[Tetlee]

Great news for those of us left a little disappointed with the un-rallyness of Dirt2, looks like we're getting another shot

New Official WRC Console Game Announced - Xbox

Fans of the FIA World Rally Championship will soon be able to get closer to the action after it was announced today that a new official WRC console game is now under development and scheduled for launch in 2010.

The agreement with leading Milan based publisher, Black Bean Games, will see the WRC game available across the world for the first time on PlayStation®3, Xbox360® videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft® and PC formats. Black Bean Games, and their in-house development studio Milestone, have an excellent track record of successful motorsport games including the SBK Superbike championship and MotoGP.

The new official WRC game will provide the sport with major promotional and commercial opportunities, which will continue to grow the reach and appeal of the WRC on a global scale.

Simon Long, ISC CEO, said: “The official WRC game will engage a whole new audience for the sport and we’re tremendously excited at the opportunities to grow our fan base and the profile of the WRC. It provides a hugely powerful touch point for us in which to showcase the WRC to consumers, and it will be the most realistic and playable rally game of all time. We chose to work with Black Bean Games because they have a proven track record making top level games with the official license in two-wheel motorsport.”

Virgilio Bixio, Black Bean Games President, added: “We are particularly proud to bring the WRC franchise back into the videogames arena after so many years of absence. Milestone has been working hard on this title and our expectations are really high. We will be able to provide the utmost competitive title that will provide extremely positive results. Furthermore, Milestone’s work is enriched by the overwhelming support we have received from the WRC community.”

The official WRC game agreement was secured by ISC, the exclusive worldwide media and commercial rights holder for the FIA World Rally Championship.

I for one am extremely happy with this news, hope it isn't all americanised like Dirt2.

[Crovon]

[spanna]

I never saw this one coming at all. I really thought we were completely stuffed for rally games especially as the media interest is at an all time low.

waheyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy is all i can say

[reddevil63]

Black Bean are the guys that done SBK 08 & 09 and Superstars V8 Racing. Not top notch games but they might pull the stops with WRC.

[Citizen J]

I really hope this game turns out to be good. A little concerned that it's the team behind V8 Supercars as I didn't like that game (based on the demo) but there is a serious lack of point to point rally games. When I look at the Dirt series it deeply saddens me how this game has suddenly become far too "arcadey" and generally just poor. Colin McCrae rally series on the PS1 were fantastic, hopefully this game can reach at least something comparable.

[waring192]

whohoo! All i need now is a rugby game

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by Jows073

I really hope this game turns out to be good. A little concerned that it's the team behind V8 Supercars as I didn't like that game (based on the demo) but there is a serious lack of point to point rally games.

I thought the same thing about the V8 Supercars demo, although they are also responsible for MotoGP, which although obviously not Rally related, seems to be a very popular and well established franchise.

I'm just happy to know there's a proper rally game in development for now, totally unexpected in these times, going to have all my fingers and toes crossed it turns out to be at very least decent.

[Kinetic Frenzy]

without wanting to extinguish your glimer of hope Tetlee, climax made the best Moto GP games, the ones made since by Milestone haven't been as well executed...

I'm gonna be plain ungrateful and just beg: Dice please make Ralisport challenge (2 oops) 3

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by Kinetic Frenzy

without wanting to extinguish your glimer of hope Tetlee, climax made the best Moto GP games, the ones made since by Milestone haven't been as well executed...

I'm gonna be plain ungrateful and just beg: Dice please make Ralisport challenge 2

Ah well, just have to sit back and hope then, as for RSC3(we already had 2), I'll just carry on dreaming.

[Kinetic Frenzy]

d'oh! what a waste of a beg!

[Gordon B]

Just read about this in MCV today and I thought of you Tetlee after our musings in the Dirt2 thread.

Fingers crossed that Blackbean give us the rally game we deserve.

[reddevil63]

Milestone haven't done any MotoGP games, they did the Superbike ones ie SBK 08 & 09.

[Paul_T]

Glad to hear of a new WRC game but the graphics on SBK 08 were nothing to shout about...

[Nik73]

Good to hear, just a shame that the WRC is now a shadow of it's former self in terms of factory teams, etc.
I always thought it took a turn for the worse when they started shortening the events and running stages multiple times back in the late 90's. Just my opinion of course.
Hopefully it'll have a lot of classic cars and stages from the 70's, 80's and even 90's.

[rob1sp]

Originally Posted by reddevil63

Milestone haven't done any MotoGP games, they did the Superbike ones ie SBK 08 & 09.

They programmed the MotoGP '09 game that Capcom brought out didn't they? And there's no way the Climax MotoGP games are better than the more recent ones, I thought they were unbelievably arcadey, plus the bike models and rider animations were terrible. They scored well in reviews but I just didn't get on with them. I much prefer Milestone/Black Bean's versions, hopefully they can do a proper rallying game instead of the 'mighty purdy' americanised codemasters tat.

[Caveman643]

Originally Posted by rob1sp

They programmed the MotoGP '09 game that Capcom brought out didn't they?

I have MotoGP 09 and it was definitely Milestone. Same as the WSB games.

[Paul_T]

Originally Posted by Nik73

Good to hear, just a shame that the WRC is now a shadow of it's former self in terms of factory teams, etc.
I always thought it took a turn for the worse when they started shortening the events and running stages multiple times back in the late 90's. Just my opinion of course.
Hopefully it'll have a lot of classic cars and stages from the 70's, 80's and even 90's.

Agree, will be crap game if you can only drive a Citroen C4 or a Ford Focus!

[reddevil63]

Originally Posted by rob1sp

They programmed the MotoGP '09 game that Capcom brought out didn't they? And there's no way the Climax MotoGP games are better than the more recent ones, I thought they were unbelievably arcadey, plus the bike models and rider animations were terrible. They scored well in reviews but I just didn't get on with them. I much prefer Milestone/Black Bean's versions, hopefully they can do a proper rallying game instead of the 'mighty purdy' americanised codemasters tat.

Originally Posted by Caveman643

I have MotoGP 09 and it was definitely Milestone. Same as the WSB games.

How can MotoGP 09 be out on the 360 when it hasn't been released yet?

MotoGP 09/10 for Xbox 360 - MotoGP 09/10 Xbox360 Game - MotoGP 09/10 Xbox 360 Video Game

Scheduled for a March 2010 release.

And its a Capcom/Monumental Games collaboration, not Milestone.

[Tetlee]

Originally Posted by reddevil63

How can MotoGP 09 be out on the 360 when it hasn't been released yet?

MotoGP 09/10 for Xbox 360 - MotoGP 09/10 Xbox360 Game - MotoGP 09/10 Xbox 360 Video Game

Scheduled for a March 2010 release.

And its a Capcom/Monumental Games collaboration, not Milestone.

I think he was getting confused with MotoGP '08, which was indeed released by Capcom and developed by Milestone.

MotoGP 08 Review for Xbox 360 - GameSpot

^You can see in the details beneath the box art pic.

[arrishort555]

this is good news...
all we need now is a richard burns rally 2 on the xbox 360....

[scartlead]

Originally Posted by Kinetic Frenzy

I'm gonna be plain ungrateful and just beg: Dice please make Ralisport challenge (2 oops) 3

Still Play Rallysport challenge 2 for the xbox quite a lot. Best rally game on any console IMO. A WRC version with similair physics would be something I'd be looking forward to.

[Jamezinho]

At least this game has something going for it:

It's not made by Codemasters.

[rob1sp]

Originally Posted by Tetlee

I think he was getting confused with MotoGP '08, which was indeed released by Capcom and developed by Milestone.

MotoGP 08 Review for Xbox 360 - GameSpot

^You can see in the details beneath the box art pic.

Yeah I meant MGP '08, was getting confused with all the iterations of both it and sbk that are about at the minute. Anyway, I'm hoping for a Colin McCrae 4 or Rallisport 2 career-type game with Richard Burns Rally physics and Forza 3 graphics, that'd do nicely.

Oh and a la CMR 2.0, somewhere in amongst everything a nice big Sierra Cosworth with a noisy wastegate

[GMC79]

Nice this could be good but from what i played of the PS2 versions it was shocking, mayb remembering wrong long time ago played it a a mates but didnt like it iirc. Glad to see all format then can get for PC or PS3 for use with G25 if anygood.

Originally Posted by rob1sp

Yeah I meant MGP '08, was getting confused with all the iterations of both it and sbk that are about at the minute. Anyway, I'm hoping for a Colin McCrae 4 or Rallisport 2 career-type game with Richard Burns Rally physics and Forza 3 graphics, that'd do nicely.

Oh and a la CMR 2.0, somewhere in amongst everything a nice big Sierra Cosworth with a noisy wastegate

Sounds good to me

[monkey00]

No rally game has touched Colin Mcrae 1 imo yet, that other offical WRC game was good, but id love a new Rally SIM

[Tetlee]

Information is still a bit thin on the ground with this title, but after a bit of digging I have just found the release date at least....

Black Bean Studios has previously announced that there is a World Rally Championship game in development for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. They also said it woukd be released in 2010.

The new WRC game is scheduled for release in september 2010 for PS3, Xbox360 and PC.

http://www.skuggen.com/?p=363

And an interview here.....

Nextgame.it: The experience of Milestone in the racing genre is very deep: from the first Screamer (1995) to the well know motorbike titles (SBK, MotoGP 08), and now WRC. How important is your background when you approach a new game?

Simone Bechini: It's been a long time! WRC, if you want, is a return to the past, to our origins, though Screamer Rally (the second game by Graffiti, then Milestone) was a game built on an immediate and arcade-ish approach. Today, with enthusiasm, we have the chance to develop the official game of the World Rally Championship! After years of "two-wheels" games and with our strong background in car racing games (SCAR, Evolution GT, Superstars V8 Racing), we were excited at the idea of going back "on the dirt".

Nextgame.it: Milestone is one of the few Italian developers capable to compete on the worldwide market. Would WRC contribute to reduce the creative gap between our developers and the other famous actors in the videogame industry?

