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'GTA Online' update turns the game into 'Trackmania'
Bummed that Criterion's Burnout followup got canned? Rockstar Games has your back with Cunning Stunts, a free expansion to Grand Theft Auto Online that adds a new dimension to racing in the open world game.
TrackMania Wii and DS development planned for North American release this spring
Though customizable racetrack enthusiasts living in Europe and Australia have had their lucky, lucky hands on Firebrand Games' TrackMania Wii and its DS counterpart, TrackMania Turbo, for months now, North Americans have had to go without. Don't they know that we love ridiculous, physics-defying vehicular labrynths as much as (if not more than) our overseas cohorts? Fortunately, publisher City Interactive feels our pain: According to the company's latest financial statements, the two titles are coming stateside this spring. The new publisher also comes with a new name: Both versions of the game are now titled TrackMania: Build to Race, and will retail for $29.99. Keep an eye out for the Wii version March 22 and the DS version April 12. Unless, of course, you don't like possessing the godlike ability to craft racetracks from the luminiferous aether.
Introducing Trackmania Wii's track editor
If you haven't played a TrackMania game before, let us encapsulate the experience for you: you build the craziest, most impractical, most car-destroying track you can imagine, and then you race it. That's TrackMania's whole deal. Now, developer Firebrand Games is bringing that experience to the Wii with TrackMania Wii, allowing you to assemble your ridiculous courses with the Wiimote's pointer interface. It'll make it really simple to design something on which driving is impossible! The trailer above introduces the track editor interface. Trackmania Wii is officially set for a September release in Europe. While nothing has been announced for North America, Amazon currently has a May 26 release listed, via publisher Dreamcatcher.
First images of TrackMania Wii crash onto the internet
We've still got quite a wait ahead of us before TrackMania 2 arrives, but we can at very least sate our desire for more from the series in these first screens of TrackMania Wii. The game is said to feature the usual superabundance of tracks, and even an online mode for those of you looking to take the madness worldwide. TMW's first six screens (minus the logo you see above, of course) show off the variety of environments through which we'll be speeding when the game arrives on Wii in the "second quarter of 2010." We're quite fond of this one right here, but we're still holding out for the totally necessary "inside of a volcano" level. We can dream, no? %Gallery-83794%
Nadeo announces Trackmania 2 at Paris Games Festival
With a rich level creation feature, wonderfully reckless driving and a non-existent price tag, Trackmania Nations Forever was one of the most surprisingly captivating games of 2008. Yesterday, developer Nadeo surprised us once again by revealing the game's sequel (aptly titled Trackmania 2) during the Paris Games Festival. We haven't seen any official video aside from some shakycam footage captured during the game's announcement -- still, we don't need high-quality media to see the insane graphical facelift the game has undergone. We'll let you know when we hear more. And see more! Any more we can possible experience with any of our senses, we will pass along. [Via Big Download; image credit: TaxiGamer]
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Punch-Out!!!
Yes, okay, there are three demos for DS games up on the Nintendo Channel, including one for the Monsters vs. Aliens game and the return of TrackMania. Great. Whatever. All of that is just filler for this week's main update: this Punch-Out!! video. The pink sweatsuit is back. The full list of new things that aren't this Punch-Out!! video (and one that is) can be found after the break.
Joystiq Review: Trackmania DS
Trackmania DS is a game that wants to be friends with everyone. It's an arcade racer, but one that tries to cater to the wider audience of the DS through the implementation of other genres, like a Puzzle mode and even rally racing. The problem with trying to include all of these things is that the core component suffers, and in this case, the racing could have used a little more TLC.%Gallery-37398%
This week on the Nintendo Channel: Celebrities, Mac and Cheese
Another Monday means another Nintendo Channel update, and this week we've got a boatload of new video content, as well as some new DS content to love. On the demo side, there are two piping hot samples, one of which is Personal Trainer, and the other TrackMania DS. Check the full list of demos after the break.On the video side, there's plenty of new content to watch. You can check out some footage from Pokemon Platinum, as well a nice developer chat with the folks behind World of Goo, and some footage from Sega titles House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld.%Gallery-37398%
TrackMania DS dated for North America, published by ... Atlus?
Lucky old Europe got TrackMania DS last week, but North America will have to wait for its version, which has just been announced for March 17th. As if North America waiting four months longer than Europe for a game wasn't already bizarre enough, you should hear who's publishing it: Atlus. Yeah, the same Atlus that is far more closely associated with dungeon crawlers and RPGs.Whoever wants to localize it, we'll be welcoming the twisty brilliance of TrackMania DS with a great big hug. Not only does it contain over 100 tracks and an insanely great track editor (check after the break for a video of this at work), but almost all of the early reviews are glowing. Could it be? A racing game on Nintendo's portable that actually works and isn't Mario Kart DS?%Gallery-37398%
See first gameplay video from Trackmania DS
We gave the last Trackmania DS trailer a hard time for its ... well, its complete lack of gameplay footage, not to put too fine a point on it. Now, we have some actual footage of the game and we don't know what all the secrecy was about: It looks great to the TM fans in our digi-office.We still have some concerns, chiefly that the game will be decidedly less free than its PC counterpart. But with the promised track editing and sharing features, it still sounds like it could be a worthy purchase when it's released later this year.
