is without a debut date for a new (& shortened) season, and has only word of "specific production challenges" when questioned about HD. While we've been blessed with a bevy of horsepower in HD this year, it's just not the same without Jeremy, Richard and The Stig.Read - We've been lied to: New episodes of Top Gear actually not coming June 15Read - NBC passes on U.S. Top Gear for now
Streaming BBC video comes to the Wii
Now that the Wii has brought TV web browsing to millions of homes, web services are tripping all over themselves to make sure they're fully compatible with the Wii's Opera browser. The latest organization to trip is the BBC, which announced today that its iPlayer catch-up service will allow UK Wii owners to stream programs through the system directly onto their TVs.The program, which goes into beta today, is simply a Wii-optimized version of the BBC's existing iPlayer catch-up service, which last month served 17.2 million episodes of programs such as Torchwood, Doctor Who and Top Gear, among dozens of others. The service will only be available to UK citizens and does require the 500 Wii Point purchase of the Internet channel, but a BBC info. page says the organization is hoping "to be able to get iPlayer on Wii without this purchase being needed."[Thanks to everybody who sent this in]
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson spied chatting on his cell while driving, tut tut
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson may have gotten himself into a bit of a pickle -- no, not the car -- when a fellow motorist snapped a pic of him driving and chatting. Talking on your cellphone while driving in England is illegal and the poor television star could now be faced with a £60 (roughly $120) fine. Hey Jeremy, a little word of advice, think Bluetooth headset if you need to chatter while on the run, or, better yet, just pull over.[Via AutoBlog]
NBC orders pilot for Top Gear -- will it be in HD?
Just in case a remake of Knight Rider wasn't enough, NBC has now ordered up a pilot for a US edition of Top Gear. For those unfamiliar, the show has proven to be quite the success across the pond, but apparently, the network feels that it'll do quite alright here in America, too. Reportedly, casting is currently underway for hosts, and it's also noted that the pilot will be filmed around Los Angeles, California in front of an audience. One detail that isn't mentioned, however, is whether or not it'll air in high-definition. 'Course, it's easy to assume the answer to be "yes," but considering that some hits (Survivor, for instance) are still inexplicably stuck in SD, we suppose we should still cross our fingers just in case.[Via Autoblog]
Top Gear coming to Gran Turismo TV in 2008
A partnership has been announced today between the BBC and Sony, in collaboration with Polyphony Digital. The partnership will allow Polyphony Digital to distribute forty episodes of the hit UK car show Top Gear as part of the Gran Turismo TV service. GT TV will launch on the PlayStation Network in 2008 as an online car television channel for motor enthusiasts.Not only that, but a new level based on the Top Gear test track will also be included in Gran Turismo 5. Certainly, car enthusiasts should be excited by this announcement. Top Gear is a great piece of entertainment, even if you're not a huge fan of motoring. Having free downloadable episodes for the PS3 sounds great to us.%Gallery-9053%
Gran Turismo TV to feature BBC's Top Gear
A newly announced collaboration between Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Polyphony Digital and BBC Worldwide will see the broadcaster's popular motoring show, Top Gear, distributed through Gran Turismo TV. The online channel, expected to launch on the PlayStation Network during 2008, will host 40 downloadable episodes of the Jeremy Clarkson vehicle snobbery-fest.An added bonus resulting from the agreement is an in-game replica of the Top Gear Test Track, bound for the PS3 installment of Sony's driving sim, Gran Turismo 5. You'll be able to experience "every white knuckle, hairpin turn," whether or not you're rambling into a camera about how the unnervingly attractive car makes you feel. If you haven't done so already, you can coax the Japanese PSN into giving you the GT5 Prologue demo while you await the final game's release.%Gallery-9051%
Top Gear builds, launches Space Shuttle car
As if the folks at Top Gear didn't already have the best job in the world, they recently went and completely outdid themselves, building their own Space Shuttle out of a Reliant Robin, roughly the British equivalent of a Pinto or a Gremlin (minus a wheel). As you can see, it all came together quite nicely, complete with an external fuel tank, solid rocket boosters, and a spot-on paint job, although there doesn't seem to have been any room left for passengers, with the whole lot remotely-controlled instead. That proved to have been for the best, however, with the impressive launch followed by a less-than-successful landing, though that was still more than enough to claim the title of the largest rocket flown in the U.K. While it's unclear if they'll ever have another go at it, you can check out the complete rise and fall of this attempt in the video after the break.[Via Tech E Blog, thanks Grant B]
