We're not certain whose expectations Bizarre Creations' communications manager, Ben Ward, was referring to in his recent -- and incredibly vague -- statements about supposedly disappointing sales of (equally unspecified) racing games, but they must belong to someone. "I won't name any names, [but] more recent titles that were really good, critically acclaimed and we all played them, they didn't sell as well as can be expected," Ward posited to VideoGamer.com.

It's difficult to argue against Ward, as he doesn't suggest anything concrete, but racing games have been competitive in the sales charts this generation (if that's recent enough). Console exclusives such as MotorStorm, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (a glorified demo!) and Forza 2 all rank among the top 10 bestselling games to date on their respective platforms, and Burnout Paradise has succeeded both at retail and digitally in its lengthy, multiplatform run. Sure, a niche racer like GRID is never going to gain mass appeal (nor is it intended to) and certain staple franchises, like Need For Speed, have dwindled in popularity and quality (hence the reboots), but the racing genre is right where it should be -- at least, in terms of our expectations.

Perhaps Ward and Bizarre just have greater expectations for their upcoming racer, Blur, which we called "a hyper-realistic Mario Kart." That puts Blur in good company, as Mario Kart Wii -- what Ward calls "the exception rather than the rule" -- has sold in excess of 15.4 million units by last count in May. But, really, there's nothing realistic about expecting those kinda numbers.

Blur is a hyper-realistic Mario Kart. There is no sugar coating it.

After being behind the development wheel of realistic racing titles like PGR (well, realistic at least in look), Bizarre Creations has decided to do away with its half-and-half arcade style and create a different kind of racing experience. That experience is Blur, published by (new parent company) Activision.

As we sat down at the (ridiculously loud) Activision booth in the West Hall during E3 2009, we were greeted by an enthusiastic Bizarre employee who explained this was the game the developer always wanted to make. A fun, almost party-game style racer where players jump behind the wheel of powered-up, real-world vehicles. Yes, strangely, Blur features licensed cars -- with unreal abilities.

While wandering through the EA booth on the last day of E3, we noticed the grinning symbol of Blur developer Bizarre Creations on the back of a man playing ... Need for Speed: Shift. We stuck around for a few minutes to make sure the gentleman in question was for certain a developer on the upcoming Mario Kart-inspired racer, then ran off to giggle with all our friends.

We took a look at Bizarre Creations' racer Blur recently, and while we didn't get to put our hands on it, we were some of the first people to see actual gameplay. The team is attempting to make racing a lot more accessible to people who aren't into the fine-tuning aspects that have invaded racing games over the past few years, and they want to make it fun for anyone to pick up and play with easy to use controls and arcade-style graphics.

Find out what the game looks like, and exactly how they planning on leveling the playing field for racers. Hint: it doesn't involve blue shells and banana peels ... but it's fairly close.

Car manufacturers are notoriously cranky about letting their autos show damage in racing games. So why will you find bumps and bruises on the cars in Blur but not in Bizarre's other racing title Project Gotham? Apparently, it's all about the make.

Because a game like Blur doesn't have to have companies like Porsche and Ferrari, Bizarre is able to focus on the ones that will let Bizarre beat up its cars. Plus, according to Bizarre's Gareth Wilson, car-crunching games like GRID and DiRT helped to pave the way.

Just out of curiosity, how much does damage modeling matter to you?

Announced by Activision on Tuesday, Blur -- the latest racer from PGR dev Bizarre Creations -- can be considered officially teased with the release of a brief (but certainly not blurry) first look at it in motion. The teaser appears specifically tailored to elicit the exact reaction we had when viewing it for the first time; that is, "Wow, it looks like PGR," followed by, "Whoa, what was that crazy blast?"

We know, of course, that it's the effect produced by one of the many Mario Kart-style power-ups intended to make Blur stand out from other current-gen auto racers. It looks a little out of place in the context of the trailer, but we'll save our "spiffy / goofy" verdict until we see some actual gameplay. What do you think?

Bizarre Creations' Ged Talbot admitted that the developer's long-running, Xbox (and Xbox 360) exclusive racing series Project Gotham Racing was beginning to lose its sizzle, according to an interview with CVG. Talbot explained, "By the time we got to PGR4 I certainly felt that the time was right to move on and do different things." That's a desire the developer will be fulfilling with its upcoming "Mario Kart meets Forza" racer, Blur -- a project Talbot calls "a breath of fresh air."