Simone Bechini: We will surely try, with all our strengths: there is a lot of pride involved in our work, the pride of an Italian reality that aims to compete with the best international studios. It is that sentiment that pushes Milestone to make the best product possible.

Nextgame.it: What are the most interesting features of the game? How deep is the relationship with the WRC licensor?

Simone Bechini: Our goal is to create a game that is realistic and accessible at the same time. We don't want to take the path towards the "extreme simulator"; in that case the game would be enjoyable just by the most experts among the gamers or by the professional drivers themselves. But at the same time we are trying to stay away from the "arcade-like" style of our previous Screamer games. It is important for us to reproduce the dynamics of the vehicle and the typical behavior of the cars on different situations (asphalt, snow, ice, dirt), so that the players can feel the experience the pilots have when driving in the real World Rally Championship.
The driving model will be scalable to let every player enjoy the game: in short, we are making a game that is both realistic and accessible.
About the relationship with WRC, I can say that we will make good use of the advices given by the pilots and the different experts in every sector of the WRC world. We will try to find the right balance between the needs of the professionals and what a gamer expects when he seeks fun playing a racing game.

Nextgame.it: Need for Speed Shift and Forza Motorsports 3 can be both approached in a very-low difficulty level, where the player has really little to do. How do you feel about those choices, considering your SBK games were known to be very difficult to manage?

Simone Bechini: At Milestone our goal is to reproduce the essence of a rally race. We don't ask the player to be as good as a professional driver. We can't forget that making a game extremely realistic is not fair for the player: a pilot sit in the car counts on a series of physical feedbacks that a gamer, with just a screen and a joypad to control the game, could not count on.

Nextgame.it: What advantages and, if any, disadvantages a license like that brings to the developers' shoulders?

Simone Bechini: It is surely a fantastic opportunity to work on such an important license, with all the pressure and expectations that obviously have to be taken into account. For our part, we will do whatever is possible to replicate with the most possible attention the overall experience of the rally races.

Nextgame.it: Can you share some details with us? For example, what engine "drives" the game?

Simone Bechini: The 3D Engine we are using is the same, multiplatform, that we launched with Superbike 08. It is our proprietary engine, and we are developing new technologies to expand it during the process of the development.

Nextgame.it: Can you tell us something about the quality of the visuals? Especially in the "in-car view", the games are today more and more detailed and precise in every aspect: not only the road and the surroundings one can see through the windows, but the cockpits are quite perfect, too!

Simone Bechini: The visuals and the cameras are absolutely key factors in today's videogames, and we will take into account the huge steps that our competitors took in the recent past.

Nextgame.it: SCAR (Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo) introduced visual alteration to simulate what the driver was feeling, such as blurry vision when he was under pressure and so on. The experiment was reproduced and expanded by Need for Speed Shift, four years after. Can we say that these kind of alterations are going to become a standard in the racing genre? Do you plan to use them in your WRC game to reach the realism of the experience?

Simone Bechini: I think that the introduction of this visual effects has to be coherent with the targets that the developer sets for its game. If the game is not aimed to the pure realism, but is built freely around the driving experience, introducing these kind of effects can be a good idea and make an enjoyable difference. It is more difficult to think to those kind of handicaps in a game like WRC, where the pilot is under constant pressure from the green light tile the finish banner.

I'm still very hopeful for this title, only time will tell, is good to see them mention snow & ice as those have been very sadly missed conditions from the DiRT games IMO.

You can see Milestones games history by hovering over the Games tab in the top left tab of their website MILESTONE Official Site - Screamer Rally Not as bad as some people make out I think, some pretty good games there

[Inj]

Originally Posted by Tetlee

MILESTONE Official Site - Screamer Rally Not as bad as some people make out I think, some pretty good games there

Man, I used to loooove Screamer...I've been playing games far longer than I care to remember.

Come on Milestone, pull it out of the bag!

And I agree with you Tetlee, the endless samey tracks and general lack of feel in DiRT2 made me cry out for ice and snow. Got very bored with it, very quickly.

[spanna]

One thing I would love to see in a rally game which as far as Im aware has never been done before, is the ability to catch up with other cars on stage.
Like if they have had a problem and are going slow. Just like in a real rally.

This could bring a whole new element into a rally game

do you try and get past straight away and chance dumping your car into the scenery or bide your time, wait for a space and lose vital seconds.

If your the car with the problem do you block the car behind to ruin his time (happens on the real rallys) then if they had driver attitudes built in he might get you back if the same happened the other way round.

Also if a car has crashed you could have spectators or marshalls waving you down as you approach a crash, do you hammer through or slow down .. loads of scope I think.

[MrSmiley]

Here is a 10 minute video for the new WRC game.

Doesn't look too bad. But I've downloaded the last couple of blackbean games from the marketplace a couple of weeks ago and they are dire. I hope I'm really surprised and they make a really good game of it

http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_wrc_...-15999_en.html

Credit to Blimblim (from neogaf)

[Tetlee]

Nice to at least see a glimpse of gameplay footage, the lack of is getting a bit concerning as release date isn't too far away and nothing really so far

Hopefully more gameplay videos and maybe some hands-on previews will start to surface soon.