Autoblog

New Grid 2 video reveals new story elements, race locations

Seyth Miersma — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:01:00 EST

The steady drip of GRID 2 teasing, leading up to the game's May 28 release date, continues with a video, a press release and some new images from Codemasters.

The new video features a few more looks at USA-based racing in GRID 2, including cut scenes from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the California coast and on the streets of Chicago. Narrated by the game's fictional, racing series-creating Patrick Callahan, the trailer also hints at some game mechanics for you, the driver and star of GRID 2.

Essentially, the better you race, the more fame (GRID 2 experience points) you gain to recruit fans, gain access to new events, attract sponsors and, of course, win new cars. Apparently there's also a tie-up with ESPN's SportsCenter for the new title, offering "live-action" cut scenes of your rise from nobody to big shot. Click here to watch the new video, or check out the Codemasters press release below.

Continue reading New Grid 2 video reveals new story elements, race locations

New Grid 2 video reveals new story elements, race locations originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GRID 2 teaches us how to overtake at Brands Hatch

Seyth Miersma — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:16:00 EST

Filed under: Performance, Videos, Toys/Games, Racing, McLaren

Motoring journalist Chris Harris may be less than understated in most of his video reporting, but if this new promotional video for Codemasters' upcoming racer Grid 2 is any indication, he can take direction. Intended to remind us of just how true-to-life the new racing title will be, Harris spends the video chasing McLaren test driver Matt Jackson in the MP4-12C supercar, in real life, on the UK's Brands Hatch circuit. Then, using some practice sessions with Grid 2 and a very expensive looking simulator, attempts to clean up his actual lap and pass the pro.

We'll leave it to you to watch the video and see how it all turns out. For the record though, we couldn't be any more excited about driving the new Grid game for ourselves, when it hits store shelves on May 28.

Continue reading GRID 2 teaches us how to overtake at Brands Hatch

GRID 2 teaches us how to overtake at Brands Hatch originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GRID 2 gets May 28 on-sale date, special DLC depending on where you buy

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:59:00 EST

Filed under: Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toys/Games, McLaren

Codemasters is promising all kinds of wunderbar things for Grid2 like "new standards for a racing multiplayer experience" and "the most visceral and exhilarating racing yet." The 24-karat test of those claims will have to wait until we can get controllers in our hands, but not for too much longer: The game will be shipping to stores on May 28 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and PC.

What we can confirm now is that there will be three different options for special edition downloadable content depending on whether you pre-order the game at GameStop, Best Buy or Amazon. GameStoppers will get the McLaren and Nissan GT-R Racing Packs, featuring the MP4-12C GT3 and two new ways around the UK's Brands Hatch track in the former, and a GT-R SpecV plus an exclusive online event and five daytime circuits at Yas Marina in the latter.

Get the goods from Best Buy and you'll get the IndyCar Pack that includes the series Pace Car and Dallara chassis, an exclusive online event and two additional routes around The Brickyard. Amazon's version will offer the Head Start Pack, which is a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 GT on top of discounts in the Car Upgrades Store and a RaceNet bonus.

You have about 120 days to decide which one is for you, with the help of the high-res gallery above. In the meantime, there's a press release below.

Continue reading GRID 2 gets May 28 on-sale date, special DLC depending on where you buy

GRID 2 gets May 28 on-sale date, special DLC depending on where you buy originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

First GRID 2 gameplay trailers released

Seyth Miersma — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:44:00 EST

Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games

The racing-fueled programmers at Codemasters have been pretty busy of late, it seems. The crew recently pinned a bow on their latest racing game, F1 2012, and has just shown off another highly anticipated sequel, GRID 2, at the Eurogamer Expo.

GRID 2 seems to incorporate a lot of what we like about F1 2012, including, we're guessing, the physics modeling behind a new TrueFeel Handling System. We've got a bit of a wait before we can test this out for ourselves - the new game is due out in the summer of 2013 - but there will be many a promo trailer to watch between now and then, including this first set of two.

In the first video, a new Ford Mustang Boss 302 and a vintage Mach 1 dice for position on a redwood-lined California coastal road. In the second, the streets of Chicago are the venue, and a Chevrolet Camaro SS, Corvette Z06 and a Mustang are included amongst the motive combatants. Scroll down to check them out.

Continue reading First GRID 2 gameplay trailers released

First GRID 2 gameplay trailers released originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Codemasters announces GRID 2 racing game with new trailer

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:20:00 EST

Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games

Codemasters has announced that the highly anticipated follow-up to its 2008 hit game GRID will be released in the summer of 2013. Imaginatively named GRID 2, the new game will feature "a selection of handpicked automotive icons spanning four decades and three continents," racing "on beautiful city streets, licensed circuits or knife-edge mountain roads."

