GRID demo goes platinum; game to follow?

by Terrence Stasse { May 26th 2008 at 2:30AM }

When the demo of Codemaster's newest racer was released at the beginning of the month, it was mostly to praise and positive feedback. Now as the month ends and GRID is almost on store shelves, Atari has announced that the game's demo has now been downloaded over a million times. If other demos that "went platinum" are any kind of indication, GRID is set for success.

Codemaster's previous racer, DiRT, sold well initially, but never broke one million (at least in the US), so with a shift to an arcade style of racing and a customer base downloading the demo in large numbers, GRID could be the next online racer to see million-plus sales. Considering the recent debate surrounding the game, the community seems to be well aware of the game, so what of it readers? Will you be buying GRID come next Tuesday, or will Ninja Gaiden 2 be the major purchase of the week?

Tags: arcade, arcade-racing, atari, codemasters, demo, grid, gt5, racing

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mike @ May 26th 2008 3:59AM

I just tried the demo today and Im not sure if its all that gta 4 race driving ive been doing, but the game blew chunks.

Then again im generally a hater of most racing games controls. Theres only a few I enjoy, like the burnout series and a couple similar to it. Grid just felt like I was controlling some sort of RC cars or something

ainsley x @ May 26th 2008 4:23AM

Mike i completely agree - 21st Century graphics, with the physics of a poor mid eighties arcade racer. If you hit a gravel trap at 120mph i'm sure it takes more than one second to slow down...Oh and now Codemasters have the F1 licence too (oh dear oh dear...) Back to GTR2 on the PC then!!

Grimm @ May 26th 2008 4:21AM

I'm very very impressed with this game. I really think this could be one of the best racers I've ever played. It may be arcadey but it looks at it in a realistic way. Plus it controls so smoothly it's almost feels like butter. I don't even know where to start on the beautiful crashes. Sometimes I'll play the BMW race in the demo and just slam into people trying to cause as much chaos as possible. It's as fun to smash shit in GRID as it is in Burnout...which I thought was impossible. I really don't understand who couldn't like this game except maybe whiney GT bitches.

Digitalspirit @ May 26th 2008 1:10PM

Agreed, good balance of arcade and sim and some good multiplayer as well, I will be purchasing.

Ray @ May 26th 2008 1:26PM

omg were you guys playing the same game?

it seemed like i had to move the analog stick all the way to turn and omg everything was just horrible!!

pg3 is the perfect arcade racer, they should just steal the physics from that

wickedpheonix @ May 26th 2008 3:34PM

@ Ray

If you're complaining about the normal controller layout, pick up a 360 racing wheel. If you own more than 1 racing game it's definitely worth a pickup (seeing as how you're talking about PGR3...)

Grimm @ May 26th 2008 5:22PM

@Ray
Did you happen to slam your fucking car into a wall/car at 130mph? That would probably be why you couldn't turn...either that or you don't have thumbs.

Noxat @ May 26th 2008 5:59AM

I thought the demo was decent, except for the drifting, I cannot stand drifting challenges in ANY racing game. Still, I won't be buying it, I've already had my fill of next-gen racers for the time being. I'll consider it a few years down the line when its only $20-30 bucks...

Ciaran Gallagher @ May 26th 2008 6:21AM

Yeah I have it pre-ordered. And about DIRT? Well of course it didn't break a million in the US - Europe was the primary target for DIRT! - Rallying is a Europe thing!
This time around it tries to create a balance for European and American gamers, and it's looking good so far! The graphics and damage realism is particularly good - best I've seen yet.

DjDATZ @ May 26th 2008 10:14AM

I'll be picking up GRID. After playing the demo, loving it, and then seeing that the achievements for the game are going to be hella fun, I'm sold. :D

PerfectStrategy @ May 26th 2008 11:59AM

Atari has nothing to do with this game. It's developed and published by Codemasters.

Do X3F writers ever do any kind of fact-checking or research?

wickedpheonix @ May 26th 2008 3:36PM

I'm still thinking about whether I'm picking up anything at all. I was never really into Ninja Gaiden and although I loved the GRID demo, I still have the vast majority of Forza 2 to go through and GRID's price will probably end up dropping in a couple months - I'm gone on a nice long vacation this summer and then I have college next year. Oh and I still have to pick up a copy of Rock Band. We'll see...

Pixteca @ May 26th 2008 6:27PM

I´ll definitely get a copy!! I liked the demo a lot, and trying it with the racing wheel really made it fun. I already got Forza 2 and DIRT and I had a couple of other Race Driver games for xbox. I think GT has not evolved into a fun game, sure it has amazing detail and beatiful graphics and incredible realism... but if it´s not fun... it´s not that great...

ANt @ May 27th 2008 11:04AM

I am so enamored with GTA IV that I may not buy another game for quite some time.

GRID was cool graphically. I need to re-download the demo and try it with the MS wheel (definite owner by the way, the wheel is amazing!!

Dralthi @ May 27th 2008 11:15AM

I don't understand why the media keeps saying this game is "arcade style racing."

The controls behave much like Gran Turismo which is more or less a simulator.

I equate games like Need for Speed as "arcade style racing."

When I played the GRID demo I was expecting controls like NFS considering all the hoopla about "arcade style racing," but I couldn't keep the car on the track to save my life! I spent a good hour and a half trying to get the controls down and it just wasn't fun for me.

The game looks gorgeous and is presented very well but the controls were such a huge turn off for me.

c4v3man @ May 27th 2008 3:36PM

I thought the demo was great, although I prefer more of a simulation like Forza. It had a great arcade feel to it, with a great sense of speed, fun sense of unpredictability (will it stick this turn, or am I going to just slam into the wall). I even like the rewind feature, although I'm concerned it may make the game too easy. Still, I was impressed.