 Colin Mcrae Rally 04 (2003) is the fourth installment in the succesful Colin McRae Rally series. Whether the title alludes to the fact the game was released in 2004 in North America or simply to the fact it's the fourth game in the series, I'm not really sure. Looking at the titles of the series there certainly has been a lack of continuity on the developer front: 2.0, 3, 04, 2005 and DiRT; it's almost as if they couldn't make up there mind how to label their games. No matter though, because I'm here to pay homage to the great Colin Mcrae by reviewing this game, not complain about at the series' titles.
I'll start of with the main menu which is kept simply, easy to navigate and straightforward. There's the championship, quick-race, single race and single rally modes. In the option menu you can make graphics and sound adjustments aswell as select what controller you'd like to use. Next to the keyboard, you can use an analog controller or a driving wheel. The last obviously being the best choice for a realistic experience but since I don't own one nor a PC controller, I have to limit myself to my keyboard.
In the championship mode there are actually six championships that can be completed. One for each of the game's difficulties (normal and advanced) and each of the different vehicle categories (three). There's the standard 4WD category with cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer or the Subaru Impreza WRX, a 2WD category with smaller cars like the Citroen Saxo or Ford RallyeSport Puma and the "B-group" category which consists of high-powered older vehicles such as a Lancia 037 or Peugeot 205 T16.
B Group cars are forbidden in current-day rally because these faster, harder to control machines too often led to accidents. Luckily for us gamers, Codemasters has included these fun cars in Colin Mcrae Rally 04 for us to ride with as much as we want!
Every of these categories feel thoroughly different to drive with and even specific cars within a category handle differently. My favorite car is the 2WD Ford Puma because it is a nimble, lightweight car that can take consecutive corners rather fast. But no matter what car you choose to drive, it doesn't take long to get used to its handling and you'll be driving like a pro in no time. That's probably the most fun aspect of this game: the fact that it feels like realistic driving yet isn't too realistic so it doesn't become extremely difficult to control your car without smashing into the scenery.
The championship mode will take you to all of the game's locations which range from snowy Sweden to wet Brittain, or tropical Australia. All countries have a different dominant surface that you'll be faced with: tarmac in Spain, wet gravel in the UK, snow in Sweden, rough gravel in Greece, wet tarmac in Japan, fine gravel in the US, pea gravel in Australia and gravel in Finland. Plenty of variation in other words and just like with the cars, driving on different surfaces really feels differently.
The key to success in Colin Mcrae Rally 04 is: A. Carefully listening to your co-pilot and B. Selecting the right settings between stages. Although this might sound logical, paying attention to your co-driver's instructions really makes all the difference. Unless you'll play the game a lot, you won't be able to memorize what the different stages are like, so you're really up to his instructions. Especially in narrow sections, it's important not to get of track, because once you're between trees, it can easily cost you 10 seconds to get out again.
Once every two stages you can set up your car in the service station for the next two stages. You get a little map which shows you the course layout and gives you a stats table that shows how much of a type of surface you may expect. It's important to check what surface type appears most in the next two stages combined and choose tires accordingly. Besides tire types you can also adjust your brake bias, steering speed, gear ratio, ride height, spring tension and anti-roll.
Second function of the service station is to repair damage done to your car in previous stages. Depending on how big the damage on, say, your turbo might be, it'll take anywhere from only a few minutes to almost half an hour of repair time. You get a maximum of 60 minutes at every service station so it's best not to trash your car on the way there. Besides visual damage there's also alot of internal damage that can seriously affect your car's performance. You have the option to set the car damage on "normal" or "hard" depending on your skill level. At the normal setting the occasional jump in the scenary doesn't mean catastrophy but at the hard setting it's vital to avoid crashes at all costs.
In the championship mode you'll have to drive a series of normal stages in each country and end with a special "face-off" stage where you have to drive faster than another driver in an arena-track. Between rallies, you'll be able to attempt to win new/upgraded car parts in constructor challenge mini-games. This can range from sliding enough to wear down tires on a selected course to staying within a small RPM-range while switching gears.
Goal of the championship mode is to win each individual rally (obviously) aswell as having your manufacturer win the overal championship. After finishing one of the championships, you unlock a few cars.
The PC version of the game features online or LAN multiplayer for 2-8 players. Despite all players driving at the same time, you can only see ghosts of your opponents' cars instead of the actual cars. I haven't had the chance to check the multiplayer out just yet, so I can't really say anything about it.
Visually, Colin Mcrae Rally 04 is great. The PC version has improved graphics over the original Xbox version, with more detailed and sharper looking cars, roads and foliage, aswell as improved weather conditions. The game was always smooth to play, with a minimum of framedrops and glitches. Textures are generally good but some foliage and trees are rather low-res; this is especially apparent when you go of-course. the damage model looks pretty realistic with broken windows, loose bumpers and parts that completely fall of your vehicle. Colin Mcrae Rally 04 doesn't have the DX10 graphics of DiRT, but that's only natural considering the game's age.
There is no music in the game except for the random techno tune of the menus, but that doesn't mean Colin Mcrae Rally 04 sounds bad. In fact, this game sounds as realistic as I can imagine rally sounding like. Engines roar, gearboxes rattle, exhausts scream, windows shatter, ... it's all there. Derek Ringer does an excellent job as co-pilot and never bored or annoyed me at any time. Every sound gets a extra dimension when switching to the cockpit view where everything looks and sounds just a bit more dramatic. I never made much use of this view though, because it limits your view greatly.
If you happen to see Colin Mcrae Rally 04 somewhere and it isn't too expensive, get it. It's pretty much everything a good rally game should be and I had a great time playing this game. 8.0/10
 Gran Turismo. One of the names most associated with the Playstation-brand whose popularity is met by only a couple other franchises out there. In 1998, with the release of the original Gran Turismo came the DualShock, probably the most recognizable modern-day game pad there is and something that shows how big an impact this series has had.
Gran Turismo 3: A-spec (2001) was the first racer Polyphony Digital released to the world to show what the Playstation 2 was capable of. With Gran Turismo 4 (2005), Polyphony Digital tried to realise what they couldn't with part 3.
Let's start out with what is new. Immediate eyecatcher is the highly needed, slick new menu layout. Every screen in the game feels like it's part of a bigger whole and the same fonts, colors and icons are used throughout. This gives GT4 a much more streamlined feel, aswell as provide easier mobility while navigating through the game's massive options.
As usual, there's an Arcade Mode where you can do single races, time trials or go up against others in a 2-player splitscreen or LAN. The not-so-interesting Replay Theatre is back aswell, but most important still is the Gran Turismo mode, the place where you'll spend 98% of your time.
Here, you'll immediately notice the difference in layout, with much more icons than in the past. In the classic home screen, the garage has become much more flexible for searching through your collection of cars with listing categories like country, power-to-weight ratio and so on. You'll also notice your "diary" which is nothing more than a log of your purchases and race results.
In GT4, races are devided into much more categories than before. The beginner, professional and expert races make a return, but new are the country- and manufacturer-specific races. There are, for example, Japanese, American and European events, while you have to go to the manufacturers to see if there are model-specific races available.
One thing in which GT4 excels is content: There's over 700 cars and 50 tracks in the game, making it a much bigger game than GT3. The same however was true for GT2 compared to GT1, probably because the developer has more time for their second release on each console. New this time are all the classic cars from the 50ies and beyond, aswell as some crazy concept cars and some of the first cars ever made. To make things easier in the beginning of the game, you can buy used cars of all ages. However, there's so many races to do and cars to collect in this game, it'll take you weeks (or even months) to finish it.
Also new are the B-spec and Photo mode. In B-spec mode you don't drive yourself but assist an AI driver by giving him/her directions (accelerate, break, etc...) for what to do next. Photo mode is (as the name indicates) a mode in which you can take pictures of your favorite cars, put them on a USB stick and print them out if you want.
Now for the actual driving. (This is where opinions will clash the most concerning GT4) Depending from what you, the gamer, expect from a racing-game, you'll either love GT4 or you won't. If you're looking for adrenaline-pumping, faster-than-lightning races with brutal competition, chances are big you won't like GT4. If, however, you're looking for a realistic (and therefor sometimes a bit boring) driving simulator, you'll find GT4 (almost) everything you're longing for.
When it comes to simply simulating driving, GT4 is fan-tas-tic. Especially when turning off electronic aids you'll be able to really show what you're made of. Couple this with the rich content and you can already justify buying GT4. However, there's some bad sides to the game aswell, quite a few actually...
For starters, there's no online play. This'll surely dissapoint alot of people wanting to test their skills against others online, who don't have a racing friend nearby.
Secondly, the AI is as dumb as ever. The other cars (still only 5) always drive in the perfect racing line, almost never miss a turn and stay together as a group unless there are major differences in the cars' performances. A third complaint is the fact that you can still use cars ahead of you as airbags for taking sharp corners aswell as ride off-track on several courses. (Apricot Hill, anyone?)
A penalty system has been introduced in the Dirt & Snow events, making you drive 50km/h for 5 seconds if you hit the other car, however, sometimes you get a penalty for the other car hitting you! These Dirt & Snow events are another thing that bothers me in GT4. Instead of them being realistic (like, say: Colin Mcrae) you feel like you're trying to manoeuvre a bar of soap on a wet plastic surface, constantly sliding towards the sides unless you break like mad. Although the B-spec mode sounds like a nice new feature at first, it's boring as hell and I really don't see the fun of not driving yourself.
Lastly, there's still no damage model, but it depends on what you expect from a driving simulator if that's a bad thing or not.
On the bright side, both graphics and sound are perfect in GT4, with beautiful cars and circuits aswell as realistic engine sounds. The soundtrack is elaborate although I'm not sure it'll appeal to all with mostly rock songs. Luckily, you can customize it in the "jukebox" so you only have to listen to the songs you like. Especially graphically, you can see the improvements made since GT3 with nicer cars, reflections and lighting. Especially the clouds seem to have been improved, showing much more detail than before. The addition of a new over-the-hood view of your car is very welcome, bring the best of the other 2 views together.
Scoring GT4 is difficult because it really depends on what you expect from it. I'd personally give it a 8.8 or maybe even a 9.0 out of 10 but considering the many faults this game has I'll give it a more diplomatic 8.2/10.
 This week we're shifting gears and cutting into the fast lane.
OutRun 2019 takes the lead this week as our featured game. Easily one of the fastest racing games on the Sega Genesis, it still plays like the other games from the outrun series. Of course, with these fast speeds come big crashes. If you like any of the F-Zero or Burnout games, you'ld certainly get some fun out of this one.
The featured image this week is a real bargain bin gem, but don't let the cover fool you. R: Racing Evolution looks to be another Ridge Racer game as it was made by Namco and features a shiny car and young Japanese female on the cover. At least thats what I thought when I picked it up. It turns out to be a racing simulation (that isn't Ridge Racer) with more simplified tuning options and a storyline. This game features a lot of real cars with upgrade options where all can be obtained in a reasonable time period. Stock cars, F1, offroad circuit, and drag racing are all represented here. My favorite cars here are the DeLorean (yeah it was really intended to be a luxury sports car) and the Hummer. The Xbox version of this game has a special Hummer with an Xbox paint job, adding in a touch of humor due to its ridiculous size, unplayable slow acceleration and speed. This game is fun to play, and the variety of races keep it fresh. The other drivers taunts are a little corny though, so try and keep the lead so you don't have to hear them as much.
The Gran Turismo 3 PlayStation 2 console bundle closes the gap for hardware. The Gran Turismo series has always been the leading car simulation with high attention to detail and realism. GT3 also helped give the early PS2 the big push for which Sony was hoping, contributing to the largest juggernaut in gaming history. While there are millions and millions of PS2s out there, this bundle proves to have some collector's value as its the only real box variant or bundle for the early model PlayStation 2.
Speeding his way to higher collection numbers is Reps911. He claims to have rekindled his collection habit after meeting his (approving) significant other. Over the past couple years he's shown a fast accumulation of games and systems, and shows no signs of slowing down.
So next time you're rounding the channel circuit, don't forget to stop by channel 3.
 Sad news indeed. He was my favorite all-time driver and a true legend of the sport. I can't believe he's gone. He's been such an ambassador to the WRC and Rally racing in general. It was great to have seen him in action once again driving for Citroen earlier last season, I figured maybe a comeback was in order.
I've followed his career since he was tearing it up with Carlos Sainz as part of Subaru. Been a fan of rally racing games and his in particular since the first one on the PS1.
With the loss of Colin and of Richard Burns a few years ago, it leaves a big hole for popular drivers that have universal appeal. Both died well before their time and before they could culminate a life's worth of contributions.
My condolences go out to his family and loved ones, he will be sorely missed by many many people around the world.
Rally driver Colin McRae is believed to be among four people killed in a helicopter crash near his country home.
Strathclyde Police said the 39-year-old star was believed to be on board the aircraft, which crashed at Jerviswood, near Lanark at about 4.10pm yesterday.
There were four people on board, but no formal identifications have taken place yet.
A statement released by the force stated: "The bodies were found within the helicopter which is owned by Mr Colin McRae of Jerviswood House, Lanark.
"It is believed he was onboard the helicopter however until formal identification has taken place, we will not be able to confirm the identities of those onboard."
Police are to remain at the scene through the night where a thorough search of the area continues.
Air accident investigators will carry out a full investigation into the cause of the crash.
McRae became the Briton to win the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1995 and hails from a well-known motor racing family in Scotland.
His father, Jimmy, is a five-time British rally champion and his brother, Alister, is also former British rally champion.
Colin McRae is married to Alison and has two children, Hollie and Johnny.
As well as winning the world championship driving a Subaru in 1995, he was runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001.
Colin McRae R.I.P. - 1968-2007
http://www.telegraph.co.u...2007/09/15/ncopter115.xml
http://news.scotsman.com/...ainment.cfm?id=1483222007
http://www.myfoxchicago.c...outCode=TSTY&pageId=3.4.1
 The word from Microsoft is that PGR4 is nearly completed. A press release found via Kotaku states that it's release date will be October 2nd for North America and October 14 for Europe.
As well as the release info, they have revealed a list of cars and bikes to add to the total so far:
CARS
- Ariel Atom 300 Supercharged 2004
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage 2005
- Austin Mini Cooper S 1964
- Chevrolet Camaro Z28 1969
- Ferrari F430 2004
- Caparo T1 2007
- Caterham R500 2000
- Lamborghini Gallardo 2004
- Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 2005
- Tesla Roadster 2008
MOTORCYCLES
- BMW F 800 S 2006
- Honda NR750 1992
- Honda CBR600RR 2005
- Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 2007
- MTT Turbine Superbike 2006
- MV Agusta F4 Senna 2006
- Norton 500 Manx 1962
- Triumph Speed Triple 2005
- Triumph Trident 2005
Now that's going to be one helluva week for gaming. Zelda comes out the day before that so I'll be fighting the urge to hide away in a corner with my DS until I've finished it. Now I'll have to pop my head out after a day of playing to go all Mr. Bean on Quebec's ass with that '64 Mini (though I'd rather a '77).
For more info check out the official PGR4 homepage at:
http://www.bizarrecreations.com/games/pgr4/
 The thrill of competition. The satisfaction of victory. The sense of speed and the intense action. All reasons why racing games appeal to so many people. Whether it be in the air, land or sea racing comes in many forms and has been a staple of gaming since the 1970's. This new feature I call "List 'em" will be for me to list my top 5 games of a particular genre and all members are encouraged to respond in kind with their own top 5 list. Rebuttals, commentary and criticism are all welcome and I'd like to read your thoughts on them as well as add commentary of my own so list away ladies and gentlemen.
Here's mine in no particular order:
- Outrun 2019 (Sega Genesis) - A game I've only recently come to appreciate, it's got all the bells and whistles that the outrun series is known for, yet tackles that futuristic racing genre few games seem to pull off well. Check out my review HERE.
- Need for Speed: High Stakes (PlayStation, PC) - One of my favorite all-time games, this one takes high speed chases and offers you the keys to fast exotic cars or fast police interceptors and puts your into large tracks from around the world with car damage, lighting effects and Dolby Surround sound. It also has a mode called "High Stakes" in which you can race a second player for the pink slip to a car on your memory cards. The winner gets the data from the loser's memory card an they lose that car from their profile.
- Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - You can Mario Kart me this or Mario Kart me that, but to me this is the pinnacle of Kart racing. Even to this day I still enjoy this game and I have many fond memories of all-nighters spent in multiplayer matches or beating the single player mode. It's also a very easy game for new players or non-racing game fans to get into because it doesn't have the level of complexity that the other kart racing game has. The DS remake isn't bad either but it's still not as good as it's N64 counterpart.
- Hang-On (Sega Master) - A low budget arcade port, this motorcycle game makes up for simple graphics and gameplay with an addictive need to rack up points and embark on an endurance marathon every time you play it. A game every SMS owner should have.
- Gran Turismo 2 (PlayStation) - No racing game has ever given me so much replay value nor offered many car owners the opportunity to modify and race cars they can actually afford and may even own. The limit of customization this game offers and the default list of cars is unmatched by any other game including it's own successors.
Runner-up: Hard Drivin' (sit down arcade cab). An awesome driving simulator, this game raised the bar for both arcade driving games and simulation racing games in general. One of the first racing games that had a clutch and a manual transmission that actually uses a proper shift pattern. It also has a "force feedback" steering wheel that has plenty of resistance when your driving and also rips out of your hands when you crash. Crashing also "cracks" your windshield and when the dust settles you get to watch a instant replay of your crash. I loved the stunt track and well...the whole game in general. I've even broken a couple machines with my brutal handling of the controls. Believe it or not this game is a great way to introduce someone to the practices of driving a manual transmission without risking a real car. If you get a chance check out the www.klov.com listing for Hard Drivin' HERE.
Those are my top 5 my fellow members, now it's your turn. 
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