[E3 2007] - 10 Things about Project Gotham Racing 4

[bapenguin]

Bizarre Creations Xbox 360 racer PGR3 was one of the best selling launch titles on the system. With an incredible online system that allowed thousands of people to watch races, the game easily became one of the most competitive out there.
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/previews/pgr4/thumb.769209788_28454842dc_o.jpg (http://www.evilavatar.com/images/previews/image.php?image=www.evilavatar.com/images/previews/pgr4/769209788_28454842dc_o.jpg)
PGR4 looks to continue the trend with new online features, the addition of weather effects as well as the addition of motorcycles.

Here are 10 things you may or may not know about PGR4.

10. Bizarre originally intended to have bikes in PGR3 but didn't have the time to do them proper.
9. The bikes themselves have an arcadey feel to them, and it's incredibly easy to pull wheelies and other stunts.
8. The game features weather effects like snow, rain and fog. All these have various levels of intensity. The volumetric fog was particularly impressive.
7. There is a new kudos meter which assigns tricks done with both cars and bikes a star rating. This was done to help aid in achievements.
6. There are over 30 bikes and 100 some licensed cars in the game.
5. While not having an editor as indepth as Forza 2, the game will allow you to change colors and apply decals to your cars and bikes. The rider model isn't customizable.
4. The weather effects are incredibly realistic looking, but the effect they have on racing isn't 100% authentic.
3. The game will feature 10 locations: New York City, Tokyo, London, Las Vegas, Quebec City, Shanghai, Macau, St. Petersburg, Nuerburgring, and the Michelin Test Track.
2. Users will be able to upload and share videos of their race.
1. The game will feature an online party system similar to the infamous Halo party system.

You can download the audio from the behind closed door meeting right here (http://www.evilavatar.com/e3/pods/PGR4.mp3) or you can listen to it streaming via Odeo here (http://odeo.com/audio/14888943/view).

I'd be curious to hear what our Evil Avatar member phantomhitman says about the addition of bikes to the game. Since he plays PGR3 professionally, could Bikes ruin the PGR core gameplay?

[Fudjo]

What's #8?

[tayaya]

What's #8?

Beat me to it...

[bapenguin]

What's #8?

Ah shit. That's what I get for doing this at 7:30 this morning.

[menage]

The trailer looked cool, but I sure as hell wasn't impressed by the demo during the MS presenatation. The bike controls and movement looked like crap.

[Tricky Thumb]

I like the fact that somebody seems to be stealing the Halo 2 Online Party feature for another game, because that system really does work quite well. Graphically the game looks great, but I'm probably going to be spoiled by Forza 2 and it's physics and customization functions. I really do hope the PGR team takes some notes from the Forza team on how much fun it can be to gain driver and cars levels and upgrade cars nearly endlessly. That feature set alone kept my playing for hours.

[Mdot23]

I saw Phantom on some Voom HD gaming channel couple of days ago for PGR3. What a cutie pie huh? haha! Keep getting famous!

[Kamalot]

True Story:

I just watched the E3 trailer for this last night on the 360 and nearly soiled my shorts at the awesomeness of the trailer. Is that actually in-game footage? It looks too good to be true.

[bapenguin]

True Story:

I just watched the E3 trailer for this last night on the 360 and nearly soiled my shorts at the awesomeness of the trailer. Is that actually in-game footage? It looks too good to be true.

It's in game footage using the replays. Replays have more post-processing done on them.

[Whimbrel]

I don't have an xbox 360 yet, it may be years, but I have always sucked at these racing games. I did pretty well on a Top Gear game for the SNES, but after that it has been all downhill. It is the only genre in which I lose as soon as the game says go. Not only does each race start with several dozen racers instantly zipping past me, but as soon as I get up speed I lose control and crash at the first turn. I liked the original Metropolitan Street Racer on my beloved Dreamcast, but I don't think I ever got a kudo. I guess I need Racing Games for Dummies because as great as these games look, I just truly suck.

[Venkman]

It's graphics like PGR4 that make me not care about 60fps. Bizarre is truly getting someting out of the Xbox 360 that other devs are not.

[the Jack]

So, BA, I tried asking during EvAv Radio but:

Are the biker gestures context sensitive? Should we be pressing A to flip the bird during a pass? And are they worth extra kudoz?