The game developer has been publicly busy lately with Dirt and Formula 1 concerns like F1 2012 and F1 Race Stars. That said, its four-year-old racing game headliner hasn't made headlines since two of its three online servers were taken down last year. This should make plenty of gamers happy with Codemasters' focusing on racing games and its coming Racenet online hub.

Along with the announcement, Codemasters has released a brand-new trailer for GRID 2, which you can watch below. We've also added a video showing 20 seconds of a virtual Pagani Huayra shredding virtual rubber. Enjoy!

Continue reading Codemasters announces GRID 2 racing game with new trailer

Codemasters announces GRID 2 racing game with new trailer originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Race Driver: Grid to feature eBay Motors marketplace in-game

John Neff — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:32:00 EST

Filed under: Auctions, Marketing/Advertising, Toys/Games

Advertising has been creeping into video games for a while now, but in most racing games is relegated to billboards that we hardly notice while whizzing by and concentrating on our line for the next turn. Codemasters, however, is working with in-game ad firm Engage to take video game advertising to a new level by including a fully functioning eBay Motors marketplace in the developer's next racing title, Race Driver: Grid. Players in the game will actually buy and sell in-game vehicles using the eBay Motors service just like they would in real life. eBay Motors will also get a title race in the game called "The eBay Motors Mustang Muscle Series" in which they can drive the eBay Motors Mustang GTR concept car in San Francisco, Long Beach, Washington D.C. and Detroit. This type of next-gen in-game advertising should work well within the confines of Grid, since eBay Motors is widely visited and used by the type of person who might pick up the game.

[Source: Joystiq]

Race Driver: Grid to feature eBay Motors marketplace in-game originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

New racing game announced from creators of DiRT

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Toys/Games

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]

New racing game announced from creators of DiRT originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Indy 500 features record 3 female drivers, but struggles to fill rest of grid

Noah Joseph — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:28:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs

Equal rights activists note that, with few exceptions, motor racing is an almost entirely male-dominated sport. In fact, the vast majority of racing drivers are white men, with only a handful of pioneers like Narayan Karthikeyan, Danica Patrick and Lewis Hamilton breaking through the grid. But this year, the Indianapolis 500, one of the most prominent races in the world (certainly in America) will feature, for the first time in motorsport history, three female drivers.

Lynn St. James and Sarah Fisher made history in 2000 when they became the first two women to line up together at the event, but this year Citgo-sponsored Milka Duno (pictured, right) of Venezuela will be driving a Dallara-Honda for the Samax team, along with Patrick and Fisher. Duno becomes the fifth woman to compete in the Indy 500.

The Indy Racing League is struggling, however, to fill the rest of the field. At the last reporting, only 27 entries have been received for this year's race, and seven of those don't even have drivers assigned to them yet. That's a far cry from the traditional starting grid of 33. Among the 27 currently registered for the race are five from Andretti-Green Racing, four from Vision Racing (owned by Indy chief Tony George), three from AJ Foyt, and three cars from Penske. It has not yet been revealed who will drive the third Penske car, and similar question marks loom over drivers from Vision, Foyt, Beck and Sam Schmidt's Indy Pro Series team. Meanwhile, although neither the Cheever nor Fernandez teams competed in the Indy Racing Series this season, insiders were still surprised the neither filed entries for the Indy 500.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Indy 500 features record 3 female drivers, but struggles to fill rest of grid originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ford plug-in hybrid first to hit market?

John Neff — Mon, 01 May 2006 06:59:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Green, Ford

Buried within a GreenCarCongress article on Ford's attendance at the recent Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability conference are some comments made by Niel Golightly, Ford's Director of Sustainable Business Strategies, about plug-in hybrids. Golightly admits that Ford is investigating the technology that allows hybrids to achieve even greater fuel economy, but cautions there are three obstacles that must be overcome before it could see production: battery life, warranty coverage and safety.

A Ford representative, however, revealed to GreenCarCongress that "the message [about plug-in hybrids] is coming through loud and clear." When asked about plug-in hybrid conversions being performed on Escape Hybrids by HyMotion, the representative stated "we encourage our customers to be creative with our cars."

Is there a skunk-works plug-in hybrid program operating over at Ford? Perhaps. Toyota has aleady publicly stated that a plug-in Prius will not happen, which leaves the door open for Ford to swoop in and steal some of the green limelight.

Ford plug-in hybrid first to hit market? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 May 2006 06:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments