Autoblog

With things like cheap gas and the value of a dollar slowly being taken from us, it's good to see that somebody wants to give us something. For the US release of the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Polyphony has thrown in features the Japanese version didn't get.

There's a drift mode that judges drivers on three parameters, there's two-player, split-screen racing and there are new events and challenges for racers online and offline that can support up to 16 racers simultaneously. Plus, there's a new track, bringing the total to six. And for us, that means there's a new list of excuses we're going to need to come up with when people start asking "Where have you been?" and "You look tired -- were you up late last night?"

In case the cars, tracks and gameplay aren't enough, Winding Road has a new trailer video of the GT5 Prologue featuring a fair bit of Ferrari action -- and that's never a bad way to start the week. Follow the jump to see the complete list of tracks, and check out our updated hi-res photo gallery of the prologue below.


[Source: PS3 Fanboy]

Click above to view screenshots from Pole Position: Remix

NAMCO, the video game company that brought us some of the cheesiest yet most compelling video game titles of all time, is releasing Pole Position: Remix specifically for your little iPod. This is the game's 25th anniversary year, and the new title, which will thankfully not use 25-year-old graphics, has also been updated with new game play like 3D versions of its four tracks, and a Misake Point track that will only be available on the iPod version.

And since you'll be playing this on the music device du jour, the game comes with an updated soundtrack, but you can also listen to your own tunes while you spin the wheel -- we expect to find a lot of Pole Position playlists in people's libraries. If you do that, album art from your music collection will show up on billboards, both randomly and from what's playing, which is pretty trick. The game will sell for $4.99 on iTunes, and works on the iPod nano with video, and the classic and new iPods.

Thanks for the tip, Jen!

[Source: TUAW]

If current driving games have left your pulse cruising in the slow lane, then Codemasters, the company behind the well-received DiRT rally game, believes it has the racing game for you: Grid. Using an evolution of the engine from DiRT, Grid is all about racing. And if you think "racing game" means spending hours adjusting damper settings and orange-peel-metallic-fade-to-lilac paint jobs, then prepare to be shocked. Says Chief Game Designer Ralph Fulton, "This is not a game about collecting cars or spending all of your time in the front-end tuning suspension settings or designing liveries. We want to make racing exciting again." Well, for some, adjusting dampers is exciting, but we digress.

Grid says it will be a "step-change" in the racing game world, offering tracks in Japan, Europe, and America that highlight local racing flavors: drifting and underground in Japan, classic race tracks in Europe, and street venues in America that include Detroit. Cars will run from Koenigseggs and Astons in Europe to Camaros and Challengers in the US. We aren't sure how much more focused you could be on racing than in the driving games currently offered, but we're always up for a new player. Grid arrives in the middle of next year.

[Source: Joystiq]

Project Gotham Racing 4 has the video game version of the question, "Is it real or is it Memorex?" They've created a split-screen video of the latest Gotham racer next to actual hi-def footage of the live cars churning through the streets of New York City. When it comes to the car scenes, even when you know which one is live and which is video, there's still the occasional flicker of doubt. Watching it, it's hard to believe we ever got excited about a game called Pong.

Thanks for the tip, zizzy!

[Source: Megatonik]

Click image for photo gallery

Back in July, we brought you a series of videos showing the making of the latest TV commercial for the upcoming XBOX 360 title, Project Gotham Racing 4. As you might recall, a Ferrari F430 was harmed during filming. Its closed-course playmates were a Tesla Roadster, SLR McLaren, a '63 'Vette and a sportbike (looks like it could be a Yamaha, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong). Well, today we get news that the final commercial is done. No surprise: it's cool. In other news, I really need to get an XBOX 360.

Thanks to Kardax for the tip. The commercial's embedded after the jump. Go and enjoy.

[Source: DailyMotion]

Sega, the once heavyweight console maker now buried deep beneath the letters Wii, X, and PS, still pulls its weight in the arcade arena. Sega's Joypolis in Odaiba, Japan has an Initial D driving game based on the anime series that has the bodies of three actual cars mounted in front of a 90-inch screen. The cars don't have engines, but they sit on tilting frames, and include an RX-7, a WRX, and a Toyota AE86, which you can throw tilt around any of three courses. The game costs $5, but the cars are only there for the summer, so book those tickets to Nippon now.