[Kamalot]

I don't have an xbox 360 yet, it may be years, but I have always sucked at these racing games. I did pretty well on a Top Gear game for the SNES, but after that it has been all downhill. It is the only genre in which I lose as soon as the game says go. Not only does each race start with several dozen racers instantly zipping past me, but as soon as I get up speed I lose control and crash at the first turn. I liked the original Metropolitan Street Racer on my beloved Dreamcast, but I don't think I ever got a kudo. I guess I need Racing Games for Dummies because as great as these games look, I just truly suck.
I completely understand where you are coming from. I typically stick to games where I rarely have to lift off of the accelerator like Mario Kart, Burnout, Excite Truck, F-Zero, Extreme G and other more arcadey racers.

I'd give Forza a try if I were you. It includes a mode that trains you by showing you the best line to take, as well as when you should be braking before a corner. It won't help you get kudos (a game mechanic I think is downright dumb in earlier versions of Metropolitan Street Racer) but it will help you get the basics of 'realistic' game racing.

Thing is, in real-life I am an exceptional driver, but that does not translate to games simulations at all.

[Telefrog]

I completely understand where you are coming from. I typically stick to games where I rarely have to lift off of the accelerator like Mario Kart, Burnout, Excite Truck, F-Zero, Extreme G and other more arcadey racers.

I'd give Forza a try if I were you. It includes a mode that trains you by showing you the best line to take, as well as when you should be braking before a corner. It won't help you get kudos (a game mechanic I think is downright dumb in earlier versions of Metropolitan Street Racer) but it will help you get the basics of 'realistic' game racing.

Thing is, in real-life I am an exceptional driver, but that does not translate to games simulations at all.

The only caution I would give with this is that although Forza has various "assists" to get you into racing, it's also less forgiving of mistakes. In either the PGR or GT series, a viable strategy to winning a race can be playing bumper cars and bouncing off opponents or scenery to get through turns. In Forza, trying to bounce off anything in a turn will just result in a spin and you'll be at the rear of the pack in moments.

[Xerxes]

So no news on a new Geometry Wars. O_o

[Grimgrock]

Is that St. Petersburg, FL or St. Petersburg, Russia? I am aware that St. Pete has a road race but I don't think it is considered one of the 'big ones'.

[bapenguin]

So, BA, I tried asking during EvAv Radio but:

Are the biker gestures context sensitive? Should we be pressing A to flip the bird during a pass? And are they worth extra kudoz?

No, the gestures are all automated.

[Kamalot]

So no news on a new Geometry Wars. O_o
Geometry Wars (with multiplayer) is coming to Wii and DS.

[Xerxes]

Geometry Wars (with multiplayer) is coming to Wii and DS.
BAH.... XBOX 360!!!!

[Kamalot]

BAH.... XBOX 360!!!!
Sorry man. I can't do anything about that. Apparently Geometry Wars Galaxies (http://ds.ign.com/articles/804/804080p1.html) will have a co-op mode, which has me all atwitter.

I'm interested in the game, not the platform.

[Hagetaka]

As good as this looks, im sketchy on the mixture of motorcycles and cars. Seems like you should stick to one or the other; I guess we'll see how this turns out.

[Xerxes]

Sorry man. I can't do anything about that. Apparently Geometry Wars Galaxies will have a co-op mode, which has me all atwitter.

I'm interested in the game, not the platform.
I don't have a Wii. It really doesn't tickle my fancy either. Maybe if they had a Castlevania game where I get to be a Belmont... With a whip.

[Kamalot]

I don't have a Wii. It really doesn't tickle my fancy either. Maybe if they had a Castlevania game where I get to be a Belmont... With a whip.
That's a Wii game Mrs. Kamalot and I play every night...
...it tickles MY fancy!...
...hold up. I probably shouldn't have told you that.

[Xerxes]

Noooo... Do tell more.

[cp#]

So they didn't have enough time to do the bikes right, but there are bikes in the game? Am I missing something?

[Bingley Joe]

So they didn't have enough time to do the bikes right, but there are bikes in the game? Am I missing something?

They didn't have time to do the bikes right in PGR3... this is PGR4, so now there are bikes.

We shall see if they have been done right ;)

[Vandabo]

Even if the bikes aren't very well simulated, I won't mind too much. I would love a good bike sim, but a Project Gotham game shouldn't be too realistic. I just hope the bikes are as quick as they should be, in a straight line anyway.

[phantomhitman]

I'd be curious to hear what our Evil Avatar member phantomhitman says about the addition of bikes to the game. Since he plays PGR3 professionally, could Bikes ruin the PGR core gameplay?

It will be interesting, but the arcadey feel of the bikes scare me. It could unbalance the entire game even more so than some cars do. That is one thing Bizarre has never got right, balance.

I will be in touch soon about pgr 4.