Yes, they're breaking up the monotony of their worn out racing franchise, and rejuvenating their stagnant creative juices by generating a totally new ... racing franchise. Bold!

Gallery: Blur

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After we found out earlier today that Bizarre Creations' Blur would be speeding to store shelves this fall, we thought that'd be all the Blur news the game's publisher, Activision, was ready to drop in a single day. Turns out we were wrong, as a handful of screens for the new racer are clearly available at Gamersyde -- and now right below in our gallery.

The cars are plenty nice and the brightness has apparently been turned up to 11, but most importantly, we get an early glimpse of those "Mario Kart meets Forza" special effects. Seems as though electricity is the effect of the day, as nearly every shot we've seen features fractured blue light from end to end. No oil slicks that send cars careening to their doom? No carefully placed explosive barrels intended for multiple flips? For shame, Activision. For shame.

Update: Added a gallery! Enjoy:

After a few weeks of kind of announcing it, Activision finally got around to actually announcing Blur, Bizarre Creations' new title, today. The arcade racer, once described as "Mario Kart meets Forza," is due on PS3, 360 and PC this fall.

With little more than a non-working official site to go off, we still don't have a great sense of how the game will play. At this point, we know it features 20 "photo-realistic" cars battling it out with offensive and defensive power-ups in locales like L.A. and Barcelona. There's also apparently some kind of narrative that evolves as players compete online. ... Yeah, we can't make heads or tails of that either.

For a better take on the game, you -- like us -- are just going to have to wait for E3.

Activision has big hopes for Bizarre Creations' upcoming racer, Blur. Following the company's revenue report yesterday, CEO Michael Griffith said that Blur "brings real innovation to the racing category and is looking very strong." According to MCV, he noted that Activision would be "targeting Blur to do for racing what Call of Duty did for shooters," which, in layman's terms, means selling a lot of copies.

Griffith says to expect Blur at next month's E3, and you can believe that we'll get our hands on it the first chance we get.

Bizarre Creations and Microsoft used to be BFF. Together, the two produced a number of great racing games, the latest being two racers for the Xbox 360 -- PGR3 and PGR4. In October of 2008, however, Bizarre Creations found itself under the caring wing of mother bird Activision, and creative director Martyn Chudley told Edge that the studio has been better off because of it.

Chudley described Microsoft's presence near the end as "corporate and cocky," attributing most of that to the shift in power between Microsoft and Sony this generation. He added that the company has always been too focused on the Forza games, seemingly neglecting to give the PGR franchise the marketing push and focus Bizarre Creations always felt it deserved.

Enter Activision, which showed a lot of interest, especially considering the lack of a proven racing franchise to call its own. Bizarre Creations hopes to produce such a hit with Blur, its first title following its acqusition by Activision. We expect to see more of the game -- including that franchise potential -- during this year's E3.

Don't blink, or you'll miss this latest tidbit concerning Bizarre Creations' potential new racing project. Going by the name Blur, urban racer was reportedly revealed within the pages of French gaming mag Joypad, with the hazy racer adding power-ups, weapons and new collision tech to the developer's long-held love of racing.

While still unconfirmed, Bizarre Creations' next racing project was first teased in late 2008 as "Mario Kart meets Forza," and we've fired a turtle shell in the developer's general direction to find out more.

Source: NeoGAF translation
Source: First Info on Bizarre's Blur

In solidarity with the embattled auto industry's ongoing fire sale, Project Gotham Racing 4's Premium Challenge Pack DLC is now available for purchase on the XBLM for 240 as part of Microsoft's Deal of the Week program.

The discount begins today and will be offered through Sunday, March 15. As always, Deal of the Week offers are only available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

Someone must have stirred Bond's martini, because he's livid and won't make his appointment with retail shelves this year, Activision confirmed during its recent financial earnings report. The PP7-wielding British spy will instead arrive in "calendar 2010," CFO Thomas Tippl said, "to avoid head to head competition" with 2009's soon-to-be-blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Many of you may think this is the same James Bond racing game that Bizarre has said it's working on, and we're right there, wondering with you. Activision is unlikely to push back a racing game because of its FPS franchise, so this suggests a different, action-based Bond game altogether.