Trackmania DS is not Touchscreenmania
It seems like a pretty bold move to make a DS racing game that doesn't use the stylus to control an onscreen steering wheel, but then it's a pretty bold move to make a DS version of a PC racing game. According to Trackmania DS producer Dan Fletcher, the team felt that touch controls "do not fit" for driving.That's not to say that the stylus has no place in Trackmania. The one aspect of the game that is perfect for touch control -- the editor -- uses it awesomely. In addition to the basic stylus control used to place tracks, Trackmania DS also features a "free draw" mode that lets players draw tracks directly!
The Joystiq Free Game Club: Trackmania Nations Forever
Is there an excuse for not playing Trackmania Nations Forever? If there is, we can't think of it. Let's get this out of the way first: It's free, so don't even act like it's a money thing. You say racing games have gotten too sim-like for you? Well, this one is different, allowing races to be played with only the arrow keys if you want. And if you have complaints about the way the cars look, we're going to hit you with a link to download Mad Max's Interceptor or Mario's kart.Free or not, we don't think this is a game that anyone should miss. There are tons and tons of races to play against the clock, allowing you to collect medals and compare your major awards with people in your region, nation and all over the globe. And if you tire of racing by your lonesome, you can take a spot in massive multiplayer competitions with everyone vying not to beat others to the finish line but to get the fastest lap time. It's easy to play, it's free, it's fun, we think a download should be a foregone conclusion. But, as always, this is the Joystiq Free Game Club, so the final word is yours. What do you think?For another look at the Freeware scene, check out BigDownload's Freeware Friday series.
First Trackmania DS screen is appropriately Trackmanic
4 Color Rebellion has just posted the first official screenshot of Trackmania DS, and it seems to be in line with our expectations of Trackmania -- continuous, looping tangles of brutally insane track, as designed by people who have no business designing racing tracks (us).For a DS racing game, the graphics look pretty great. Trackmania's look has always had a surreal simplicity about it, which works well for the graphical limitations of the DS, and allows a pretty racing game to be made. And as long as we're not bound by physics or common sense in the track designs, which apparently we are not, we're pleased.
Trackmania DS confirmed
Typical. For absolutely ages, you wait for a decent "serious" racer to appear on the DS, and then two candidates come along in the space of days. Codemasters whipped the covers off of Race Driver: GRID on Tuesday, and now Focus Home Interactive has confirmed that a DS version of ace PC racer TrackMania is in the works. We are so not complaining about this.Because user-created circuits are what elevated TrackMania to greatness in the first place, the DS version will ship with an extensive track editor -- FHI's press release mentions "hundreds of different design blocks." Will we be able to exchange these online, though? That's something the press release doesn't discuss, but the teaser trailer after the break may have provided us with a clue -- check out which word pops up nine seconds in.
Trackmania rolling onto DS?
A GoNintendo reader spotted a video on YouTube of what appears to be a version of TrackMania running on the DS. Another reader spotted a mention of the game on TrackMania publisher Focus Home Interactive's Game Connection page. TrackMania is a series of awesome PC racing games, focusing on user-created tracks. We're calling this a rumor, because it has yet to appear on FHI's actual web page, and a YouTube video out of nowhere is not exactly an official announcement. This could be homebrew, or some other game, or just treachery. It seems like a distinct possibility, though. Focus Home Interactive recently announced another PC to DS port, Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle, for one, and building tracks with the touch screen seems like a natural. Too bad racing on the DS doesn't seem quite as natural. We're also a little concerned about the possibility of sharing tracks. TrackMania's community is basically the whole reason the games are awesome. If the DS doesn't have a robust system in place for uploading and downloading new tracks, then ... bye, TrackMania DS.[Via GoNintendo]
In-game ads put devs in control
Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, IGA Europe vice president Ed Bartlett explained how in-game advertisements could benefit the interests of PC-based independent developers. Barlett pointed to Nadeo, which was able to release TrackMania Nations as freeware through the use of in-game ads, in turn boosting its player base (recording over 6 million downloads) and increasing ad revenue. This business model is unique because it eliminates the need for a publisher and means developers can retain the rights to their IPs.Ironically, it's the indie developers that have been most resistant to in-game ads; whereas triple-A title publishers, while unable to offset theirs games' costs with ads, have been much more receptive to the practice.
Trackmania Nations ESWC free to download [Updated]
If you've ever wanted to flirt with competitive gaming, now's your chance. The 2006 Electronic Sports World Cup has commissioned a special edition of Trackmania, Trackmania Nations ESWC, which will feature in this year's competition with a $40,000 prize.This is apparently the first time a game has been created especially for the competition, and it's being offered free for anyone in the world to download and try their hand at. Even if you're not a veteran Trackmania player, you've nothing to lose. It's an interesting move, and will doubtless be popular--perhaps further genres will be forthcoming in future years if this experiment succeeds.[via Eurogamer][Update: It appears that despite being a free game this has Starforce copy protection built in -- labelled by some as 'malware', Starforce installs hidden device drivers on your system. More information, including removal details.]