Thanks for the tip, Judd!

[Source: Gizmodo]

We're not sure whether to peg this guy as a true nerd or an auto enthusiast-god. It's probably a little of both. This race simulator fan has taken the gauge, tachometer and speedometer out of a real live car, spliced together a bunch of wire and USB cables, and managed to come up with this Frankensteinian contraption that hooks into a computer to provide an even more realistic driving experience. How he did this, we've got no clue, but we're in awe. He no doubt has one of those fancy gaming wheels, complete with paddle shifters and/or a clutch on the floor, so this is quite the addition to an already realistic situation.

The conversation in the You Tube comments lead us to believe that the maker may be going to market with this most marvelous of car/computer hacks, and that other upgrades are in store for it.

Follow the jump to see a video of the gauge package in action.

[Source: Gizmodo]

When kids nowadays roll their eyes when hearing about how tough we had it when WE were kids, they frequently think we might be exaggerating, especially when we talk about video games. Pong was inconceivably archaic, but the games that showed up in the next few years from the once-dominant Atari seemed like an incredible leap forward in terms of graphics and playability, games like Pole Position in particular. Full color, simulated 3-D renderings, authentic race car sounds - it had it all and was controlled with an 8-direction stick and one red button.

Those were the days. Well, thanks to YouTube, we can relive the excitement this video game instilled in gamers by viewing Atari's television campaign for Pole Position. Clearly aimed at the whole family, we see how easy it was for an everyday couple and their kids to experience the thrill of real formula racing at the flip of a switch. It was like being lifted by the hand of God and dumped from your boring Rabbit into a fleet of Formula cars. Don't worry about the helmets, kids. They won't help when you fly off course and explode on impact with that Pole Position billboard. But fear not, there's always a reset button somewhere. Click through to relive your glory days.

[Source: Atari via YouTube]

Drag Tag is an indoor facility in Australia where you can virtually drag race your own car using a patented dyno, hold-down, steering and visualization simulator. Design, developed and operated in Australia, Drag Tag uses its own specially-designed hold-down system to keep your car strapped on the dyno during WOT. Laser sensors are used to monitor the angle of the front wheels and gather steering data, while three massive 4.5-meter screens provide over a 200-degree of various simulated race environments.

The Drag Tag website points out the obvious benefits it has to offer over actual racing, which include a complete disregard for the weather outside, shorter lines, no helmets or race suits required and really fast cars don't need any expensive safety equipment like a roll cage.

In order to join the fun, one must first purchase a membership to Drag Tag that include installation of the special hold-down brackets, after which nightly racing can cost anywhere from AUS $10 to $50 for an evening of digital automotive mayhem.

While there's no replacement for the experience of a real Christmas Tree going green and dropping the hammer, the idea of driving your own car in a video game is strangely appealing.

[Source: Drag Tag via autoblog.nl]

HotWheels Radar Gun ($24.99)

Gary Swisher is the guy who has everybody's dream job -- he's the design chief for HotWheels, Tyco and Matchbox, and he's in charge of designing the cool and timeless dream cars in miniature that we only wish we could have when we grow up.

He's also the guy responsible for keeping up with the demanding, tech-savvy tastes of today's kids, and that, friends, is not an easy job considering that today's kids don't know what it's like to live without cell phones, AIM, and the iPod.

BusinessWeek was able to pull Gary aside from that particularly demanding job for a quick interview, in which Swisher lets the reader in on a little secret -- it's not the technology that gets kids juiced about toy cars, it's how you use it. "Having technology is not the feature," Swisher said. "The magic that it brings to the toy is the feature."

And it's not as easy as it sounds -- Swisher says that competing with video games for kids' time and attention is an extraordinary challenge. We think they're on to something with the HotWheels Radar Gun (pictured). Now all we need is the HotWheels Radar Detector and optional Handlebar Mount so our kids can play the same cat-and-mouse game that we do as adults.

[Source: BusinessWeek]